The workshop will be held at Flow Academy of Motion, Auckland.
MONDAY 20th, WEDNESDAY 22nd and THURSDAY 23th from 6pm to 9pm (14+ years old);
SATURDAY 25th and SUNDAY 26th from 9am to 12am (8-13 years old)

ALL LEVELS WELCOME! (see requirements below)

AcroModernLAB is an international project committed to sharing our experience and passion for movement through our intensive workshops.
The ultimate goal of this laboratory is showing performers, artists and athletes of all levels and ages how to use their body and skills in a different way, as well as deepening movement awareness and enriching personal potential.
Through a stimulating approach to modern-contemporary dance and floor acrobatics, practitioners get to investigate crucial topics such as 3-axis coordination, adaptivity, air/floor awareness.
Moreover, advanced dancers will have the chance to open their minds to the new frontier of the current dance scenario, constantly craving for more and more multitalented performers.
Our workshops have been held in dance academies, circus schools and gymnastics centres in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Ghent, Stuttgart, Tel Aviv, Johannesburg, Cape Town, Verona, Venice, Grosseto, Mexico City, Guadalajara, Oaxaca and more.

THE WORKSHOP

Day 1: We get started with a very fast-paced and fun “coordination” warm-up that blends rhythm with “brain and body awakening”, just what it takes to start off with full energy.

What follows is modem-contemporary dance stretching combined with movements from Pilates, addressed to set the right posture of the body in order to have a strong and dynamic base from where each move and trick is supposed to start and finish.

The students will then move to a pre-acrobatics workout, which consists in exploring variations of carthweels, handstand and “macacos” (depending on the general level) combined with floorwork movements in order to gradually creates smooth combinations. They will focus on soft landings and fluent transitions between every single move, already aware that they are dancing and not only combining tricks.

Next, the group will start working on more complex acrobatic movements that will eventually be part of the final choreography. Each student will be assisted to adapt the difficulty of the skills to his or her own level.

After a short break, we’ll move to Dance Movement research: each student will analyze the interactions between body and space on a deeper scale, starting from fundamental concepts like Laban’s cubes and spheres to their application on a upside down position. Working with different speed and rhythm, different levels, different leading parts of the body and 360° directions will help each student exit his or her comfort zone.
Lastly, the first part of one of our own AcroModern choreographies will be taught to the group.

Day 2: after the warm up as in Day 1, the first part of the class will focus on developing “stage awareness” and “group chemistry“.
Creative games will take the students to a personal, inner experience aiming to dig deep into their own emotional baggage and creativity: learning how to balance the space with the group, when to be leaders and when to be followers, creating group empathy and trust will help triggering the mechanisms that allow each performer to give their best in stressful situations (e.g. working in a company or being at an audition).

With all these concepts in mind, we will go over the whole movement training of the previous day and add new elements to it.
Once divided in small groups, the students will have the chance to put the creativity work into practice, by completing the choreography with their own group movement research.

3-Day workshop:
The structure of the workshop is very similar to the 2-day package, but we will explore each topic in a much deeper way: the students will approach more complex floor sequences, learn a longer choreography and work more on the improvisation/group chemistry/movement research side of the laboratory.

Beatrice Zancanaro
From world-class rhythmic gymnast for the italian national team to top level dancer for the largest show business companies around the world (Franco Dragone, Luc Petit, Notre Dame de Paris) Beatrice dedicated all her life to the study and research of the arts of movement and their nuances.
She has worked world-wide for television and theatres, including live event with artists like Anastacia, Liza Minelli, Andrea Bocelli and more. Beatrice eventually reached the peak of her career by joining Cirque du Soleil for the first cruise ship live show tour ever created by the canadian company, in 2017, starting as a dancer and ending as artistic leader.

Alberto Poli
Alberto found his calling when he was 12, the day he first admired the acrobats of the Guinnessrecord winner musical show “Notre Dame de Paris”. In 2007 he created Team Vertical Limit, group of acrobats and street dancers specializing in live shows and videomaking, and over the years he developed his own style by mixing floor acrobatics with tricking, freerun and stunts. He performed as acrobat on several international stages like Glastonbury Festival, Arena di Verona and Royal Opera House of Muscat while training with inspiring artists around the world.
In 2016 he joined the international show “Notre Dame de Paris” by Riccardo Cocciante and Luc Plamondon performing as acrobat in Paris, London, Istanbul and all around Italy.

Requirements:
KIDS
the age range for kids is 8-13 with a minimum movement background (2+ years of dance or gymnastics or circus acrobatics). This is because we will be working on sequences that combine dance with more complicated (not necessarily more “difficult”) movements than carthweels and rolls (although, being them only 6 hours of open level class for kid, we are not going to work specifically on tricks that require a strong specific gymnastics background such as backhandsprings and front aerials). We will make each student work within his/her possibilities and limits, so that the choreography won’t be too hard nor too easy.

ADULTS:
Class for adults goes from 14 years old and over with a minimum movement background (2+ years of dance or gymnastics or circus acrobatics). It is an open level workshop so we will make each student work within his/her possibilities and limits.

Prices:
2-day $135NZD (early bird, before 11.01.2020) $160NZD regular price;
3-day $160NZD (early bird, before 05.01.2020) $190NZD regular price