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

Dance is the art of being.

Ayako offers this workshop as a daily practice of being – as a human, mover, performer, artist, dancer, and choreographer. Through this practice, Ayako will share the way to find our centered, grounded, and balanced selves through exercises based in imagery (and physical reality).

Through improvisational and simple compositional exercises, participants will raise a keen awareness of the expansiveness as well as the depth of being. Participants will explore ways to open up the body-mind as an empty conduit to welcome new wind flow through themselves and feel fullness. Ayako will share how to expand and develop the tangible and intangible tensegrity (tension x integrity) through our bodies and minds to sense new relationships within and around us. Participants will be asked to create their own short dance.

Minneapolis-based Mary Willmeng has been a dance colleague of Ayako since 2007. Together, Mary and Ayako are excited to be able to realize an in-person workshop and share the Art of Being worldview with Minneapolis!

This JSB Dance Intensive is intended for adult dancers with some dance training beyond fundamentals. The over-arching goal of this Intensive is for participants to deepen their understanding of ballet and related movement modalities; engage in a creative physical pursuit in a friendly environment; and commit to wellness and regenerate their energy.

Train with movement experts who value personal growth and agency. Our instructors love sharing the joy of dance with participants of all ages and abilities!

October 17-21, 2023
Tuesday-Thursday evenings
Friday-Saturday daytime
With optional Friday and Saturday evening activities!

Multiple Enrollment Options:

• Entire Intensive, Tuesday through Saturday
• Partial Evening, Tuesday through Thursday
• Partial Daytime, Friday and Saturday

The Minnesota International Dance Festival (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 3 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.

My new 6-Week Beginners Flamenco Dance Program starts on September 20, 2023.

This is designed for absolute beginners or people who have not danced for a period of time. I will teach you fundamental flamenco dance skills as well as the rhythm and the music. You will be able to dance a simple choreography with a live musician flawlessly in 6 weeks!

Wednesdays, September 20-October 25
7:15-8:10pm
$120

Being Good to Yourself: Moving Towards Wholeness and Pleasure
Caring for your neck, shoulders, eyes, and breath in an 8-week Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement Series with Sarah Baumert. Livestream classes will be taught over Zoom.

September 20-November 15
Wednesdays at 6:30pm
Sundays at 4:00pm

In this year’s fall Feldenkrais series, we will explore lessons that promote self-connection and pleasure, finding equanimity in movement, and adapting to change with resilience. In a world where technology has become ever more prevalent, it can be easy to feel disconnected from our bodies, our emotions, and the people around us. But through the gentle, exploratory movements of the Feldenkrais Method, we can find a sense of joy and connection that is uniquely human.

“Joy is exactly what’s happening, minus our opinion of it.” -Charlotte Joko Beck

Movement: This series will include 16 livestream classes. Each lesson is taught twice, once on Sunday and once on Wednesday.

Educational talks: Pre-lesson anatomy lessons and the philosophical framework for ATM.

Connection: Access to recorded Q&A to listen to questions, connect with the other students, and discuss the method and tools we are learning about. Includes optional 10-minute consultation with Sarah, online forum to connect and ask questions if you are doing the recordings, and email support.

Ways to keep practicing: Stream recordings indefinitely and have the option to download recordings.

Join us for a Beetlejuice masterclass with Morgan Harrison – current swing/assistant dance captain on the first national tour of Beetlejuice!

The class is on Friday, September 22 from 9:30-11:00am at Collide Theatrical.

Pre-registration is required.
View the class schedule and register.
Please sign our liability waiver before attending class.

Morgan’s Broadway credits include Mean Girls and Beetlejuice, and you can catch her tap dancing on the Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. She has done multiple tours, cruise ships, regional contracts, and workshops, and she is so excited to get to bring what she has learned to you all. Let’s twirl!

All Welcome
Our welcoming environment stands up to our values of inclusivity and accessibility. Work-study and BIPOC scholarships available.

Our space is located in the Can Can Wonderland building in St. Paul. Parking is free in front of the building (the BLUE lot is closest to our space), in the lots across the street, and in the underground parking garage (follow the Can Can Wonderland arrow).

Moving Sound: Blossom into Autumn
September 23 at 9:00am

When was the last time you really let your body receive the gift of expressive freedom or rest? Join Sound Healer Takawi Peters and Dance Therapist Anna Andaházy for a unique immersive wellness experience. Prepare to let your body take the lead in the magical transition from summer to autumn. From guided mindful awareness practices to singing bowls and creative movement, this event offers you abundant support to play with the healing vibrations of your own intuitive energy.

Inspired by the end-of-summer flowers that grow heavy with sweetness before they turn to fruit and soil, Takawi and Anna reflect on the beauty of the human heart as it blossoms in relationship to all of life. Your heart will thank you for the special space you provide it through the sweet indulgent gift of expression and rest.

Moving Sound: Blossom into Autumn will take place in the Sandstone Studio at the Center for Performing Arts. This new luxury healing space is the perfect setting for an exclusive small-group wellness experience. Group size will be limited to 5 people to provide the most potent combination of individual freedom and small group connection.

Price: $155. Registration in advance is necessary.
We are so excited your heart is calling you to join us!

What creative challenges are you working through? What’s the big dream? Join tap dancer and choreographer Ayodele Casel and Director/Curator/Creative Producer Torya Beard of Rooted for an evening of conversation and movement. In this two-hour engagement, participants will be invited into conversation on how to sustain a creative practice, develop work, and share resources. Come ready to share and potentially move/work, time permitting!

This event is recommended for emerging through mid-career movement artists.
Registration is required and space is limited to 20 participants.
Free parking will be provided.

September 25, 6:30-8:30pm

An 8-week series with Sarah Baumert. This will be a time to create space and feel what it is like living in this body.

September 25-November 13
Mondays, 6:00-7:15pm CST
Live classes will be taught on Zoom.

When we have the courage to release places that feel physically stuck, mentally tight, or emotionally restricted, we can uncover a new internal landscape of this body we are living in. We will explore ways to move in harmony with our unique needs and how we feel each day, to encourage the body to soften and connect with the feelings of space and freedom.

Each class will infuse a more traditional yoga asana practice with the Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement method. Sarah’s teaching for each class changes based on the seasons and the students in the room. These classes are an interdisciplinary excursion of yoga, Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement, joint-specific training, self-massage, breathing exercises, movement puzzles, and a compassionate mindset to help you feel a greater sense of ease and comfort in yourself. You will train your sensitivity in such a way that you find yourself feeling more alive, vibrant, and spacious.

Each class will be recorded and the videos will be available for those attending the series. Space is limited, sign up early to hold your spot! There will be time for questions and community discussion following each lesson.

Scholarships are available for this series. Please contact Sarah directly at sarah@body-matter.com for scholarship inquiries. No questions asked.

James Sewell leads Coordi™ classes every Tuesday morning in September. Combine playful brain teasers and mindful motion in this movement-based class open to all abilities — no dance experience necessary. It’s a workout for brain, body, and spirit!

September 26, 10:00-11:00am

What is Coordi™? It’s a movement study based on multiple kinetic patterns happening at once. Physical brain teasers combine with ballet for unexpected pathways and alignments that challenge both your mind and body! Learn more about Coordi™ here.