Class Overview

This workshop combines the kinetic fundamentals of classical and contemporary dance with the movement principles of the Gyrotonic Expansion System. This course enables both the average student and the professional dancer to understand and develop dance technique from the inside out. This holistic approach to movement teaches better body awareness, flexibility & strength, and a deeper understanding of the physiology of dance. This course was created 11 years ago and continues to be a favorite counting education course. ADRIANNA THOMPSON, ARTISTIC DIRECTOR of Soul Skin Dance & GYROTONIC Master Trainer A California native and the current Programing Director of Dance for the Aspen Fringe Festival, Ms. Thompson attended the illustrious San Francisco School of the Arts and received her BFA in Dance from California State University, Long Beach. She was a professional dancer in New York City for over 15 years with Battery Dance Company, Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, Mark DeGarmo & Dancers, and has worked with Bella Lewitzky, Milton Myers, Jonathan Wolken, Brenda Daniels, Risa Steinberg and Mary Jane Eisenberg, among others. Thompson was the founder and choreographer of MEFTAS Dance Theatre in New York City for 10 years. Her choreography has been presented at Joyce SoHo, the Cunningham Studio, The Riverside Theatre, Mulberry Street Theater, the Downtown Arts Festival, Trisha Brown Studios, Movement Research, Theater for the New City, Dance Space, the Boston Conservatory and the Wheeler Opera House in Aspen, CO. She has received numerous awards including Best Performance of the Year by the Boston Globe, the Komaroff Award for Performance Excellence and was awarded a full dance scholarship by the American College Dance Festival. She has performed and taught master classes around the world including Poland, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Slovenia, Finland, Bulgaria, Sri Lanka, India, Peru, Texas, and the Harvard Summer Dance Project in Cambridge, MA. She has been a guest artist in the New York Public Schools and for the Missouri River Dance Company and was on faculty for 10 years with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and was a guest faculty teacher for Alonzo King LINES Ballet BFA at Dominican University, California. Her work with SOULSKIN Dance has been presented at various festivals across California and nationally, including San Francisco’s PUSHfest, sjDANCEco’s festival, HH11 Dance Festival, and Aspen Fringe Festival. SOULSKIN has been commissioned by Aspen Art Museum for site specific works as well as youth educational outreach programs. Ms Thompson is a specialized master teacher in GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® and has been practicing the method for over 28 years.