According to the strictest definitions, Release Technique -- or "From the Bones" Technique -- is not a formal dance technique, for it was never created and codified by a single choreographer to serve his or her creative vision. Rather, it is... [more]

According to the strictest definitions, Release Technique -- or "From the Bones" Technique -- is not a formal dance technique, for it was never created and codified by a single choreographer to serve his or her creative vision. Rather, it is a movement philosophy informed by varied sources. The majority of these are methods of teaching kinetic awareness, body therapies such as Feldenkrais, Body-Mind Centering, Skinner Release, and Alexander. It is an approach to movement and dance that attempts to find freedom and ease in the body through anatomical investigation. No one person claims to be the founder of Release Technique -- even Trisha Brown, whose popularized movement style has actually been dubbed "release technique", refuses to define it. Release Technique began to cohere as the first generation of the Postmodern dance scene matured. The technique comes from a collective spirit, questioning the relationship between body and mind. It contains elements of perceptivity and receptivity found in Contact Improvisation; in fact, the two seem to have evolved from similar sources. Despite their original dedication to pedestrian movement, some Postmoderns became inspired by pure movement. As a result, their dances became more technically demanding, in the strict sense of a learned and focused approach that combined efficient movement integration with anatomical alignment. One teacher titled her first classes in Release Technique "Movement for Intellectuals", in reference to the technique's reliance on creating mental images of bones and body in order to initiate movement. [show less]