ANIMAL Dance Company is pleased to invite you to the INSTINCT Experimental Dance Festival this January 8th-12th, 2024 in Burlington, Vermont at the Main Street Landing Black Box Theater.

Experimental dance celebrates the weird, the wild, with an ever-changing definition of style and form. Experimental dance creates space for all types of expression, ranging from conceptual and abstract, to mythical story telling and poetic spirituality. It is a vehicle for investigation, understanding, and reimagining the complexities of each moment. Through media, music, movement and mystery, experimental artists bring the human experience into an imaginative reality, to help us all remember to ask “What else is possible?”

This festival will bring together experimental and interdisciplinary makers working between movement and other artistic fields for a week of workshops, showcases, and exchange. 

Monday January 8, 2024

Doors Open: 10:40 AM

11 AM – 12:30 PM - “The Dance Right Here" Morning Training with Ellen Smith Ahern

Lunch on own, or off site

2 – 4 PM - “Rewilding the Body” Workshop with Anna Riley Shepard

4:15 – 5:45 PM - Space closed for Artist Tech

6 – 7:30 Pm  - Anna Riley Shepard, "Rewilding the Body" Works in Progress Showing with Critical Response Format

7:30 PM - onwards- Artist Meet and Greet offsite. (local venue announced day of) 

Tuesday January 9, 2024

Doors Open: 10:40 AM

11 AM – 12:30 PM - “Moving to Self – Morning Wave” Morning Training with Thomas Lucas

Lunch on own, or off site

2 – 4 PM - “Thresholds and Openings” Workshop with Julian Barnett

4:15 – 5:45 PM - Space closed for Artist Tech

6 - 7:30 PM - Julian Barnett, "Subject to Change" Works in Progress Showing with Critical Response Format?

7:30 PM – onwards - Artist Meet and Greet offsite.  (local venue announced of)

Wednesday January 10, 2024

Doors Open: 10:40 AM

11 AM – 12:30 PM - “SoulStories” Morning Training with Julie-Peoples Clark

Lunch on own, or off site

2 – 4 PM - “The Ties that Bind - Contemporary Partnering with bodies and objects” Workshop with Nicole Dagesse

4:15 – 5:45 PM - Space closed for Artist Tech

6 – 7:30 PM - Nicole Dagesse, "Precarity" Works in Progress Showing with Critical Response Format?

7:30 PM – onwards - Artist Meet and Greet offsite.  (local venue announced of)

Thursday January 11, 2024

Doors Open: 10:40 AM

11 AM – 12:30 PM - “Angels: Releasing into Partnering” Morning Training with Laurel Jenkins

Lunch on own, or off site

2 – 4 PM - “Equal Partners: Collaborations Between Dance and Music” Workshop with Jessie Owens and Matt LaRocca

4:15 – 5:45 PM - Space closed for Artist Tech

6 – 7:30 PM - Jessie Owens and Matt LaRocca, "Ghost" Works in Progress Showing with Critical Response Format?

7:30 PM – onwards - Artist Meet and Greet offsite.  (local venue announced of)

Friday January 12, 2024

Doors Open: 10:40 AM

11 AM – 12:30 PM - “Moving to Self – Morning Wave” Morning Training with Carolyn Cooke

Lunch on own, or off site

2 – 4 PM - “Creative Community” Workshop with Hanna Satterlee

4:15 – 5:45 PM - Space closed for Artist Tech

6 – 7:30 PM - Open Floor/Community Mixer Showcase

(Performance for festival community to share their art! Sign up is required.)

7:30 PM – onwards - Artist Meet and Greet offsite.  (local venue announced of)

Full Festival Pass

Full Festival Pass + Support the Arts! $500

Full Festival Pass + Pay it Forward!  $400

Full Festival Pass- Base Rate! $300

Package Deals

Morning trainings only (11am-12:30pm M-F) - $80

Afternoon trainings only (2-4pm M-F)- $110

One day pass- $60

Drop In Rates

Drop in class pass ($18 morning class, $25 afternoon workshop)

Evening showcases are pay at the door ($20 cash/check/venmo)

Register here 

Date: January 8th-12th, 2024

Location:  Main Street Landing Black Box Theater, urlington, Vermont

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