Amanda Selwyn Dance Theatre will welcome acclaimed movement innovator Billy Siegenfeld for a pair of workshops exploring relaxation-driven performance and swing dance on Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, at the Amanda Selwyn Dance Studio in Lower Manhattan.

The sessions — Standing Down Straight® at 10:30 a.m. and a Swing Dance workshop at noon — will take place at the studio at 412 Broadway and are open to dancers and non-dancers alike. Tickets start at $25.

Standing Down Straight®, developed by Siegenfeld, is a voice-and-movement training method that emphasizes gravity-directed relaxation as a way to reduce strain, prevent injury and increase efficiency in both performance and everyday life. The technique focuses on finding strength through ease rather than tension, helping participants perform tasks with less effort and greater physical and emotional connection.

The midday Swing Dance workshop applies those same principles to partnered movement. Participants will explore how releasing unnecessary muscular tension and organizing the body around skeletal alignment can make swing dancing feel more sustainable, connected and joyful. Through simple rhythms, shared momentum and group exercises, the session introduces swing dance as an accessible and community-centered experience grounded in efficiency of movement.

Siegenfeld is the founder and artistic director of the theater company Jump Rhythm® and an Emmy Award winner for his vocal-rhythmic choreography and performances in the documentary Jump Rhythm Jazz Project: Getting There. A former jazz and rock drummer turned actor-dancer-singer, he is also a Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence in the Department of Theatre at Northwestern University.

His teaching and creative work are guided by two interconnected concepts: Standing Down Straight®, which promotes an anatomically based, injury-preventive approach to movement and performance, and Jump Rhythm®, a rhythm-driven fusion of singing and dancing inspired by African-rooted traditions of body-voice expression. Together, these philosophies emphasize “less is more” artistry, encouraging performers to rely on gravity, breath and natural alignment rather than force.

Siegenfeld’s career spans Broadway, Off-Off Broadway and academic settings, including work as an actor-dancer-singer in Singin’ in the Rain and as a movement teacher at Hunter College. After sustaining injuries from traditional dance training, he turned to ideokinesis — a rehabilitative approach to movement — which later became the foundation for Standing Down Straight®.

The Feb. 2 workshops mark a rare opportunity for New York-area artists and community members to study with Siegenfeld in an intimate setting, blending performance technique with practical tools for healthier, more expressive movement.

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