Projects and Grants

Projects and Grants

Mettler Studios collaborates with persons and organizations wishing to facilitate Mettler-based creative dance within local communities. Through these collaborations and partnerships, Mettler-based creative dance is brought to communities and populations with limited access to creative dance programming. Individuals and organization wishing to collaborate with Mettler Studio may apply for funding through the attached form. For more information contact mettlerstudios@gmail.com

Mettler-based Creative Dance Teacher Trainings Workshops 

Mettler Studios offers Teacher Training in order to prepare the next generation of Mettler-based Dance teachers. This training begins with a three week intensive experience during the summer and continues with follow up mentoring for those who want to teach Mettler-based dance in their communities. Taught by Mary Ann Brehm and Griff Goehring, each workshop covers the basic principles of Mettler-based dance through movement studies and provides discussion of how to apply the work to many kinds of groups. In the summer of 2020 we continued our training course via Zoom and successfully engaged in group dance improvisation through the Internet! Participants also have the option of presenting a creative dance lesson for their peers at the end of the course. Many participants in the international outreach described below have been supported to attend the Teacher Training and take Mettler-based dance back to their communities. 

We now have a initiated a 500 hour Apprentice Program, whose members have attended several Teacher Trainings and Follow up mentoring sessions. Upon completion they will be recognized by Mettler Studios as approved Mettler-based Dance Educators.. 

International Outreach 
Mettler Studios has collaborated with several organizations to offer Mettler-based residencies in Vietnam, Indonesia, Peru, Germany, and England.

Vietnam 2013-2024.:
 In 2013 and 2014, Mettler Studios partnered with Evolve Dance Inc., Pacific Links Foundation (“PALS”) and Hagar International Vietnam to conduct dance programming that included Mettler-based creative dance at (i) a residence shelter in northern Vietnam for young girls rescued from human trafficking; (ii) a residence shelter located in Hanoi for women rescued abuse; and (iii) workshops for affiliated staff, professionals and psychologists who work directly with survivors of gender-based violence. 

In 2018 we partnered with Dancesequences.org to return to Vietnam. Karenne Koo continued the Mettler-based classes for NGOs working in the above areas and was assisted by staff members who had attended the Mettler Studios's Creative Dance Teacher Training in Tucson. Mettler-based creative dance is part of PALS’ and Hagar’s rehabilitation and reintegration programs. 

Mettler Studios now partners with Vietnam Dance Movement Therapy to offer online Teacher Trainings via Zoom in 2022-2024 and sponsor students from those course to attend our in person Summer Teacher Training in Tucson.  

Indonesia 2015, 2018, 2020:  
In 2015, a 2-week Dance Together program conducted by Evolve Dance at multiple sites included the introduction and presentation of Mettler-based creative dance to multiple local community organizations, including (i) a school for youth and teens with developmental disabilities; (ii) students and faculty at the Yogyakarta Institute of Art; and (iii) One Billion Rising Yogyakarta. 

In 2018, we also partnered with Dancesequences.org to return to Indonesia to work with with multiple organizations, including the Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta, SMKI High School of Performing Arts, Nalitari, LGBTQ Support Group, Helikopter Community and many more.

The 2018 Vietnam and Indonesia residencies reached 1337 participants of diverse ages and abilities.

February, 2020. We continue to build our presence in Asia with a 7-day Creative Group Dance Residency in Yogyakarta, Indonesia. In partnership with Dancesequences Inc., Mettler-based creative dance was shared with 253 students from the dance, theatre and dance pedagogy department at the Institute of the Arts Yogyakarta; 180 students at the SMKI High School for the Performing Arts; 50 women from the Ambarukmo Women's Dance Group, 39 members from the LGBTQ/Trans Women Support Network and 50 children ages 4 - 15 from villages northwest of Yogyakarta. In total, we facilitated 14 workshops for 572 participants of diverse ages and experiences. We are developing deeper collaborations with local institutions and organizations to support Mettler-based creative dance in Asia.

Since 2014, Mettler Studios has assisted 15 people from Vietnam and 6 representatives from Indonesia to attend and complete the annual Creative Dance Teachers Training held in Tucson, AZ. 
Peru 2016:  
Mettler Studios collaborated with Evolve Dance  to complete a 2-week Dance Together program that utilized principles of Mettler-based creative dance with 2 holistic healing centers in Lima, Peru, for children ages 4 -13 overcoming the trauma of abuse and to affiliated staff.

Germany 2017, 2020
At the Zentrumtanz Studios in Bochum, Germany  Mettler Studios co-sponsored two week-long Mettler-based dance workshops in 2017. The first was an Introduction to Mettler-based Dance, the second a Teacher Training.  A lecture demonstration on Barbara Mettler's work was given at the Cologne Museum of Dance as part of this residency.  We are especially delighted to be able to offer these projects, since Barbara Mettler graduated from the Mary Wigman School of Dance in Dresden and was influenced by German Expressionism.  In June 2020 we are supporting a weekend Mettler-based workshop with social distancing. 

United Kingdom 2017,2019:
Mettler Studios provided travel funding for Mettler-based teacher to offer Creative Dance to clowning students at Nose to Nose UK, Emerson College in East Sussex, UK.  A week-long workshop in Creative Dance and Clown in June, 2019 also is being supported by Mettler Studios.
 

USA Outreach

Outreach Workshops 

Summer Residential Dance Retreat. Fall 2014-2024 Windhover Center for the Performing Arts. Rockport, Massachusetts 

Mettler-based Creative Dance. September 22, 2019 and November 5, 2023, Creative Dance Center, Seattle, Washington

Introduction to Mettler-based Creative Dance. September, 2019 Body Shift. Austin, TX

Individual to Group Dance Improvisation: A Mettler-based Approach. November 3-4, 2018 Dance Education Laboratory,
                                                                   92Y, New York  City

Master Class and Presentation on Dance and Technology. April 2017, University of Wisconsin-Madison Dance Department                                                                                   90th Anniversary Festival

Group Dance Improvisation March 25-26, 2017. The Movement Center. Austin, TX

Group Dance Improvisation. Feb. 18-19, 2017  Luna Dance Institute. Berkeley, California

(Please contact us at mettlerstudios@gmail.com if your organization would like to co-sponsor an outreach workshop)


Tucson Outreach

Mettler Studios has provided seed money for  Dancsequence to provide inclusive, integrated and open access creative dance programming to people of diverse ages, abilities and circumstances in the greater Tucson community in the following settings:

Creative Movement at Integrative Touch for Kids (ITK), a non-profit organization
that supports families and  children with special health  or medical needs. 

After school Creative Movement at the Pio Decimo Center,
which offers support services to low-income families 

Creative Dance Residency at Satori Primary and Middle School

Joyful Movement, weekly classes at Sister Jose's Women Center,
which provides a caring, safe environment for homeless women

Zoom outreach: 

2023-24  Introduction to Mettler-based Dance Improvisation course for people in China in collaboration with Inspirees Institute 

2022-23  Workshops on using Mettler-based Dance materials to enhance daily life in collaboration with New Thought Vermont


Green Mountain Creative Dance Center Projects directed by Griff Goehring

Summer Company 2013  was designed to provide advanced students with an opportunity to study in depth and at length. For six weeks the dancers (seven altogether) met daily to immerse themselves in the materials of dance. The goal was to develop a foundation of knowledge that would give each individual the understanding necessary for professional level work in creative dance as teachers and performers. Daily work included discussion of teaching methods, studies in the materials of dance and improvisation. Much of the dancing was recorded and will be made available online.    Here  is a video of a 5-minute dance improvisation from the project.  

Creative Dance Teacher Training Project September 2011 - June 2011

This project gave dancers the opportunity to develop their teaching skills in a variety of settings. Four developing creative dance teachers went to Austine School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and Oak Grove Elementary School in Brattleboro, Vermont; Smith Agricultural Vocational High School in Northampton, Massachusetts; the Robert Crown Parker School in Eastern New York state; Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion Charter School in Hadley, Massachusetts; the Institute of Professional Practice (an adult day program) in Fitchburg, Massachusetts; a Buddhist meditation retreat for teenagers and a group of home school children in Amherst, Massachusetts. Over 250 young people and their teachers experienced free movement expression during this project. The four young professionals gained direct experience in meeting a diverse array of movement needs and have since found other professional opportunities to teach creative dance.

Bicycle Dance Troupe
Spring 2011 
Eight dancers with training and experience in creative dance improvisation as developed by Barbara Mettler traveled by bicycle in a 200 mile circuit beginning and ending in Amherst, Massachusetts that looped through New Hampshire and Vermont. During this tour they took part in daily study and dance sessions for their own development and presented group dance improvisations at street fairs, farmers’ markets and on town commons. They provided mini-residencies at three elementary schools that included a lecture demonstration and workshop sessions for students and teachers. Participants were current or recently graduated Hampshire College students.



Creative Dance Lab
Summer 2010
Creative Dance Lab 2010 built on the success of our 2009 performance project. Some dancers returned for a second and new group members were drawn from students and at Hampshire College and from experienced dancers who danced and studied with Barbara Mettler. This multi-generational group included a former member of Mettler’s Children’s Creative Dance Group which is depicted in her films Creative Dance for Children I –IV

 

Northeast Performance Project 
Summer & Fall 2009
A multi-generational group worked together for two weeks in the summer of 2009 and then weekly September – October. Its purpose was to deepen understanding of the principles of free movement expression and refine the practice of group dance improvisation. This group addressed the additional creative problem of performance: how does a group maintain the integrity of the process while acknowledging the presence of observers? Participants were drawn from Hampshire College students and recent graduates as well as from the local community of creative dancers who studied and worked with Barbara Mettler. Ages of participants ranged from 18 – 65 years. Performances took place at Hampshire College and Tufts University as well as in public venues in Brattleboro, Vermont and Hadley, Massachusetts


Tucson Unified School District Fine and Performing Arts Division Projects
From 2009 to 2012, TUSD’s Fine and Performing Arts Division received grants from the Barbara Mettler Trust to conduct workshops. Each year has expanded in the number of workshops and participants but the mission has remained the same: to teach and promote creative dance based on the materials and approach of Barbara Mettler to teachers and students in the Tucson Unified School District. 

In carrying out this mission, the goals and strategies have been threefold:

  • This first is to encourage and welcome participation in Mettler-based movement to middle and high school dance students at the Tucson Creative dance Center.
  • Second, our goal is to see the Mettler-based approach utilized in classroom teaching and learning, K-12.
  • Third, we want to offer the student of the classroom teachers a workshop experience in the studio as well. 
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