workshops

Only Child teaches aerial theatre workshops of varying lengths, from condensed two hour formats to week long intensives. As part of our mission to bridge the gap between physical theatre and contemporary circus, we also facilitate guest workshops in NYC with the world's top practitioners in both fields.

 

Due to Covid-19, There are no upcoming workshops currently scheduled. To discuss booking a Virtual workshop, please contact us.

 

GUEST ARTIST WORKSHOPS

Frantic assembly guest workshop with jess williams

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This 3-hour workshop on the Frantic Assembly method will be led by Jess Williams, who has been working as a practitioner for Frantic Assembly since 2012.  She is currently working for the company as Associate Movement Director on the US tour of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. In 2014 Jess was a performer in and Movement Captain for the UK tour of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.  Other credits for Frantic Assembly include co-director Dead, Born, Grow for the National Youth Theatre of Wales show, Movement Director, Jumping Puddles for Open Clasp Theatre.  Jess trained at the London Contemporary Dance School. 

 
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nofit state circus' guest workshop with firenza guidi "raw energy"

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Milan-born Firenza Guidi is an auteur, director and creator of a unique performative language.  Her method is built around structured improvisation and creative impulses which inspire, encourage and develop the performers’ potential whilst giving them a great deal of creative freedom.  Guidi has created circus performances throughout the world. The shows she has created for NoFit State Circus (Immortal, Tabù, Bianco) have helped put the Wales-based company on the international map.  In 1989 she founded Elan (European Live Arts Network), and since 2004 she’s been running her Creative Centre housed in an old olive press in Tuscany, Italy. She has a PhD in Renaissance Tragedy and an MA in Film. For more on Firenza see http://www.elanfrantoio.org/en/about/firenza-guidi.

 

workshops with only child's artistic director nicki miller

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only child has taught workshops with:

(instructed by Nicki Miller unless otherwise specified)

  • Millbrook School 2018 Senior Mentorship Millbrook, NY (with Leighann Kowalsky)- a senior project performance coaching and creation process with one-on-one sessions with students held monthly leading up to performance

  • Santa Barbara Centre for Aerial Dance Floor to Air Festival 2016 Santa Barbara, CA (Movement as Metaphor, Aerial Rope Techniques)  Nicki was one of 6 guest instructors/performers in this week long workshop festival.

  • Millbrook School 2016 Intersession Millbrook, NY (collaboration with Hudson Valley Circus Arts; Teachers: Nicki Miller, Alisha Mai MacNamera, Leighann Kowalsky) - A four day introduction to aerial silks, physical storytelling and creative collaboration, culminating in a short workshop performance.

  • Acrobatic Conundrum, Seattle, WA-  Intro to Embodied Storytelling with for Acrobatic Conundrum company artists

  • Cirque du Vol Raleigh, NC (Aerial Rope Techniques)

  • Triangle Yoga Chapel Hill, NC (Intro to Embodied Storytelling, Choreography 3D)

  • Burning Coal Theatre Raleigh, NC (Intro to Embodied Storytelling, Choreography 3D; Aerial Straps Fundamentals with Samantha Sterman)

  • The Muse Brooklyn Brooklyn, NY - Intro to Embodied Storytelling, weekly Rope and Silks classes

  • Hudson Valley Circus Arts Kingston, NY- 3 weeks, one class per week: Introduction to choreography on aerial silks

introduction to embodied storytelling 

(All Levels, max 20 students)

For acrobats, dancers, actors and movers this workshop explores how we can give choreography context and meaning. Using a basic sequence of choreography on the floor as a template, we will layer on different intentions, qualities and scenarios to discover the ways even one phrase of movement can mean a multitude of things. This class will be primarily ground-based and end with a brief introduction to aerial hammock and silks. Ideal for dancers and actors interested in owning their bodies as a tool for expressive performance. Aerialists are welcome to attend!

applied neuroscience for for circus artists

(All Levels, max 20 students)

When we begin learning circus tricks, we may not arrive with the pre-requisites our body needs to have in order to safely try a handstand, a split, an aerial trick. Human bodies, especially those who begin practicing circus skills later in life, often arrive with a handful of pedestrian patterns that make circus movement feel not just physically challenging, but impossible or painful. This isn't necessarily a consequence of aging, as much as it is that our brain and nervous system only know how to move our joints the ways that we practice moving them. Lots of circus movement requires extreme ranges of motion that we don't practice in everyday life. Circus movement requires increased control of joint mobility, meaning that the muscles around the joints are strong and active in their flexibility. This workshop uses principles from FRC® (Functional Range Conditioning), IKN® (Integrated Kinetic Neurology, somatics, and years of Nicki's observation, learning, and practice, to give you tools to work train at the speed of your nervous system’s trust*.

*”training at the speed of trust” is a quote adopted from adrienne maree brown’s Emergent Strategy

CHOREOGRAPHY 3D

(Intermediate/Advanced, max 10 students)

This intermediate/advanced workshop allows aerialists the opportunity to find personalization and dynamics in aerial choreography. Students MUST BRING IN A SHORT SEQUENCE of aerial choreography that they are comfortable repeating several times. We will use different methods drawn from theatre and dance to find specificity, nuance and intention in traditional aerial sequencing. This workshop is great for aerialists with some experience who are looking for ways to strengthen their acts and gain approaches to aerial choreography and performance presence.