"I have experienced Beth teaching percolating improvisational ideas that are easy and fulfilling to dive deep into and explore. She is very accessible, caring, encouraging and intelligent. Her directions are thorough, rich and clear. The unique captivating wisdom in her body inspires imagination and often humor in my own." - Belle Wolf, dance artist, US
Teaching Philosophy I approach teaching as a field of possibilities, like a prism refracting light into infinite directions depending on how it is turned. While dance is the central subject, I teach through an interdisciplinary lens, drawing from biological science, art history, and systems thinking to open broader inquiries into what it means to be human, in the natural world and in relation to others, in and through the body.
I believe students learn best when they are empowered to see themselves not as blank slates, but as contributors whose unique experiences and cultural frames enrich the collective classroom. My role is to guide and facilitate exploration while holding space for rigor, risk taking, and reflection. Curiosity is central to my pedagogy. I encourage students to loosen assumptions, challenge conventions, and bring their whole selves into the studio, the psychological, sensorial, emotional, and physical body. Improvisation is a key part of my teaching, both as a generative tool for dance making and as a way to deepen attention to the body in space, to others, and to the environment. Equity and inclusion are inseparable from my approach. I aim to create learning environments where students with different backgrounds, ways of communicating, and ways of processing can engage meaningfully and develop their own creative agency. My teaching is shaped by twenty four years of professional dance experience, learning both through working as a professional dancer and through community based workshops and practices. Primary influences include Molly Scott, Sheri Cohen, and Lisa Nelson’s work, primarily learned through Karen Nelson and Sheri Cohen, as well as Sara Shelton Mann and Mark Haim. Shorter but meaningful exchanges with Julyen Hamilton, Deborah Hay, Kathleen Hermesdorf, Simone Forti, Anna Halprin, Donna Uchizono, and Ishmael Houston Jones have also informed my approach. My teaching is further shaped by long term collaborations with Torben Ulrich, Corrie Befort, Aaron Gabriel, and John Maria Gutierrez. I know teaching is working when students begin to articulate their experiences with greater depth, and when an inner spark of curiosity and play begins or grows in relation to their own creative work, along with an appetite to do the work beyond any parameters offered to them. 
Improvisation - Class Description
We will warm-up through physical actions that cause us to sweat, think, see, hear, and feel more rigorously as we simultaneously tune our attention into our surroundings. We will utilize the energy generated to find unusual, yet natural portals into an infinite range of possibilities within our imagination to concoct worlds, scenarios, and physical scores that illuminate the seemingly unseen. We will learn how to physically enter and exit these worlds to generate architectures of the imagination. The culmination of our learning together will allow us to craft real-time choreography malleable to each student’s unique vision. *Other class descriptions available upon request. 
Teaching Roster
Oct 19, 2025 Imagination, Body, Play, Dekum Street Theater, Portland, OR, Sign-up: HERE Peridance Capezio Center, NYC Teaching Improvisation Practices through the International Certification Program since 2018. Sunday Sessions is produced by Beth Graczyk Productions, Inc., a nonprofit based in Brooklyn, NY. Curated by Beth Graczyk, the series creates intersections between diverse artistic communities and students, centering the practices of improvisation from dance artists who are also makers of performance. Oct 5, 2025 - Taja Will May 25, 2025 - Leah Wilks May 11, 2025 - Joey Kipp February 23, 2025 Symara Sarai November 3rd, 2024 - Fana Fraser October 20th, 2024 - Taja Will August 18, 2024 - Leah Wilks August 11, 2024 - zavé martohardjono January 14, 2024 - Brendan Drake January 7, 2024 - Symara Johnson Feb 26, 2023 - Marion Spencer February 5, 2023 - Symara Johnson November 27, 2022 - G^2 October 21, 2022 - BAIRA April 17, 2022 - Symara Johnson February 20, 2022 - BAIRA January 16, 2022 - G^2 *From 2022- spring 2025 the series was Co-Produced with Peridance Past August 8-13 SFDI, Seattle, WA Improvisation & Physical Theater with G^2, August 2022 Blueprint Summer Intensive at Peridance,(in-person) Improvisation, Aug 2-6 2021, NYC SFDI, Seattle, WA (online) Improvisation & Physical Theater with G^2, August 2020 Shanghai Theater Academy, Shanghai, China Improvisation with Amy Chavasse, October 2019 BAIRA Summer Intensive, Detroit, MI Improvisation & Physical Theater with G^2, July 2019 The Global School, Kerala, India Contemporary Technique, June 2019 The Floor, Kerala, India Contemporary & Ballet, May/June 2019 Interact Theater, Minneapolis, MN Improvisation and composition, June & Dec 2018 The Floor, Kerala, India Contemporary & Ballet, April 2018 University of Washington, Seattle, WA Composition classes, October 2017 Gibney Dance, NYC Access 8 Program, April 2017 University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI Improvisation, Composition, Contemporary, Nov 2016 AmritaPuri University, Kerala, India Contemporary, August 2015 Via Folded Paper Dance Theater Project Sacred Heart College, Kerala, India Contemporary, August 2015 Via Folded Paper Dance Theater Project University of Washington, Seattle, WA Improvisation, Composition, On-going since 2007 Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle, WA Guest Artist, music department, November 2013 SFDI Festival, Seattle, WA Improvisation, August 2013 Co-taught with Corrie Befort Studio Current, Seattle, WA Composition, Improvisation, October 2012 Velocity Dance Center, Seattle, WA Improvisation, October 2012 Velocity Dance Center, Seattle, WA Technique, Composition, partnering, July 2007 & 2011 Co-taught with Paige Barnes (2007) Co-taught with Corrie Befort (2011) Carol College, Helena, MO Contemporary, January 2008 Via Scott Powell Performance Dance Art Group, Seattle, WA Improvisation, April 2008 Photo credits: Kirk Donaldson, University of Michigan, MI
Sen Jansen, AmritaPuri & Sacred Heart College, Kerala, India |
Creative Process in Dance & Science
Key to both artists and scientists is the process of asking questions that spark a pathway of discovery. Although we encounter fully realized performances or published science research often, we rarely, if ever, have a chance to understand the process of developing the ideas, or modalities in which the work gets generated. Offering personal accounts of discovery and creation, this dialogue illuminates fundamental aspects that are cross-discipline, as well as define ways in which the processes diverge. The desire is to speak to diverse audience of those interested in generating dialogue in fields seemingly unrelated to their own, breaking down barriers of intimidation, or separateness, to potentially instigate a shared experience and larger understanding of the creative process. PresentationsExploratorium, San Francisco, CA
Guest Speaker, May 2016 University of Washington, Seattle, WA Guest Speaker, October 2015 In collaboration with Biochemist Trisha Davis 50th Celebration of the Dance Department 
"I particularly enjoy that Beth's classes and processes involve a high level of attention to sensation, whether it's through moving in and out of improvisation and set material, or exploring a physical task, or engaging with specific textures and imagery. More than anything, I've noticed that Beth brings me into a state of tasting movement, which helps push me out of habitual patterns and find new possibilities in my body. When I dance with Beth I feel more three-dimensional, as if I have tongues on every surface of my body, on my skin, in my muscles, on my bones."
- Jan Trumbauer, dance artist & writer, US "I am a bharatnatyam dancer, and this was my first shot at contemporary style of dancing. To be honest I wasn't really sure I'd be able to pull this off, but Beth's constant support, and positivity really pushed me. She is a phenomenal dancer, who is very dedicated to her work, and it's beautiful to see someone dance with so much passion. She choreographed one of the dances I was part of, and it was so thought out, there was never a question about anything. Even one of the workshops she conducted, is was so beautiful, and soulful. There was so much peace in the way she worked, I felt I had achieved zen. She is very friendly, and connects beautifully with people." - Dhwani, dancer, Kerala, India
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