DANIEL ROBERTS
USA
Cunningham technique
Daniel Roberts was born and raised in Pittsburgh PA, where he studied classical piano. At the age of 14, he began ballet and modern-jazz dance studies, and later went the Ohio State University Department of Dance in Columbus, OH. He graduated magna cum laude, with a BFA in Dance and specialization in Labanotation.
Upon moving to New York, and he studied on scholarship at the Merce Cunningham Studio in NYC, later became and apprentice, and finally, company member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Comapny (MCDC). After leaving MCDC in 2005, Daniel came to Copenhagen, Denmark, to become the head technique teacher at the National School for Contemporary Dance (SMD). In addition to his teaching in Denmark, Daniel has taught at The Place/LCDS and Royal Academy of Dance, London, and various companies and schools throughout northern Europe and the the US.
DESCRIPTION
My class is rooted in the fundaments of the Cunningham technique; back articulation (cervical, thoracic and lumbar), and the subsequent vocabulary within Cunningham technique (arches, curves, tilts and twists.) A strong emphasis on rhythmic clarity, fervor, and grace, in the context of time. Extreme attention to articulated leg work, complex movement patterns, and moving 'larger than life' through the space. I start with the back exercises, transition into leg-work, increase extension off the floor, across the floor triplets, combinations, adagio, stationary jumps, petit allegro, and grand allegro.
The students ability to clarify movement patterns and solve complicated phrases grows through my class experience, with an attention to detail and responsibility for one's own learning.
I believe in conveying the importance of the Cunningham technique as it was taught to me, but have also evolved my teaching to be relative to many studied styles of contemporary dance.
By describing my class, I feel more compelled to provide questions, rather than answers:
How do our past movement experiences (teacher-student, student-teacher) define us and bring us to the information being addressed in class now?
How do we push our own personal boundaries/expectations of ourselves, and maintain technical awareness to movement equations?
How do we personally define musicality? Is it simply counts? Phrasing? Expressiveness? A combination?
My personal approach to teaching consists of a high demand of commitment from the students (and vice versa!). I feel that I use humor and many approaches of learning material (based on Howard Gardener's multiple intelligences), so that their are many ways into the ideas of the class. Each student receives many individual corrections about their dancing and personal body alignment challenges.
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