Conversation with Nina Martin on Ensemble Thinking, ReWire Movement States, Improvisation, and Performance

TCU Dance Professor | Ensemble Thinking Founder | ReWire Movement States | Contact Improvisation

Discover the groundbreaking work of Nina Martin, PhD, creator of Ensemble Thinking and ReWire Movement States, two revolutionary methodologies that have transformed contemporary improvisation. Host Daniel Burkholder explores Martin's 50 years of embodied research with this six-time National Endowment for the Arts fellowship recipient and true rebel of the dance world.

Featured Artist: Nina Martin Bio Highlights

Nina Martin, MFA, PhD is a choreographer, pedagogue, dance theorist, and performer whose work centers on perception, composition, and spontaneous movement states. With five decades of embodied research and applied dance practice, she has fundamentally shaped how improvisation is understood as viable performance, research methodology, and pedagogical framework.

Major Recognition & Positions:

• Six-time NEA Choreography Fellowship recipient - National Endowment for the Arts


• TCU Professor of Dance Studies - Texas Christian University School for Classical & Contemporary Dance


• Former UCLA faculty - Department of World Arts and Cultures


• Former NYU faculty - Experimental Theatre Wing


• Board President of Marfa Live Arts - Dance Ranch Marfa workshops


• Lower Left Performance Collective - Artist member focused on cooperative inquiry


• International touring artist - Teaching and performing across Europe, Asia, Canada, and the US

Revolutionary Methodologies:

• Ensemble Thinking - Clarification and advancement of improvisation as performance form


• ReWire Movement States - Therapeutic application of creative practice


• Contact Improvisation practice - Veteran practitioner and teacher


• 50 years of embodied research - Applied dance and spontaneous movement

Learn More:

• act/re/act Podcast Archive: https://www.danielburkholder.com/actreact-podcast


• Lower Left Performance Collective: www.lowerleft.org


• Marfa Live Arts - Dance Ranch Marfa workshops and programming


• TCU School for Classical & Contemporary Dance

Keywords: #NinaMartin #EnsembleThinking #ReWireMovementStates #TCUDance #NEAFellowship #ContactImprovisation #LowerLeftCollective #MarfaLiveArts #DanceRanchMarfa #DanceTherapy #SomaticPractice #SpontaneousMovement #EmbodiedResearch #ContemporaryImprovisation #DancePedagogy #PerceptionComposition #ActReActPodcast