Joe Alegado
Workshop - Shifting Roots
Date: 11. - 13. Sept 2023
Time: 11:30 am - 1:30 pm
Days: 3
Studio: 2
Shifting Roots - Description
Joe's teaching focuses on strengthening the connection to the Earth and our roots, which are essential for our freedom of movement. His desire is for participants to experience this connection and learn the crucial weight shifts inherent in dance. Coordination, rhythm, focus, and, above all, authenticity in movement will be some of the goals.
Movement principles are taken to a higher, more complex level of coordination involving hands, arms, legs, and the torso. Changes in rhythm, weight shifts, dynamic transitions, and, most importantly, the connection to the Earth enable expansion upwards, which is vital for achieving a high level of performance.
"In my desire to distinguish the differences between my personal development in dance and my work with the tradition of José Limón, I decided to categorize my work as Alegado movement language. Primarily, to give more substance to the fact that the foundation of all my somatic experiences from childhood to the present has contributed to my dance vocabulary.
Further and deeper beneath this somatic foundation lie the roots that extend further into the soul of our Earth. And because we, as humans, are constantly moving within the landscape of the Earth, I have chosen to further define my work by renaming it - Shifting Roots."
Biography
Joe Alegado was a member and soloist of Ballet Hispanico of NYC, Alvin Ailey Repertory Ensembles, and the José Limón Dance Company. He has performed worldwide in some of the most renowned dance works of the modern dance repertoire. He has extensively taught and choreographed across Europe and the world, working in various festivals, studios, institutions, and dance companies. He is one of the original faculty members of the ImPulsTanz Workshops (formerly Wiener Tanzwochen). His work over three decades in Europe is reflected in his development here at the ImPulsTanz Festival. While his main focus is on teaching, his choreographic creations throughout Europe and beyond have served as an inspiration for a dance training methodology that uses the stage as a reference point to guide the flow, energy, and intention of the class process. From the early years of teaching Limón technique to the present fusion of his own personal movement language, his work has evolved from the unique expression of Limón's fundamental principles to the creation of his own class methodology: Shifting Roots - the Alegado movement language.