Archive: Workshops, Intensives, Master Classes, and Open Houses

Threads Advanced/Professional Summer Intensive and Audition Workshop

Threads Dance Project will hold its first ever Advanced/Professional Summer Intensive and Audition Workshop this August at the Threads Dance Nexus. Registration is now open! 

This program provides participants with a rigorous exploration of techniques as well as the opportunity to explore and enhance the performative elements of dance via repertory class. Classes for Adv/Professional Intensive include ballet, modern, improvisation/jazz, and repertory class.

August 1-5, 2022 | 10 am – 3:30 pm
Ages 18 + | Tuition: $225 | Participants must register and balances must be paid in full by July 18th.

More information at: https://www.threadsdance.org/summer/ 

Registration online at: https://bit.ly/TDPIntensive

ARENA DANCES – Registration Open for Instinct Movement Intensive

Join ARENA DANCES for one week of movement classes taught by guest artist Shane Larson, member of the renowned Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. Participants will practice contemporary dance technique and learn a new original work as a part of this intensive. Targeted for the high-intermediate to advanced level dancer.

Instinct | August 15-20, 2022
Monday – Saturday | 10:00am-3:00pm
Class from 10:00-11:30am
Rehearsal (new work!) from 12:00-3:00pm

During class, dancers will build a bottom to top, floor to standing modular class that deepens with task-based repetition, while encoding new movement pathways through basic shapes. Students are encouraged to learn-by-doing, rather than to learn and ‘perform’, relying on muscle memory to strengthen pathways. Architectural forms of the body are created, deconstructed, and recycled within the containers of momentum and temperature, offering a full-body, far-reaching experience of movement.

After class, dancers will focus on creating—using skills as scaffolding for building material as a community. We’ll spend time talking about memory and time, graphing separate experiences together to focus and distill common patterns, shapes, and anecdotes. The final object created will be an investigation that is distinctly your own and something that can be taken into future experiences.

Shane Larson was raised in Minnesota, where he received his early training at the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists. He graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies. He also studied at SEAD in Austria. Since living in New York City, he’s branched out to collaborate with punk musicians, film makers, improvisational music ensembles, and site-specific visual artists. He is also a multimedia video artist making collage-based work about memory. Shane joined the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company in 2015.

Ages 16+
Intensive capped at 15 participants
Early Bird: $475 – register by July 15
General: $550
Registration opens May 15 and must be completed by August 1

Photo by Jim Coleman

Mixtape Collective Workshops

Choreographers, dancers, and composers of all genres in the Twin Cities are invited to join THE MIXTAPE Collective for free weekly immersive experiences highlighting their creation process! Every Saturday a MIXTAPE choreographer, and the MIXTAPE music director will lead a workshop with fellow collaborators in music composition/production, lighting design, and videography.

May 14: Choreographer J-Sun and Music Director Stefon Bionik Taylor with composer Yan Pang

May 21: Choreographer Darrius Strong and Music Director Stefon Bionik Taylor with composer Yan Pang

Classes take place from 12:00pm-2:00pm in the Tek Box at the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts.

MIXTAPE will pay for all attendees’ parking!

About THE MIXTAPE Collective: MIXTAPE dances into the next chapter of Hip Hop dance theater with an exploration of futuristic ways to perceive the struggles of the present. We locate ourselves in cyberspace, where battles are fought, relationships are built, and artifacts of the past are uncovered. MIXTAPE 5G: The Sound of Movement investigates finding the strength to defy hierarchy, building solidarity through difference, and fracturing fossilized stereotypes.

Zenon Dance School – Tap and Musical Theatre Jazz Workshops with Dorian Brooke

Dorian Brooke leads two workshops in Tap and Musical Theatre Jazz, hosted by Zenon Dance School! These three-week workshops begin April 30 and run only on selected Saturdays for the remainder of the Spring Session (March 28 – June 5).

All Levels Tap Workshop w. Dorian Brooke | Saturdays, 10:00 – 11:00am
Remaining dates: May 14 and June 4

With experience on the stage and in studio Dorian Brooke shares her expertise in tap dance with movers of all levels. This class can move quickly, but if you are up for a challenge it is great for beginners and intermediate tap dancers alike. This class will explore Tap in a variety of styles from classical tap to musical theatre.

Musical Theatre Jazz Workshop w. Dorian Brooke | Saturdays, 11:00am – 12:00pm
Remaining dates: May 14 and June 4

Designed for dancers with some jazz experience, this class teaches musical theater jazz choreography, audition and performance skills for dancers of all ages. A fun and up beat class to help you dance like your favorite musical stars. Give my regards to Broadway!

Three-Week Workshop | $45 Enrollment
Register today: conta.cc/39fJDXN
Limited space available. In person only.

Drop ins welcome | $15/class

The Arena in May – Blake Nellis

Moving Practice is a weekly class series for professional dancers. Classes prioritize rigor, diversity of contemporary aesthetics, variety of class content, and commitment. Professional level dancers of all styles are welcome.

Tuesdays, 10:00-11:30am at The Arena
Blake Nellis teaches throughout May!

Drop in rate is $17; Buy a 10-class card and save!

Register here: https://clients.mindbodyonline.com/classic/mainclass

In this series we will explore principles of: improvisation, weight, spirals, follow-through, moving support, timing, and dynamics of touch. We will play with material that arises from the dance we experience and explore together.  In and out of solo, changing our tone and attention, we will deepen our sense of dancing authentically.

Blake Nellis (he/him) is an artist, educator and improviser who creates work with the body. His work is deeply rooted in human connection, physical touch and nature. He graduated from Luther College with a degree in Theater/Dance. He is a 2019 & 2015 recipient of the MN State Arts Board Artist Initiative Grant (Photography & Dance respectively). He has taught and performed around the globe. He has produced work at the Walker Art Center, Patrick’s Cabaret, The Artbox, Red Eye Theater, TEK Box, Bryant Lake Bowl Theater & Luther College. His other professional dance experience includes performing with Mathew Janczewski’s ARENA Dances, Patrick Scully, Live Action Set, Stuart Pimsler Dance & Theater, Jim Lieberthal’s Footholds Project, Jane Hawley, Hatch Dance, HoneyWorks, Rosy Simas & Taja Will. His favorite moments usually include ice cream, laughter, traveling, or nature. Or beer.  And biking. And/or all of the above. www.blakenellis.org

Photo by Bill Cameron

The photo is of a male with dark hair and beard, kneeling on one leg with the other stretched out with arms in similar shape. He is dressed in a cream colored shirt with khaki drawstring waist pants surrounded by a black background.

The Cowles Center is Hosting a Movement Artist Open House

Calling all dancers, choreographers, and movement artists! The doors to The Cowles Center are wide open and waiting for all dancers, choreographers, and movement artists to join the Programs & Advisory Committee and staff for a morning of connection. This is an opportunity to get to know the building, the people within it, and the programs that might be of interest to you.

We’ll have a light breakfast, give an overview of all the ways you can be engaged with The Cowles Center, hear from some artists, as well as demystify grant writing, intellectual property, and unions.

Translations are available onsite upon request. Feel free to come and go as your day permits. A $5 parking/transportation subsidy will be available.

Professional headshots:
Local photographer, Canaan Mattson, will be joining us and taking free headshots for the first 20 artists who sign up. You’ll be entitled to one photo with no more than two retakes, and your headshot will be emailed to you at a later date. More about Canaan Mattson at canaanmattson.com

More information!

Ananya Dance Theatre Community Open House

Take free 25-minute sample classes, listen to live music, and meet great people from the Midway, Rondo, and Frogtown neighborhoods!

Open House Schedule

1:30: View Rehearsal Process with Ananya Dance Theatre
2:00: Preview of new work “Nün Gherāo” with Ananya Dance Theatre
2:30: “Buniyaad: Intro to Yorchhā” with Parisha Rajbhandari
3:00: “Sustainable Mobility: Seated and Standing Alignment” with Alexandra Eady
3:30: “Body Watani” with Noelle Awadallah
4:00: “Spine Series” with Lizzette Chapa
4:30: “Dancing Circles with Yorchhā” with Kealoha Ferreira
5:10: Jam Session: “Global Feminist Funk Underground Club” with DJ Tybierius

Kei Tsuruharatani’ Workshops at Threads Dance Nexus by Theater Mu and Threads

Conscious Movement | May 23, 6:30-8:30pm

This workshop is a movement exploration and mindfulness practice for both non-dancers and dancers. Activities include body mapping, improvisation, reflecting on perspective, and learning how to move with ease as you interpret and exude different experiences in your body. Kei will also be going over textures to support acting and singing, better allowing artists to connect with their bodies and understand how certain movements feel in relation to how they look.

Decolonizing Ballet | May 25, 10am-12pm

Dancers will learn how to approach ballet from a decolonized perspective as they go through technique exercises and combinations with Kei. They will also focus on how to imbue their movements with creativity and artistry as opposed to executing them at a level of technical virtuosity. Like everything Kei does, approaches will have a focus on mindfulness and will explore how deconstructing movement and styles can bring new life to them.

Pay-as-able: $10-$40

Dance Innovation for Seasoned Adults 55+ Session Two at TU Dance Center

Dance teacher Tamiko French has developed a program centered around revitalizing creativity of storytelling with the building blocks of dance creation that infuses the visual and literary arts. https://vimeo.com/685038137

The 8-week workshop is designed to be sequential for participants, with each class building on the previous class. From a first class in which participants will use poetry, prose, dramatic writing, spoken word, or other writing as a stimulus to create movement, participants will learn about modern and jazz dance techniques and choreographic practice, collaborate and share results with others, study facilitated improvisation and play in dance, and refine their work for a sharing event for family, friends, and the community.

Session 2: May 26–July 16 | Thursdays, 10:00-11:30am CST | In-person only. $45 per workshop.

This program is for adults 55+. Pre-registration required as in-studio space is limited! There will be a showing on last day of each workshop from 12:30-2:00pm. Proof of vaccination and masks are required at the door for all participants. TU Dance will offer tuition and transportation subsidy upon request. Please contact us at education@tudance.org or 651-724-9708 to inquire.

Tap Dance Workshops at Keane

Get a taste of Chicago with workshops with Time Brickey and Davon Suttles! Workshops are part of the National tap dance day community celebrations. Sign up today!

Saturday May 27
Intermediate and advanced classes (two class options)
10:00 -11:15am and 11:30am – 12:45pm