Archive

New Studio Stories Podcast Interview with Wynn Fricke

Join ARENA DANCES for our weekly Studio Stories podcast, where each week we reminisce on Twin Cities dance history with a new special guest. This week, we hear from Wynn Fricke.

Wynn was a company member with Zenon Dance Company just shy of 10 years from 1992-2001. Wynn has had several commissions of her choreography at Zenon, Minnesota Dance Theater, Ragamala and many more, and is the artistic director of her own company Borrowed Bones Dance Theater. She is currently the head of the dance minor at Macalester College.

Tune in this Thursday, November 4 at 12:00pm to hear more about Wynn’s insight on dance, history and the artistic process!

Available on our website or wherever you get your podcasts!

Katha Dance Theatre Presents Shaamya – Of Equality

Katha Dance Theatre (KDT) is excited to present the world premiere of Shaamya – Of Equality–the latest collaboration between choreographer Rita Mustaphi, KDT’s Artistic Director, with composer J.D. Steele–at the Park Square Theatre in St. Paul, MN on November 19-21, 2021.

Inspired by the poetry of writer and activist Kazi Nazrul Islam (1899-1976) and using a mixture of multicultural dance, music, and spoken word poetry, the show juxtaposes past and present fights for racial, cultural and gender equity.

Equality will be set to a live rendition of original compositions by Twin Cities musical legend J.D. Steele, who will be accompanied by pianist Billy Steele and vocalist Jevetta Steele, as well as drum artist Abhinav Sharma. It will also include poetic contributions by Somali poet and playwright Ifrah Mansour, who will perform her acclaimed poem “I am a Refugee” onstage alongside Mustaphi and Steele.

In addition to KDT’s Kathak dance ensemble, contributions from dancers of multiethnic backgrounds will fill out the show, including ballet, flamenco, tap, and hip-hop.

Runtime: 80 minutes.
Tickets are available here.

Showtimes:
November 19: 7:30pm with post-show reception
November 20: 7:30pm
November 21: 2:00pm with American sign language (ASL) interpretation and post-show discussion

Master Class with Shane Larson of Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company

With enthusiasm and openness, we will begin by weaving warmth and direction into the muscular and skeletal support systems of the body.  By interlacing thought and body processes, we will code new connections over grounding and physical movements that will help us move breath and new energy into our spaces.

Shane Larson was raised in Minnesota, where he received his early training at the St. Paul Conservatory for Performing Artists. He graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, with a BFA in Dance and a minor in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Studies. He also studied at SEAD in Austria. Since living in New York City, he’s branched out to collaborate with punk musicians, film makers, improvisational music ensembles, and site-specific visual artists. He is also a multimedia video artist making collage-based work about memory. Shane joined the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company in 2015.

Pre-register at https://www.arena-dances.org/the-arena.
Drop-in $17. Flexible pricing and free parking!

The Arena is Available for Studio Rental

Need a space to create? Convenient location and free parking.

Located in the heart of the LynLake neighborhood, The Arena is available to rent for your rehearsal, class, and event needs!

Our space offers 1,305 square feet, 30’×40′ of sprung floor, Marley dance flooring, wall-length mirrors (with curtains to cover if preferred), free wifi, and a changing room.

We are situated on multiple bus lines, including the 21, 4, 23, 612, and 18; with plenty of free street parking around the building.

To request space, please email arenadances@gmail.com

BCL Adult/Teen Drop-In Classes

A light-skinned dancer in a red leotard reaches arms out in first arabesque

Join us for our adult/teen drop-in classes! Dance is for everyone! Get your body moving and enjoy a variety of dance and conditioning classes, including Pilates.

You can join us in-person, or virtually via Zoom. All attending dancers must sign-in on MindBody. Class sign-in will close 10 minutes before the class begins. Class size is limited to 10 dancers for in-studio.

Learn more or sign up for a class here: https://bit.ly/AdultTeenBCL

Cassandra School Online and In-Studio Classes

Join our dance-learning community of all ages, sizes, and levels of experience to participate in the creative expression and health and fitness benefits of Middle Eastern dance. The beauty of this dance form is that it makes you feel wonderful in your own body.

We now have in-studio options for beginners and all students! Or, you may choose to take these same classes online through Zoom.

Go to cassandraschool.com to choose from our ongoing classes, register, and pay in advance using PayPal. Purchase 4 or more classes and receive a $2 discount per class! All class registrations close at 8:00pm CT the night before each class.

Ashwini Ramaswamy’s Let the Crows Come

Ashwini Ramaswamy’s Let the Crows Come invokes the metaphor of crows as messengers for the living and guides for the departed to channel memory and homeland, guidance and dislocation.

Featuring Ashwini Ramaswamy, Alanna Morris-Van Tassel, and Berit Ahlgren, the south Indian dance form of Bharatanatyam is deconstructed and recontextualized to recall a memory that has a shared origin but is remembered differently from person to person. Set to an original recorded score of classical south Indian instrumentation, electro-acoustic cello, and electronics/turntables.

Covid19: Effective September 1, 2021, all visitors to the Cowles who are attending a performance/event in our theater spaces are required to show either proof of a full course of COVID-19 vaccinations administered at least 14 days prior to the show or a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of the performance/event. Masks are required throughout the Cowles.

For more information about our health and safety guidelines and getting to The Cowles Center, click here.

Audition: A TU Dance Project with Choreography by Marcus Jarrell Willis

TU Dance is holding auditions for live presentations and a film creation project this spring with performances at The O’Shaughnessy in St. Paul, Minnesota on May 13-14, 2022. With support from a MSAB Arts Tour Grant, choreographer Marcus Jarrell Willis will be working with a group of dancers for a nine-week rehearsal process to reimagine and expand upon his work Sensible Existence, which was originally created for the TU Dance Company in 2017. This experience will culminate in two live performances as well as the creation of a dance-for-film project that will be shared throughout the state of Minnesota and beyond.

For this project, we are seeking dance artists with a vast range of technical versatility. A keen sense of rhythm and articulation of gestural language is essential. Seasoned professionals to emerging dance artists are encouraged to audition.

Learn more about Marcus Jarrell Willis: https://project-inc.org/mj-willis/

PROJECT DETAILS:

  • Nine-week rehearsal process: March 14-May 14, 2022
  • Time frame: 9:30am-4:15pm CST Monday-Friday
  • Tech Week: May 9-14
  • Performances: Friday, May 13 and Saturday, May 14 at The O’Shaughnessy, St. Paul, MN

Dancers will be compensated $600/week and hired as independent contractors. Airfare, housing, per diem and local transportation are not provided.

Materials to Submit by November 22
Submit materials by Monday, November 22 to: info@tudance.org and laurel.keen@tudance.org.
Note: these materials are requested for reference only, not for pre-screening purposes.

  • Cover Letter: Summarize your experience and its relevance for this project
  • Please also include reflections/responses to the following two questions:
    • What is something that you are currently exploring within your artistic practice?
    • What do you hope to gain from this process?
  • Resume
  • Head shot
  • Video reel
    • 3 minute maximum
    • Clear footage that shows the entire body
    • Performance or studio footage that features repertory work (no improvisation)
    • No class footage

Audition Details: 
Audition Dates: Thursday, December 2 and Friday December 3, 2021
In-person auditions only.
No fee to audition.
Travel and housing is not provided.

Daily Schedule

Day One: Thursday, December 2

  • Ballet Class: 10:00-11:30am CST
  • Repertory/Workshop 11:45am-4:00pm CST with lunch 1:30-2:00pm

Day Two: Friday, December 3

  • Modern/Contemporary Class: 10:00-11:30am CST
  • Research and Development Workshop: 11:45am-4:00pm CST with lunch 1:30-2:00pm

All information can be located at: https://www.tudance.org/willis-project-audition/

Feldenkrais Series: Unraveling Body Anxiety

An Eight-week Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement Series with Sarah Baumert

Sundays, 4:00-5:00pm CST and Wednesdays, 6:30-7:30pm CST
November 14-January 19
No Class November 24 and 28, December 26 and 29.

This series will explore how we can interrupt our habitual patterns of stress. We will investigate how we hold tension in our system, observing it and then disturbing it, and looking for sensations of comfort and pleasure. In Awareness Through Movement®, we explore how we can move with the smallest amount of effort. The smallest amount of effort or exertion will facilitate the maximum amount of sensory differentiation and thus make information available for new learning. Slow movements will facilitate a parasympathetic response, the rest and digest response of the nervous system.

Interested in this series, but experiencing financial hardship? 
During the last year I have been called to offer the healing work I do, through yoga and the Feldenkrais method to more people, and a more diverse demographic. With the support of my scholarship fund, I am able to offer these classes at a reduced rate. If you need financial assistance, please contact me directly. I would like to make these teachings accessible to everyone.

“Sarah’s instruction is uncanny – incredulously balanced, seemingly telepathic.” – Inez

Pilates Reformer 1

Friday: 4:00-8:00pm
Saturday: 11:30am-6:00pm
Sunday: 9:30am-4:30pm

ACE (1.60)
PMA (16)

Class: $549.00.
Manual: $50.00
Streaming Video: $10.00

Reformer 1 Instructor Training
Taught by Cari Riis Stemmler and Matthew Hodge Rice

Reformer 1 introduces you to the biomechanical foundation of the Pilates method and to the essential components of functional core strength, lumbopelvic and scapular stability, as well as assessing and correcting alignment and improving flexibility. Pre-Pilates exercises are included for teaching these key principles to your clients and classes. Reformer I includes an introduction to the Pilates Reformer, including set up and safety, beginning exercises, program sequencing and teaching tips for group classes. By the end of the course you will be able to teach a beginning Reformer class or personal training session.

Online Requirements
If you are taking this course online, you will need to have the access to the following equipment:

  • Reformer, Balanced Body preferred. Reformer should be in good working order with appropriate springs. Preferred BB Reformer spring configuration should include at least 3 Red, 1 Blue and 1 Yellow.
  • Sitting box with a safety strap; foot loops and handles required.

Note: Our Master Instructors are used to teaching and instructing on Balanced Body Reformers. Please note that if you do not have a Balanced Body Reformer the spring resistance, general feel, and overall exercise experience may vary.

Taking online courses: While we believe there is no better way to learn movement than in person, we understand that online is a good option for many. When taking a Reformer class online, you, and your Reformer, must be completely visible to the instructor, lighting must be good enough to see detailed movement, and your internet connection must be reliable as Balanced Body is not responsible for lost class hours if your connection is unstable.

Prerequisites:

  • One year experience teaching movement
  • Movement Principles
  • 20 Pilates Reformer classes completed