Through this masterclass, Maya Balam Meyong offers an immersion into the heart of her practice by articulating the Horton technique with workshop and repertory work.

The class will begin with a Horton session, a modern dance technique developed by American dancer and choreographer Lester Horton during the first half of the twentieth century. This technique fuses various influences (ballet, jazz, African and Native American traditional dances and yoga) into an original and efficient form that shapes strong, supple, adaptable and coordinated bodies. This method serves the dancer’s technical training in order to free expression. It places particular attention on the work of the back, the articulation of the spine with the pelvis, the geometry of movement, spatial awareness and musicality.

The technical class will be followed by a workshop, a sensory and creative laboratory conceived by Maya as a space & time dedicated to self-exploration and artistic growth. Developed in close dialogue with the participants’ needs, the workshop will consist of improvisation work revisiting some fundamentals of movement, the relationship to the other, new pathways and multiple imaginaries.

This masterclass will also be an opportunity to dive into Maya’s creative universe by learning several excerpts from the repertory of Don’t Feed The Seagulls, No Matter What They Say!, her new creation whose choreographic score involves multiple relationships to physicality, music and interpretation.

At once physical and sensitive, individual and collective, Maya’s proposals draw on curiosity, play and self-surpassing to allow each participant to expand, with joy and confidence, their self-knowledge as well as the field of their possibilities. Faithful to the commitment of her teachers and of the artists who continue to inspire her, Maya’s teaching is precise, generous and rich in guidance. Come as you are for three days of exploration, laughter, challenges and guaranteed soreness!