Summer at COMMON: Create & Perform Session 3
COMMON invites pre-professional and serious contemporary dancers (ages 18+) to join for a transformative two-week intensive with Noelle Kayser and Drew Lewis (House of DOV).
Program Dates: July 17 - July 29, 2023
Location: COMMON, 1535 N. Dayton St., Chicago, IL 60642
Tuition: $900 for two weeks. $450 for one week.
This intensive will help dancers:
express detailed contemporary movement
explore dance as a tool for storytelling
get more comfortable with improvisation
“Throughout our time together, you’ll develop your physical practice as well as the ability to embody character through a process rooted in storytelling and detailed contemporary movement. You’ll be pushed to move beyond creative habits, explore new ideas, and hone your skills as a collaborator in a safe and supportive environment. “
- Noelle Kayser
Photo by Topher Alexander, in performance with The Cambrians
“Dancers will be saturated in a daily practice to deepen their creative and compositional skills, utilizing improvisation as a world-building tool and pushing their physical and mental limits. We’ll engage in technical and investigative rigour, experiment, dialogue, and sweat.”
- Drew Lewis
Photo by Marcus Aubin
Daily Schedule
The workshop will be held at COMMON (1535 N. Dayton St., Chicago, IL 60642) on Monday - Friday from 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM.
Sample Daily Schedule
10-11:30 AM Technique/Warm-up Class
11:30 - 12:00 Break
12-2:00 Rehearsals
2:00 - 2:30 Break
2:30 - 5:00 Rehearsals
The performance schedule on Saturday, July 29th will differ. Please expect to be available from 2 PM - 10 PM on this date.
About Drew Lewis
Drew Lewis is a performer, choreographer, composer, and educator originally from Oak Park, IL. He graduated magna cum laude from Cornish College of the Arts in 2016. He performed extensively with Sidra Bell Dance New York from 2016-2019, during which time he guest lectured at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA as part of the company’s teaching cohort. Additional performance credits include The Lyric Opera of Chicago, The Joel Hall Dancers, C-LS, Project 44, Attack Theatre, and independent projects by Lucy Riner. Drew has choreographed for DanceWorks Chicago, Common Conservatory, Loyola University, Skidmore College, New Dances 2020, ChoreoLab, Oak Park and River Forest High School, and New Trier High School. In 2020, Drew created his own small ensemble House of DOV, which had its debut performance in July of 2021 at the Adler Planetarium, and was selected as a finalist for the Chicago Reader’s Best of 2021 in the Best Dance Production category. House of DOV has since performed at Fulton Street Collective, U-Haul Artist Lofts, Chicago Danztheatre Ensemble, and Navy Pier as part of See Chicago Dance's Wavy Wall Moves. Most recently House of DOV was presented at The Steppenwolf Theater for "Work Around," a curated initiative highlighting three Chicago-based movement practitioners. Drew is currently an Artist-in-Residence at The Rooted Space in Ravenswood.
Photo by Marcus Aubin
About Noelle Kayser
Noelle Kayser is a Chicago-based performer, choreographer, and educator, and the rehearsal director for PARA.MAR Dance Theatre (2022 Dance Magazine Top 25 to Watch). Past and upcoming choreographic commissions include DanceWorks Chicago, Ballare Carmel, SALT Dance LINK Choreography Festival, Visceral Dance Chicago Trainees, Chicago Dance Crash, Boykin Dance Project, COMMON Conservatory, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theater, Kit Modus, and Moonwater Dance Project. As a dancer, Noelle has performed with, among others, PARA.MAR Dance Theatre, LED Boise, Open Space Dance, NW Dance Project, Visceral Dance Chicago, The Cambrians, Fly on a Wall, and Luna Negra Dance Theater. Noelle has taught various classes, workshops, and intensives for PARA.MAR Dance Theatre, NW Dance Project, Visceral Dance Chicago, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago among others. Noelle has narrated 16 audiobooks for Listen Up Productions / Audible.com, appeared in industrial advertising, and performed in theater productions. Noelle is represented by DDO Artists Agency.
Photo by Ian St Pierre for NW Dance Project