Diamonds in the Dark
Choreographic tools for aerialists, circus artists, and physical performers
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What is Diamonds in the Dark?
Diamonds in the Dark is self-guided online course in creative excavation; a collection of over 16 time-tested exercises that get results. These exercises are specifically designed for aerialists, circus artists, dancers, and movers to facilitate creative research. It's created to aid you in devising choreography and smooth, buttery transitions for your unique movement patterns, as well as provide you with tools to add depth and meaning to your work.
The course is delivered through a series of assignments:
- Written assignments for you do in a notebook
- Physical exercises for you to do in the studio
- Video examples of these tools have been prepared and recorded for you so you can see what they look like
I recommend the exercises for Diamonds in the Dark be done in the order in which they are given.
This is not a course for learning tricks, repertory, or aerial technique. I made this course for those who know tricks, who know technique, and who are ready to make some fucking art. We reach a level of training in which the high of upping our skills is no longer satisfactory, we wish to know how people invent movement out of nowhere. When it is no longer enough to do an impressive skill, but you also want to know how to use that skill to elicit an emotional response in an audience...and ourselves. How to unleash your unique movement qualities. How to make a transition as powerful as a triple star drop, how to unlock an act that means something to us, how to connect with an audience core to core, how to push farther, deeper, longer into our creative process.
If this sounds like a familiar hunger, I made this course for you.
These are the tools and methods I've gathered and taught around the world since 2007. I have chosen only the exercises and tools that I have seen ignite fires in people that insisted they did not possess a creative bone in their body, but they WANTED to create. Through these exercises, they realized they already knew how, and were able to tap into and express those urges. You already have everything you need to make a movement, an act, a breath, absolutely mesmerizing. These are some tools to unearth those facets of your performance.
It is not intended exclusively for professionals, nor exclusively for hobbyists. It is intended for artists.
Here is some of what you can expect:
- Video exercises of choreographic tools I've been testing for proven results for over 15+ years of research
- Tasks for you to try in the studio, both on and off the apparatus
- Written assignments (do not skip these, they are delicious) for you to do in your notebook
- Lifetime access to the materials for as long as I'm kickin it on the interwebs
- Access to any updated materials (you'll receive an update)
Frequently Asked Questions
Check out the free preview below: Rules of the Road!
Audacity Project Alumni:
If you have gone through the rabbit hole with me in The Audacity Project, you get $100 off the price of Diamonds in the Dark.
Contact me for your coupon code, you know where to find me :)
Your Instructor
Rachel Strickland is an interdisciplinary performance artist, writer, creative mentor, and second generation witch (that we know of).
Classically trained in ballet since the age of three, she studied creative writing and contemporary dance at UNC Asheville, going on to study belly dance, West African dance, and butoh. Rachel began her bootstraps study of circus arts in 2007 while supporting herself as a dancer in several local fusion companies in San Francisco, moving to Seattle to cut her teeth on underground stages and national tours. She developed a unique style and innovative approach to aerial hoop which brought her international recognition, and she has coached, performed, and choreographed on four continents.
Her performance work combines aerial, dance, storytelling, and spectacle to create original works for stage and installation. To unearth aspects of the self which are buried, suppressed, and mutilated by the sanction of outside influences is both her subject matter and the intended effect on the viewer.
As a creative mentor, she’s been called “the patron saint of ambitious creatives”, a “creative midwife”, and her personal favorite, “mother of monsters.” Rachel has been mentoring artists to unearth sustainable, authentic creative practices since 2014 and has personally mentored over 400 artists in a 1:1 capacity.
She is passionate about the reclamation of autonomic personal agency, the rejection of hyper-independence, and the brave, bold creation of whatever the fuck you want to create. She is absolutely certain that the intersection of magic and art is her place to do that work from.
She’s made her home in the swamps of coastal South Carolina where the pulse of the land inspires both her artwork and her teachings.