David Hernandez – “MOVERCRAFT” from 12.02.-16.02.

David Hernandez was born in Miami, Florida where he studied 'studio music & jazz’ and opera at the University of Miami and dance at 'New World School of the Arts’. Subsequently he moved to New York to work as an apprentice with the Trisha Brown and company and begin researching with Meg Stuart. He left New York to follow Meg Stuart to Belgium to help begin the company Damaged Goods where he worked for almost seven years as a dancer and collaborator.

David remained in Europe basing himself in Brussels where he continued creating his own work in the form of dance performances, installations, happenings and many other sorts of multidisciplinary projects for over twenty years. Next to his own projects he continued performing and collaborating with many other artists such as LaborGras, Brice Leroux, Anouk Van Dijk, Michel Debrulle as well as directing, performing and researching as an improviser with artists such as Steve Paxton & Katie Duck, among many others. He was one of the three initiators of the improvisation project 'Crash Landing' along with Christine Desmet and Meg Stuart.

David participated in a choreographic collaboration with Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker for many years for projects including "Zeitung", "Keeping Still" and “D’un Soir un Jour" and danced and sang in the production “Cesena" which premiered at the Avignon Festival in 2011.

As a pedagogue, David gives classes and workshops worldwide while maintaining a position as a main teacher at PARTS since 1995. Previously he developed and managed his own education program, 'PEP' (The Performance Education Program) for several years in the framework of Klapstuk festival in Leuven, Belgium where he was also in residence.

MOVERCRAFT – class description

I am interested in movement and training the body and to express through movement in a detailed and precise way, but without the loss of the individual expression. I am developing an approach to dance technique and movement vocabulary that embraces physicality, craft and approaches the body as an instrument. The class is highly physical with an emphasis on detail. We concentrate on establishing a clear, efficient body alignment as a base to move from while making gravity our partner through discovering the notion of falling and redirected weight. There is an exposure to very specific, dynamic movement vocabulary that concentrates on moving weight, density and texture and the musicality of physical material.

All parts of the body are used to gesture, often playing against each other like contrapuntal melody lines. The form is clear and provides a partition in which the dancers can challenge themselves against its rigor while finding a personal approach to the material. Each individual and individual body is different, therefore the material must be translated by each person in their own unique way while honing and crafting the material on their particular body. The class gives the keys to do this while providing tools and skills useable in other styles of work as well.