Rob Kitsos is an acclaimed dancer, dance instructor, performing artist and choreographer who has appeared with dance companies across the United States Asia and Europe. In addition to choreographing and performing, Rob was a full time faculty member at the University of Washington from 1998-2002. In 2002, Rob began a two-year Senior Lecturer position at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. Last fall Rob joined the faculty of Simon Fraser University as an Assistant Professor in the School for the Contemporary Arts. He has taught all levels of Contemporary Dance, Composition, Hip Hop, Dance Aesthetics and Movement and Music Collaboration. He has performed his own and other works at international festivals on four continents, including the Spoletto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina, the World Expo in Lisbon, the Grec Festival in Barcelona, the Palais Royale in Paris, and others in Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands and Venezuela. Kitsos has also appeared in well-known theaters including the Cultural Center in Hong Kong, Lincoln Center Out of Doors, the Joyce Theater and DTW in New York. Rob has been a member of more than fifteen performing companies which cover a broad range of styles from mime to hip hop to ballet, including Doug Elkins Dance Company, Gina Gibney Dance, Pat Graney, the Chamber Dance Company and the Berkshire Ballet. His work combines a broad range of skills. He has studied Mime at Ecole Jacques Lacoq in Paris and played drums in a rock band in popular clubs like CBGB's in New York City as well as a recent tour through Spain in 2004. He has also composed and performed many of his own sound scores for his choreography. Rob has recently been experimenting with digital video production and photography. Rob received his BA in Theater/Dance from Bard College and his MFA in Dance from the University of Washington in Dance from the University of Washington in 1997.

Class Description

This class focuses on a full body quality of dancing. While we isolate technical aspects throughout the class, emphasis is placed on an integrated and energetic approach to movement. This class is a culmination of several techniques. The warm up is a combination of Cunningham, Limone, yoga, ballet, and release techniques. I also incorporate forms form hip- hop, capoiera, gesture and floor work throughout the class. The warm up is followed by a combination designed to move through space and across the floor. I focus on isolation, initiation and momentum. The across the floor work is followed by a center phrase. This movement tends to be more eclectic and challenging rhythmically and dynamically. The final phrase is jumps across the floor. The jump vocabulary is built on momentum and clarity in the air.