Event Details

We use our voices, bodies, and breath according to our abilities on a daily basis, but can we take time to create rituals to better our physical wellness and reflect on personal memories? This workshop will immerse students in exercises designed to meditate on familial stories across generations and be attentive to gestural expression in everyday life. With demonstrations, concrete examples, and individualized and communal guidance provided by the instructor, participants will learn very simple gestures, introductory physical postures, and basic vocal work to carefully craft their practice. The workshop will be informed by the instructor's enduring engagement with the Yorchhā technique of Ananya Dance Theatre and rooted in the vinyasa style of yoga which aligns physical postures with breath. Our soundwork includes audible breath, song, and vocalization so that participants can choose the practices that are suitable for their ritual. Our goal is to build a sound-movement practice, which will integrate sound and movement as a unified experience. No prior movement or vocal experience is necessary. All physical abilities are encouraged.

Alessandra Williams '07 , PhD, is a dancer and scholar who is assistant professor of dance at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and whose academic interests include dance and performance, and race, gender, sexuality, and transnationalism. From 2018-2019, Williams served as Inclusive Excellence Fellow in Women’s and Gender Studies and Theatre and Dance at University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. As Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellow, Williams earned a Ph.D. and M.A. in Culture and Performance at UCLA and through the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship, finished the B.A. with honors in American Studies and Dance at Macalester College.  Originally from Minneapolis, Williams’ work as a community organizer led to receiving the 2010 Minnesota Grassroots Solutions Organizer of the Year Award.

Co-Sponsors: Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program, Kofi Annan Institute for Global Citizenship, and the Provost's Office