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Rhythmically Speaking visiting artist Laura Ann Smyth (Los Angeles) is in town this week to set a piece on Rhythmically Speaking company dancers for our production The Cohort 2022: Stage August 11-13 at the Southern Theater. Laura will teach two open classes while she is here:

Wednesday, July 27, 5:30-7:00pm at Cowles Center, Studio 5B – RS MoveTogether
As space is limited, pre-registration is suggested but not required. To pre-register, hop over to our website to pay the $10.00 class via Venmo.

Friday, July 29, 10:00-11:15am at Zenon Dance, Cowles Center Studio 4A – Friday Morning Jazz
Class is hybrid, with space for 10 distanced students in-studio and a high-quality Zoom option for folks joining from home/remotely. Please note that while masks are now optional at the Cowles Center (except for performances), masks are still required at Zenon. Register for class.

Laura Ann Smyth, originally from Canada, is a Los Angeles-based dancer, choreographer, and educator. Smyth holds a BA in sociology with a minor in dance from the University of Calgary, an MFA in dance from the University of California, Irvine and is currently a PhD Candidate in dance at Texas Woman’s University. Her scholarship focuses on the intersection of Black jazz-informed dance practices and embodied rhetoric. Smyth is a member of Donna Sternberg and Dancers, JazzAntiqua Dance and Music Ensemble, and is a full-time faculty member at Loyola Marymount University. Spirited and inclusive in her approach to the dissemination of Black dance culture and practices, Smyth is grateful and humbled by any opportunity to engage in the gift that is dance.

Laura’s piece for The Cohort 2022, “Character A/Musings”, is an exploration of identities. With an emphasis on rhythm, storytelling capability and sophisticated performance, this piece uses the jazz idiom to consider the way in which we invent and reinvent ourselves throughout our lifetime.

Join us next week to experience Laura’s exciting perspective on jazz dance!

5 Mondays in August with Sarah Baumert!

Mondays, 6:00-7:15pm
August 1-29

This Monday night class will infuse a more traditional yoga asana practice with the Feldenkrais® Awareness Through Movement method. I like to keep the theme for these Monday night series open, as I follow the lead of the seasons and needs of the students who attend.

Each of Sarah’s sessions is an interdisciplinary excursion of yoga, Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement, self-massage, breathing exercises, movement puzzles, and a compassionate mindset to help you feel a greater sense of ease and comfort in yourself. Increase your ease and efficiency in movement, improve your flexibility and coordination, and rediscover your natural capacity for graceful and organized movement through these classes.

This will be a nonjudgemental, un-intimidating space to create friends with your body (yourself!), and will specifically focus on helping settle the nervous system during these challenging times. You will train your sensitivity in such a way that you find yourself feeling more alive and vibrant.

Scholarships are available for this series. Please contact Sarah directly at sarah@body-matter.com for scholarship inquiries.

If you cannot attend all of the live classes, each class will be recorded and the videos will be available for those attending the series. Space will be limited so that I can manage watching everyone, sign up early to hold your spot! There will be time for questions and community discussion after the livestream class, as well as an option to engage with Sarah and the other students in the class through the online comments following each lesson.

Live classes and recordings will be accessed via the BODY MATTER studio platform using Marvelous software. Once you have purchased the series, you will have access to the livestream classes and recordings.

Threads Dance Project will hold its first-ever Advanced/Professional Summer Intensive and Audition Workshop this August 1 to August 5 at the Threads Dance Nexus. Registration is now open! 

The program provides participants with a rigorous exploration of techniques as well as the opportunity to explore and enhance the performative elements of dance via repertory class. Classes for the advanced/professional intensive include ballet, modern, improvisation/jazz, and repertory class. These classes are aimed at professional artists and those just entering the professional dance world after collegiate or other training. The intensive closes with an informal showing on the last day, August 5 at the Threads Dance Nexus.

Repertory learned during the week will also be taught at Threads Dance Project Auditions to be held on August 6.

Please email Production Manager, Karen Christ Aalgaard at kchrist@threadsdance.org or visit https://bit.ly/tdpAuditions22 for additional audition details.

August 1-5, 2022
10:00am–3:30pm
Ages 18+
Tuition: $225

Unique in Minnesota, this is a focused ballet and variations workshop specializing in preparing dancers for performing or competing in national ballet competitions. Following daily ballet technique class, dancers learn classic ballet variations and receive professional coaching. This workshop benefits all dancers, whether preparing for a competition, an upcoming performance, or simply wanting to polish and improve their artistry, technique, and quality.

Class sizes are limited. Pre-competitive, Junior, and Senior Divisions. Ages 9 and older.

August 8-19

Audition required – as all group audition dates have passed, please contact the studio to schedule a private audition.

The lessons in this two-hour workshop will help improve a wide variety of functional movements, focusing on easier balance, effortless standing, and ease-filled graceful walking. We will explore in various positions including lying on the back, side, belly, and in standing.

Humans are designed to be upright in gravity. This is the human brain’s primary job – to balance and organize the body to be upright in gravity during all functional activities. This vital process of balancing keeps your brain very occupied! We will finesse our relationship to gravity, becoming more sensitive, responsive, and supple in our upright position.

We are all quite different. Our attention spans and nervous systems have changed. But all of our brains have plasticity and we can form new habits yet again. We will lay on the floor together. We will orient ourselves to what it’s like to learn with others in the same room. We will get to know our feet in a novel way and experience how to find ease being upright in gravity.

Tuesday, August 9, 4:00-6:00pm
Space is limited. Pre-register to reserve your space.
There will be time for discussion and questions following the movement portion of the class.
Bring your own props – after registration, you will receive an email from Sarah with the props that will be needed for this class.

This workshop will only be offered in person. Proof of vaccination status or negative test requested. Minimum 6 participants and maximum 25 participants for live workshop. If cost is a barrier, please reach out to Sarah directly for pay-what-you-can options. This workshop is appropriate for all levels. Beginners to Feldenkrais are welcome!