b12 summer | main event
research or die.
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no credits
b12 summer main event
— // —location: eden***** studios
Shannon Gillen
vim vigor | former dancer with johannes wieland
radical attention
vim vigor reshapes the acting process by merging the transformative rigor of the meisner technique with a contemporary investigation into attention—as a practice, a capacity, and a shared field. designed for today’s interdisciplinary artist, this workshop supports dancers expanding into acting and actors seeking deeper physical expressivity. guided by shannon gillen, the work activates the imagination—using crafted circumstances to access raw emotional energy—while training the attentional systems that make presence possible. drawing from current research on embodied cognition, participants enter a practice that doesn’t narrow but widens perception. presence emerges not through self-monitoring, but through attunement—to others, to circumstance, and to what is unfolding now. you’ll push the edges of your craft—uncovering emotional stakes, transforming movement into meaning, and forging relationships that feel urgent and deeply human. presence here is not a resource to be extracted or optimised, but something cultivated together. the studio becomes a sanctuary for sustained attention—where time slows, stakes sharpen, and performance emerges from genuine contact rather than forced display. you’ll leave with tools to build characters from the inside out—visceral, resonant, and engaged—training not just what you express, but how you attend to the ever-changing moment.
the description reflects an artist’s idea which was developed at the time it was submitted to b12. it may have changed by the time the workshop or the performance project is starting. please stay flexible. thank you!
biography
shannon gillen is the artistic director of vim vigor (us). her work has been commissioned across the usa, canada, central america, south america, and europe. commissions include l.a.d.p., gibney dance company, zagreb dance company, hubbard street 2, dance.films for bam, ny fashion week, danceworks at the lobero theatre, over het lj in (nl), jacob's pillow festival, boston dance theater at the ica, agnes varis performing arts, b12 festival at dock 11 (de), ruvuelo (chile), mainfranken theater würzburg (de), arts umbrella (ca), international solo-tanz festival (de), tif theater (de), de dansers (nl), think big choreographer-in-residence at staatsoper hannover (de), and at lewis center for the arts at princeton as a choreographer in residence; notable festivals and venues include springboard danse festival, new york live arts, prisma festival, judson church, art basel, bryant park, nyc's river to river festival, and the joyce. recent commissions include the iua (is), the iab (es), vassar college, zagreb dance company, the university of limerick, luz-sitges (es), mavericks (de), and michigan movement (m2p2), an annual contemporary training and creation program held at the university of michigan. in 2025, gillen established arts assembly a2, a new hub for contemporary performance training and research in michigan. gillen is an associate professor of dance at u-m, a graduate of the juilliard school, and earned her mfa from tisch school of the arts, nyu. www.vimvigordance.com
company info
vim vigor
founded as a collaborative think tank by shannon gillen, vim vigor brings together innovative and profoundly gifted artists from around the world to create original, cutting-edge dance theatre. since its founding, vim has performed and taught at renowned venues and festivals across the usa, europe, canada, central america, south america, and in nordic countries. in tandem with building new works, vim established an education platform in 2015, dedicated to supporting the professional lives of artists of all ages with ongoing classes, workshops, and annual winter/summer intensives. in 2025, vim founded arts assembly in southeast michigan, serving as a hub for contemporary training and research in the us. as a company in residence at the university of michigan, vim launched michigan movement performance project, a platform embedding rising artists with professional companies, where they train, create and perform new work, audition for companies, and deepen their choreographic voice through ongoing mentorship. in 2026, vim launched luz-sitges in spain, a program that immerses rising contemporary dance artists in creation processes with professional choreographers working in europe. these programs are open to all professional artists 18+. additional details on this and many of the exciting new projects that vim is creating are available on the company's website.
please be aware of our early bird special offer for this workshop! you can apply for this offer up until the 24th of march 2025. after the 24th the regular workshop fee applies. applications are accepted up until one day before the workshops starts.
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