TDIF

Applications for #TDIF2026 teachers and performers are now live on our website! Follow the link in our bio. We are seeking to offer a diverse array of approaches to dance improvisation, performance as practice, somatic practice, creative process practices/methodologies and any type of improvisation as pertinent to vernacular dance styles (such as house, salsa, swing, flamenco, capoeira, martial arts.. etc.) The TDIF Advisory Committee will select the teaching and performing artists for TDIF. In addition to studio classes, we invite proposals that engage site-specific dance and performance practices. The festival takes place October 15-17, 2026 at Texas State University in San Marcos. Applications due May 17, 2026.

Announcing our 2026 featured guest artist, SCOTT WELLS! @scottwellsdance We are thrilled to welcome this incredible artist to our festival from October 15-17 at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. Learn more about Scott below: Scott Wells has been practicing contact improv in 1981, has an MFA in dance, and directs an award winning dance company in San Francisco. He has created works for skateboarders, for boxers and choreographed West Side Story for Sonoma State University. Scott has twice received the Isadora Duncan (San Francisco’s most prestigious dance award) for Outstanding Choreography. He has been teaching in Europe for the last 30 years at festivals in Moscow, Barcelona, Budapest, Berlin, Vienna, Zagreb, Bucharest, and Ankara to name a few. His current research passions are Eyebody practice, moving from the organs and contact improvisation. https://www.tdif.dance

You heard it here first! Texas State University in San Marcos will host this year’s TDIF from October 15-17, 2026. Mark your calendars! Photo credit @a.pringle.production

Your #TDIF2025 Advisory Committee ✨These folks help to make TDIF vibrant, explorative, safe, and in Festival Coordinator Sarah Gamblin’s words, AMAZEBALLS 👏🏼

Guest Artist Feature: PAUL SINGH! Paul Singh will present three classes at TDIF: “Gravity, Timing, and Imagination,” “Continuous Seeking: The Work is Never Done,” and “Findings: Solos, Duets, and the Spaces Between”. Paul will also present a piece in TDIF’s lineup of performances. Bio: Paul Singh holds a BFA in Dance from the University of Illinois, USA. He has performed with a diverse range of choreographers and companies, including Gerald Casel, Risa Jaroslow, Phantom Limb Company, Stephanie Batten Bland, Douglas Dunn, Christopher Williams, Kathy Westwater, and Faye Driscoll. Notably, he was part of the inaugural cast of Punchdrunk’s American debut of Sleep No More. Internationally, Paul has performed in Peter Sellars’ opera The Indian Queen (Madrid) and Peter Pleyer’s large-scale improvisation work Visible Undercurrent (Berlin). His choreographic works have been presented in venues across NYC and Berlin, with a highlight being the presentation of his solo piece Stutter at the Kennedy Center in 2004. Most recently, he premiered two new works for A.I.M by Kyle Abraham in 2024. An experienced educator in contact improvisation (CI), Paul teaches intensives and workshops globally, focusing on both teacher training and beginner studies. He is currently a faculty member at The Juilliard School, where he teaches various technique classes, including CI, floor work, contemporary, and partnering. From 2021 to 2023, he served as Program Manager at Baryshnikov Arts Center. Join us Oct 9-11 for dance classes, guest artist workshops, a live concert, and jams. Register on our website and choose from our 3-tiered ($25-$45) payment structure. https://www.tdif.dance/register

#TDIF2025 Performing Artist Feature! Jasmine Hearn presents “Memory Fleet: when salt met water” in TDIF’s lineup of performances. “My body of work acknowledges that memories are held within our bodies. A lesson shared with me by a myriad of people – Okwui Okpokwasili, Zora Neale Hurston, and my Grandma. I create dances that source methods of remembering and imagining and that reference the work of Black people who have survived the transatlantic crossing in spirit and/or in body. I am sourcing unwritten codes, languages, gestures, and movement technologies to influence improvisation scores that I braid together to make solo and group interdisciplinary dances for performance rooted in collectively built forms known as Jazz, Zydeco, ballet, modern, post-modern, Dunham, flight, embodied sound, and slow cooking. I ask all collaborators to improvise within the constructed performance structures and to change the movement as it reflects their want and capacity.” Jasmine Hearn, born and raised on occupied Akokisa lands (Houston, TX), is an interdisciplinary artist, teacher, doula, performer, and organizer. Jasmine, recently named one of Dance Magazine’s 25 to Watch, is a recipient of a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Grants to Artists award (2023), Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Rome Prize in Design with collaborator Athena Kokoronis of Domestic Performance Agency (2023), a Creative Capital Award (2022), a Jerome Hill Artist Fellowship (2019), NY Dance and Performance “Bessie” Awards for Outstanding Performer (2021, 2017). Jasmine has collaborated with Dream the Combine, Bill T. Jones, Saul Williams, Solange Knowles, Alisha B. Wormsley, Vanessa German, Okwui Okpokwasili, Marjani Forté-Saunders, Tsedaye Makonnen, Holly Bass, Bebe Miller, and with dance companies, Sandra Organ Dance Company, Urban Bush Women, David Dorfman Dance, Staycee Pearl dance project, and Dance Alloy Theater. Join us Oct 9-11 for dance classes, guest artist workshops, a live concert, and jams. Register through the link in our bio or on our website and choose from our 3-tiered ($25-$45) payment structure. https://www.tdif.dance/register

#TDIF2025 Performing Artist Feature! KDH Dance Company presents “Clarity Study” in TDIF’s lineup of performances. “Clarity Study- an improvised piece about taking up just the right amount of space. This work is an experiment in moving together as a group. We are trying to intuit when to move, when to be still, when to surprise, when to listen, when to cause, and when to react to create interesting, spontaneous composition. The piece explores this idea with several improvisational ideas we developed together: group bug, gestural conducting, turtle task, T solos, and a final open score.” KDH Dance Company is an Austin-based nonprofit arts organization that has provided dance performances and dance education programming to the Austin community since 1999. Founder and former Artistic Director, Kathy Dunn Hamrick, provided countless opportunities for dancers and artists for over 25 years before recently passing the baton to the next generation of dance makers and educators who seek to continue Hamrick’s legacy of creating memorable dance experiences for the public. Join us Oct 9-11 for dance classes, guest artist workshops, a live concert, and jams. Register through the link in our bio or on our website and choose from our 3-tiered ($25-$45) payment structure. https://www.tdif.dance/register

#TDIF2025 Performing Artist Feature! Wayne M. Smith presents “Play It Back (memory)… ” in TDIF’s lineup of performances. “This improvisational piece is an audience interactive experience that will fuse Playback Theatre* methods with impromptu ensemble dance making. Someone from the audience will be invited to share a very short moment or “feelings” story from their lives, and a small ensemble of dancers (3-4) will be conducted to interpret, explore, and “play” back on the spot whatever was shared, performed for the teller/audience reflectively. *{Playback Theatre is a people-centered, audience interactive type of theatre that brings to life what a teller is prompted to share in the moment, something that is true for them}” Wayne M. Smith (he/him). Wayne is a professor at the University of Memphis and a recognized improvisational dance-theatre artist interested in interactive performance and restorative justice. He is a professional ensemble member, conductor, and facilitator with Playback Memphis (an improv-based, people-centered, interactive theatre company) since 2010, as well as dance professor and alum at the University of Memphis Theatre & Dance Department. Wayne is also a teaching artist with Company d, a dance company for dancers with Down syndrome, plus collaborates in a number of mindfulness projects with various individuals or organizations. He is a native Memphian, holds an MFA degree in Dance from the Ohio State University, and a BFA in Theatre/Dance (minor Mathematics) from the University of Memphis. Join us Oct 9-11 for dance classes, guest artist workshops, a live concert, and jams. Register through the link in our bio or on our website and choose from our 3-tiered ($25-$45) payment structure. https://www.tdif.dance/register

#TDIF2025 Performing Artist Feature! Robert Kelley presents “Fractured Reflections” in TDIF’s lineup of performances. “Fractured Reflections” investigates the improvisational methods of structured movement exploration and embodied awareness. By integrating chakra theory with contemporary techniques, the performance invites participants to engage with their emotional and physical landscapes, experiencing how personal histories inform movement choices. Utilizing guided improvisation prompts, dancers will explore themes of memory and identity, developing a visceral language that resonates with the audience. This process not only emphasizes the spontaneity of performance but also emphasizes the collective experience of shared narratives through movement.” Robert S. Kelley II (He/Him), originally from Florida is an improvisational dance performer and choreographer. He has performed works by notable choreographers such as Ohad Naharin and Jacques Heim, with highlights including international festivals in Trinidad, China, and South Korea. A fellow of the Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography program at Jacob’s Pillow, Robert combines improvisational dance with emotional exploration, focusing on fear, anger, trust, and love. As a passionate educator, he fosters an inclusive learning environment, integrating technique with emotional expression and critical thinking. He holds an MFA in Choreography from the California Institute of the Arts. Join us Oct 9-11 for dance classes, guest artist workshops, a live concert, and jams. Register through the link in our bio or on our website and choose from our 3-tiered ($25-$45) payment structure. https://www.tdif.dance/register

#TDIF2025 Performing Artist Feature! Rachana Rao presents “Swasam (breath)” in TDIF’s lineup of performances. “In my performance, I investigated improvisational methods rooted in the traditional frameworks of Bharatanatyam and Kuchipudi, while engaging with contemporary performance sensibilities. Drawing from my deep training in Natyashastra under Padma Vibhushan Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam, I explored improvisation through abhinaya (expressive storytelling), spontaneous rhythmic variations (nritta), and interactive dialogues between movement and music. These methods allowed me to expand upon the classical vocabulary in real time, responding intuitively to live musicians and audience energy. My approach also embraced elements of manodharma (creative improvisation) central to Indian classical arts, encouraging dynamic reinterpretations of familiar compositions while remaining anchored in tradition. Through this process, I aimed to bridge classical rigor with the freedom of personal expression, revealing new layers within the narrative and emotional landscape of the performance.” Bio in comments Join us Oct 9-11 for dance classes, guest artist workshops, a live concert, and jams. Register through the link in our bio or on our website and choose from our 3-tiered ($25-$45) payment structure. https://www.tdif.dance/register

#TDIF2025 Performing Artist Feature! Adele Nickel presents “Frame Work” in TDIF’s lineup of performances. “As a somatics practitioner, my default entry point into improv has historically taken an inside-out approach; my interest now is in deepening my skills sourcing external stimuli as impetus for choice-making. For this piece, I’ve created an audio/visual score (including projected video) and am now working on filling in the movement component. The video provided shows the completed audio/video score, and my first stab at improvising in response to it. Between now and TDIF, I plan to engage with this score as a personal movement practice, working to sharpen and hone the specificity, quality, and intent of my movement responses.” Adele is a Houston-based dance artist, educator and scholar, and current Assistant Professor at SHSU. Before moving to Texas, Adele enjoyed a 15-year career in NYC as a longtime company member of “Bessie”-nominated Liz Gerring Dance and with Annie-B Parson, Sarah Michelson and Patrick Corbin, among others. She received her MFA from University of Washington and BA in Writing from The New School. Adele is a certified Alexander Technique teacher and is currently training in Craniosacral therapy. Her creative work is inspired by somatic and feminist practices and she collaborates regularly with Brian Lawson (“Form Believers”). Join us Oct 9-11 for dance classes, guest artist workshops, a live concert, and jams. Register through the link in our bio or on our website and choose from our 3-tiered ($25-$45) payment structure. https://www.tdif.dance/register