Skinner Releasing Technique

Skinner Releasing Technique (SRT) is an approach to teaching dance, movement and creative process. It was developed, from the early 1970s onward, by Joan Skinner, who had danced with the Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham companies before embarking on her own exploration of movement as a somatic process. Since then, it has become a significant influence on dance training and creative practice, as well as on leading choreographers and dance-makers across the world. In SRT classes, spontaneous movement evoked by guided poetic imagery, supported by music and sound, enables a creative and easily accessible exploration of technical movement principles such as multi-directional alignment, suppleness, suspension, economy and autonomy. As participants let go of habitual holding patterns, they are supported to cultivate an increasing sensitivity to their own physical and imaginative experience. The result can be a deeply embodied awareness of new possibilities in how they move - both inside the studio as dancers and creators, and in daily life.

The technique has been carefully arranged into a comprehensive, progressive pedagogy that is taught at three levels: Introductory (for all those coming to the technique for the first time), intermediate (termed ‘Ongoing’) and advanced. Experienced dancers can study alongside beginners, each engaged in their own individual learning process.

Skinner Releasing Institute oversees certified teacher training programmes in which trainee SRT teachers develop an in-depth understanding of the principles underlying the images, partnerwork, movement studies and other material in the pedagogy, as well as training in the art of guiding students through the material effectively. The copyright for the pedagogy is held by Joan Skinner.

Skinner Releasing Network is a collective of certified SRT teachers. Its website lists classes and workshops in SRT worldwide, as well as providing resources and information about SRT.