SUMMER
INTENSIVE
2026
RESEARCH AND TRAINING
Shannon Gillen is the artistic director of VIM VIGOR (US).
Her creative work has been commissioned across the USA, Canada, Central America, South America and Europe. Projects include commissions by L.A. Dance Project, dance.films for BAM, NY Fashion Week, Danceworks at the Lobero Theatre, Gibney Dance Company, Zagreb Dance Company, Hubbard Street 2, Resilience Dance, over het lj in (NL), Jacob's Pillow Festival, Boston Dance Theater at the ICA in Boston, Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center, b12 Festival at dock 11, (DE) Ruvuelo (Chile), Mainfranken Theater Würzburg (DE), Arts Umbrella (CA), the International Solo-Tanz Theater Festival in Stuttgart (DE), the TIF theater in Kassel (DE), de dansers (NL), as a think big choreographer-in-residence at Staatsoper Hannover (DE) and at Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton where she was a choreographer in residence; notable festivals and venues where her work has been seen include Springboard Danse festival in Montreal, New York Live Arts, Prisma Festival in Panama, Judson Church, PULSE art fair/Art Basel, Bryant Park, NYC's River to River festival, Perry Mansfield, and The Joyce. Gillen's recent commissions include the IUA in Reykjavik, Iceland, the b12 Festival in Berlin, the Institute of the Arts Barcelona (ES), Michigan Movement Performance Projects (M2P2), Agnes Varis Performing Arts Center for Gibney Presents in NYC, and the Arthur Miller Theatre (USA). In 2026, she will create a new work with Zagreb Dance Company in Croatia that will tour in Europe, LUZ / SITGES in Spain, and MAVERICKS for b12 in Berlin. In 2027 will create new works for The University of Limerick in Ireland and for the Power Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Gillen is an Associate Professor of Dance at U-M. She is a graduate of The Juilliard School and earned her MFA from Tisch School of the Arts, NYU
Jovick Pavajeau-Orostegui was born in Miami, Florida, and began his formal dance training in Bogotá, Colombia, at the age of 15 under the direction of Jaime Otálora. Later, he attended George Mason University where he received the Kidd/Stearns Dance Talent Scholarship and graduated with a BFA in Dance in 2020. He has attended workshops with RUBBERBAND, VIM VIGOR, David Dorfman Dance and Springboard Danse Montreal under the direction of Alexandra Wells – where he performed work by Lior Lazarof and Johannes Wieland. After graduating in 2020, Jovick moved to New York City where he was an apprentice with David Dorfman Dance. In his time in NYC, he also performed with VIM VIGOR and collaborated with other New York based artists such as Jordan Demetrius Lloyd, Robert Rubama, and Cameron McKinney of Kizuna Dance. Jovick relocated to Montreal in 2021 to join RUBBERBAND.
Katherine Kiessling is a dancer and recent graduate of the University of Michigan, where she earned dual degrees in Dance and Computer Science. She officially joined VIM VIGOR in 2025 and has since performed internationally in the company’s productions THE LONG FALL, MOTHERLOAD, DRACULA, and COUNTDOWN. She has also assisted the company throughout its physical practice and choreographic processes at the University of Michigan Department of Dance, the b12 Summer Festival, the Institute of the Arts Barcelona, Iceland University of the Arts, and Michigan Movement Performance Projects. Recently, she traveled to Croatia to serve as choreographic assistant and rehearsal director for Shannon Gillen’s new work for Zagreb Dance Company, premiering in September 2026. In May 2026, she assisted VIM VIGOR in choreographing for Michigan Movement Performance Projects and for Mavericks, b12’s new three-month contemporary dance training program in Berlin. In June 2026, Kiessling will also serve as a teacher, rehearsal director, and choreographic assistant for VIM VIGOR’s LUZ program in Sitges, Spain, an immersive international apprentice experience for rising artists, before returning to Berlin in July 2026 as an assistant for Shannon Gillen’s workshops at the annual b12 Summer Festival.
INTENSIVE
LEAD
TEACHERS
VIM VIGOR DANCE COMPANY
SUMMER INTENSIVE 2026
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
August 3-7, 2026
MONDAY-FRIDAY 9:30am-4:30pm
ONE WEEK - $600
APPLICATION FORM
VIM VIGOR's SUMMER INTENSIVE provides immersive training and research in contemporary dance-theater in the US. The program is anchored in VIM VIGOR's anatomically sound approach to contemporary floorwork and soft acrobatics in combination with our pioneering dance theater methodology, inviting participants to dive into adaptive and reactive physical pathways, to explore the physical and emotional lines of complex partner work, and to engage narrative devices as an additional resource for improvisational and compositional approaches.
VIM's program is focused on professional development with daily contemporary floorwork classes that improve dancers' athleticism to move with efficiency and healthy alignment, into and out of the floor, as well as their artistry to work with context, emotional impulse and the ensemble. Afternoons are dedicated to workshops focused on improvisation, contact partnering and momentum based mechanics, dance theater exploration, acting, creative practice with the company, and roundtable community discussions. Additionally each day begins and ends with different forms of bodywork - we find these shared moments of healing and reflection allow the efforts and questions of the day to merge with the body's cycles of breath and recovery.
We are committed to nurturing professional dancers alongside artists seeking to expand the range of their technical and performance capability. And though we categorize this as an advanced program, we find that positive encouragement in tandem with creative modifications allow all to pursue their practice fully. Personal growth, communal investment, and evolving cutting edge practices are at the core of our shared work.
As active artists at the University of Michigan, the company is thrilled to welcome you into a state of the art facility in beautiful Ann Arbor, where we will train and research in a wide open studio theater, with access to communal eating area, changing rooms and bathrooms for all genders. Additionally in solidarity with VIM's commitment to improving access to the arts we will offer two 50% scholarships for BIPOC movers interested in joining us.
APPLICATION:
We ask that you fill out our online google form application HERE, which will request your resume and a video link of you moving. There is no in-person audition for this program, so please share footage that best represents you. Please note, that dancers must be at least 18 years old, but that there is no age limit. All participants should be advised that this is advanced professional training alongside immersive research, and while we accept and value a range of experience, expect to be challenged every day.
* If you are interested in applying for one of our two available BIPOC scholarships, please be prepared to submit a letter of recommendation along with a personal statement as why you feel this program will benefit your artistic growth in addition to materials listed above.
Additional questions? Feel free to reach out to us: info@vimvigordance.com, with SUMMER 2026 APPLICANT in the subject line.
TUITION:
Once you have been accepted, you will receive a personal invoice for the program's $600 tuition sent to your email from PayPal. This invoice is personal to you and will hold all payments received and balances due. There is a one time $25 processing fee to cover administrative costs. Once your tuition is processed, you will be sent a confirmation email.
LOCATION:
The University of Michigan's Dance Department will host VIM VIGOR's educational programming in their state of the art facilities. The local address is: 1000 Baits Drive, Ann Arbor, MI 48105
No meals, housing, or transportation are included in tuition. Housing arrangements and travel arrangements are at the discretion of each student. We do however happily connect accepted participants looking for housing, so that they might find accommodations together. We generally advocate for Airbnb listings or valid Craigslist posts as they are reliable and affordable in Ann Arbor and surrounding area.
