2008 Summer Faculty
Robert Davidson
SRT (Ongoing and Refresher); Shaping and Forming (Ongoing and Refresher); Creative Practice Rumi/Dance! (Ongoing and Refresher); Seminars (Ongoing and Refresher)
Robert Davidson began studying with Joan Skinner in 1965, becoming the first Certified Teacher of SRT in 1970, and a co-developer of much of the early SRT pedagogy. A former Director of the Skinner Releasing School and soloist with the Music and Dance Ensemble of Skinner Releasing, he joined the graduate faculty of the University of Washington Professional Actors' Training Program teaching SRT and aerial techniques for ten years. Director of his own dance company and the recipient of numerous grants, fellowships and commissions, from 1987 to 1997 he toured coast to coast and in both Eastern and Western Europe, frequently performing his signature work, "Airborne: Meister Eckhart." Since 1997 he has served as Head of Movement at the National Theatre Conservatory in Denver; and since 2005 he has been a regular soloist and teacher at the Aerial Dance Festival in Boulder, Colorado.
Kris Wheeler
Shaping and Forming (Ongoing and Refresher); Creative Practice Rumi/Dance! (Ongoing and Refresher)
Kris Wheeler came to Seattle to study with Joan Skinner in 1974. She soon became a member of the improvisational dance company Joan directed and they performed in collaboration with fabulous musicians, locally and on tour, for the next decade. Having danced with Danny Lepkoff for a year in the early 70's, she introduced contact improvisation to the Seattle community and hosted regular jams. Mid-80s to mid-90s found her flying over stages around the country with Robert Davidson. She taught in SRT Summer Intensives for 13 years, at the University of Washington for 6 years and one summer at Naropa Institute. She is a psychotherapist with 22 years of private practice, and continues to dance and perform locally.
Sally Metcalf
SRT (Introductory, Ongoing and Refresher); Seminars (Introductory, Ongoing and Refresher)
Sally Metcalf is a veteran Releaser who began studying with Joan Skinner in 1972. Together with Robert Davidson, she co-administrated the Skinner Releasing Dance Company School from 1975-1982, and assisted in creating the first Teacher Certification Program in 1981. She has taught Releasing from introductory through advanced levels to children, adults and aspiring teachers of both. From 1982 to 2002, she took time off to raise her daughter, returning to join the teacher training faculty and to partner with Joan Skinner and Jodi Blackburn-Roehl in re-creating the Children's Teacher Training Program. Sally holds a Master of Science from the University of Washington Department of Kinesiology.
Lionel Popkin
SRT (Introductory); Improvisation (Introductory); Creative Practice (Introductory); Seminars (Introductory); Aerial Dance & Jam (Introductory)
Lionel Popkin moved to Seattle back in the early nineties, danced for Stephanie Skura and became a certified SRT teacher in 1996. He then moved east and went on to dance in the companies’ of Trisha Brown (during the early naughts) and Terry Creach (the late nineties). His own choreography has been presented numerous times by Danspace Project in New York City as well as by The Getty Museum, REDCAT, and Highways in Los Angeles. Other cities include London, Philadelphia, Seattle, San Diego, and Washington, D.C. Lionel has served on the faculty of Bates College, London’s Laban Centre, Sarah Lawrence College, Temple University, and the University of Maryland. Lionel currently lives in LA and is an Assistant Professor in Choreography and Performance at UCLA.
Mary-Clare McKenna
SRT (Introductory); Improvisation (Introductory); Creative Practice (Introductory); Seminars (Introductory); Aerial Dance & Jam (Introductory)
Mary-Clare McKenna is a New York based performer and maker of interdisciplinary performance work. As a collaborator she has created with Janet Aisawa (NY) and Lee Nagrin (NY) and as a performer was a member of Gaby Agis & co (UK) for many years. She teaches internationally Skinner Releasing Technique, Improvisation & Composition, and has taught at Middlesex University, the Laban Centre, and the University of Istanbul. She is writing a book on the process-led nature of the work of dance/theatre director Lee Nagrin. She regards SRT as fundamental to her creative process.
Nathan Dryden
Low-flying Trapeze (Introductory); Seminars (Introductory); Aerial Dance & Jam (Introductory)
Nathan Dryden is a performing artist choreographer and teacher newly relocated to Seattle WA, where he teaches aerial dance, improvisation, and the Skinner Releasing Technique. Nathan holds a B.A. in art and film studies from U.C. Irvine where he began to explore performance art and dance. In 1994 he was invited by director Anne Bunker to join Orts Theatre of Dance (O-T-O) in Tucson AZ, where he began performing the aerial dances of Robert Davidson for the single-point trapeze. Davidson also introduced him to the work of Joan Skinner and in 2001 Nathan became a certified SRT teacher. He has served on faculty at SRT intensives in Turkey, New Zealand, as part of the Florida Dance Festival in Miami FL, at Juniata College, PA, and Seattle, WA. He has choreographed and performed independently and with the NEW ARTiculations Dance Company, ZUZI! Move It Dance, Zenith Dance Collective, Kevin Schroeder, and Beth Braun Dancers in AZ, the Black Earth Collective in IW, Charlotte Adams and Dancers in NYC, and Moving Current, FL. He performed in England for the first time this last June - a solo for trapeze plus an improvised duet with dancer Julie Nathanielsz. He is scheduled return to Europe this summer to teach and perform. He is a member of The Gravity Project movement theatre company. In 2006 he created the evening length work airstonewater with TGP collaborator Erica Kauffman for the Juniata College Theatre Department. He is currently appearing in the play Crispin: The Cross of Lead, a TGP collaboration with People's Light & Theatre Company in Philadelphia, PA.