PERIDANCE FACULTY
Current
Julia Gleich
Ballet
BIOGRAPHY
Julia K. Gleich is a contemporary ballet choreographer and teacher. She taught Ballet and Limón techniques for 15 years at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London and was Head of Choreography at London Studio Centre for 13 years, both BA programs. She is the Artistic Director of Gleich Dances www.gleichdances.org and is the Co-Founder of the Brooklyn-based arts group Norte Maar. She was a 2014 recipient of the University of Utah Fine Arts Distinguished Alumni Award and has been on faculties of dance at Broadway Dance Center, Manhattanville College, University of Utah, and Roehampton University. Master teaching has taken her to colleges and companies in the US, the UK and Japan, and her students have gone on to dance for Wayne McGregor, Michael Clark, Richard Alston, Merce Cunningham, Hofesh Schecter, Vienna Festival Ballet, Lion King, Thriller Live, and more. Many have independent professional dance careers in Europe and the USA. Gleich's published writing on a directed-energy theory of generating and analyzing movement, "Vector Theory," is at the heart of her teaching. Alongside kinesiological principles and mental imagery she presents a holistic and joyous approach to the art form. Gleich's choreography has received critical notice in the New York Times, The New Criterion, The Brooklyn Rail, dancelog.nyc, and others.
Gleich believes that a broad and inclusive approach to dance yields the best results in art and life.
CLASS DESCRIPTION
If you've ever been curious to take a beginning ballet class in NYC, this is the one for you! I have taught athletes, swimmers and runners, actors and artists, and no one should ever be afraid to step into a ballet class. I am there to share my expertise, to guide you in the form of ballet, to also inspire and motivate you through the tool of ballet technique. I focus on building movement confidence, while increasing physical awareness/proprioception; developing your vocabulary while giving you access to my approaches to ballet in the 21st Century. Students in my classes should see themselves as people first, individuals who have goals and desires, power and nuance. The class will of course cover the basics of ballet and give you a work-out. Ballet is hard work but it is also joy.