DEER HILL DANCE FEST
ABOUT
Deer Hill Dance Festival is a 3, 6 or 10 day immersion in improvisational and contemporary dance located in the countryside of Western Massachusetts, USA. Participants will practice collective living, immerse in nature, and deepen into the study of experimental dance with renowned teachers.
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Deer Hill 2026 will take place May 21-31 with teachers
mayfield brooks, margit galanter, and Benoît Lachambre.
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Registration available for one, two, or all three modules. ​​​
TEACHERS
photo by Mark Elzey for NY Times
photo by Chani Bockwinkel
mayfield brooks
may 22-24
mayfield brooks (they/them) improvises while black and is based in Lenapehoking, the unceded land of the Lenape people, also known as New York City. brooks is a movement-based performance artist, vocalist, urban farmer, writer, and wanderer. brooks teaches and performs practices that arise from Improv
ising While Black (IWB), their interdisciplinary dance methodology which explores the decomposed matter of Black life and engages in dance improvisation, disorientation, dissent, and ancestral healing. brooks is the 2021 recipient of the biennial Merce Cunningham Award from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts and a two-time Bessie/New York Dance Performance Award nominee for their interdisciplinary dance project, Whale Fall. They are currently an artist in residence at Wesleyan University's Center for the Arts. They are grateful to live by the sea and practice deep communion with the earth. For more info about mayfield’s work visit improvisingwhileblack.com.
margit galanter
may 25-27
margit galanter is a a dance poet and cultural instigator who shares through the vivid grove — a live art school for moving, learning, collective liberatory practices, and creative evolution. Through forms such as long-term research-creation, collective intercultural gatherings, 1:1 sessions, and practice itself, they share a vision of vibrancy for the individual and collective body. margit is currently living on Montauk lands.
margit’s syncretic movement approach is based on decades of practice in dance/art lineages. A life of study in Suprapto Suryodarmo’s Amerta Movement, Lisa Nelson’s Tuning Scores, Taoist Healing Arts/Wild Goose Qigong, embodied practices, and creative inquiry constitute the trees in the grove; they provide both rooted access to creative source and the flowering canopy of art creation.
Benoît Lachambre
may 28-30
Having been involved in the dance world since 1975, and a professional choreographer since 1981, Benoît Lachambre was introduced to somatic methods in 1983, followed by Contact Improvisation in 1985. This deepened his understanding of kinesthetic exploration and triggered a profound transformation in his choreographic work, leading him to significantly radical explorations of inter-relational dance. His research into the body's imagination and the heightened awareness of the senses has established strong connections between the body's internal and external spaces. He emphasizes movement within a context and a dynamic spatial energy that is both vibrant and revealing of the foundational concepts of choreographic energy. Among his strongest influences, Benoît likes to cite Joan Skinner and Amelia Itcush for their remarkable and sensitive mastery of complex somatic processes.
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Apart from his work as a choreographer and performer, Lachambre has acquired a great reputation as a teacher, through the classes and training workshops he has been giving all over the world for 35 years.
SCHEDULE
Deer Hill Dance Festival takes place at beautiful Thayer Hill Theater in Worthington, MA. In the dance studio at Thayer Hill is a 2000 square foot oil-finished sprung wood floor and sky-high ceilings with abundant sunlight. The studio was built in 1996 by Stephen Yoshen.
The studio sits on 20 acres of wooded hills and fields. There are hiking trails, a garden, camping grove, a nearby lake, and firepits to be enjoyed
room and board available on and offsite
accommodations include slumber party style in the studio, private and shared rooms, and camping
delicious omnivorous and vegetarian meals provided
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The festival is open to everyone, regardless of prior dance experience
SCHEDULE
SUBJECT TO CHANGE
MAY 21 ARRIVAL 3-6
MAY 22-30
10-12:30 CLASS
1-2 LUNCH
2-4 BREAK
4-6 CLASS
6:30-7:30 DINNER
8:00-9:30 EVENING EVENT
(EX: PERFORMANCE SHARES, GUEST TEACHERS, RITUAL, JAM, MOVIE NIGHT)
MAY 31 CLOSING, DEPARTURE BY 2
MISSION
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Deer Hill Dance Festival was created in order to give students of dance a space to deepen into the body and their practices. It is our belief that practicing subtle somatic forms in nature and in collectivity encourages presence and connection.
We want to bring teachers with big wisdom and study to countryside studios. We want to offer a space for collective living oriented around art and movement.
Deer Hill Dance Festival offers 4 free bipoc scholarships for each module
15% of proceeds go to local mutual aid efforts
Deer Hill Dance Festival is organized by Hilary c Kennedy (hilaryck.com) and a team of incredible supporters.
mara poliak: consultant, admin (mara.space)
Eddy Levin: consultant, admin (eddylevin.com)
Ashley Shey: consultant, design, operations (ig)
ainsley e tharp: web consultant (aineliztharp.com)
Julianne Cariño: web collaboration (contact)
Nina Jakobson: operations manager (ig)
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