Dance
Kate Martel (she/her) is a dance artist based in Western Massachusetts
She enjoyed fifteen years dancing in NYC with choreographers Laura Peterson, Nora Stephens, Rebecca Brooks, Luis Lara Malvacias and Sarah White-Ayon, among others. During this time she trained in the Alexander Technique with master teacher Ann Rodiger, graduating from the Balance Arts Center in 2017. Her choreography has been presented by SCDT (WIP), Women in Motion, Movement Research at Judson Church, Center for Performance Research and Purdue University. She has been on faculty at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Adelphi University and Western Connecticut State University.
In addition, she has earned a BA from Goucher College in Dance and Education (2002) and an MFA in Performing Arts from University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (2014). Kate has been a collaborator with Barbie Diewald Choreography since 2017 and is currently on faculty at Westfield State University. She teaches AT privately and in the Somatics Series at SCDT, as well as teaching ballet and modern throughout the Pioneer Valley.
Teaching
Kate currently enjoys teaching dance for all ages and levels at The Center, Amherst, MA, School for Contemporary Dance and Thought and Ascendance Inner World Arts in Florence, MA.
I am to provide a nurturing learning space in which students can build awareness of their skills, progress, affinities and habits. They are encouraged to embrace their artistic identity with both curiosity and good humor. At a beginning, intermediate, advanced or professional level, my students develop awareness and expressivity through dancing. Students are encouraged to take risks in class and display a willingness to experiment. FUN and creativity are valued, as well as developing awareness of one’s body through movement experience. Students also develop an appreciation for their own lineage with regard to dance training to locate themselves within the realm of dance as a cultural art form, allowing them to broaden their perspective and further the development of their unique artistic voice.
photo by Peter Raper
Choreography
lost or stolen (2018)
A group work created during a guest artist residency at Purdue University. All movement choices accumulate and nothing is deleted. Everything is accounted for.
Absolute Construction (2014)
A trio interrogating the concept of anxiety of influence through circumstances of partnership, fun and crisis. Sound composed by Kate Martel.
photo by Stephen Delas Heras
Switch (2010)
A solo inspired by a classroom in an abandoned Catholic school in Brooklyn, this dance investigates permission, identity, violence and independence. Performed in the round, the work contains long, weighted drapings of the body, asymmetrical walks and control vs. loss of control. Music by Alva Noto.
photo by Stephen Schreiber
Performance
Dancing in choreography by Laura Peterson and Barbie Diewald, 2007-2017. Images by Steven Schreiber and Peter Raper.