a unique opportunity to embark on a journey in to the heart of contemporary dance with the Professional Contemporary Dance Certification Program (PCDCP), in the vibrant cultural hub of Berlin.
featuring the jsr method: blendING improvisation with choreography.
five weeks of immersive exploration at Eden Studios, under the visionary guidance of esteemed choreographer Judith Sánchez Ruíz.
embody, dissect, and remix movement in powerful new ways.
Photo credit: Ah Liu, Hong Kong
If you thrive on rhythm, passion, and full-body imagination, this is your playground.
join us as we craft a new era in movement and meaning.
the program
The Professional Contemporary Dance Certification Program is dedicated to equipping artists who have completed intensive study programs at the diploma and B.A. level or sufficient dance intensive practice not shorter than 5 years. It is designed for passionate artists with an interest in continuing their professional path to become performers and educators of the highest quality in the contemporary performance field.
The experience gives participants the rare opportunity to train and create intensively with Judith Sánchez Ruíz, a globally respected choreographer, educator and researcher whose 30+ years on the international stage bring a fresh, non-Western perspective that sets this program apart.
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Judith Sánchez Ruíz Company’s Professional Contemporary Dance Certification Program will award a Certificate of Completion to participants of each 5-week program.
Those seeking additional certification to teach JSR methodologies are assessed on their pedagogies, methodologies, ability to structure a class effectively, and interest in progressing education research.
Teaching certification is offered based on the oversight and agreement of members of the JSR-PCDCP Artistic Advisory Board, and is only possible after participation in multiple PCDCP programs.
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Proof of completion of contemporary dance education program, B.A., or equivalent is required.
Selection criteria will focus on the applicant's artistic individuality, improvisational talents, intellectual enthusiasm, and a keen interest in exploring movement.
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The PCDCP will maintain a comprehensive archive of all research, debates, presentations, and classes, ensuring they are accessible online exclusively for students in the program. PCDCP is committed to keeping all materials related to the investigation of improvisation, technique, partnering, and methodologies easily available to our students. By archiving this material, we will guarantee the preservation of knowledge offered as artists and researchers to this program.
we want to ensure that new, effective methodologies, techniques, and research become permanent contributions to the dance community…
while also supporting other significant pedagogical approaches within the community such as Susan Klein Technique™ and Janet Panetta’s functional ballet methodologies. Ensuring a continued progressiveness and nuanced understanding of movement is the mission of the PCDCP.
The program will function as a practical space dedicated to the preservation and sharing of research systems, by promoting discussion, archiving and the transmission of these practices and knowledge to future generations among its dancers and educators.
the curriculum
At the core of our training is a radical return to the body not as a tool, but as a living archive of potential. Participants are guided to unlock their innate movement intelligence through a functional, somatic approach that forms the foundation for an ever-evolving choreographic language. Through our transformative methodology, dancers traverse physical, emotional, and conceptual landscapes. In this space of inquiry, discomfort becomes a generative force, vulnerability becomes clarity, and new movement vocabularies emerge both from instinct and the unknown.
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These classes are based on more than 15 years of investigation by Judith Sánchez Ruíz on the release techniques. Functionality & Perspective give dancers many ways to understand movement’s initiation in the body, allowing them to understand the functionality from a creative approach, leading to specific organic movement qualities while working with the imagination. Participants will focus on the importance of being grounded, creating an understanding of the shifting of weight, clarity of movement, attention to detail, precision, and dynamics in a multi-directional approach.
These sessions will encourage the body to question and practice task-oriented exercises, equations, and scores.
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Your Own God's research is based on JSR's choreographic process and experience as a performer of diverse techniques and styles throughout her long international career. This class triggers the uncomfortable zone, breaking habits effectively.
Your Own God's tools, sourced methodologies and practical exercises aim to unlock the mind from imitative academic dogma (that imposes a mainstream style and decorative content). It focuses on each participant's individual awakening and exploration of our functional and artistic potential. The dancers practice how to reset the mind through radio exercises, ramifications, and associations of vocabularies that will guide a much deeper connection.
Improvisation exposes dancers to a different perspective on performance, where vulnerability is part of the artist's sense of being. The class presents an opportunity to fully engage in our own creative practices, moving from a casual point of view to a more compositional approach. Thus exploring the relationship between set material and Improvisation in relation to space, time, and other bodies, students learn how to redirect their knowledge and tools to the flow while discovering new ways of practicing and developing scored and structured performance.
Sánchez’s pedagogical contributions include problem-solving methods that promote student advancement, uncover individual performativity, and deconstruct Eurocentric biases within educational frameworks.
meet the founder
Renowned worldwide for her fearless, boundary-pushing work JSR is a trailblazing Afro-Cuban artist whose practice fuses rigorous structure with the wild unknown of improvisation.Her choreography does more than move. It provokes, disrupts, and reveals.
JSR’s vision is expansive: to build a global dance network rooted in exploration, innovation, and radical artistic exchange. Her work amplifies diverse voices, with a powerful emphasis on women in contemporary dance, and advances the field through empathy, rigor, and visionary research.
At the heart of her return is a bold re-visitation of her seminal “diary process” - a deep dive into existential physicality, where movement becomes a raw, honest record of being. This is choreography as living archive, each gesture a page, each moment a question.
JSR invites artists to step beyond aesthetic and into the emotional and political urgency of the body. This is not about performing the self, but dismantling and reassembling it in real time - together..
The JSR Company, through its commitment to diversity and education, remains dedicated to expanding knowledge and welcoming students from all backgrounds and cultures.
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Individuals who aim to become accredited teachers of Judith Sanchez Ruiz's methodologies, including Functionality and Perspective & Your Own God, must successfully complete an evaluation after participating in two or three sessions of the JSR-PCDCP program. Certification is awarded with the endorsement of the Advisory Board.
This certification is particularly beneficial for artists with a background in organic functional training and a release-based approach, as well as improvisational skills and experience.
As the program nears completion, PCDCP invites local dance institutions and the Berlin community to participate in sample classes during presentation weeks. All outcomes of these engagements are documented systematically, creating an archive that becomes a valuable resource for certified instructors seeking future reference or engaged in research on these pedagogical approaches and techniques. -
Selected standouts from Group A will be honored by the Artistic Advisory Board with a one-year JSR Company license, empowering them to perform acclaimed works from our repertoire.
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We will host spirited discussions on pressing dance, art, or research topics, all within a nurturing community that champions inclusivity and equal opportunity for learning.
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We promote engaging exchanges with local dance institutions through community trial classes and public presentations. Our suite of activities is purposefully crafted to strengthen communal ties and foster collective wellbeing, enriching your journey beyond the confines of technical proficiency. During the 5 Week Intensive, members of the local dance scene will be invited to engage with the program through performances, trial classes, and public discussions.
FAQs
Requirements:
Proof of completion of contemporary dance education program, B.A., or equivalent is required.
Selection criteria will focus on the applicant's artistic individuality, improvisational talents, intellectual enthusiasm, and a keen interest in exploring movement.
Application:
Please submit a detailed artistic curriculum vitae, a one minute video introducing yourself and your interest, a photograph, and a video link (YouTube or Vimeo) that showcases an improvisation in one sequence shot based on no music.