Taylor Unwin

Contemporary for Dancers
14.07.25, 14:00–15:30

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Bio

Unwin works as a freelance dancer-choreographer in Berlin and is a certified Ilan Lev Method practitioner and movement instructor. Raised in Connecticut, she trained at Eastern CT Ballet, then graduated from Loyola University Chicago in 2014 with a degree in Dance and Environmental Science.

Previously in Los Angeles, her creative work spanned concert, experimental, and commercial dance, where she was also represented by Bloc Talent Agency. She regularly collaborated with The Assembly Dance and Fabe Dance, as well as performed her own choreographed and improvisational works across Southern California. Notably, she has performed in Academy Award winning experimental film, Simulacra; in (antiquated) Augmented Reality by Christine Marie at Sundance Film Festival and LACMA; as well as in Hive Rise by Lilleth & Ash Fure in connection with the Industry Opera at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.

In Berlin, she currently participates in freelance performance projects with groups including, KDV Performance Group and Sugar Army Collective. Continuing her choreographic development, she has participated in the Bad Lemons Project choreographic residency in Munich in March of 2024 and is currently creating collaborative works with local movement and performance artists. With her ongoing personal research, she is devising a creative practice via development of choreographic material, teaching methods, and somatic bodywork practices.

Class Description

I aim to heighten sensory awareness and increase movement efficiency in individuals and within groups via strength, attention, and reducing effort, holistically in the mind and body.

A typical class will be structured in the format of an arrival into our space, moving into guided improvisation tasks that focus equally on sensory and physical qualities, practicing both localized areas spanning the body, as well as interconnections and full embodiment. There will be a gradual increase of physical effort, moving into varying levels of intensity to train the physical body for adaptability in levels of exertion, and for the mind to practice intention in effort. Finally, we will give attention to phrase work to engage the mind and body in an alternate fashion to apply our previous intentions and discoveries to choreography, where we can practice continual research.

We engage with detailed imagery throughout class, as sensation, imagination and world building are critical elements to my practice. This aids in our study of form, where we can practice varying modalities and play within structures to find options. Additionally, my work in the Ilan Lev Method influences my investigation of freedom from movement patterns, as well as leaning and letting go, allowing freshness and ease into our moving body, energy and mind.

Overall, students will leave feeling grounded, open minded, and light after an intentional and playful practice. We will express wide ranges in effort and emotion, where catharsis and focus are achieved.