Rhythm and Movement Training for Creation and Performance

Maximize your creative capacity by discovering the power of your physical presence expressed through a variety of rhythms — whether classical, familiar, or inventive. In this class, students will investigate the potential of rhythm and its effect on voice, movement, physical gesture, thought, and emotion. We will explore how rhythm shapes a narrative or defines a character, experiment with rhythm as a way of connecting deeply with one’s audience through a shared subconscious connection, and discuss how actors use rhythm in their approach to verse and prose texts.

This class is a great tool for any artist seeking to bolster their creative approach and support effective expression. Exercises in physical awareness, intuition, emotional expression, and memory help us to connect with the self on a deep level.

Instructor: Joe Orrach is a choreographer, director, performer, and educator. He has conceived, written, performed, and directed original plays and solo shows for live stages worldwide. He choreographed and was featured in Terrence Blanchard’s opera Champion at SF Jazz and with National Opera at the Kennedy Center. Joe has created performance workshops with lockdown juveniles in San Francisco General Hospital, for formerly incarcerated at Delancey Street Foundation Headquarters, and for the general population at San Quentin State Prison. Joe is the recipient of the Dance Studio Life “Generous Heart” Teaching Award for his work with at-risk communities. He has taught acting and movement as far away as St Petersburg, Russia as the American cultural ambassador for Track Two Diplomacy Institute. He holds an MFA from University of Southern California’s School of Dramatic Arts.

• Sat 1:15–3pm
  9/26, 10/3, 10/10, 10/17, 10/24, 10/31
  $330