contemporary technique ON-GOING CLASSES: CLICK HERE
INFLUENCE & APPROACH: As a kid I spent my time taking ballet lessons and playing tackle football with my brothers - this combination is the essence of my physicality, accurately described once as a cross between a mixed martial artist, a ballerina, a gymnast and a hockey player. My choreography is physical and athletic, incorporating free-wheeling turns and leaps with sudden inversions (a throw-back to my studio-days as a jazz-baby), off-kilter turns and kicks (from my Tae Kwon Do training), intricate footwork (influenced by tap-dancing), rhythmic isolations, quirky gestures, ooey-gooey, expansive, bound, melting shapes and quick, huge, suspended whole-body explosions. I'm interested in exploring the meeting place between extremes -- strong and soft, elegant and tough, harsh and tender, stark and beautiful.
CLASS STRUCTURE: The first half of each class focuses on building strength, flexibility and coordination with an emphasis on understanding proper alignment via Ballet Training and Kinetic Awareness Techniques. Each class starts with a fast-paced warm-up that integrates exercises from Yoga, Pilates, Dance and Martial Arts. The second half focuses on learning new vocabulary and eventually building longer sequences, including patterns across the floor, that focus on spatial awareness, musicality, performance qualities and improvisation. Historical, anatomical, aesthetic and compositional information is interspersed to enhance your skills in self-expression, injury prevention and putting dance in a cultural context.
INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
DESCRIPTION: This class is for those students who want to deepen their existing understanding of basic vocabulary and choreography. In addition to a review of basic principles and vocabulary, students begin to learn more advanced concepts such as the fundamentals of spirals and floor work via Bartenieff Fundamentals and Capoeira. Students learn and perform choreography which is developed by accumulating phrase materials and focusing on the nuance/dynamics of movement. Concepts are added and built upon as the semester progresses.
ADVANCED LEVEL
DESCRIPTION: This class is fast-paced and is for students who have a strong grasp of basic concepts and techniques. Students explore and practice advanced movement concepts including spirals and floor work. There is a strong emphasis on learning and performing choreography which is developed by accumulating phrase materials. This class calls upon the full range of the dancer’s artistry by exploring musicality, timing, performance skills, and concepts of stage presence. Concepts are added and built upon as the semester progresses.
ENROLL TODAY AT BOSTON UNIVERSITY: DeAnna currently teaches Contemporary Technique classes as accredited courses at Boston University. They are accesible to the general public. If you are interested in taking one of these semester-long courses, or to book DeAnna as a guest teacher at your school or university please email deanna@deannapellecchia.com.
