Process + Express Community Workshop

Join Artistic Director Gwendolyn Gussman of HOLDTIGHT Company for a nourishing in-person workshop at Champa Studio in the Arts Complex!

Process + Express guides attendees through an abbreviated version of HOLDTIGHT’s unique creation process. Incorporating physical movement, meditation, prompted writing, and open dialogue, participants delve into questions surrounding the beliefs that hold us back from change, our wishes for the future, and how all of this relates to our balance & relationship with the earth. Participants will find openings for exciting and fulfilling ways to discover creative material from their personal, lived experiences and receive glimmers of how that fits into our greater, collective world.

These workshops are in development around HT's latest immersive dance-theater work, together : un/tethered, which will premiere from April 4-6, 2024 at Studio Loft at Ellie Caulkins Opera House at the Arts Complex. Performances and workshops are supported through a Creative Residency by Denver Arts & Venues at the Denver Performing Arts Complex.

These workshops are free with RSVP, and accessible to all bodies and levels (you do not need to be a dancer or artist to come!) This event is open to everyone who wants to have a fun and inspiring time. Come and join us at the Champa Studio in the Arts Complex for a workshop filled with creativity, sharing, and artistic expression. We can't wait to see you there!

In addition to being Artistic Director of HOLDTIGHT, Gwendolyn Gussman is an experienced teacher, facilitator of experiences, choreographer & performing artist. Gussman is a certified Pilates & Yoga instructor and has extensive teaching experience of pilates, yoga, dance, and somatic practices to a range of bodies, abilities, injuries, & ages 13-85 years old. She maintains a thriving private practice as well as teaching at prestigious studios & schools. 

(photo credit: Martha Wirth for HOLDTIGHT Company)

About together : un/tethered

together : un/tethered explores our ties to the world and each other. These tethers connect us, but can be altered, cut and reconnected. Weaving movement, live and original music, immersive theater, personal narrative, visual arts and participation, the audience is taken on an evocative journey to celebrate grief and joy. 
Inspired by the work of prolific environmental scientists, eco-psychologists, indigenous communities, activists, writers, and others, un/tethered marries high quality performing arts with participation -- tasks incorporating environmental and psychological reflection, expression, and ritual. This partnership transforms the audience from removed spectator to empathetic participant. 

un/tethered is composed of three distinct parts, each of which can be experienced individually and will premiere in Denver over the course of 2024, culminating in a durational, epic work in 2025. The first section, together : un/tethered, will make its World Premiere April 4-6 at the Studio Loft at Ellie Caulkins Opera House at the Arts Complex in Denver, Colorado with the support of Denver Arts & Venues. un/tethered is HOLDTIGHT’s most sustainable production to date, incorporating natural elements such as food-scrap dyed set pieces and costumes, reclaimed set materials and more.

HOLDTIGHT Company Events at Arts Complex

Community Dye Party - Champa Studio - March 2
Process + Express Community Workshop - Champa Studio - March 9
Process + Express Community Workshop - Champa Studio -  March 16
Open Rehearsal with HOLDTIGHT Company - Champa Studio - March 23
together: un/tethered World Premiere - Studio Loft - April 4-6

The HOLDTIGHT Company dance residency at Arts Complex is supported by Denver Arts & Venues.