Barbara Mahler - Biography

My interest, my passion, is the body - the limitless possibilities of the body as an expressive instrument - to carry a story, to express a viewpoint, depict a character, create an environment. Susan Klein began developing her work 30 years ago, I joined her 28 years ago. I wandered into the studio after suffering many major injuries in a short period of time. I had a "passion" for dancing, but I was 20 years old, with a "difficult," as they say, body. I was not what one would call talented, but I was determined that not only would I learn how to dance, but that I would do it well.

My first initiation into modern dance was with the Alvin Ailey dance company, and offshoots of that style - hard on the body and the spirit, but definitely "spirited." I was injured, and then injured again. My studies at Hunter College led me to the modern dance department where, under the tutelage of Dorothy Vislocky (a pioneer in kinesiology for dance), I was led to understand that there was a way to more correctly use the body. Getting on top of one's legs (as the expression goes) was supposed to improve coordination and skill, and make the body move more efficiently. This was the beginning for me of an understanding of anatomy and kinesiology, but there was an empty spot here - there was somehow no "me" -the process was missing. I still could not figure out how to get those shapes, forms and movement that I loved so much to work on my body. I needed something else. In 1977, I began my studies at the Susan Klein School of Dance. I was not "fixed," placed, or corrected for many weeks. I began to relax inside my self. I was no longer just a body that needed to conform, but a person with an individual style of learning. I was a person with a spirit. I realized I could now actually begin to learn, to figure out how to move, to have movement sequence through MY body. I understood, on a body level, that learning was a process, and that everyone needed to find their own, with guidance, AND respect, as well as with attention to mechanics. My coordination became better, as did my technical skill and flexibility. That was truly the beginning for me. My interest in choreography parallels this journey. I constantly look to "invent" new movement, and as there truly is no new movement I create new relationships and juxtapositions. For me the movement creates both the personality and the structure of the dance. It is what allows the dance to manifest itself. My passion is the solo dance, which I create both for myself and others. My work with Susan Klein has laid a foundation for me: a foundation of support, of groundedness and body-felt understandings. My teaching, as well as my contributions to this work (Klein Technique) reflect this experience. I began teaching classes in 1979, and daily class 1984-2004.

Creating solo dances is my passion, and has been since the late 1980's. I use, reference, the body, using pure movement, and the process of its invention and investigation , to create/find the character or underlying emotional tone of the dance. I rely on the formal elements of dance-making to bring the characters of my "portraits" to life. I am interested in beauty and mystery, working to distill the meaning of a dance to its purest essence, hoping to leave the audience with a body felt, kinesthetic experience, rather than a purely intellectual one.

I have pursed this particular form as both a choreographer and a performer and think of them in dialogue and RELATIONSHIP with the space they are created and performed them, and they are given a new life with each audience they are presented to. Nothing exists alone, everything exists in relationship. Although solos (and dance/live art in general) are created to realize a paricular form, or shape: to convey time, or character, design or emotion, they are also innately possessed of a spontaneity and flexibilty, giving rise to various interpretations and meanings. Many dances achieve this uncomparable gift of live performance, but with one person the monologue aspect, the internal dialogue is the primary tool for the performer, rather than other performers. The relationships thus created are with the self, the audience, the space. The audience comes together in what I think of as a collective vision, independent of the indivual viewer, and that concsiousness brings something into the space with the performer. Although I know what my dances are, they are given new life, new depth and different levels of meaning in association with the above mentioned relationships. They become fluid, ever changing paintings, scultures, characters, events. Sometimes the struggle of the performer is apparent, sometimes he or she is carried to a place not reachable before, or perhaps again. These are my reasons for dancing, making dances, and teaching.

As a major influence in the training of a generation of "post-modern" dancers in New York City and across the US, and living as a working artist for 30 years I feel the need to challenge and be challenged: to look at my ideas of the body, of technique, of choreography with new input, information, and experience. This is my reason for graduate study at the University Wisconsin-Milwaukkee.

I currently teach classes at various studies in Manhattan, and Brooklyn, and travel extensively teaching people (dancers and non dancers alike) how to use, think about and be in their bodies. Klein Technique is a "dance" technique, a way to explore the the person's capacity to move in the way that is most themselves. This work is non-stylized, and as it can help one to achieve greater technical facility it can also be used in a creative capacity, either as a choreographer or as a performer. It helps one achieve a greater ease and fluidity in their movement. I look at the individual - the body and the spirit - in motion - where the disconnections are, how the movement travels from the head to the floor, and from the floor to the head. I look at them - the individual - how do they learn; why they are having problems; who they are. This requires a "process" that goes beyond just looking at the muscles, the injury, the symptom. It requires a journey, a process embarked on by both student and teacher that takes a deeper look into the workings of the person - into their body, mind and spirit.

I was no longer constantly injured. My journey continued, and it continues still. My dancing continues to improve - it is a surprise and joy to me. This process, this changing of patterns, over time fundamentally changes the deeper workings of a person, and their instrument for expression, and has the potential to make that instrument more completely theirs - a functional person less at the whim of outer shape, form and style. This translates into a greater respect for oneself. The possibility and/or severity of injury is lessened. This process goes on over time, and ends when the individual is no longer interested in improving. The potential for change and improvement is as never ending as the spirit of the person. On one level we teach anatomical principles to help gain an understanding of the body, and to add longevity to their dancing lives. We also work with principles of skeletal supports, and images to better access a depth of understanding that goes beyond the intellectual. This understanding becomes body -felt and body-understood. The more fully one understands themselves on a body-felt level the greater their potential to bring "themselves" more fully to the surface, closer to to the viewer's/audience's eyes.

© Barbara Mahler 2007

QUOTES

"Every iota of energy Mahler manufactures is perfectly directed and apportioned in just the right dosage to accomplish the required action. It’s the complete lack of kinesthetic verbiage that makes Mahler’s dancing utterly perspicuous." -- L.J. Sagolla, Backstage, NYC.

"Highly nuanced...." -- Dance Insider, NYC

About "The Whispering Pages-short dances in white all in a row"......"...her dance is a delicate rhythm familiar from most of our lives - moments of supreme wonder alternate with moments of supreme despair, and between the two, only a simple desire for balance" -- Kathleen Duffy, Chicago

For further information and booking contact Barbara Mahler @ barbmahler@aol.com