BODIES! BODIES! BODIES!

I am an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and researcher. My creative research, which marries both formal and experimental choreography with text and sound manipulation, is a conduit to explore deeper psychological questions I have around faith, humiliation, ecstasy, pain, and the performance of self. This pop-up workshop is an extension of my creative process and is geared toward movement artists interested in bridging the gap between technical practice and creative inquiry. Both an experimental movement lab and contemporary technique class, we will utilize a mix of anatomically mindful exercises, improvisation, phrase work, and conversation/group strategizing to build more robust individual performance practices. A major component of this workshop is considering what happens when we approach dancing without trying so hard to “make something happen.” What can we let go of regarding form, expectations, and movement trends to get to the realness in our performing? How can we get lost in the sauce of our dancing while staying attuned to our comrades on stage… how do we build an ensemble!  Every body contains multitudes, and this class is a space to expand upon our artistic curiosities (both individual and collective) while acknowledging that everyone in the room has knowledge vital to building this space together.

Biography

Brendan Drake (all pronouns) is an interdisciplinary artist, educator, and researcher. Their work incorporates movement, text, and sound experimentation to interrogate notions of vanity, rage, humiliation, and pleasure within gender and sexual power dynamics. Critics have described their work as “a glorious exploration of the body at its extremes” (Brooklyn Rail) and “hilarious and sobering: a way to say the unutterable” (Culturebot). Brendan was a 2017-2018 Fresh Tracks Artist at New York Live Arts and, in Fall 2025, became the inaugural recipient of the DC Dance Network Choreographers Commission. Additionally, they have been awarded grants and residencies from the Brooklyn Arts Fund, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, the CUNY Dance Initiative, Brooklyn Studios for Dance, the Monira Foundation, The Tank, and Chez Bushwick. Brendan's recent work has been presented in New York at Kestrels, Danspace Project, Movement Research at Judson Church, The Brick, La MaMa, PAGEANT, Joe's Pub, The Wild Project, and AUNTS, and at JrHigh (Los Angeles, CA), Fowler Museum (Los Angeles, CA),  The Dance Complex (Boston, MA) and Dance Place (Washington, DC). In addition to their work on stage, Brendan choreographed the fall 2014 “Equality = Love” campaign for Adidas Originals/Pharrell Williams. They were the movement coordinator for editorial shoots with Vogue, Porter, V, and Elle Magazines (photographers: Liz Collins, Ryan McGinley, Collier Schorr). Brendan has been on the dance faculty at UCLA and George Washington University and guest taught at Columbia University, the University of Massachusetts, Muhlenberg College, DeSales University, Dance Place, Skewl, Gibney, and Peridance. As a dancer and performer, they have worked with Nattie + Hollis, Kayla Hamilton/Circle O, JChen Project, Janessa Clark, Meryl Merman, and Emily Barasch. Brendan holds a BFA in Dance from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and an MFA in Choreographic Inquiry from UCLA. They are also a certified Pilates Mat and Apparatus Instructor through the Kane School for Core Integration.