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MotionArt focuses on nurturing children’s individual creativity while facilitating their understanding of the dance elements of Space, Time and Energy. Ages 3-6 explore these elements through playful, structured activities allowing them to expand their movement vocabulary, develop body awareness and gain self-confidence. Ages 7-10 explore the dance elements while being introduced to new movement skills and the creation of their own dances. Ages 11-13 expand their creative and kinesthetic awareness while learning basic movement skills of modern dance.

We are currently offering Creative Dance/Intro to Modern Dance classes for ages 7-10 at the Center for Performing Arts.

Spring Session at Center for Performing Arts – Sunroom
Creative Dance/Intro to Modern Dance
March 19-May 14. Nine weeks.
Saturday, 3:00-3:50pm
Ages 7-10.
$100 for the full session.

Paying the regular rate helps keep our organization afloat; however, no one will be turned away for inability to pay. There is also an option to pay what you can. Please go to motionartmn.org to sign-up for classes, or contact Pam Gleason for info.

Find rhythm, groundedness, and flow with dance classes at Ananya Dance Theatre’s Institute for Performance and Social Justice.

Intro to Yorchhā
Sunday, 3:00-4:00pm CT with Parisha Rajbhandari
Envision justice through rhythmic footwork, flowing torso, and sustained breath in Intro to Yorchhā. Each class begins with a warm-up followed by foundational Yorchhā exercises and a fun choreographed phrase.

Wednesday Water Dances
Wednesday, 9:30-11:00am CT with Kealoha Ferreira
A weekly dedication to the vitality and life force of Water. In class, we will offer breath, dance, meditation, story, song, and reflection. Each class will take shape a little differently, staying responsive to the ongoing movements protecting the value and longevity of water worldwide. Facilitated by Kealoha Ferreira, an Ananya Dance Theatre Artist, Wednesday Water Dances will begin with grounding movement, flow into dedicated time for personal practice/research/reflection, and close with collective sharing. All who are committed to deepening their relationship with water are welcome to participate.

Advanced Yorchhā
Friday, 6:00-7:00pm CT with Kealoha Ferreira
Dive into the nuance and complexity of Yorchhā. Advanced Yorchhā is designed to challenge and hone experienced movers through strength training, technique refinement, and intricate choreography. Previous Yorchhā experience is encouraged.

Yorchhā is Ananya Dance Theatre’s trade-marked contemporary technique that intersects principles of vinyasa yoga, classical Indian dance form Odishi (from the eastern Indian state of Odisha), and martial art form Chhau (also from Odisha).

Students attending in-person classes must provide proof of Covid-19 vaccination and must wear face masks during class. No exceptions.

Come groove with Karla Grotting during Friday Morning Jazz class at Zenon Dance School!

Karla’s fantastic jazz class is uniquely body-friendly, music-based and history-infused. Class runs 10:00-11:15am CT and remains hybrid, with space for 10 masked and distanced students in-studio and a high-quality Zoom option for folks joining from home/remotely.

To get more regular updates about class content, guest artists and more, follow our Facebook page! Drop-ins encouraged. Register for class at zenondance.org, and #GetYourAssToClass!

Photo Credit: Galen Higgins

Mathew’s work is best described as contemporary, spanning an array of styles – from quietly evocative to physically demanding, full of spiraling momentum that draws energy into the core and spreads it out like disco ball beams of light. At times, movement focuses on the dancers’ bends and folds, creating shape as one shifts and moves, forging moments of connection.

Class focuses on opening up curiosity, finding internal pathways within the body and the contrast of those same pathways. An assortment of texture, speed, density, length, force and resistance will be taught to open these skills.

Friday, 10:00-11:30 am
April 8
Pre-register at https://www.arena-dances.org/the-arena/
Drop-in rate is $17 with flexible pricing and free parking!

Mathew Janczewski’s inquisitive, immersive and heartfelt approach to contemporary dance reaches beyond the surface and holds the viewer in its embrace. With over 35 works in his repertoire and more than two decades of experience as a choreographer, Mathew has cultivated a highly diverse and mesmerizing style of movement.

Mathew’s work has garnered praise in the Twin Cities and beyond. He has created commissioned works for companies such as Minnesota Dance Theater, Cleveland Repertory Co., aTrek Dance, and Zenon Dance Company. He was the Bates Festival choreographer (2001), received the Sage Award for Outstanding Performance (2005), and won the McKnight Choreographers Fellowship (2005). In 2008, Dance Magazine named him as one of their “25 to Watch.”

Shortly after receiving his degree in dance at the University of Minnesota and performing internationally, Mathew founded his own non-profit dance company, ARENA DANCES, in 1995. ARENA serves as the vehicle for his body of work and provides young, aging and underserved segments of the Twin Cities community with opportunities to experience the transformative power of dance.

Young Dance is excited to dance with you this summer. We are offering a full schedule of programs, including weekly Creative Movement and Dance Together classes, as well as an exciting menu of 4-day camps featuring a variety of styles with some of the Twin Cities best educators.

Camps include:

Dance + Photography with Blake
Dance a Story Creative Movement with Denise
All Abilities Dance + Stories with Gretchen
Variety Camps with styles such as Hip Hop, Breaking, Ballet, Capoeira, Afro-Modern, Percussive, Afro-Brazilian, Modern, Jazz, and more, featuring a roster of phenomenal Teaching Artists.

Peruse the schedule and register now! Check the website for the most up-to-date information.

Leading a dance class series together for the first time: Yeniel ‘Chini’ Perez Domenech and Ginga da Bahia. Explore the connections between Yoruban dance as transformed in Cuba and Brazil. Open to all levels.

About the teaching artists:

Born in Matanzas, Cuba, Yeniel ‘Chini’ Perez Domenech has been a professional dancer for over 25 years. He graduated from the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Arte in Havana, Cuba in 1991. Chini then became a member of Afrocuba de Matanzas, under the direction of Francisco Zamora Chirino ‘Minini’. He danced in both national and international tours, taught and was invited to choreograph for the company. In 2006, he moved to Mexico and danced with a variety of groups and performed as a guest dance artist with famous Latin bands including Latin Grammy award winning Los Van Van and Pupy y Los Que Son Son. In 2011, Chini moved to Minnesota. He immediately began dancing with Rene Thompson’s Street to Stage group. He went on to work with Patrick Scully, Curio Dance and has connected with Brazilian, West African and Hip Hop artists in the Twin Cities. Chini now performs and choreographs for Rueda de la Calle and his own performance identity Chini Company. He is a passionate dance educator teaching Cuban and other Latin dances in a variety of venues from school workshops to nightclubs to Chini Studio. Throughout his career he has performed in theaters, festivals and nightclubs reaching a broad range of audiences and communities.

Ginga da Bahia is a choreographer, musician, and dance and capoeira instructor from Bahia, Brazil. He has 25 years of experience dancing professionally with groups such as: Balé Folclórico da Bahia and Federal University of Bahia Dance Group. He toured Europe twice as a featured soloist with Brazilian dance troupes Frutos Tropicais and Viva Bahia. He won first place in the National Jazz Dancing Festival on Brazilian Television System (SBT), with Silvio Santos. In New York City, among many events, he performed in “Ologundê” at Peter Norton Symphony Space and was the heart of the Saturday Brazil Night at S.O.B.’s, performing samba, orixás dance, and axé, bringing people together on the dance floor for more than 10 years. Now in Minneapolis, he is teaching dance classes at MCTC college and leading the Brazil Arts Cultural Center.

Learn more at https://www.brazilarts.org/

Please join us this spring for a series of three open adult class offerings – each offering will include four weekly classes – featuring three different Twin Cities teaching artists. Join for all three offerings or drop-in as your schedule allows. Each class will be followed by an optional time to connect with one another over coffee/tea provided by TU Dance—either socially distanced in our green room space or outside on the loading dock, weather permitting. We hope to create a space where people can explore movement and dance but also build community by staying to connect through conversation and reflection of their shared experience.

Traditional Flow: African Dance and Yoga with Kenna

A 90-minute movement class where we explore traditional and contemporary West African dances. Using authentic recordings, Kenna will teach movements from different dances, stringing them together into a choreographic routine. The class winds down with stretching and breath-driven movements one might find in a vinyasa yoga class, but still influenced with Afro flavor. All ages, levels and abilities are welcome, and the class is intentionally designed to be rigorous for those with experience in Afro dance styles.

May 7,  14, 21 and 28
Saturdays, 4:00-5:30pm CT

Cost options: $12 or $15, sliding scale. Previously purchased class cards accepted.