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

The Arena – Drop-In Moving Practice with Leila Awadallah   ليلى عوض الله

Moving Practice is a weekly class series for professional dancers. Classes prioritize rigor, diversity of contemporary aesthetics, variety of class content, and commitment.

Leila Awadallah teaches Moving Practice in February; last opportunity February 28.
Tuesdays, 10:00-11:30am

Professional-level dancers of all styles are welcome.
Pre-register here.

Suggested $17 per class; however, there is a pay-as-able option on all classes – we would rather you join us than not be able to attend due to financial limitations.

Class description: Body Watani (“watani,” homeland in Arabic) is 1) an improvisational movement practice and 2) a space for experimental Arabic-rooted dance research developed by Leila Awadallah in collaboration with Noelle Awadallah.

The improvisation time is a container with soft edges, where participants are called into movement research through reflective prompts and somatic/collective tasks that guide practitioners into exploring the terrain of their personal ‘body watani’. The work is currently guided with particular intentions around relationships to land and water, ancestral contemplations, bodily archives, and communal weavings.

Movement materials inspired by Arabic dance forms such as Dabke, Baladi, and Raqs Sharqi invite participants to engage in the rhythmicalities of traditional/experimental/current Arabic music. This part of the Body Watani practice conjures physicality rooted in an offering of contemporary dance that locates within contexts of cultural, social, and political content of Palestine, Lebanon, and the greater SWANA region.

Leila Awadallah  ليلى عوض الله (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker based in Minneapolis and sometimes Beirut, Lebanon. Dancing with a body of Palestinian, Arab-American, Sicilian, and diasporic Mediterranean ways and waves. Born near the Thick Wooded River (Sioux Falls, SD) she moved to Minneapolis, Mni Sota (2012) to pursue a BFA in Dance at the University of Minnesota, and found home in the Twin Cities.

Leila is the Artistic Director of Body Watani Dance (body-as-homeland) project/practice in collaboration with Noelle Awadallah. She has received fellowships celebrating her performance, research in Arab-rooted contemporary dance, and choreographies: McKnight Dancer (2022), Jerome Hill (2021-2023), Daring Dances (2019) and Springboard 20/20 (2018). Her newest work, TERRANEA received support from National Performance Network, MSAB, Arab American National Museum, Links Hall, and Goethe Institute. Leila was a member of Ananya Dance Theatre (2014-2019) and the Kelvin Wailey trio (2015-2019). She lives and works part-time in Beirut where she’s a collaborator with Theater of Women of the Camp.

New Feldenkrais Series with Sarah Baumert: Posture Matters

Posture Matters
Change Your Posture, Change Your Mood!
An 8-week Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement Series with Sarah Baumert
Beginning March 1, 2023

Everyone’s posture, or how they “use” themselves, isn’t always optimal, with the help of the Feldenkrais method, your postural habits can improve to make everyday movements more enjoyable and easy. Your posture, or, how you navigate being upright with gravity, profoundly affects not only your physical comfort, but your overall health and emotions too.

With awareness, specificity, and practice, we will free the muscles of the neck, shoulders, spine, and face. As one moves towards more freedom in the neck, lower back, and jaw, one also moves towards a more easy, elegant, and upright posture. Our aim is not a perfect posture, but a place of less tension and conflict in the body where our posture is fluid, not rigid.

Available to take via livestream on Zoom or using the self-paced recordings.

Classes begin March 1, 2023
Sundays, 4:00-5:00pm CT
Wednesdays, 6:30-7:30pm CT

$175 for the 8-week series.
Pay-as-able available for this series.
For full scholarship, please inquire directly with Sarah.

TU Dance Center: Dancing Together Workshop

This eight-week workshop is designed for children ages 2-4 and their parent/caregiver who is 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.

March 11-May 13 (no classes April 3-15)
Saturdays, 9:00-9:45am

To register, please complete the four-step registration process:

1. Please find the online pre-registration below under the specific level you are interested in and select a payment option
2. Make a tuition payment (in full or by selecting a payment plan)
3. If requesting a payment plan, please submit the 2022-2023 Payment Plan form
4. Click here to submit the 2022-2023 Children and Teen Program Online Registration form

Summer Placement Class for BCL

Ballet Co.Laboratory is holding summer placement classes on February 17 to help students determine which intensive program is the best fit for them. 

Join us
Friday, February 17
5:00-7:00pm
at the BCL studio

Two classes will be offered during this time: ages 10-14 and ages 15-22.

It is free to attend, and students will receive their placement in approximately a week.

Winter Dance Experience Workshops at Young Dance this Monday

Join us on Monday, February 20, for a day of classes featuring a variety of fun styles! Spend your day off from school exploring new styles of dance with your friends! Classes include Family Dance, Creative Movement, plus a full-day or half-day Variety Camp.

Family Dance
Join us for a morning of dancing together. Children and caregivers will get a special start to their day, exploring movement and stories in a fun environment. Taught by family dance extraordinaire Julia Davidson.
Ages 1–6 with Caregiver
9:15–10:00am
$15

Creative Movement
Your little one can explore the possibilities of movement with a focus on storytelling. From a personal experience to the depths of their imaginations, children will spend time expressing the stories that reside in their bodies and minds. In this fun-filled class led by Denise Gagner, children develop large and fine motor skills, rhythm, and listening skills as they go on their creative adventures.
Ages 4–7
10:00am–12:00pm
$25

Variety Dance Camp
Send your dancers to us for the whole day, or just the afternoon! In this camp, dancers will experience a variety of styles. Dance genres include Improvisation with Blake Nellis, Capoeira with Guerrerio, Modern with Kathleen, Afro-Latin with Belle Alvarez, Choreography with Judee Shui Xian, and Musical Theater with Maria Tordoff!
Ages 7–13 and 14–18
Full Day, 9:30am–4:30pm – $110
Half Day, 12:00–4:30pm – $70

Register!

The Arena – Drop-In Moving Practice with Leila Awadallah ليلى عوض الله

Moving Practice is a weekly class series for professional dancers. Classes prioritize rigor, diversity of contemporary aesthetics, variety of class content, and commitment.

Leila Awadallah teaches Moving Practice in February:
Tuesdays, 10:00-11:30am

Professional-level dancers of all styles are welcome.
Pre-register here.

Suggested $17 per class; however, there is a pay-as-able option on all classes – we would rather you join us than not be able to attend due to financial limitations.

Class description: Body Watani (“watani,” homeland in Arabic) is 1) an improvisational movement practice and 2) a space for experimental Arabic-rooted dance research developed by Leila Awadallah in collaboration with Noelle Awadallah.

The improvisation time is a container with soft edges, where participants are called into movement research through reflective prompts and somatic/collective tasks that guide practitioners into exploring the terrain of their personal ‘body watani’. The work is currently guided with particular intentions around relationships to land and water, ancestral contemplations, bodily archives, and communal weavings.

Movement materials inspired by Arabic dance forms such as Dabke, Baladi, and Raqs Sharqi invite participants to engage in the rhythmicalities of traditional/experimental/current Arabic music. This part of the Body Watani practice conjures physicality rooted in an offering of contemporary dance that locates within contexts of cultural, social, and political content of Palestine, Lebanon, and the greater SWANA region.

Leila Awadallah  ليلى عوض الله (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker based in Minneapolis and sometimes Beirut, Lebanon. Dancing with a body of Palestinian, Arab-American, Sicilian, and diasporic Mediterranean ways and waves. Born near the Thick Wooded River (Sioux Falls, SD) she moved to Minneapolis, Mni Sota (2012) to pursue a BFA in Dance at the University of Minnesota, and found home in the Twin Cities.

Leila is the Artistic Director of Body Watani Dance (body-as-homeland) project/practice in collaboration with Noelle Awadallah. She has received fellowships celebrating her performance, research in Arab-rooted contemporary dance, and choreographies: McKnight Dancer (2022), Jerome Hill (2021-2023), Daring Dances (2019) and Springboard 20/20 (2018). Her newest work, TERRANEA received support from National Performance Network, MSAB, Arab American National Museum, Links Hall, and Goethe Institute. Leila was a member of Ananya Dance Theatre (2014-2019) and the Kelvin Wailey trio (2015-2019). She lives and works part-time in Beirut where she’s a collaborator with Theater of Women of the Camp.

Save the Dates for a New Feldenkrais Series with Sarah Baumert

Posture Matters
Change Your Posture, Change Your Mood!
An 8-week Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement Series with Sarah Baumert
Beginning March 1, 2023

Everyone’s posture, or how they “use” themselves, isn’t always optimal, with the help of the Feldenkrais method, your postural habits can improve to make everyday movements more enjoyable and easy. Your posture, or, how you navigate being upright with gravity, profoundly affects not only your physical comfort, but your overall health and emotions too.

With awareness, specificity, and practice, we will free the muscles of the neck, shoulders, spine, and face. As one moves towards more freedom in the neck, lower back, and jaw, one also moves towards a more easy, elegant, and upright posture. Our aim is not a perfect posture, but a place of less tension and conflict in the body where our posture is fluid, not rigid.

Available to take via livestream on Zoom or using the self-paced recordings.

Classes begin March 1, 2023
Sundays, 4:00-5:00pm CT
Wednesdays, 6:30-7:30pm CT

$175 for the 8-week series.
Pay-as-able available for this series.
For full scholarship, please inquire directly with Sarah.

TU Dance Center: Dancing Together Workshop

This eight-week workshop is designed for children ages 2-4 and their parent/caregiver who is 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.

March 11-May 13 (no classes April 3-15)
Saturdays, 9:00-9:45am

To register, please complete the four-step registration process:

1. Please find the online pre-registration below under the specific level you are interested in and select a payment option
2. Make a tuition payment (in full or by selecting a payment plan)
3. If requesting a payment plan, please submit the 2022-2023 Payment Plan form
4. Click here to submit the 2022-2023 Children and Teen Program Online Registration form

Zenon Dance School – Youth Jazz Workshop with Hannah Pierce

Hannah Pierce offers a great workshop series for new and continuing jazz dancers who love to move! Students will learn fundamental techniques and choreography while expanding their knowledge of rhythm and movement. This class is a great foundation for any young dancer, age 7-10 years old. All levels of experience are welcome!

Youth Jazz Workshop – Sundays, 12:00-12:45pm
February 12

Single class drop-in: $15
In-person only; limited space available. Drop-ins welcome.

Click here for more information!

The Arena – Drop-In Moving Practice with Leila Awadallah ليلى عوض الله

Moving Practice is a weekly class series for professional dancers. Classes prioritize rigor, diversity of contemporary aesthetics, variety of class content, and commitment.

Leila Awadallah teaches Moving Practice in February:
Tuesdays, 10:00-11:30am

Professional-level dancers of all styles are welcome.
Pre-register here.

Suggested $17 per class; however, there is a pay-as-able option on all classes – we would rather you join us than not be able to attend due to financial limitations.

Class description: Body Watani (watani, homeland in Arabic) is 1) an improvisational movement practice and 2) a space for experimental Arabic-rooted dance research developed by Leila Awadallah in collaboration with Noelle Awadallah.

The improvisation time is a container with soft edges, where participants are called into movement research through reflective prompts and somatic/collective tasks that guide practitioners into exploring the terrain of their personal ‘body watani’. The work is currently guided with particular intentions around relationships to land and water, ancestral contemplations, bodily archives, and communal weavings.

Movement materials inspired by Arabic dance forms such as Dabke, Baladi, and Raqs Sharqi invite participants to engage in the rhythmicalities of traditional/experimental/current Arabic music. This part of the Body Watani practice conjures physicality rooted in an offering of contemporary dance that locates within contexts of cultural, social, and political content of Palestine, Lebanon, and the greater SWANA region.

Leila Awadallah  ليلى عوض الله (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, and filmmaker based in Minneapolis and sometimes Beirut, Lebanon. Dancing with a body of Palestinian, Arab-American, Sicilian, and diasporic Mediterranean ways and waves. Born near the Thick Wooded River (Sioux Falls, SD) she moved to Minneapolis, Mni Sota (2012) to pursue a BFA in Dance at the University of Minnesota, and found home in the Twin Cities.

Leila is the Artistic Director of Body Watani Dance (body-as-homeland) project/practice in collaboration with Noelle Awadallah. She has received fellowships celebrating her performance, research in Arab-rooted contemporary dance, and choreographies: McKnight Dancer (2022), Jerome Hill (2021-2023), Daring Dances (2019) and Springboard 20/20 (2018). Her newest work, TERRANEA received support from National Performance Network, MSAB, Arab American National Museum, Links Hall, and Goethe Institute. Leila was a member of Ananya Dance Theatre (2014-2019) and the Kelvin Wailey trio (2015-2019). She lives and works part-time in Beirut where she’s a collaborator with Theater of Women of the Camp.