Standing Down Straight® & Swing Dance Workshops with Guest Artist Billy Siegenfeld

Standing Down Straight® with Billy Siegenfeld | 10-11:30 a.m.

Standing Down Straight® (SDS) is a voice-and-movement training method developed by Billy Siegenfeld, founder of the theatre company Jump Rhythm®. This approach emphasizes gravity-directed relaxation, allowing individuals to do performative or everyday tasks with reduced strain and heightened efficiency—to find power in relaxation to prevent strain and injury.

Swing Dance Workshop with Billy Siegenfeld | 12-1:30 p.m.

This workshop explores swing dance through the lens of Standing Down Straight®—finding power in relaxation and letting gravity do the work. Instead of applying muscular force, we’ll practice: releasing unnecessary tension, organizing around the skeleton, and allowing movement to happen with less effort and more ease.

Dancers and non-dancers alike are welcome in this workshop to learn simple swing rhythms and partner movement while applying gravity-directed alignment, shared momentum, and efficient use of energy. Through partner and group exercises, we’ll discover how Standing Down Straight® makes swing dancing feel more sustainable, connected, and joyful.

BIOGRAPHY: Billy Siegenfeld is a former jazz and rock drummer and present-day vocal-rhythmic actor-dancer-singer. He’s also the founder, artistic director, choreographer, and musical arranger of the theatre company Jump Rhythm® (www.jumprhythm.org); an Emmy®-Award-winning recipient for both his performances in and vocal-rhythmic choreography for the documentary Jump Rhythm Jazz Project: Getting There; an author of essays, plays, and an upcoming book titled How To Make Gravity Our New Best Friend; and a Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence in the Department of Theatre at Northwestern University.