Modern IV

photo by Martin Gavica

In this class, dancers will experience some of the training research that Delfos Danza Contemporánea has develop as part of their artistic and pedagogical vision. We will explore exciting body dynamics and the flow/control of energy via the use of different principles such as accumulation and expansion, multi-dimensional and multi-directional use of the space, the floor work as tool/collaborator, breath as impulse for movement, body language articulation, circularity, sense of community, and the use of imagination as both a neuromuscular and emotional force. The main focus will be on the development of an organic, free-flowing style of movement. Delfos’s movement approach fosters a deeper understanding of the individual body, thereby facilitating the use of instinct, sensory perception, emotions and the imagination in dance.

Claudia Lavista is a dancer, choreographer and teacher, who has been involved in arts since the age of eight. In 1992 she founded DELFOS Contemporary Dance along with Victor Manuel Ruiz. The company has since grown into one of Mexico’s foremost internationally touring modern dance troupes. Claudia has received many awards for her outstanding artistic works including Best Female Dancer in 1998, 2002 and 2005, and “One of the 10 Best Mexican Dancers of the XX Century” by the specialized critics in 2001. In 2008 and 2011 she received the prestigious National Arts Creators Fellowship from the Mexican National Endowment for the Arts. In 2011 the University of Chicago chooses her as a Mellon Fellow to create a collaborative project with the music department. She has been a featured performer in over 70 works of dance, theater, video and opera, working with an international roster of choreographers and performing in some of the world’s most prestigious theaters. Claudia has created more than 40 choreographic works and has collaborated with theater and opera directors, photographers, video artists, poets and other choreographers for nearly two decades. In 1998 she created, along with Victor Manuel Ruiz and Omar Carrum, La Escuela Profesional de Danza de Mazatlán/EPDM, which has emerged as one of the leading dance conservatories in Mexico and Latin America.