Technique: Lifetime Achievement Honoree Bill Evans
How I Teach Modern Dance
On a Wednesday morning in Brockport, NY, Bill Evans watches half of his advanced modern dance class perform a set movement phrase while the other half observes. As the students’ dance flows into improvisation, Evans calls out cues like “press, flick, float.” Afterward, the observers and performers pair up to reflect and discuss, and the cavernous studio (a former gymnasium) buzzes with their chatter.
This interaction is central to the class structure. It amplifies the students’ role in the learning process, says Evans, whose technique class is as much about self-discovery as it is about reproducing shapes. His Laban/Bartenieff-influenced method not only provides a solid foundation for movement but also helps dancers build the kind of confidence that is essential to their success as artists and educators.
Evans has influenced the dance field with his thoughtful approach over a long and fruitful career. He began performing professionally in 1963 with the Utah Theatre Ballet (now known as Ballet West), and he has danced and choreographed for Repertory Dance Theater, served as artistic director for Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers and started two companies of his own (a modern dance group and a rhythm tap ensemble). He is currently a visiting professor of dance at the State University of New York The College at Brockport, after more than 20 years on the faculty at the University of New Mexico. Teachers everywhere flock to his summer intensives. In August, Evans, who just turned 70, will accept the 2010 Dance Teacher Lifetime Achievement Award.
In six years, he has made an indelible mark at SUNY Brockport. All dance majors, for instance, study Bartenieff Fundamentals, which allows Evans to saturate his classes (including choreo-graphy, tap and pedagogy) with Laban principles and vocabulary. “I build my phrases to include a variety of directionalities, effort qualities and spatial relationships,” he says. “This makes students understand the deliciousness and value to dynamic dancing.”
Each student works with a buddy throughout the school year, and together they create artistic challenges and goals for self-improvement. “I encourage students to practice coaching each other in preparation for their own rehearsal processes,” he says. Students who learn only to reproduce phrases without this kind of analysis are less likely to apply the concepts to other techniques, and even less likely to find their own choreographic voices.
“My goal is to create an environment of trust, as well as a place of increased challenges,” he says. “Dancers learn they’re not threatened, and that they can take risks.”
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Bill Evans is the artistic director of the Bill Evans Dance Company (founded in 1975) and the Bill Evans Rhythm Tap Ensemble (1992). As a visiting professor and the undergraduate program director of the dance department at the State University of New York at Brockport, he teaches modern dance technique, rhythm tap, Laban Movement Analysis/Bartenieff Fundamentals, dance kinesiology, improvisation, choreography and pedagogy. Certified as a Laban Movement Analyst with both LIMS and IMS, Evans is also a distinguished professor emeritus at the University of New Mexico and has served on the board of the American College Dance Festival and National Dance Association. He was resident choreographer for Utah’s Repertory Dance Theater (1967–74) and artistic director and choreographer for Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers (1983–85). He directs the annual Bill Evans Dance Teachers Intensives and Evans Technique Certification Program.
Kathy Diehl graduated with an MFA from SUNY Brockport this past May. In April 2010, she performed with the Bill Evans Dance Company to celebrate Evans’ 70th birthday.
To read more about Bill Evans, check out "Of Mentoring & Metamorphosis" by Susie Eisner Eley.
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Here, Evans and graduate student Kathy Diehl demonstrate an under-curve exercise that stresses weight-shifting and directional changes—concepts that can also be applied to other types of dance, including jazz and ballet.
ABOUT THE LESSON:
Under-curve: Shifting of weight from one leg to another while dropping the pelvis lower in the center of the curve. The under-curve is a basic movement, especially central to modern technique.
Inversion: Moving the body upside down in space while bearing weight with your arms, hands, shoulders or head.
“I include both under-curves and inversions in this pattern to help dancers get the hang of shifting weight smoothly in every direction, as well as upside-down.
“Much of contemporary choreography requires dancers to be able to move through inverted positions safely and confidently. Often, a young dancer will dive into a handstand, keeping her torso in a fixed line, stressing her lower back over time. Instead, she should practice sequentially folding each vertebra and sliding her arms forward, easing into the inversion to aid her spine’s shock absorption.” —Bill Evans
TIP: Let the movement ride the breath, creating an organic acceleration and deceleration that guides each curve.
To begin: Stand facing front in a relaxed turned-out position. This is neutral.
To under-curve: Bend your knees. Slide your right foot forward and at the deepest point of the plié, transfer your weight to your right foot, creating a U-shaped curve in space. At the top of the curve, your weight is completely over your right hip joint. Return to neutral by reversing the curve.
Note: Initiate the movement from your pelvis. Your arms follow the natural flow from low to high.
Inversion: Slide your right foot forward, as if you were beginning another under-curve. Fold your head into your chest and sequentially roll down your spine. Allow your hands to slide forward as you shift your weight to your upper body into an inversion. At the height of the handstand, your left leg is perpendicular to the floor, and your right leg is a few inches from the ground and straight. Return to neutral: Reverse the inverted under-curve and successively unfold your spine.
Under-curve sideways by sliding your right foot through a wide, deep second position. Arms move out sideways from your shoulders. Return to neutral.
Note: Lateral shifting offers the greatest visibility to make sure a dancer completely shifts her weight before rising. An incorrect curve appears V-shaped, rather than the correct U-shape.
For the Inversion: Side bend to the right. Maintain the frontal orientation as you reach with a weighted head toward the floor. (D–F) Pushing with your right foot, transfer your weight into your hands and reach your tailbone to the ceiling. Touch down your left foot first, continuing a lateral path to the right. Shifting your weight to your right side, remain in a deep plié, maintaining a constant head-tailbone connection. Slide your left foot toward the right, and unfold to a standing neutral position.
Moving in a spiral: In preparation for the spiral, plié on your right leg. Push from your right side to step widely to the left, spreading your upper torso and arms. Feel an exaggerated sense of lightness and openness. As you shift your weight to the left foot, tuck your right foot behind and rotate your torso around to the back. Gather the space with your upper body, and feel an enclosing sense as you descend into the spiral. Use the spiral’s momentum to complete a 360-degree roll. Maintain a head-tailbone connection as you stand, thinking of continuing the spiral as you unfold your torso.
Note: Keep your head tucked: It will increase momentum and make it easier to stand up.
Return to neutral: Completely unfold your spine to begin everything with the opposite side.
Photograph by Kevin Colton at SUNY College at Brockport
