“…outstanding in both comic and passionate solo turns.” -Sagolla, Backstage
John Eirich is a professional dancer who has toured both nationally and internationally since 2005 and in theaters such as The Kennedy Center, Sadler’sWells, and The New York State Theater at Lincoln Center. Originally from Orlando, FL., John began his training in ballet and jazz at Southern Ballet Theatre. His crucible was New World School of the Arts in Miami, where he earned his BFA under the direction of Daniel Lewis. While in South Florida, he performed with Miami Contemporary Dance Company and the Florida Grand Opera.
Shortly after college, he moved to NYC and was a scholarship student at Jacob’s Pillow Contemporary Traditions Program. John was a member of Taylor 2 for four seasons under the direction of Paul Taylor. For ten years he performed for Take Dance (Takehiro Ueyama), worked with Dusan Týnek Dance Theatre for five years, and one season with Amy Marshall. His Opera work includes Orfeo et Eurydice with The Metropolitan Opera, The Magic Flute with the Opera Theatre of St. Louis directed by Isaac Mizrahi, Missa Brevis with Limón Dance Company and Candide with The Knights at the Tanglewood and Ravinia festivals.
John has performed with Mark Morris Dance Group off and on for the last ten years in L’Allegro, il Penseroso, ed il Moderato, Mozart Dances, The Hard Nut and in the Dance Consortium UK tour of Pepperland. While dancing for Mr. Morris, he was introduced to Megan Williams and John Heginbotham and joined Megan Williams Dance Projects in 2017 as a dancer and rehearsal assistant. He has been a collaborator of Dance Heginbotham since the company’s founding in 2011. He was awarded The Anninstania Foundation Grant for Dance in 2018.
Movement for all dancers of all levels!
I believe that dance is a necessary fundamental act of humanity. To that end, I consider every person a dancer. I don’t want to approach dance education from a place of “dancer/non-dancer”, but that we are all, by nature of being human, dancers of different levels. You ever see a toddler instinctively move to music? I want to pass down the "meat and potatoes" style of physicality and fluid grace, primarily in a modern dance style, like my teachers before me, joining a lineage of artists connected from teacher to student in the way humans have been best interacting since time immemorial.
Movement class for “Non” dancers would typically start with a brief intro to the style and forms I come from, and analogous language and how dance might relate to the community that I’m teaching(dance-coding, dance-engineering, etc). At that point we all must warm up, which usually takes about half—two thirds of the allotted time. The warm up is more than just that; often times it is a dispersion of technical terms and tools that are a lesson in their own right; the overlap between science/coding/math syntax and dance pedagogy. The next part of class will be a large combo, this is tailored to be interdisciplinary, so in teaching the section of art I frame it as it relates to the people taking and how the body and brain are one. I almost always say something along the lines of “failing big is better than succeeding small” and “however you feel about it is correct, because that is art”, I like asking open ended questions as well. The last few moments of class are typically a question/answer and wrap up summary.
My Modern class has a structure similar to the classical pedagogies (Limon, Taylor), reaching through classical line and forms, while simultaneously getting grounded with use of over/under curves and big traveling. I am really interested in pushing one’s athletic self; how far can we go? By the end of class, I endeavor to get dancers on and off of their leg, blood pumping, ready to tackle the next task. I want to bring that old fire into this new day.
My approach to Ballet is inspired by my time dancing for, and learning from, Mark Morris. I emphasize musicality above all else. My class is focused on being both technical and beautiful, while not necessarily being a particular style. I am looking for clean lines but also encourage reserved flourish. Dancers will be asked to hone their attention. I challenge students to find a very detailed mental focus on themselves as well as the world around them,while being physically ready for anything at the conclusion.
Teaching History
MARYMOUNT MANHATTAN COLLEGE 2020
Adjunct Faculty - Setting repertory of John Heginbotham/co-creating online version of Dance Production class due to COVID-19
Mark morris dance center 2010-Present
Modern and Ballet - Pro/Adult/Beg/Teen/Child
Dance Music Literacy Project - 10 part Public school outreach program
Dance for PD - Dance class for those with Parkinson’s Disease and family/caretakers
megan williams dance projects 2010-present
Associate Rehearsal Director
dance heginbotham 2011-present (founding member)
Master Classes - Professional drop in (MMDC), Community Outreach
Company Class (Modern and Ballet), rehearsal director for Villa, dance captain and assistant in reconstruction of dances for the company and setting repertoire for dance intensives.
Master Class at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival 2014
Company Class for American College Dance Association at Jacob’s Pillow Dance
DanceMotion USA/US Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs administered by Brooklyn Academy of Music. SE Asia tour to The Philippines, Laos, and Indonesia - Masterclass at Pro/Beg/Outreach
Take Dance 2008-2017
Master Class - University/Pro
Company Class, assist reconstruction, and setting repertoire
Taylor II 2006-2010
Master Class -University/Pro/Outreach
Setting repertoire - Summer and Winter Intensives
Modern and Leaps/Turns Class - Skidmore/University of Michigan, Taylor Intensives
