Wallie Wolfgruber has extensive national and international teaching experience. Her teaching and directing credits include Associate Professor/Undergraduate Program Director at State University of New York College at Brockport, Visiting Professor and frequent guest artist at FSU, faculty member and guest choreographer at Manhattanville College and Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers State University of New Jersey, Co-Founder and Director of SEAD (Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance) in Austria, ballet and modern teacher, Mark Morris Dance Center, New York. Certified in the Trager Approach/Psychophysical Integration®, her teaching is informed by her studies in body/mind therapies. Areas of teaching expertise include contemporary dance, ballet, improvisation, composition, repertory, partnering, somatic explorations, graduate seminar and academic planning.

Description of contemporary technique class:

This contemporary technique class starts out gently, incorporating Trager®-based principles of breath, release, ease and fluidity, and gradually  progresses to big, spacious and technically challenging  movement phrases. The underlying style is characterized by an organic, flowing quality with smooth transitions and level changes while playing with a wide range of dynamics. Emphasis is placed on correct body alignment, and on absorbing the analytical comprehension of movement and proper placement into a physical understanding. The class is designed to increase flexibility and range of motion by releasing unnecessary muscle tension while building strength in areas where it is needed. It is about finding the natural balance between the skeletal and muscular system and paying attention to the fact that both systems are informed by the nervous system. Students learn to fine-tune their bodies as their vehicle for expression and to work in the most efficient and healthy way.

see schedule for on-going classes