Biography & Class Description
Antonia Katrandjieva is a graduate of the Zurich Dance Theater School in Switzerland, and the National Academy for Theater and Film Arts in Sofia, Bulgaria where she holds a Ph.D. in Non-verbal Theater. She is an internationally acclaimed theater artist, and choreographer who has directed over 30 vanguard performances in Switzerland, Bali, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Germany, France, Bulgaria, and NYC. Antonia has served as chorographer of Aeon Dance Company, Serapis New Age Performance Studio and Global Arts Synthesis Laboratory. Antonia has lectured in Theater, Dance and Pantomime at the National Academy of Theater & Film Arts, American College in Sofia, International College of Arts in Denpasar, Bali, Zurich Dance Theater School in Switzerland, and most recently at Harvard Dance School, U.S. She has authored the manual for contemporary actors & dancers Intuitive Gesture and numerous articles on Theater, Philosophy and Dance published in Bulgarian, Swiss and American Journals. Antonia is founder of Overground Arts Alliance, a NY based dance theatre company. Antonia’s dance and choreography credits in NY include Theosophy Hall, Theosophical Society Ballet Arts, City Center for the Arts, Judson Memorial Church, Brooklyn Information and Culture Center and Dance New Amsterdam. Since 2002 Antonia lives in New York where serves as NY correspondent for Bulgarian Theater Magazine and as teaching artist for the Joyce Theater Foundation in NYC. Currently, Antonia is also on the faculty of Ballet Arts, NYC, where she teaches contemporary dance.
Contemporary
This class begins with a breath-based, meditative-kinetic warm-up to provide energetic focus of movement, to strengthen alignment, followed by exercises that explore breath, flow, range, power and dynamics to harness the body’s momentum and force. Strong floor and center sequence work utilizes the techniques of Horton, Graham, Limon, improvisation, release and yoga. Extended combination moving across the floor with an emphasis on rhythm and technical nuances are explored and the class culminates with a long phrase, offering room for self-identification in the movement which allows students to bring their unique artistic authenticity to the floor. The focus is on developing a polar vocabulary, freely shifting between logical/organic and illogical/inorganic sequencing. This performance style cultivates athleticism and musicality, teaching the students to move with abandonment and clarity. A meditative group yoga-based, chill-out sequence soothes the body, stills the mind and brings dancers’ awareness back to their core. This class aims at preparing students for dance theatre performance on stage. |
