The Arena – Drop-In Moving Practice with Lily Conforti

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

Lillian Conforti teaches Moving Practice in June.
Tuesday, 10:00-11:30am
June 20

Professional-level dancers of all styles are welcome.
Registration and payment beforehand encouraged: pre-register.
Suggested price: $17 per class. Pay-as-able option on all classes – we would rather you join us than not be able to attend due to financial limitations.

Lily’s Moving Practice at The Arena will focus on floorwork flow and internal groove. Through across the floor and a longer center combination, we will find ease in transitions in and out of the floor, work on floorwork skills, and find our own internal groove in combinations. Sections of improvisation throughout the class will allow dancers to find their voice within the structure. I am so excited to dance with you all!

Lily Conforti is a dance artist currently performing, teaching, and choreographing in the Twin Cities. Lily graduated in May 2021 from the University of Minnesota with degrees in Dance and Physiology. In her movement exploration, she is interested in finding a personal internal groove and articulation of movement with music. Lily aims to bring together artists of different backgrounds with the collective goal of blending mediums together. Through this, she hopes to cultivate an art experience that is new and invigorating for the audience.

The Arena – Space for Rent

Located in the heart of the Lyn-Lake community, The Arena is available for your rehearsal, class, and event needs!

Hourly rates range from $15-$25, with discounts/special offerings available to BIPOC and LGBTQIA2+ communities.

Our space offers:

  • 1,305 square feet (30×40) of sprung, Marley dance flooring
  • Wall-length mirrors with curtains for covering if preferred
  • Changing room
  • Free parking on side streets (Aldrich, Bryant, Colfax, 31st, etc.)
  • Access to multiple bus lines, including the 21, 4, 23, 612, and 18

To request space, please email Mathew at arenadances@gmail.com.

Create Connections to Minnesota Dance

Dear Dance Community:

As we embark upon the summer season, we at DanceMN wish to express our deep and sincere appreciation for YOU, the stalwart dance community!

DanceMN wouldn’t exist without the ongoing support from our dance community. The opportunities that each of you create and publicize in our weekly newsletter and calendar enrich our vibrant dance scene. Your commitment to dance and sharing with us allows us to engage with artists and to sustain our organization. Working together, you help us to fulfill our vision statement:

All are connected to dance in Minnesota.

Thank you for being creative forces and change agents in our neighborhoods, communities, and beyond. Here’s to continuing meaningful contributions to the fabric of our shared existence!

In this moment of growth, emergence and change, we ask for your financial help. Please DONATE to support our work at DanceMN through June 30. We need your dollars to sustain our ongoing work to help connect dance opportunities with dancers and enthusiasts.

DanceMN’s ongoing work includes connecting communities through the weekly e-newsletter, promoting opportunities to engage with dance experiences through a non-curated platform, maintaining and updating the website, and developing our social media presence.

Thank you to those who have already made generous contributions. Your financial support will enable DanceMN to continue on the path of vitality and connection for Minnesota dance so that all of our work can be experienced. You can always leave a message on our GiveMN page – regardless of donation status – to let us and others know why you value DanceMN.

Warmly,

DanceMN’s Steering Committee
Ashley Chin-Mark
Rahila Naomi Stadem Coats
Joanne Gordon
Sarah LaRose-Holland
Jim Lieberthal
Alys Ayumi Ogura
Eve Schulte
Arneshia Williams

DanceMN Co-Editors
Annie Carlson
Non Edwards

Born of a Fairytale – Fringe Show

Born of a Fairytale, written and produced by Eli Sibley and directed by Gretchen Weinrich, is a one-woman, movement-based, storytelling piece. It takes classic tales and intertwines them with a contemporary feel and music, propelling the Girl on a journey of love and discovery. Redefining once-upon-a-time and happily-ever-after, she travels with red shoes to her destination. But does she really need to be rescued?

The show has been previously produced at the Capital Fringe Festival, performed by Eli Sibley, choreographed by Pauline S. Grossman, and directed by Carrie Klewin; and at the Triskelion Theatre in New York, performed and choreographed by Thea Brooks, costumed by Loren Shaw, with lighting by Dan Jobbins, set design by Elle Kunnos de Vos, and directed by Kathleen Amshoff.

– Looking for a woman who can play mid-20s to mid-30s.
– Love of movement is a must, some experience is preferred.
– Please prepare a fairy tale or nursery rhyme told with movement.
– Non-AEA role.
– Stipend: $300.

Audition Times:
June 10, 2:00-4:00pm
June 11, 12:00-2:00pm
June 12, 6:00-8:00pm (Callbacks, if needed.)

Audition in the Guthrie Theater’s eighth-floor classroom – take the West elevator to Level 4, cross the lobby, and take the East elevator to Level 8.

Performance Dates and Times:
August 3, 10:00pm
August 4, 5:30pm
August 6, 7:00pm
August 10, 8:30pm
August 12, 4:00pm

To schedule a time slot, please sign up here. For questions, please email the producer at eli.sibley@yahoo.com.

This Friday: Audition for AMP

AMP is looking for dynamic and expressive movers for projects as part of our upcoming 2023-24 season. We are seeking passionate, authentic, and curious movers who want to work collaboratively, immerse and challenge themselves with a wide range of material, and continue their artistic development through working with a variety of artists. If this is you, come Move BIG with AMP!

Ideal candidates to join our community of artists should have a strong sense of your individual/unique movement point of view and possess an inquisitive and investigative nature rooted in community-building. All genders, races, and ethnicities are welcome and encouraged to audition.

Alternative Motion Project serves as a catalyst to empower and connect individuals and communities through the art of contemporary dance. AMP presents accessible, compelling, and collaborative dance experiences through performance and education programs. To interact with and learn more about the AMP community, we encourage you to attend (either in part or fully) AMPLIFIED 2023 – AMP’s Summer Workshop, June 5-8. More on AMPLIFIED.

Movers selected as company members will be independent contractors. Stipends will be contracted based on the amount of time and involvement within each project and performance. Benefits also include free weekly movement practice, when offered.

Audition
Friday, June 9
10:00am-1:00pm
At Zenon Dance School
RSVP/Registration by June 8 is appreciated and highly encouraged.

Bring with you:
Your general schedule/availability.
Knee pads are also recommended.

Priority will be given to in person auditions. If you are unable to attend, you may submit a video through the RSVP/Registration form. Video submissions must be received by 11:59pm on June 8 to be considered.

Direct questions to alternativemotionproject@gmail.com.

Performing Arts Project Manager – Part-Time, Temporary

The Walker Art Center empowers people to experience the transformative possibilities of the art and ideas of our time and to imagine the world in new ways. In our over 125-year history, we have become one of the most celebrated art museums in the country, and we are known for our innovative presentations and acclaimed collections of contemporary art across the spectrum of the visual, performing, and media arts.

The Walker Art Center is seeking a part-time, temporary, Performing Arts Project Manager to join the Walker’s Performing Arts team for the 2023-24 Performing Arts Season to manage three performance-based projects in contemporary dance, theater, and/or music, and assist the department on additional engagements as agreed upon. This is a one-year position with the possibility of extension to a second year.

The Project Manager will report to the Director and Senior Curator and will take regular work assignments and guidance from the Senior Program Officer. This position will work closely with artists and/or artist managers, Performing Arts staff, and other Walker colleagues as necessary to:

  • Create and execute performance contracts.
  • Manage all project schedules, logistics, and itineraries.
  • Manage artistic issues (in consultation with Director/Senior Curator).
  • Manage live performances and project-specific community engagement and/or residency activities.
  • Track project budgets and reconcile project financials.
  • Contribute to grant reports as applicable.
  • Contribute to marketing, public relations, and visitor services efforts.
  • Participate in relevant meetings, as needed.

Click here for more information.

Off-Leash Area’s Off-Kilter Cabaret – Application is Open

Off-Leash Area announces an Artist Call for Proposals for the second Off-Kilter Cabaret “Inside Outside Inside-Out.” Applications are now open!

Off-Leash Area’s Off-Kilter community program highlights and supports artists with disabilities in creating original performance work. The second Off-Kilter Cabaret is an evening-length cabaret-style production comprised of 5 to 7 acts in any performing art form curated by the Off-Kilter Leadership Team – leaders in the disability community, two-thirds of whom are themselves persons with disabilities.

Performances will be held November 17-19 at the TEK Box at the Cowles Center for Performing Arts in downtown Minneapolis, a fully accessible black box theater with a floor-level stage. The event will include accessibility accommodations including ASL interpreting, captioning, and audio description.

The CFP is now open! Artists with disabilities are asked to submit proposals by the deadline of July 14 of a 5-to-10-minute original performance on the theme of “Inside Outside Inside-Out.” Off-Leash Area co-artistic director Jennifer Ilse says, “We want to prompt artists to propose risky, rebellious, and thought-provoking performances, informed by their own experience of being included or excluded, feeling within or outside of oneself, or even just discombobulated.”

The Off-Kilter Advisory Team includes writer and storyteller Amy Salloway, arts accessibility consultant Jon Skaalen, national touring musician Gabriel Rodreick, and Sam Jasmine, host of the Disability and Progress program on KFAI. Off-Leash Area is excited to partner again with Young Dance, whose mission is “transforming lives through movement.”

Any questions or want more information? Visit our website, email us at offleash@offleasharea.org, or call 612-724-7372.

Community MoveTogether with Rhythmically Speaking – See and Be Seen

Dancers! Have you ever seen an RS show or been in an RS class and thought “I wanna do that!”? If the answer is yes, come to our free Community MoveTogether Sunday, August 6 from 7:00-9:00pm at Young Dance! We’re hoping this can be a low-to-no pressure way for us to get to know YOU better and for you to move with US as we look forward to upcoming projects, seeing whose out there and interested, while offering the community a free class opportunity.

No pre-registration necessary: just show up with an open heart and ready to groove with other neat humans!

MoveTogethers are our version of a company class, but more collaborative – within these classes, there are opportunities to improvise in solo and social ways, to manipulate material offered by RS Artstic and Executive Director Erinn Liebhard, and to build and manipulate your own material based around jazz and American social dance-inspired prompts!

Wanna get your leg up on this chance to see and be seen? Come to our other summer MoveTogethers, which are just $10.00 paid via cash or Venmo after class. Drop in on Mondays, 3:00-4:30pm June 12, July 17 and July 31 at Young Dance.

We hope to groove with you at a MoveTogether or two (or five)!

Request for Proposals: Red Eye Theater Curated Rental Program

For events taking place between June 18, 2023 and August 31, 2025
Application period: May 8-August 15, 2023

Curated rentals form a crucial part of Red Eye’s model, offering an opportunity for artists to self-produce a performance in a supportive environment. The rental program allows the space to function as a resource to the Twin Cities performance community, to expand our community beyond our programming capacities, and to foster sustainability for the organization.

The curated rentals program is primarily intended for public-facing events and productions of live performances. We prioritize rentals of 10 days or longer, but any projects of a week or more fall into this category.

Note: We are offering a 10% discount for rentals in July and August 2023!

Administrative Assistant for Off-Leash Area, Part-Time

Experience
– Minimum of 2 years general office experience.
– Office software experience, with these or similar software and platforms: FilemakerPro database, Mailchimp email platform, Quickbooks, Weebly/Wix or other second-party web platform, Microsoft Word, and Excel.
– Familiarity with social networking sites and their use in marketing.
– Experience with writing for marketing.
– Experience with grant writing is a plus though not necessary.

Working Profile
Ability to organize and prioritize responsibilities, strong creative writing and business communication skills, create and follow a calendar of responsibilities, manage details, communicate clearly and directly, and work professionally in an informal atmosphere with a flexible schedule. Will work with supervision from the Artistic Directors.

Hours and Pay
The Administrative Assistant will work an average of 5-6 hours per week. Hours are flexible. Minimum pay starting at $18/hour. The Administrative Assistant will be working under the supervision of the Artistic Directors of the company, and mainly in the home office of the Artistic Directors (owners of a friendly dog), with some occasional off-site work possible.

Tasks and Responsibilities
– Data maintenance – update information in FileMakerPro.
– Marketing – create and send monthly e-newsletters and email blasts for productions and events, press releases, working with the Artistic Directors on writing the copy.
– Update and maintain social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, mnartists.org, etc).
– Update website.
– Financial – track donations and enter cash disbursements and receipts in Quickbooks.
– Support the organization with other administrative tasks as needed.
– Attend bi-monthly board meetings and take minutes.