Gaga/people with Matteo Marfoglia

**Please note that the class on the 19th November will not be taught by Matteo, and therefore will not be a Gaga class. It will still be an open level session, and will utilise improvisatory techniques.

Gaga/people classes offer a framework for users to connect to their bodies and imaginations, experience physical sensations, improve their flexibility and stamina, exercise their agility and explosive power, and enjoy the pleasure of movement in a welcoming, accepting atmosphere.

Gaga/people classes are open to people ages 16+, regardless of their background in dance or movement. No previous dance experience is needed. Classes last approximately one hour.

Participants should wear comfortable clothes and be prepared to dance barefoot or in socks. It is advisable to bring a bottle of water and a towel for use after class.

Gaga is the movement language developed by Ohad Naharin throughout many years, parallel to his work as a world-renowned choreographer. Gaga classes are predicated on a deep activation of the body and physical sensations. We provide a framework for discovering and strengthening the body and adding flexibility, stamina, agility, and skills including coordination and efficiency while stimulating the senses and the imagination. Participants awaken numb areas, increase their awareness of habits, and improve their efficiency of movement inside multilayered tasks, and they are encouraged to connect to pleasure inside moments of effort.
The research of Gaga is in a continual process of evolution, and the classes vary and develop accordingly.

More about Matteo:
Matteo is VERVE Artistic Director at Northern School of Contemporary Dance.
Matteo graduated from Codarts in Rotterdam and danced for many years with Introdans in the Netherlands and National Dance Company Wales in the UK, performing works by international choreographers including Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Roy Assaf, Alexander Ekman, William Forsythe, Christopher Bruce, Johan Inger, Paul Lightfoot and Sol Leon, Inbal Pinto and Angelin Preljocaj. In 2011 Matteo danced in the multi-disciplinary project Nierka created by Satore Studio in London, directed by Tupac Martir and choreographed by Fernando Hernando Magadan (Netherlands Dance Theater).
In 2017 Matteo founded his own project-based company in Cardiff (Wales, UK). Matteo’s work has been commissioned by organisations in Wales including NDCWales, Wales Millenium
Centre and Rubicon Dance, as well as being presented at international festivals such
as Altofest (Naples, IT), Vetrina della giovane danza d’autore (Ravenna, IT), Interplay/18 (Turin, IT), Teatro Fontana (Milan, IT), HangartFest (Pesaro, IT), and Valletta 18 European City of Culture (Malta).
In 2018 Matteo worked as Rehearsal Director for National Dance Company Wales and has been an Associate Artist with the company since 2017. He is also a certified Gaga Teacher, having undertaken the Gaga Teachers’ Training in Tel Aviv under the artistic direction of Bosmat Nossan, Saar Harari, and Ohad Naharin. Matteo is the creator of Together We Create//Creu Gyda’n Gilydd a project created in partnership with arts and non-arts organisations, artists and community members that gives voice to the hopes, desires and needs of the Penrhys community in Rhondda Cynon Taff.