"The Oscar Peterson of hoofing"
Heather Cornell's Intensive in the woods
with live music
"Passing it On"
Dates: July 14 - 25, 2011
Location: Heather's Studio, in Valley Cottage, NY, 20 minutes north of NYC
Click for a review of past intensives
Or to download a registration form
Registration Limit: 12 Students only
Registration is now open. You can download a registration form by clicking on the link above. For more information please contact: Heather Cornell
The goal is to create a learning environment that nurtures individual development while at the same time developing a strong music/dance community. Students will stay at the historic Tolstoy Foundation, (2 miles from the studio), an historic cultural and humanitarian foundation located on acres of beautiful wooded property. The facility has private rooms and shared bath, a kitchen and common space and a community room for practicing. The Foundation's chef will provide a 4 course meal each day of the workshop. There are a number of local restaurants and supermarkets where students can get breakfast and lunch. The bus for NYC stops right at the front door of the property. We strongly encourage that you take advantage of the bike rentals to get you back and forth to the studio. Also, the village of Nyack is 2 miles down the road, and Rockland Lake State Park is just down the road.
Registration is now open. You can download a registration form by clicking on the link above. For more information please contact: Heather Cornell
"Working with Heather Cornell, with the wonderful musicians and with all the participants was such a great experience Ð it fundamentally changed my life. The intensive gave me the courage and the confidence to try, to fail, and to succeed. There are very few teachers who teach in such a simple and clear way, and with such love, encouraging us not to imitate others, but to find the rhythm in our own bodies - to be a musician. It was luxury to dance every day with such great and sensitive musicians, who showed us what music is to them in their lives and who accepted us as their instrumental partners . Thank you Heather for these enriching connections. Seldom, perhaps never and nowhere, have I felt so accepted and supported in being who I am and in doing what I do." Katarina Rasinski, New Music Vocalist, "Die Maulwerker", Berlin "
What is an Intensive Workshop?
An intensive workshop is not a festival. Festivals offer limited exposure to several dance instructors, who may or may not pick you out of the crowd. At Heather Cornell's Rhythm Tap Intensive you will get the same individual attention that Heather offered her company members and dancers in her professional training program for two decades. Some of the alumni of Manhattan Tap and the professional training program are Max Pollack (Rumba Tap), Olivia Rosencrantz (Tapage). Tomango (Urban Tap), Roxanne "Butterfly", Jeannie Hill, Nicole Hockenberry and Michael Minery.
"Living and working in Ireland can be very isolating . . . Heather's courses are a great way to re-establish the link into the tap family. I came home with a renewed sense of confidence and that feeling of 'anything's possible'." Diane Richardson, Director of Tapestry, Ireland
Why "Passing It On"?
Heather had the great opportunity to study and perform extensively with Charles "Cookie" Cook, Eddie Brown, Buster Brown, Steve Condos, Chuck Green and Harriet Brown. All of these artists were not trained teachers, but performers who were passing on a tradition of creation, improvisation and inspiration. These experiences left Heather with a passion to teach in a way that produces creators and not imitators.
This workshop will draw from the work and inspiration of the six mentors listed above with a goal of deconstructing our teaching and performing styles and reconstructing them in a new way. Whether you are a teacher, performer or student, this intensive will help to answer your questions, help you pose new ones, and help you to refocus your work.
2011 INTENSIVE SCHEDULE
Week One: July 14 - 18, Thursday - Monday
Morning: Technique ClassWake up, have some coffee, maybe a walk in the woods and then launch into a solid two hour technique class aimed at developing basic tap skills for working with music both improvisationally and choreographically. Whether jazz or world music, this class will explore unique, intimate connections to the music, which is all live. You will will be going back to the basics, but those basics have never seemed so rich! Get ready to tap AND play percussion.
"Most dancers and choreographers find inspiration in music, but not many commune with it as intensely as Canadian tapper Heather Cornell." The Stage, London, England
Afternoon Professional Workshop: Studying the Masters
The masters: Charles "Cookie" Cook (Cook and Brown, Kiss Me Kate), Buster Brown (The Speed Kings, Bubblin' Brown Sugar), Eddie Brown (Bill Robinson's show, The Evolution of the Blues), Harriet Brown (The Silver Belles, the only female sand dancer), Chuck Green (Chuck and Chuckles) and Steve Condos (The Condos Brothers).
Heather spent 20 years being fed the living oral history of tap through anecdotal stories and colourful tales, intense studio sessions, collaborations and touring with these great artists, often in her Manhattan Tap show. This class is about working with the styles, material, videos and concepts of these great dancers - one per day. The students will be introduced to the masterful and idiosyncratic teaching styles of these legendary hoofers, the men and women who invented the dance genre known as rhythm tap. Through rare private videotaped documentation, studio dance and improvisational exercises, readings and discussions, we will analyze the ways in which these inspiring teachers passed on their artform. This course was originally designed for Columbia University Teacher's College Masters Program and offered in the summer of 2002.
"Her dancing is a visual and aural link to some of the great tap masters." (The Sunday Mercury, Guelph, Ontario, Canada)
Music Classes
Twice a week the musicians will stay to work with the students. This is your chance to speak directly with the musicians and to ask all those questions you've always thought were too stupid to ask. Sometimes we talk, sometimes we dance, sometimes we play....depends on you and your questions, and on the musicians and how you inspire them to share their knowledge and creative thoughts.
"This experience was life-changing for me. We learned to speak "jazz". It was much different from any class I had ever taken. Heather pushed us to focus our dancing in a new light. Suddenly, creating our own rhythms was no longer intimidating, but simply part of what we do - as tap musicians. Heather created a path to another level of improvisation and tap dancing. It was really fun to work at this level - comfortably." -Jenefer Miller, Phoenix, AZ
Week Two: July 21 - 25, Thursday - Monday
Morning: Manhattan Tap RepertoireWhile artistic director/choreographer for Manhattan Tap, Heather created dozens of pieces in collaboration with world reknowned musicians who wrote original music for her dances. Her most notable full evening collaborations were with bassist Ray Brown, drummer Lewis Nash, Keith Terry & Crosspulse, Bob Telson and Chango Spasiuk, Leon Parker, and for 15 years with Manhattan Tap's music director, Keith Saunders.
In this class, we'll experience the elements that make up an original work from the Manhattan Tap repetoire. Come and learn a "new classic".
"[Cornell's choreography] explores so many genres of music and movement that the result is her own, indefinable idiom. It strikes the ear as a true dance and musical phenomenon. Nothing before has been quite like it. Perhaps nothing to come will be either." - The Chieftan, Pueblo, Colorado.
Afternoon Professional Workshop: Teaching Styles
Let's get together and change the atmosphere of teaching and learning rhythm tap. We'll be looking for ways to disconnect from the "normal" class structure, building on week one by using the wisdom of the mentors of rhythm tap as our foundation. Topics like: how to incorporate live music in class and on stage, comparing the way we teach with methods for teaching music, how visual are we?, how aural are we?, tonal tapping, etc. You come with your own questions and ideas and we'll work on just that!
Heather is known for her highly musical style both as a performer and choreographer and has an enormous talent for developing deep musicality in her students. She has taught around the world, training teachers from many different styles and disciplines. She enjoys finding connections, and likes to maximize on the wisdom that the teachers bring to the room. Her style of teaching, ranging from work with beginners through professional performers and teachers, is one that enhances the individuality and strengthens the voice of each particpant. She loves to work with teachers, both syllabus based and not, by helping them to find bridges into new approaches.
"I think the most memorable thing for me was the opportunity to experiment in a nonjudgmental environment with the support of teacher, musician, and student. Being in a setting where we could ask so many questions made for great learning." Dayna Szyndrowski, Canada
Music Class
See Week One
2010 Class Schedule
Tap Classes: Heather Cornell Music Classes: TBA Exact times of classes may change day to day
| Thur | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
July 14 10:00-12:00 Technique 3:00-6:00 Workshop |
15 10:00-12:00 Technique 12:30-2:00 Music 3:00-6:00 Workshop |
16 10:00-12:00 Technique 3:00-6:00 Workshop |
17 10:00-12:00 Technique 12:30-2:00 Music 3:00-6:00 Workshop |
18 10:00-12:00 Technique 2:00-6:00 Workshop |
|
July 21 10:00-12:00 MT Repetoire 3:00-6:00 Workshop |
22 10:00-12:00 MT Repetoire 12:30-2:00 Music 3:00-6:00 Workshop |
23 10:00-12:00 MT Repetoire 3:00-6:00 Workshop |
24 10:00-12:00 MT Repetoire 12:30-2:00 Music 3:00-6:00 Workshop |
25 10:00-12:00 MT Repetoire 2:00-6:00 Workshop |
2011 Location...
Heather Cornell Studio: Valley Cottage, NY
A Note About Registration...
There will be only 12 participants per week. Because of this, there will be no discounts or refunds. If you commit to a spot, and find that you need to cancel, your spot will go to a dancer on the waiting list. If there is no waiting list then you will be responsible to fill your spot. No drop-ins.
All registered participants will receive email confirmation of registration by July 1, 2010. Please give a phone or email address where you can be reached up to one week prior to the start of the workshop. You will be contacted in the event of a change of schedule or studio.
Registration Information
You can print out a registration form and send it with payment to:
Rhythm Tap Intensive Workshop with Heather Cornell
P.O. Box 571
Valley Cottage, NY 10989
Private Salons Available!
Next Salon: TBD
If you suggest a time for the next salon, I will book around your dates.
Student limit: 5
Throughout the year, week-long private "salons" with Ms. Cornell are available for
selected students in groups of 1 - 5 dancers. This year the residencies will take place at Heather's studio 30 minutes north of Manhattan.
You will work intensely for a minimum of 20 hours. You know how you learn best and so you can take this opportunity to set up your optimum learning environment - small group, privates, duet? Either way, you come ready with your own questions and ideas. The focus is on you!
For Workshop or Private session Information:
Email: hcornell@manhattantap.org -- and please leave your phone number, in case we can't reach your email!
Copyright © 2002-2006 by Manhattan Tap
PO Box 571
Valley Cottage, NY 10989
845-480-1396
hcornell@manhattantap.org