Dance MFA Candidate Maree ReMalia is the 2010 recipient of the Kathryn Karipides Scholarship in Modern Dance. The award financed her travel to Israel to study Gaga, a “movement language,” that is practiced by the internationally acclaimed, Batsheva Dance Company. While in Tel Aviv, she conducted research on Gaga for her MFA thesis and returned to Ohio State with a fresh perspective on her approach to dance practice and creative process. “Sometimes, dancers can become self-conscious about how they look when they are moving but when you’re practicing Gaga, the focus is placed on bodily sensation, rather than appearance.”

Originally from the Cleveland area, ReMalia, learned of the Kathryn Karipides Scholarship on the Department of Dance blog. This fall, she is teaching a course, Dance 601.01: Modern Technique. Over the summer, she studied the Gaga “movement language” in Israel with Ohad Naharin and members of his company. She said, “He [Naharin] had us attending to subtle details, such as separating the movement in our shoulder blades and shoulders. Through this practice, my entire body felt completely engaged.”

Ohad Naharin began developing the Gaga “movement language” in part when he needed to find new ways to move his body after suffering a back injury, as well as using it as a means for his company members to find specific movement qualities when executing his choreography and to offer movement classes for his administrative staff. Gaga does not allow mirrors, a session can last up to ninety minutes, and is practiced around the world by professionally trained dancers and amateurs.

With support from the Schusterman Visiting Artist Program, Miriam & Bernard Yenkin, and Judith Merom Brachman, the Department of Dance is currently hosting Ohad Fishof and Noa Zuk to teach the “movement language” on campus. Gaga is unlike other traditional dance techniques because it relies on sensory-based, improvisational explorations that focus on constant movement. The teacher gives verbal directions to the class while simultaneously engaging in the practice.

ReMalia is in the third year of her master’s program and since being at OSU, has danced in the work of John Giffin, Ming Shen Ku, and Bebe Miller. She is interested in using improvisation as a means of working with diverse populations and plans to continue creating work, performing, and teaching. “I feel like dance is a language that has the potential to help us share our stories in a way that may not always be articulated with words.”