2 PM – IMPROVISATIONAL DANCE – Rebecca French – Soul Tent

No dance experience needed! This workshop will tap into your innate sense of expression through movement. The session will begin with a fun and easy warm-up led by Rebecca French, followed by various improvisational exercises. The workshop will conclude with participants creating their own short dance phrase based on their favorite expressive movements.

Rebecca French is an award-winning contemporary dance choreographer in Houston, TX. Her creations have been commissioned by the Turrell Twilight Epiphany Skyspace, Cullen Theater, JCC’s ChoreographersX6, CounterCurrent Festival, University of Houston, Miller Outdoor Theater, Houston Center for Photography, Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, New Orleans Fringe Festival, Italy’s Trieste Film Festival, Station Museum of Contemporary Art, and Rice University Dance Theatre, among others.

As a full-time choreographer, dance for film-maker, dance instructor and arts presenter, French has produced 2-3 original full-length works per season since 2003, in addition to creating 9 dances for film. Chosen by the Houston Press as one of the city’s 100 Creatives, as well as a Top 10 Choreographer and one of Houston’s Top 10 Dance Companies, French has also been featured in Houstonia Magazine, CultureMap, Spectrum South, Arts + Culture Texas, Broadway World, Outsmart Magazine and the Houston Chronicle.

French co-founded FrenetiCore Dance in 2003 with composer/filmmaker Robert Thoth. Together the two collaborators built Frenetic Theater, a performance and visual arts venue in Houston’s East End, and founded the Houston Fringe Festival, an annual performance festival which continues today. In addition to her passion for dance-making, Rebecca is dedicated to fostering community and self-expression in others. She has worked with Children’s Prison Arts Project to bring movement to incarcerated youth, taught dance classes to homeless LGBTQ teens at the Grace Place homeless outreach center, and most recently created a Queer Dance Workshop for university students and adult dancers.

French has received numerous individual and organizational grants over the past 15 years. In 2004, 2008, 2012 and twice in 2018, she was awarded Individual Artist Grants for choreography, social practice and multi-media performance from the Houston Arts Alliance through the city of Houston.

Rebecca deeply values the transformative power of art on individuals and societies. Her choreographic approach is based on her study of theatre and numerous dance disciplines, including modern dance, ballet, jazz, world (African, Asian, Middle Eastern), ballroom, hip-hop, and gymnastics. She is most interested in highly theatrical work that entertains while expressing profound truths about the human condition. French considers her work successful when it moves audience members to revelation, anger, joy or action. French is currently focused on creating new movement techniques that fuse global dance styles with contemporary Western dance, and developing both spaces and experiences that foster self-expression for the LGBTQ+ community. Her career exemplifies her endless belief in the power of art on individuals and society at large.