Archive

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

Application Open: 2023 McKnight Fellowships for Dancers and Choreographers

The McKnight Fellowships for Dancers and the McKnight Fellowships for Choreographers annually award three $25,000 fellowships to mid-career Minnesota dancers and three $25,000 fellowships to mid-career choreographers. The awards are unrestricted and can help an artist set aside periods of time for study, reflection, experimentation, and exploration; take advantage of an opportunity; or work on a new project.

Application Deadline
Wednesday, March 29, 2023 at 3:00pm CT
See full guidelines and application details at McKnightDanceChoreo.org

Questions?
For additional help or questions regarding guidelines, please contact us at McKfell@thecowlescenter.org.

Erin Thompson Teaches Advanced Contemporary Classes in Person and on Zoom

Erin’s advanced-level contemporary hybrid class through Zenon Dance School includes floor work, standing warm-ups, and phrase work, all designed to enhance the healthy use of joints and muscle groups as dancers release their weight fully into the support of the ground. Experiential awareness, body mapping, improvisation, and creative work are included as dancers channel their own expressive artistry within the movement. The delightful Dean Magraw will accompany on guitar.

Thursday mornings, 9:30-11:00am

Registration is open through Zenon’s MindBody portal and closes ten minutes before class.
See you in person or virtually soon!

Modern Dance Class with Thern Anderson at Tapestry

Anyone can dance and find pleasure in movement! Thern Anderson’s modern dance class at Tapestry Folkdance Center will focus on body awareness, rhythm, movement patterns through space, and ensemble dancing. Improvisation will give dancers the opportunity to explore their own movement creativity and its relation to others. Floor work using somatic principles will build strength, ease, and flexibility. All ages are welcome!

Mondays, 12:00-1:30pm
Drop-ins welcome.

$15-20, sliding scale. Cash or check made out to Kathryn Anderson.

Contact Improvisation Jam

We meet every Monday (holidays included) at The Center for Performing Arts in room 105w. Entrance through the new wing on 38th Street.

6:30pm: Opening circle, short guided warm-up/exercise followed by an open jam
8:20pm: Closing circle
8:45pm: Entire jam wraps up

Suggested donation of $5 for space rental. The building recommends masks in dance spaces and a signature on their liability waiver. We have that waiver available when you first walk into the dance room.

Tapestry Folkdance Center Weekly Classes

Weekly classes and dances are ongoing, from International to Ballroom and English Country to Seniors, and for all ages and skill levels in our Minneapolis studios. More information – schedule, instructors, live music – is available on our website, which also includes a calendar of activities and events.

Sunday
Ballroom Variety Dance – First, third, and fifth Sunday, 6:00-9:30pm
English Country Dance – 7:00-9:00 pm

Monday
Advanced International Folk Dance – Second Monday, 7:45-10:30pm

Thursday
Israeli Dance – 7:00-9:30pm

Friday
Seniors Dance Joyfully – Check Schedule – Second and fourth Monday, 10:00-11:00 am
International Folk Dance – 7:30-10:30pm

Saturday
Contra Dance – 7:30-11:00pm
Family Dance – Second Friday, 6:00-7:30pm

Folkdance Sampler starting in March 2023: An introduction with 30 minutes of beginning dance lessons followed by an evening of basic dances – see International, Contra, Ballroom, and English Country.
First seven days of the month – the first through the seventh.
Pay What You Want

Additional dance and class opportunities through our renters include Brazilian Zouk, Dance Church, Latin Dance Locomotion, Minnesota Traditional Morris, Phoenix Chinese Dance Academy, Adult Modern Dance, Qigong and Chi, Royal Scottish Country Dance Society, Saturday Modern Collective, Shake Your Bones, Shotokan Karate, Twin Cities Balboa Connection, USA Dance Projects, Zumba with Chari, and Zumba with Sadie.

Studio rentals are available for private lessons, groups, and rehearsals.

Learn to assist with evening and weekend dance admissions, welcome visitors, or be a part of our community by opening and closing the building. Volunteers make Tapestry Folkdance Center an amazing music and dance organization.

Zenon Dance School – Winter Xchange Program/Work-Study

We are looking for volunteers to be a part of our Xchange Program for the current Winter Session!

Xchange is Zenon’s work-study program that allows students to volunteer in exchange for dance class credit.

The Winter Session will run from January 9-March 19, 2023.

Online shift = one class credit
In-person shift = two class credits

If you are interested in working with the Xchange Program, please email Carmen Lucia Lincoln, Zenon’s Xchange Coordinator, at xchange@zenondance.org.

Zenon Dance School – Winter Classes in Person and Online

Zenon Dance School is excited to welcome you back for another season of dance this winter! Registration is open for the Winter Session, January 9-March 19, 2023.

Classes are held in person unless otherwise noted.

Monday
10:00am: Intermediate 2 Contemporary with Joanna Lees
5:30pm: Contemporary Floorwork with Anna Pinault
7:00pm: Beginning/Intermediate Jazz with Jennifer Glaws – Hybrid

Tuesday
10:30am: gaga/people with Berit Ahlgren
6:00pm: All Levels Hip-Hop with Arturo Miles
7:00pm: Beginning 1 Jazz with Allison Rubin Forester – Hybrid

Wednesday
9:30am: Composition/Improvisation with HIJACK – Online-only February 15, March 1, and March 15
5:30pm: Musical Theatre Jazz with Xan Mattek
5:30pm: Intermediate 1 Contemporary with Ruby Josephine Smith
5:30pm: Beginning Ballet with Lisa Erickson – Online
6:30pm: All Levels Tap with Xan Mattek
7:00pm: Open Levels Hip Hop with Averie Mitchell-Brown

Thursday
9:30am: Advanced Contemporary/Modern with Erin Thompson – Hybrid
5:30pm: Afro Modern with Roxane Wallace
7:00pm: Intermediate Modern with Dustin Haug – Hybrid

Friday
10:00am: All Levels Jazz with Ayumi Shafer and Xan Mattek – Hybrid
12:00pm: Intermediate 2 Ballet with Penny Freeh

Saturday
9:00am: All Levels Yoga with Ariel Linnerson – Online
10:00am: Beginning 1 Modern with Roxane Wallace
12:30pm: Beginning 2 Ballet with Ben Johnson

Sunday
10:15am: Creative Movement for ages 3-4 with Eliana Durnbaugh
10:15am: Creative Movement for ages 5-6 with Sofia Arisian
11:00am: Youth Hip Hop for ages 7-10 with Sofia Arisian
11:00am: Youth Modern for ages 11-14 with Eliana Durnbaugh