Dialogue & Movement Workshop

Days: Friday, July 24, 5:30 - 6:30 PM
Instructor: Benjamin Cheney - Performer, Founder and Artistic Director of the Croft Residency
Skill Level: Beginner

Materials: Provided

Ben will lead a body-awareness and movement workshop that explores how we physically express emotions, vulnerability, guardedness, and connection using dance and movement practices. Participants will look at how many human movements are spiral-based: twisting through the torso, rotating joints, spreading outward versus curving inward, spiraling through the spine, shifting weight. Through group dynamics and observation, participants will practice bearing “witness” rather than judging or analyzing, learning how supportive observation can create trust and awareness.

Benjamin Cheney is a performer and designer from Northern Michigan. He is the founder and Artistic Director of The Croft Residency and is a frequent contributor to the Crooked Tree Arts Center School of Ballet. His personal dance practice centers on moving meditation, with a focus on somatic, intentional, and metaphoric improvisational movement. He uses the tools of Body Mind Centering (BMC) and the Tamalpa Life Art Process (TLAP) as lenses and languages to engage in his explorations and facilitations. He is a level 2 Graduate from Tamalpa and has completed the BMC SME (Somatic Movement Educator) courses. His performance experience includes the New York premier of Bienvenue, with Company SBB in New York in May 2017, The Nutcracker with Crooked Tree School of Ballet in 2018, and a performance at Mass MoCA with Dance The Yard on Valentine’s Day 2019. He worked at The Yard as the Production associate, in 2016, facilitating the onsite needs of incoming artists in residence for performance. He was also an artist educator while at the yard, facilitating classes in schools, senior homes, and at community venues.