Congratulations to the Spring 2019 Graduating Class  of Master Choreography Techniques!

Our talented and ambitious MCT graduates – hailing from Canada, Slovakia, Finland and America – completed the five month training program from February – June 2019.

Master Choreography Techniques (MCT) is an advanced online certification and training program for both seasoned skating coaches and those looking to specialize in a career as an ice choreographer. Created by AIT Founder Jodi Porter, the class is a mixture of choreographic creation, video lecture, reading and monthly discussion meetings.

Get to know the graduates and check out their final video projects.

Seebie Baga

Seebie, who lives in Minneapolis, grew up as a competitive figure skater but took a long break away from skating and started to pursue their craft as a professional aerial artist. Now that they are dipping their feet back into the skating world, we are thrilled that Seebie decided to take MCT and incorporate the choreographic concepts into their aerial choreography. Seebie’s final project culminated this union with an incredible aerial and skating performance (with professional skater Amy Berglund). Below you can check out Seebie’s amazing video.

 

Jordan Bailey Dinwiddie

Living in NYC, Jordan is a figure skating coach and company member of American Ice Theatre New York City. She presents a cool and sophisticated style to her choreography that was explored and encouraged throughout the MCT semester. She has a desire to incorporate queer themes into her skating and choreography and we’re excited to see where she goes next! Check out her fun and fresh final project:

Hazel Murphy Dodson

Hazel, from Ontario but now lives in Michigan, is a figure skating coach and former professional ice skater. She decided to take MCT to spur creative ideas for her skating students and Theatre on Ice team. Hazel explored many choreographic tools throughout the semester and we loved seeing how she pushed out of the boundaries and presented dynamic and emotional work. She came away from the class with a fresh batch of ideas and we can’t wait to see them! Here’s what she had to say about the course:

“Taking the MCT course is the best thing I could have done in my coaching career https://genericforgreece.com/. After retiring from professional show skating and feeling burnt out in my coaching positions, I felt I had used everything up and needed a break. But in reality I just needed new motivation! I now have the tools and deeper understanding of the limitless opportunities there are to create boundless pieces of work! This course has given me the confidence to try new things and a renewed desire to bring energy and passion into my work. Thank you for creating such a wonderful and useful program that can be applied and developed for years to come!”

Check out her dynamic final project below focusing on the choreographic processes of mirroring and percussive movement.

Izzi Gorowsky

Izzi, from Minnesota and now touring with the brand new Disney On Ice production “Road Trip Adventures”, has been on the ice since she was a toddler and has explored her own movement and choreography for most of that time. Izzi’s modern and organic style is a breath of fresh air and we were so thrilled to see Izzi apply the choreographic tools given to her throughout the semester and make her work even more dynamic. Izzi skated her final project at the American Contemporary Skating Festival Showcase in Boston in June. Here is a link to that powerful piece:

Alexandra Geletova

Coming from Slovakia, Alexandra exhibited some serious dedication waking up in the middle of the night to attend our monthly Skype discussions. Alexandra came to the class with a beautiful emotion and purpose to her skating that was enriched as she incorporated the MCT concepts to her work.

She desires to bring the contemporary skating style to Slovakia and we’re so excited to see what she’ll create! Alexandra. Check out her beautiful final project below:

Emily Murdach

From Chicago, Emily is a versatile and talented performer who performs regularly with AIT. She recently came back from competing in the ProSkaters Sun Valley Open. Emily’s work is quirky, thoughtful and surprising. She took lots of risks within her choreography throughout her MCT journey and we have no doubt she will have a flourishing career with her unique style. Check out her fun final project below:

Shannon Rakovsky

Shannon is from Arizona, but currently lives in Finland with her husband and newborn baby Ryker. Also waking up in the middle of the night for the monthly Skype meetings, Shannon took MCT as a gateway into her budding choreographic career. In the class, she often explored work with ensembles, which bred lots of creativity in shapes, space of the body, and contrast. Shannon is also incorporating contemporary skating to Finland and we can’t wait to see what she’ll create!

You can check out her beautiful final video which she did in an urban location here: