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Threads Dance Nexus: Fall Adult Classes

Curious to learn how to move it and groove it? Are you a seasoned dancer who wants to get back in the game? Don’t let life get in the way! Join our fall adult classes today!

Adult Ballet and Adult Modern
September 13-December 18, 2021

Adult Ballet
Tuesdays, 7:00-8:30pm
A recreational class perfect for adults of any experience level. We will cover the fundamentals of ballet technique in an inclusive, approachable, and non-competitive atmosphere.

Adult Modern
Thursdays, 7:00-8:30pm
A recreational class perfect for adults of any experience level. We will explore the basics of various modern dance techniques focusing on alignment, mobility, and expression.

Drop-ins available.

Final Workshop – Home||Body: Body Watani with Leila Awadallah

Home//Body – a series of workshops celebrating diverse teaching artists and how movement can help community feel like home.

The first workshops of our ongoing Home||Body series is led by Palestinian American artist, Leila Awadallah

Body Watani (body-as-homeland practice + Arabic dance)

Weaving questions around ancestral, home/land roots and memories of place and beings, the first half of Body Watani practice is a series of guided improvisation endeavors. Serving as a soft container to support the participant’s research in their personal body-as-homeland practice, we will utilize dancing as a way to unravel, deepen, and grapple with notions of home, embodied memory and crisscrossing histories within our bodies.

The second half of Body Watani activates specific movement techniques and choreographic material rooted in Arabic dance styles and music; ranging from working with folk forms and traditional rhythms to contemporary interpretations and experimental sounds from the SWANA region. In addition to dancing, this section engages in conversations around culture, politics, colonialism, and orientalism relevant to the context.

Thursday, August 19, 6:30-8:30pm

Home||Body workshops are free of cost with a suggested donation of $20, and will take place at the Threads Dance Nexus.

Coordi™ Class

Engage in fun physical brain teasers to hone your balance, coordination, and brain health. This movement-based virtual class is open to all abilities — no dance experience necessary. It’s a work out for both brain and body!

Wednesdays, 10:00AM CT – lower impact

Classes are led by James Sewell, are one hour in length, and are geared toward adult participation.

Sliding scale, $5-20.

Visit https://jsballet.org/coordi/ to connect.

Young Dance Performing Company Community Service Project

Thursday, August 19, 1:30-3:30pm

FREE and open to those interested in or signed up for the Young Dance Performing Company for the 2021-22 school year. Join Chitra Vairavan, YD Program Director, and Anat Shinar, YD Artistic Director, in a team-building afternoon through service to our community. At Young Dance, we believe in being dedicated members of our communities and that service to others empowers us and those around us.

We will meet at Young Dance and then head to the neighboring parks to do some park clean-up and movement, as well.

Email Anat to RSVP, anat@youngdance.org.

Watch Karen’s Tenth Anniversary Picks #6

Every month from March through December 2021, Threads Dance Project will release some of Artistic Director Karen L. Charles’ top dances available pay-as-able from $1, $10, $100, or even $1,000 to view Karen’s selected works!

August’s work is Be Still Standing (2017) by McKnight International Choreographer, Salia Sanou. This pick is particularly special as Threads Dance Project will be touring this piece in France in 2022!

Here is what Karen says about these works:

“This piece was selected because of the significance of the choreographer. Threads was selected to host the McKnight International Choreographer, Salia Sanou, who created this work. This is what he said about the piece: ‘Today, segregation remains a social reality, as can be seen by police violence, re-emerging neo-Nazi groups, and an administration that threatens the rights and the expression of differences, mainly racial ones. For younger generations in particular, artists must raise awareness and draw attention to those issues.'”

Each release will be 20-30 minutes in length. Once registered, you will receive a private link and password that will allow you to view these works from August 16-29, 2021.

Don’t miss out on these works that started it all!

Neighborhood Dances – Long Lake Park

Come join us for our last outdoor performance of the summer!

Neighborhood Dances is a series of free mini dance concerts performed in public spaces and inviting community participation. We teach parts of the dances to anyone who wants to join in. ASL signing included and options for limited mobility. Offered as a way to respond to the difficulties of this past year, we aim to spread joy, blessings and healing through dance while acknowledging God as our higher perspective and hope.

Saturday, August 21, 2:00 p.m.
Long Lake Park Beach

Join us on the grass at the end of the beach parking lot near the railroad tracks. Bring a lawn chair or a blanket/towel if you’d like to sit. Wear sunscreen if needed for this afternoon performance.

Moving Practice Contemporary Class – with Non Edwards

Moving Practice is a weekly class series for professional dancers. Classes prioritize rigor, diversity of contemporary aesthetics, variety of class content, and commitment. Professional level dancers of all styles are welcome.

Tuesdays, 9:30-11:00AM at The Arena
Non Edwards teaches throughout August.

Dive into the wide world of eclectic contemporary performance and a multitude of ways to develop your technique. We will explore alignment principles, with hands-on cueing offered for those interested in engaging in touch. Phrasework and guided imagery-based improvisation provide opportunities to integrate information. Class will incorporate Non’s study of restorative exercise, the GYROKINESIS® Method, and Skinner Releasing and Topf Techniques.

Pre-register at https://www.arena-dances.org/class-payment/
Flexible pricing and free parking!

Join us for Amy Jones’ Pilates mat class, 9:00-9:30AM, before Moving Practice!

Photo by V. Paul Virtucio

Pilates Mat classes at The Arena

Open Pilates mat classes every Tuesday at The Arena with Amy Jones!

Pilates mat class includes work on breath, centering, body awareness, alignment, core stability, strength and mobility. The class aims to build balance and prepare the body and mind for efficient movement and everyday tasks.

Amy teaches Pilates for ages 7-90 and addresses goals ranging from improved athletic performance to pain-free sitting, standing, and walking. She is certified through Kelly Kane in NYC and has taught in physical therapy settings, gyms, schools, and studios. Her dance-specific teaching experience includes classes for Peridance Capezio Center, Breaking Boundaries, Jam Hops Dance and Gymnastics, and the Holy Angels Dance Team. She is also a teacher-trainer for Cirque-It Fitness and bungee fitness.

Tuesdays, 9:00-9:30AM
$10 drop-in.

Pair it with the morning’s Moving Practice class for a $25 bundle and 2 hours of movement!

Pre-register at https://www.arena-dances.org/class-payment/

Zenon Dance Zone Showcase

Movement exploration by Britta Joy Peterson
Zenon Dance School – Zone Virtual Summer Showcase

Saturday, August 21 at 7:30pm
Free

Zenon Dance School’s Zone Scholarship Program celebrates Zone choreographer Britta Joy Peterson, presenting A Model for Staying With.

DC-based choreographer and director Britta Joy Peterson shares the culmination of skating the edge, a ten-week performance workshop with Zenon Dance Zone dancers and local movers inside of External Organ – an accumulating research project broaching climate crisis, forestry practices, ecological theory and environmental communication. Dancers will be performing Peterson’s A Model for Staying With, dancing a score involving natural history, popular science, and memory while questioning what’s at stake in metaphor.

Zone offers adult dancers of all ability levels, ages, and dance styles the opportunity to challenge themselves in a session-long program. Dancers can choose from two tracks: Performance – for students with a strong intermediate or advanced level of dance technique and who are looking for opportunities to perform; or Technique – a class-focused program where dancers work on increasing skills and challenging themselves with new styles of dance. Students are selected via a digital application submission and are offered subsidized tuition.