Max Stone

Contemporary

Biography:

A respected and sought-out teacher/choreographer, Max is Artistic Director of the New York based dance company, Sexy Beast NYC. He holds an MFA in dance and served as Senior Lecturer on the faculty at Southern Methodist University. He was with the original Broadway cast of the Neil Simon/Marvin Hamlisch musical/play, They're Playing Our Song. He has guest taught at the Juilliard Conservatory, Complexions Summer/Winter Intensives, Bates and Joffrey Summer Dance Intensives, and conducted choreography seminars for Cirque du Soleil’s Mystère. During their NY City Center season in 2010, Max was invited to give company classes for Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake. He was Artistic Director of The New York Dance Exchange, an international intensive workshop series, and he continues to work throughout Europe and Japan. Currently, Max is on faculty at Steps on Broadway, Dance New Amsterdam (DNA), and Peridance Capezio Center. In May 2013, Max’s choreography was featured in the upcoming Noah Baumbach/Greta Gerwig film titled, Frances Ha.

Class Description:

Merging basic ballet vernacular with certain free- flowing, boneless movement vocabulary, this class demonstrates that space, itself, is a support mechanism that can be utilized to attain particular movement objectives. The conservation of muscle strength is preserved, enabling the dancer to have more stamina. The aim is to create familiar and focused pathways to an effortless expression of lyrical and percussive disciplines. By understanding and applying the particular dynamics of fall and rebound, momentum and flow, dancers discover a certain freedom, quality and kinetic range they never knew they possessed. The desire is to instigate and initiate the body’s creative impulse, which is innate within every person. The encouragement of individual traits that challenge both body and mind is of utmost importance and the unique qualities that each possess will be nurtured to full expression.