Gaga classes are based on a deep listening to and awareness of the scope of physical sensations. While class instructions are often imbued with rich imagery that stimulates the imagination, the layering of information builds into a multisensory, physically challenging experience. Gaga offers a workout that develops flexibility, stamina, agility, coordination, and efficiency of movement. The exploration of form, speed, and effort is accompanied by the playful investigation of soft and thick textures, delicacy and explosive power, and understatement and exaggeration. Ohad Naharin continues to develop and research his movement language, and the classes evolve and vary accordingly. We invite you to join us in the studio and connect to your passion to move.

Creator and choreographer

Ohad Naharin

Ohad Naharin is situated at the forefront of the international dance scene. After performing with Batsheva Dance Company and the troupes of Martha Graham and Maurice Béjart, Naharin embarked on his choreographic career in 1980. His works have been staged on companies around the globe, and in 2018, Naharin assumed the role of Batsheva’s House Choreographer.  As artistic director of Batsheva from 1990-2018, he guided the company with an adventurous artistic vision and reinvigorated its repertory with his captivating choreography. Naharin’s work was chronicled in Tomer Heymann’s documentary, Mr. Gaga(2015).

Parallel to his work as a choreographer and artistic director, Naharin has developed Gaga, an innovative and constantly evolving movement language that is available to both dancers and non-dancers. Gaga originated from Naharin’s need to communicate with his dancers and his curiosity in the ongoing research of movement. Gaga has revolutionized Batsheva’s training, enriched dancers’ interpretation of Naharin’s repertory, and emerged as a growing force in the larger field of movement practices worldwide.

Gaga/people

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.

Throughout the class, participants are guided by a series of evocative instructions deployed to increase awareness of and further amplify sensation. Rather than turning from one prompt to another, information is layered, building into a multisensory, physically challenging experience. While many instructions are imbued with rich imagery, the research of Gaga is fundamentally physical, insisting on a specific process of embodiment. Inside this shared research, the improvisational nature of the exploration enables each participant’s deeply personal connection with Gaga.

Information about the class:
Gaga/people classes are open to people ages 16+, regardless of their background in dance or movement. 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/dancers

Gaga/dancers deepens dancers’ awareness of physical sensations, expands their palette of available movement options, enhances their ability to modulate their energy and engage their explosive power, and enriches their movement quality with a wide range of textures. The classes are built on the same principles as Gaga/people classes but also employ the specific vocabulary and skills that are part and parcel of a dancer’s knowledge. The layering of familiar skills with Gaga tasks presents dancers with fresh challenges, and throughout the class, teachers prompt the dancers to visit more unfamiliar places and ways of moving as well, unlocking the endlessness of possibilities. Dancers are guided to connect their effort to pleasure and to discover the virtue of silliness.

Information about the class: 
Gaga/dancers classes are open to dancers and advanced dance students ages 16+. Classes last between an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes.

About Alvin Collantes / Certified Gaga Teacher

Alvin is a certified Gaga teacher, photographer and dance artist based in Toronto, Canada and Berlin, Germany. He completed the Gaga Teacher’s Training Course in 2018 under the artistic direction of Bosmat Nossan with the generous support from the Ontario Arts Council’s Skills & Careers Development Grant for Artists of Colour and Canada Council for the Arts’ Career Development Grant. During the course, he participated in Gaga Intensives and took company classes at Batsheva Dance Company under the artistic mentorship of Ohad Naharin.

He teaches gaga/people and gaga/dancers across the globe in The Philippines, Germany, Austria, Canada and Sweden. He is currently an artistic advisor and project manager for Addo Platform, a platform that brings dance events to cities and communities.