PATHWAYS Beyond Ballet Class with Thomas McManus:

PS21 Dance Barn 

Thursday 8/29/24 10:00am – 11:00am

Price: $15 drop-in class or $60 for a 5 class series

Open to all ages

Description: Ballet technique is usually taught as a “rote learning”  system, through repetition over and over again, a student gradually learns it’s forms and moulds their body toward the “ideal” body picture of what an “arabesque”, for instance, would look like. By incorporating William Forsythe”s Improvisation Technologies into my ballet classes, I allow dancers to experience the elastic nature of ballet as a living, breathing technique that every dancer, no matter their body type or age, can directly access and alter to fit their body type. In my view, ballet is more a system of thought that challenges our preconceptions, and less so a quest to achieve the “perfect” arabesque.

Teacher Bio:

Thomas McManus is a professional dancer, choreographer, educator, and recognized expert on the repertory, technique, and improvisational methods of renowned choreographer William Forsythe.

After dancing with American Ballet Theater 2, Finis Jhung’s Chamber Ballet USA, and Ann Marie DeAngelo and Dancers, McManus joined Ballet Frankfurt under William Forsythe’s direction. McManus danced in new works created by Forsythe and became entrusted with setting Forsythe’s repertory on major companies around the world. He currently brings this work to USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance B.F.A. students.

McManus has worked with accomplished choreographers such as Stephen Petronio, Twyla Tharp, Amanda Miller, Mark Haim, Daniel Larrieu, Susan Marshall, Philip Grosser, Sara Rudner, Jan Fabre, Kathryn Posin, William Soleu, Ohad Naharin, Helgi Tomasson, Gale Katchadurian, Peter Sparling, Ann Marie DeAngelo, Saeko Ichino, Saburo Teshigawara, and Paul Selwyn Norton, among others. McManus holds an M.F.A. in Dance from Hollins University, Roanoke.