Their ages range from 25 to 77, their backgrounds in dance range from ballet to belly dance. But among this group of women, age is rarely a subject for discussion. The women have been meeting since 2008 to practice improvisational dance in Sally Cohn’s beautiful studio in the woods down Pennywise Path in Edgartown. And as for training — it’s left at the door in favor of exploring improvisational movement in the context of the group.

“We each have this part of us that’s such a pure part of who we are. This space and the way we work together has made us develop our own dancer’s voice,” said Sandy Broyard, the facilitator for the group.

“What we have now is what I always wanted,” said Mrs. Cohn, a photographer and dancer who formerly ran her own dance studio in New Haven, Conn., and built the studio on her Edgartown property with her husband, George, in 1999. “It’s giving and receiving at the same time: What’s written within,” she added.

What’s Written Within is the name taken by the group, now numbering about 15 (and whose members include this writer). The women have previously performed for family and friends at the studio, and on Sunday, March 4, at 4 p.m., they are coming out to the public as part of the 2012 Arts Festival! at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center.

The group meets twice a week, and dances to music as varied as their movement styles — classical, modern, instrumental, vocal, blues, and more, by local musicians as well as internationally-known composers. A couple of times Suzanna Nickerson, a belly dancer, has brought in a CD from an unknown group she found at a yard sale.

A typical session starts off with half an hour for dancers to warm their bodies and creative spirit in their own way; for some that means ballet pliés or yoga poses, while others move in their own individual ways, maybe rolling around on the floor or even just lying perfectly still. After the warm-up, Sandy Broyard might start an improv with a simple suggestion — for example: Begin small and let it grow, or play with pauses in the midst of moving. Sometimes the only direction is provided by the feeling of the music. Dances are videotaped, and after an hour or so the group sits down to watch themselves and learn what works and what doesn’t. Sandy shares the videos on YouTube, through which she has gotten feedback from her mentor, Naomi Goldberg Haas, a New York-based choreographer who creates multigenerational pieces with trained and untrained dancers.

The dancers agree that the Cohn studio is an integral part of what they have become; they wouldn’t have evolved the same way without it. Designed by West Tisbury architect Bruce MacNelly in conjunction with Sally, the studio is based on the one she owned in New Haven, and designed to be her special place for dance, performances, and her dance photography. (Sally will show some of her stunning work at the Hebrew Center arts festival, along with the dance drawings of Elizabeth Langer.)

The studio interior is invitingly people-scaled, while at the same time large and airy enough to inspire big, free movements. Pale tones and smooth wood draw the dancers to explore the floor and walls with their bodies. Clerestory windows light the high, blond ceilings; the walls and floor are a similar pale, pickled wood. Earth-patterned curtains and upholstery on built-in benches are fashioned from fabric created by Michele Ratte, known on the Island for her original, hand-printed textiles. Radiant heat in the floor invites dancers to roll and slide, while overhead theatre lighting warms and illuminates them from above. In warmer weather, the window-filled walls open to the outdoors with tall grasses, open lawn and flowering shrubs. “It’s designed to feel like you’re floating in another realm. The space has always felt sacred to me,” Sally said.

One newer member of the group is Jesse Keller, resident manager at the Yard in charge of Island programs and education, who started dancing with the group this fall. Accustomed to improvising with younger, more highly-trained dancers, she said this about the group: “The main thing that hit me was how well people listen to each other moving, how they pick up on what other people are doing. It’s deepening my creative mind; I do different things that I don’t usually do.”

What’s Written Within will perform Sunday, March 4 at 4 p.m. at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center in the Harriet B. Freedberg Learning Center in Vineyard Haven. Suggested donation is $5 at the door. Most pieces will be all or partly improvisational, but there will also be works choreographed by Sandy Broyard, Sally Cohn, Elizabeth Kurylo and Jesse Keller.