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

Ballet Royale has a wonderful and exciting opportunity for young dancers!

On Saturday, November 25, we will be offering a specialty workshop for dancers to learn Nutcracker-inspired dances.
Le Petit Nut will bring out the Sugar Plum Fairy and Toy Soldier in every child!

Saturday, November 25
10:00am–12:00pm, with a mini-performance.
For dancers ages 4 through 9 years old.

Each registered student will receive a goodie bag at the end of the workshop.

Balanced Body® Reformer 1 Instructor Training
December 1-3, 2023

Friday: 4:00-8:00pm
Saturday: 11:30am-6:00pm
Sunday: 9:30am-4:30pm

Fee: $499 + $60 materials

This course introduces you to what Joseph Pilates called the ‘Universal’ Reformer, which is the centerpiece of the Pilates equipment studio and an invaluable training tool. Reformer 1 teaches you how to safely utilize the Reformer and many of the beginning and intermediate Pilates Reformer exercises. Reformer 1 also reviews common modifications and variations necessary for teaching the client in front of you and gives you the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’, empowering critical reasoning skills from the very start of your training.
Prerequisite: Movement Principles

Instructor: Matthew Hodge-Rice

This Saturday, October 28!

Sensing the Flow
10:00-11:30am

Pricing: Suggested donation of $25
Register via email: cie.ooops@gmail.com

Workshop Description
After an exhilarating release technique-based technical warm-up, which allows flowing movements in space, we will have a short phrase followed by some creative improvisation tasks. The exercises open up and disrupt movement vocabulary and composition methods to propose an unprecedented dance language and help dancers explore non-habitual, spatial, dynamic, and body-level choices.

In addition to the work on the individual body, we’ll focus on composing the movement of a group. The movement of individuals within a group can be connected and united. Shapes or positions in space can be related and given the visual equivalents of harmony or dissonance. As dancers, we can create connections referring to past or future events, like melodies, rhythms, and dynamics. As a result of the workshop, a short joint group choreography will be created.

Kata Juhász is a dancer-choreographer from Budapest, Hungary. She has presented her own choreographic works internationally since 2005. Read more about her background here.

Balanced Body® Pilates Mat 2
November 3-5, 2023

Friday: 4:00-8:00pm
Saturday: 11:30am-6:00pm
Sunday: 9:30am-4:30pm

Fee: $499 + $60 materials

Mat 2 teaches the remaining intermediate and advanced level Mat exercises for a complete understanding of the Pilates Mat program. Lectures include progressive skill development to achieve the advanced exercises, programming for intermediate and advanced classes and creating successful Mat classes.
Prerequisites: Movement Principles, Mat 1

Instructor: Ann-Marie Chesterfield, DPT

Join Threads Dance Project’s Karen Charles and acclaimed poet Chavonn Williams Shen for Moving Words, a 90-minute workshop that blends the magic of movement and poetry.

Experience a dynamic session starting with a simple movement warm-up, followed by an introductory poetry writing workshop, and concluding with participants crafting their own poetic dance creations. Guided to integrate their writing into a literary-inspired dance, participants will gain a newfound appreciation for the synergy between poetry and dance. No prior dance or poetry-writing experience is necessary.

Friday, November 3
6:30-8:00pm

About Karen
Karen (she/her) is the founder and artistic/executive director of Threads Dance Project and the visionary of the Moving Words workshop. Read more about Karen at ThreadsDance.org. 

About Chavonn
Chavonn Williams Shen (she/they) is a 2022 McKnight Writing fellow and was a first runner-up for The Los Angeles Review Flash Fiction Contest. She was also a Best of the Net Award finalist, a Pushcart Prize nominee, a winner of the Loft Literary Center’s Mentor Series and a fellow with the Givens Foundation for African American Literature. Learn more about Chavonn here. 

This workshop is offered in conjunction with Threads Dance Project’s fall season performances of Let America Be America, an exquisite, collaborative work that seamlessly integrates movement, spoken word, and original music. Be inspired by the artistry of Langston Hughes’ famous poem and discover the transformative power of words and dance.

Balanced Body® CoreAlign Instructor Training 1: Foundations
November 17-19, 2023

Friday: 4:00-8:00pm
Saturday, 11:30am-6:00pm
Sunday, 9:30am-4:30pm

Fee: $425 + $60 materials

At Paragon, we offer CoreAlign Teacher Training for fitness professionals, movement educators and rehab clinicians.
This course includes CoreAlign method theory and 60+ foundation exercises to build functional movement skills. Areas of focus are trunk integration, upper body strength and balance, lower body strength, power, gait and dynamic flexibility. Progressions and regressions for all ability levels. Specific modifications and precautions for special populations. Includes equipment set up, maintenance and safety.

Instructor: Matthew Hodge-Rice

Thanks to community support we are happy to announce the Minnesota International Dance Festival (MNIDF) workshops are now free to all attendees!

The MNIDF brings together international dance instructors, choreographers, community members, and emerging Twin Cities artists for a week of community exchange through workshops and performances. This year’s featured country is Mexico. The festival will include three week-long workshops, a choreographer panel conversation, and three performances.

Workshops October 17-20, 2023:
Class A: 10:00-11:30am – Alexis Zanety, Circular Drawing Movement
Class B: 11:30am-1:00pm – Dora de la Torre, Mexican Folkloric Dance
Class C: 1:30-3:00pm – José A. Luis, Dance Composition

Informal Showcase Performance at the Southern Theater on October 21 at 1:30pm.

Christopher Ralph was born and raised in Long Island, NY. He began his dance training at Holy Trinity High School, where he was accepted into the theater/dance program led by Cathy Murphy and James Whore. While training at school he simultaneously attended classes at Broadway Dance Center and Steps on Broadway with teachers such as Dorrit Koppel, Frank Hatchett, and Shelia Barker. In 2005 he attended SUNY Purchase College to complete his B.F.A. in dance. Christopher has performed with choreographers and companies such as Gregory Dolbashian (The Dash Ensemble), Loni Landon dance projects, Aszure Barton and Artists, Janis Brenner, Doug Varone, The Metropolitan Opera, Rebecca Lazier, Patrick Corbin, Netta Yerushalmy, Jenn Freeman, and Sonya Tayeh. Christopher worked with the recording artist FKA Twigs on a video project and will be seen in the Hulu series Up Here.

He currently teaches Contemporary and Heels classes at Peridance Capezio Center in New York City and also has taught and created works for New York University, Princeton University, and The Hartt School of Dance.

Community Class at TU Dance Center:
Wednesday, October 18, 9:30am-11:00am
Tuesday, October 24, 4:30pm-6:00pm

For more information and to register, click here.

A child and parent/caregiver Creative Movement class. This 8-week workshop is designed for children (ages 2-4) and their parent/caregiver who are interested in a shared movement experience that engages the senses of curiosity and play. Both child and caregiver will participate in developmentally appropriate movement exercises that incorporate elements such as effort, shape, and tempo. Music will play an essential role in the class as students will be asked to respond to sounds as well as make sounds themselves. Participants will be encouraged to join at their own comfort level with the understanding that observation is often the best form of learning with younger children. This class will give children and caregivers the opportunity to learn more about themselves and one another through the art form of dance.

Session 1: October 14-November 18
Session 2: January 20-February 24
Session 3: March 16-May 4 (no classes April 6 and 13)

Saturdays, 9:00-9:45am
Cost: $90/session

To register, please click here.

Sensing the Flow
Saturday, October 28
10:00-11:30am

Pricing: Suggested donation of $25
Register via email: cie.ooops@gmail.com

Workshop Description
After an exhilarating release technique-based technical warm-up, which allows flowing movements in space, we will have a short phrase followed by some creative improvisation tasks. The exercises open up and disrupt movement vocabulary and composition methods to propose an unprecedented dance language and help dancers explore non-habitual, spatial, dynamic, and body-level choices.

In addition to the work on the individual body, we’ll focus on composing the movement of a group. The movement of individuals within a group can be connected and united. Shapes or positions in space can be related and given the visual equivalents of harmony or dissonance. As dancers, we can create connections referring to past or future events, like melodies, rhythms, and dynamics. As a result of the workshop, a short joint group choreography will be created.

Kata Juhász is a dancer-choreographer from Budapest, Hungary. She has presented her own choreographic works internationally since 2005. Read more about her background here.