Event Descriptions


Featured Performance
animal dance
Saturday, January 4, 7 PM
Sunday, January 5, 2 PM
Come see ANIMAL Dance’s latest work set for the stage, Directed by Hanna Satterlee, with featured performers Caitlin Morgan, Grace Palmer and Hanna Satterlee.
Original Sound by Willverine.
Lighting Design by Craig Zemsky.
Project Development Supported by the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts.
Stay tuned for a link to the program to learn more about the performers and the work.
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Taught by Maree ReMalia
Moving Bodies/Dancing Lives
January 6 - 10 Workshop
10 AM - 11:30 AM
Moving Bodies/Dancing Lives welcomes seasoned dancers and newcomers alike to delve into movement in ways that honor diverse backgrounds and physical interpretations. The class integrates exploratory dance practices and theater methods, the Gaga movement language, and somatics into guided improvisation and game-like structures to foster self-awareness and connection with fellow movers. The approach is playful and deliberate, including moments of moving together and in small groups. From slow, meditative gestures to dynamic, full-bodied expressions we cultivate presence and aliveness – breathing, stretching, vocalizing, grooving, shaking, resting, reflecting, and igniting creativity. While moving, we can embrace joy, sorrow, curiosity, fear, whimsy, intentionality, awkwardness, and awe. We sink into the weight of our flesh while accessing lightness in our bones, and tune into internal impulses while sensing the horizon beyond the room. These practices aim to support navigating complexity and opening to new possibilities through our embodied experience – in our dancing and our broader lives.
Ages 16+. Please wear clothing comfortable for moving and bring a water bottle and journal.
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It is recommended but not required to take this course as a series. Drop-ins will be determined based on capacity.
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Taught by Samantha McLoughlin
Horton Dance Workshop: Integrating Technique and Healing
January 6 Workshop
2 PM - 3:30 PM
This workshop explores the holistic approach of the Horton technique, which blends various influences to offer a unique and enriching dance experience. Our class will delve into the integration of Native American and Afro-Caribbean dance elements, modern dance, and classical ballet, providing a comprehensive understanding of how these diverse styles inform the Horton technique. Participants will engage in movement that not only strengthens and heals the body but also fosters a deeper connection to the richness of these dance traditions. Emphasizing both fun and comfort, this workshop is crafted to make you feel at ease while learning. You'll experience the Horton technique through a community-centered approach that encourages exploration and self-expression within a supportive environment. Whether you’re looking to deepen your technical skills or simply enjoy dance, this workshop offers a refreshing and educational experience that celebrates the diversity and creativity of dance.
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While it is intended for individuals with at least one year of dance training, I emphasize modifications and individualized support to ensure that every participant, regardless of their body type or prior experience, can engage meaningfully with the material.

Presented by
Ellen Smith Ahern + Menghan Wang
Ecotone: Exploring Sound, Dance + Habitat in Tension
January 6 Performance Installation
6 PM - 7:30 PM
Ecotone: Exploring Sound, Dance + Habitat in Tension is the first draft of a performance installation throughout which participants are invited to move, rest and listen. Collaborating artists Ellen Smith Ahern and Menghan Wang share newly developed dance, soundscape and sculptural sets that bring bodies and habitats into delicate tension.
Participants ages 5+ are welcome to follow pathways through these liminal spaces of ongoing transformation, engaging with sound and movement from multiple angles and sharing reflection and conversation in community afterwards. This is an accessible event for folks who hear, see and move differently, including darkened, quieter spaces for reduced sensory input.

Taught by Chloe A. Shafer
Let's Make a Dance
January 7 Workshop
4 PM - 5:30 PM
+Public showing 5:35-5:45pm!
In this collaborative workshop, we will work as an ensemble to do the impossible and make a dance in just 90-minutes! This is a playful investigation designed to engage everyone’s choreographic curiosities while simultaneously breaking down a compositional process. Using improvisational scores and our own familiar movement patterns (which are unfamiliar to everyone else), we will generate gesture sequences, floor patterns, dynamic trajectories, and intention/focus/tone. Layering and weaving these elements together, we will make a 5-7-minute dance work. Humor, spontaneity, and joy will be our guides! If you have any questions, please reach out to the instructor/facilitator, Chloe via email (chloeaschloe@gmail.com). If you don’t want to make any choreographic decisions, but still want to learn a brand new dance, please join us!!
Ages 15+, no previous dance experience required
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Audience members are invited at 5:35pm for an informal showing of the piece! (free)

Taught by Meshi Chavez
Butoh Awakening: Crafting Presence in Performance
January 7 - 9 Workshop
6 PM - 8 PM
Join Meshi Chavez, a seasoned Butoh practitioner, choreographer, and MFA graduate from the University of the Arts, for an immersive workshop that explores the art of presence as a foundation for choreography and performance. This open-level workshop invites participants to uncover new dimensions of creativity and movement through Butoh's unique approach. In this workshop, Chavez will guide participants in using presence to fully inhabit each moment, focusing on genuine discovery rather than polished movement. We will explore embodiment not as a final destination but as a dynamic starting point for deeper creative expression and connection. Whether you are new to Butoh or an experienced dancer, this workshop offers a vibrant space to engage with the transformative power of dance, courage, and creativity, fostering a deeper connection with the world around you.
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It is recommended but not required to take this course as a series. Drop-ins will be determined based on capacity.

Taught by Maya LaLiberte
Countertechnique
January 8 - 10 Workshop
2 PM - 3:45 PM
The Countertechnique® class is a contemporary dance technique class. It stretches, coordinates and strengthens the body, making the dancer sweat, build stamina and really move. The class starts with a recurring set of exercises, allowing dancers to investigate the Countertechnique® principles in detail. The second half of the class consists of changing components, working towards luscious movement combinations and jumping at the end. The Countertechnique® class results in dancers using less energy, losing their fear of taking risks and gaining speed in changing direction.
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It is recommended but not required to take this course as a series. Drop-ins will be determined based on capacity.

Open Space
Community Practice share/jam
January 6 - 10
11:45 AM - 1:45 PM
Throughout the week The Great Room Studio will be open for specific times throughout the week as a free form space for festival community participants to dance or create. Perhaps you meet new people and share your practices with one another, perhaps an open improvisation jam happens. Bring your tools, your notebooks, your music & speakers. We will keep a sign up sheet in the Lobby with Practice Share time slots for folks to have the option to fill in with the practices or ideas they want to share. Keep an open mind to collaborating with those who show up. Community Practice Share/Jam is not facilitated.

Open Space
Community Down Time/Silent Space
January 6, 8, 9
4:15 PM - 5:45 PM
Welcome yourself to rest in this space. You may rest, stretch, restore, meditate, journal, dance. If you wish to listen to music, please bring your own headphones. The room will remain a silent container. Please take your conversations out to the lobby to respect this space of rest. This session will not be facilitated.

Creation & Performance Opportunity
Creation Track
January 6 - 10
The Creation Track supports a week-long incubation period for artists wanting to make or refine dance work. ​
The Creation Track includes:
10+/- shared hours of rehearsal space during the week of January 6-10. (Mon: 10am-3:45pm, Tues: 10am-8pm, Wed: 10am-8pm, Thurs: 10am-8pm, Fri: 10am-3:45pm)
Performance slot in a work-in-progress showcase at the Black Box Theater on January 10th. Pieces can be up to 6mins max. Proceeds from the show will go back to the performing artists!
Shared promotion with a feature on the Animal Dance Instagram
Please click here for more information. Creation Track Registration closes December 16th. Open to 8 artists/groups. Yes, you may register as a group.