Creature Works | Commedia dell’Arte and Contemporary Dance Workshop

A 1-day intensive exploring the unexpected intersection of Commedia dell’Arte and contemporary dance through movement, character, and play.
About this Event

About the Workshop

Join Creature Works for a full-day movement intensive exploring the unexpected intersection of Commedia dell’Arte and Contemporary Dance, an interdisciplinary methodology central to the Creature Works practice.

This workshop invites participants to move between the physical worlds of Commedia and contemporary dance, exploring character, physicality, rhythm, gesture, improvisation, theatricality, and embodied storytelling. Through movement-based exercises and playful exploration, we’ll investigate how the exaggerated physical language of Commedia can inform contemporary movement, and how contemporary dance can expand the possibilities of character and theatrical expression.

Participants will explore the body as both dancer and character, developing physical specificity while remaining open to spontaneity, transformation, and play. Training alongside members of the Creature Works company, they will engage directly with the movement practices and theatrical methodologies that shape the company’s work.

Led by Kelsie Steil

Kelsie Steil (she/they) is a Maine-based choreographer, director, and dance artist whose work blends dance and character to create emotionally resonant, character-driven performance. Her practice spans contemporary dance, physical theater, character-based performance, and immersive studies in Commedia dell’Arte.

Kelsie is the founder and artistic director of Creature Works, where she creates original character-driven dance-theater and interdisciplinary work. Her evening-length work, Split My Soul, has been in development since 2024, premiered in 2025, and continues to be actively presented and developed. The work was developed further through an immersive study of Commedia dell’Arte over the summer of 2025 under Antonio Fava; it exemplifies her ongoing exploration of theatricality, emotional depth, and movement invention.

Schedule

1:30–3:00 PM | Workshop Session I

3:00–4:00 PM | Break

4:00–7:00 PM | Workshop Session II

This workshop is designed as a complete experience, and participants are encouraged to attend the full day.