HEDWIG DANCES: SPRING INTENSIVE!

Hedwig Dances company artists guide participants through contemporary floorwork, improvisation, partnering, repertoire, and dancing with objects. This intensive emphasizes the exploration and growth of individual physical capabilities, and accessing creativity, energy and dynamic quality.

Dates: Tuesday, May 26th through Friday, May 29th

Time: 10am-3pm with 1/2 hr break for lunch from 12:30pm-1pm

Location: Ruth Page Center, Studio 2 | 1016 N Dearborn St, Chicago, IL 60610

Price: $385 ( $335 early bird until 4/15/26)

CONTEMPORARY FLOOR WORK

Olivia Gonzalez invites participants to explore new physical possibilities with freedom, sensitivity, and a joyful approach to movement. The class incorporates spatial travel sequences to develop coordination, dynamic quality, and stage presence. Dancers work on group techniques that encourage listening, collective connection, and the creation of shared movement.

Olivia’s class dives into floor work (flying low) and explores body weight, movement fluidity, and the body’s relationship with gravity. Through technical exercises that progress gradually, dancers build a strong physical foundation and deepen their body awareness, allowing each participant to advance at their own pace.

Milo Sachse-Hofheimer guides participants through improvisational structures and choreography, readying the body to release, move into the floor, and tap into a range of performative qualities. Throughout the class, emphasis is placed on consciously pushing endurance to understand the potential of one’s body. Each class concludes with a choreographed sequence utilizing class tools and performative decision making.

Folks of all ranges of experiences and identities are welcome to participate. Accommodations to the class are possible so that everyone can fully participate.

Milo’s movement practice is inspired by release-based techniques, contemporary floor work, as well as somatic practices.

IMPROVISATION/PARTNERING

Through specific movement practices and improvisation, this class applies principles of physics (gravity, momentum, leverage, center of mass) to partnering techniques. The class creates multiple partnering opportunities with a focus on safety, navigating real-time decision making, and fine tuning body awareness and the physicality of listening to oneself and others.

OBJECT STUDIES

Kelly Kosiek & Olivia Gonzalez

Object Studies focuses on the bodily experience of dancing with objects. Dancers also explore how objects lend metaphor to movement and build a visual field for dance. The class is divided into two parts:

Part One: Repertoire with Objects

Dancers participate in object studies by learning sections of Hedwig Dances’ object-rich repertoire. Through learning this repertoire, dancers develop a relationship with an object, experience its properties, and learn “hands-on” how to work with an object.

Part Two: Object Exploration and Movement Development Each participants chooses their own object.* Through playful engagement with this chosen object, dancers explore and reflect on thematic possibilities, the object’s inherent properties and their relationship to the object. This exploration leads to movement development with the object and the creation of a short object study.

*Dancers can bring their own object or Hedwig Dances can provide objects.

CLASS SCHEDULE

Tuesday

10am-11:30am: Contemporary Floor Work with Olivia Gonzalez Raga

11:30am-12:30pm: Partnering with Kelly Kosiek & Olivia Gonzalez Raga

12:30pm-1:00pm: Lunch break!

1:00pm-3:00pm: Repertoire and Objects with Kelly Kosiek & Olivia Gonzalez Raga

Wednesday

10am-11:30am: Improvisation with Milo Sachse-Hofheimer

11:30am-12:30pm: Partnering with Kelly Kosiek, Milo Sachse-Hofheimer & Olivia Gonzalez Raga

12:30pm-1:00pm: Lunch break!

1:00pm-3:00pm: Repertoire and Object Exploration with Kelly Kosiek & Olivia Gonzalez Raga

Thursday

10am-11:30am: Contemporary Floor Work with Olivia Gonzalez Raga

11:30am-12:30pm: Partnering with Kelly Kosiek & Olivia Gonzalez Raga

12:30pm-1:00pm: Lunch break!

1:00pm-3:00pm: Repertoire and Object Exploration with Kelly Kosiek & Olivia Gonzalez Raga

Friday

10am-11:30am: Improvisation with Milo Sachse-Hofheimer

11:30am-12:30pm: Partnering with Kelly Kosiek, Milo Sachse-Hofheimer & Olivia Gonzalez Raga

12:30pm-1:00pm: Lunch break!

1:00pm-3:00pm: Repertoire and Object Exploration with Kelly Kosiek & Olivia Gonzalez Raga

ABOUT YOUR INSTRUCTORS

Kelly Kosiek is an artist born and raised in Chicago where she began her early dance training. Her training and education led her to attend Point Park University where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance.

Her performance experiences include works by Rennie Harris, Jessica Lang, Daniel Herman, Noelle Kayser, Natasha Adorlee, Rigo Saura, Paula Sousa, and Sarita Smith Childs. She has performed on stage, in film work, and in site-specific work in museums, festivals and retreats throughout the United States and internationally. These experiences include participatioNas part of Jenna Pollack’s residency at the Chicago Cultural Center, Chicago Live!, and Hedwig Dances’ residency at Ragdale among others. Kelly was part of Hedwig Dances’ 40th anniversary tour to Germany in connection with The Bauhaus' 100th anniversary. During this time she had the honor to perform work by Hedwig Dances’ Artistic Director Jan Bartoszek at Schaubühne Lindefels as their season opener and at the Bauhaus Dessau. Kelly was also gifted the opportunity perform with Jan in the first piece she choreographed during Hedwig’s 40th anniversary gala at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.

Kelly values the freelance community and the collective creative energy she has had the joy to participate in throughout Chicago. Apart from performance, Kelly has choreographed work during her time at Point Park University and around the Chicagoland area. Previously a member of Inaside Chicago Dance, Kelly is currently with Hedwig Dances as of 2023.

Milo Sachse-Hofheimer is a movement artist born and currently based in the Midwest. They graduated with a BFA in dance from the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities in 2023 where they performed new creations and repertoire from Gallim Dance, Robert Moses, BRKFST, Black Label Movement, Elayna Waxse, Leila Awadallah, Annie Hanauer, and Brother(hood). In their final year of school, Milo performed as a guest with The Limon Dance Company and self-produced an evening-length show at the Red Eye Theater.

Since moving to Chicago, Milo has grown a creative network with Drew Lewis (House of DOV), Jan Bartoszek (Hedwig Dances), and Carl Flink (Black Label Movement), as well as with choreographers Jessi Stegal, Rahila Coats, Hannah Marcus, and Erin Killmurray. These collaborations have resulted in works presented at the American Dance Festival, Bauhaus Dessau, Springboard Danse, the MCA, Schaübuhne Lindenfels, Steppenwolf Theater, DePaul Art Museum, the Arts Club of Chicago, Links Hall, Chicago Cultural Center, and Chicago Live!

Olivia Gonzalez is a professional dancer, choreographer, and teacher who graduated from the National School of Art in Havana, Cuba. She began her training at the Afro-Cuban dance company JJ, where she completed her pre-professional practice. Olivia danced professionally with the Havana-based Retazos Dance Theater, performing in festivals such as Habana Vieja Ciudad en Movimiento in Cuba, as well as international events in Canada, Uruguay, and the United States. She was also part of Transits – Havana, a global dance collaboration between Sweden and Cuba. After relocating to Chicago, Olivia continued to expand her artistic career with Concert Dance, Inc. and with Hedwig Dances. She has since performed and toured internationally with Hedwig Dances and has taught Cuban-style modern dance for the Company. Olivia also teaches contemporary and Afro-Cuban dance at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts.

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