Thalia Laric

Dance artist, community leader and teacher of Contact Improvisation and Skinner Releasing Technique.

I live in Cape Town, South Africa, and travel regularly to Europe and Asia to teach, dance, create and learn.

As the first certified teacher of SRT in South Africa, I feel a great sense of inspiration and purpose to share this incredible approach to dance and creative process in my country.

Before certifying as a SRT teacher, my main focus has been teaching Contact Improvisation, and nurturing the growth of the CI community in Cape Town. I have been teaching CI for over 14 years and organising various events including a Facilitators Research Lab and the annual Contact Festival South Africa.

I studied dance at the University of Cape Town and completed my Masters in Choreography at Rhodes University in 2013. I have danced professionally with various South African theatre companies and founded several dance platforms including Underground Dance Theatre and MusicDance CapeTown.

I studied Contact Improvisation with Nancy Stark Smith, Kirstie Simson, Lucia Walker and Jori Snell, amongst many other wonderful teachers.

I studied Skinner Releasing Technique with Lily Kiara, Kirsty Alexander, Gabi Agis, Mary-Clare McKenna and Theresa Moriarty.

I enjoy collaborating and performing with other dancers and musicians towards real-time composed performances, and have studied with Katie Duck, Julyen Hamilton, Lily Kiara and Manuela Lucia Tessi in this area.

My approach to dance is to create space to listen deeply to the innate wisdom of our embodied experience. To allow for rest, ease and stillness, to respect authenticity and integrity, to observe simplicity, economy and clarity. To notice support, discover alignment, and to release into dancing with an effortless effort, while cultivating freedom, autonomy, connection and joy.