Saturdays, April 27th, May 25th, June 15th, June 29th | 2:00 - 4:00pm & June 15th |11:00am - 1:00pm | $20 per class
#104 - Salloum Studio at the Rotary Centre for the Arts
Instructor: Hailey McCloskey, Claudia Moore, Karen and Allen Kaeja
Ages: 18+

Explore Dance: Contact and Dance Improv - a series of 4 improvisation classes featuring Contact Improvisation and Dance Improvisation for all levels of experience.

Dance Improvisation, with Claudia Moore - April 27, 2024
Body Poetry

Using actions, imagery and physical listening, Claudia enjoys sharing her lifelong passion for dance in movement improvisation classes. Beginning with physical warm-ups based on tai chi exercises and easy-to-follow low impact stepping patterns, improvisation is then explored together through building movement phrases, energetic action games and embodied imagery. These become vocabulary for improvised ensemble creations, danced to a variety of music. Claudia shares the many benefits of improvised dance to stimulate creativity, enhance listening and explore physical play in a safe and respectful environment.

Contact Improvisation with Hailey McCloskey - May 25 and June 29, 2024
Contact Improvisation and the Dance of Relating:

Contact Improvisation (CI) is an improvised dance form involving physical contact between two or more dancers. Unlike other partner forms that rely on the hands, CI invites us to “listen” to our partner through a variety of surfaces on our torso and limbs. In CI, communication is refined by increasing our embodied awareness and by using shared “languages” such as Rolling Point of Contact and Sloughing / Sliding (terms that will be explained in class). Dances can range from the slow and meditative to the dynamic and acrobatic. Directions and possibilities can be invited via subtle changes of pressure at the skin surface, whereas playing with skeletal support structures, timing, and connectivity can invite shared weight, dynamic movements, and even the sense of flight.

Hailey teaches this practice with an emphasis on learning to move from your own internal rhythm while being informed and guided by the space and the people in it. This is a great movement modality to build proprioception, fitness, new neural pathways, and relational creativity - all leading to a satisfying art form, and ripe with transferable skill building.
Wear comfortable clothes for dancing. Long pants, long sleeves, & knee pads recommended. No need to bring a partner.

Dance Improvisation, with Guest Artists Karen and Allen Kaeja (Toronto) - June 15, 2024
Creative Fire

Karen and Allen Kaeja will share their collaborative approach of listening, creating and inspired moving together. Investigating gesture and movement infused by identity and meaning, the workshop is fuelled by imagery and physical gesture, in and out of contact, as a generative and wholesome experience. Participants personal material will serve as kindling for the creative fire. Karen and Allen draw on 40 years of practice in improvisation, contact dance and professional creation with dancers and non-pro community movers. All are welcome.


Refund Policy: No refunds after classes have begun.