Dance in the Annex (DITA) » Contemporary Classes

DITA, Int/Adv Modern Tech w/guest artist Molly Ross

May 9, 2017

Join us in welcoming Molly Ross to the Annex
Friday May 26th, 2017
6:30-8:15pm
Wealthy Theatre Annex
1110 Wealthy St Se
Grand Rapids, MI 49506
$15/$12 students w/ID
*for dancers 16+
for more information contact Amy at [email protected]

Join Molly for an athletic, playful, and energetic class combining floor and release techniques. Be prepared for lots of floor work – long sleeves and long pants highly recommended.

Molly Ross is an artist focused on making work that finds connections between the absurd, the flawed, and the private. In Grand Rapids she collaborates on the multi disciplinary project BIG LOTTO. Before relocating to Grand Rapids in early 2016, she danced professionally in Chicago Illinois with Khecari and Hedwig Dances. She has studied movement at the University of Michigan, the London Contemporary Dance School, and in Northern Israel on Kibbutz Ga’aton.

DITA, INT Graham Technique w/William Crowley

April 23, 2017

Join us in welcoming William Crowley to the Annex
Sunday May 7th, 2017
4-5:45pm
Wealthy Theatre Annex
1110 Wealthy St Se
Grand Rapids, MI 49506
$15/$12 students w/ID
*for dancers 16+
for more information contact Amy at [email protected]

The Master Class introduces students to the Graham Technique, its basic principle of “contraction and release”, and the beneficial knowledge that comes from the awareness of one’s own center and core strength. The structure of the class is composed of floor work, standing center work, and traveling exercises. Intermediate/Advanced level students will also be exposed to learning phrases of original choreography.

William Charles Crowley, received his MFA in Dance from the University of Michigan and additional training at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance in NYC. He has danced with numerous companies and has garnered favorable reviews from The Detroit Free Press, The Chicago Tribune, Denver Rocky Mountain News, The Miami Herald, and Dance Magazine. William is the Artistic Director of Next Step Dance based in Miami, FL., and currently teaches throughout the United States and Europe.

DITA, Afro-Brazilian Contemporary Fusion w/guest artist Rosely Conz

March 28, 2017

Join us in welcoming Rosely Conz to the Annex
Sunday April 23rd, 2017
4-5:45pm
Wealthy Theatre Annex
1110 Wealthy St Se
Grand Rapids, MI 49506
$15/$12 students w/ID
*for dancers 16+
for more information email [email protected]

Class description
Afro-Brazilian Contemporary Fusion: This class will combine contemporary dance with movement and principles of Afro-Brazilian Dances, such as community, groundedness, and playfulness. Samba and Capoeira will be juxtaposed with turns, jumps, and improvisation. Open to all levels of expertise.

Rosely Conz is a Brazilian dancer, choreographer and teacher. In 2016, Rosely finished her MFA in Dance, already holding a MA in Performing Arts and a BFA in Dance. For the past 15 years, Rosely has been performing and choreographing professionally for Brazilian dance companies such as Dançaberta Dance Group and Packer Dance Co. She had her work funded by grants in Brazil such as FICC (Fund for Cultural Investments) and Capes (Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel), Merge Dance Company at the State University of Texas. Her most recent work was sponsored by the Atlas Black Box experimental studio, in Colorado.
Rosely’s present research focuses on issues related to foreignness, displacement, and cultural cannibalism. Collaboration is part of Rosely’s philosophy which led to partnerships with Ana Baer (Texas University), Bailey Anderson (CU-Boulder), Julia Ziviani (Unicamp- Brazil), Adam Sekuler (CU-Boulder), amongst other incredible artists.

DITA, Int/Adv Modern Tech w/guest artist Sara Yanney

February 13, 2017

Join us in welcoming Sara Yanney to the Annex!

Images of dance and dancers

Sunday March 19th
4-5:45pm
Wealthy Theatre Annex
1110 Wealthy St Se
Grand Rapids, MI 49506
$15/$12 students w/ID
For dancers ages 16+
For more information email [email protected]

Class Description: This modern dance class will be based in Laban/Bartenieff based Evans Modern Dance Technique. There is an emphasis on body awareness and moving in a healthy, efficient way, while also exploring the dynamic possibilities of human movement.

Sara Yanney, MFA,GL-CMA, is a Modern/Contemporary dance educator, choreographer, and performer. She has been dancing with Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers since 2014. She also shows her work independently as the artistic director of The =ibrium Dance Project, founded in the summer of 2012, which has shown work in IL, IN, MI, NJ, NY, OH, and WI and internationally in Canada and Haiti. She has performed with the Bill Evans Dance Company, Blue Tribe African Dance Company, Blythe Edens Dance Company, Indy Convergence, Gran Lakou Haitian Folkloric Dance Company, The New Mexico Contemporary Dance Alliance, Motus Dance Theatre, and SMAG Dance Collective. Sara has served on faculty at Ball State University and Anderson University, is the founder/director of Jump Into Motion Dance Academy, which offered affordable dance and movement education to children at their schools and day cares from 2006-2013 in the Indianapolis area and in the Kalamazoo area since 2016, and is certified in the Bill Evans Method of Teaching Laban/Bartenieff-Based Modern Dance Technique. She is training to become a certified Alexander Technique teacher, received her GL-CMA (Graduate Laban-Certified Movement Analyst) from Columbia College Chicago in Fall 2016, her MFA in Performing Arts: Dance at the Peck School of the Arts, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 2016, where she was a recipient of the Chancellors Graduate Student Award, and received her BA in Dance from the University of New Mexico in 2003 with departmental honors and received the Friends of Dance Scholarship, The Provost Award for Artistic and Academic Achievement, The Bill Evans Dance Teachers Intensive Scholarship, and the Barbara Kiker Award for Excellence in Dance.

DITA, Self Care for Dancers w/guest artist Heather Vaughan-Southard

November 28, 2016

Join DITA in welcoming Heather Vaughan-Southard to the Annex

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Sunday December 4
4-5:45pm
Wealthy Theatre Annex
$15/$12 students w/ID
For dancers 16+
email [email protected] for more information

Heather Vaughan-Southard is a dance educator with rich experiences directing programs and teaching in higher education, K-12 public schools, non-profit and private studios. With an approach of teaching dance as a liberal art, she draws from her experiences dancing professionally in Chicago, Detroit, New York, and Los Angeles to create experiences that move beyond the boundaries of a studio, producing well-rounded, thinking dance citizens. She is author of the blog EducatingDancers, where she chronicles her perspectives on dance and dance education and is the K-12 columnist for the popular online magazine, Dance Advantage. Heather represents Dance in the Michigan Arts Education Instruction and Assessment project (MAEIA), tasked with developing a blueprint and assessment specifications for premier arts education in the public schools. As a dancer, Heather has performed nationally and internationally, and has performed works by Mia Michaels, Donald McKayle, Bob Fosse, Lar Lubovitch, Billy Siegenfeld, Alexandra Beller, and Debra Levasseur-Lottman. Her choreography has been commissioned by such organizations as Michigan State University, Grand Valley State University, Dance in the Annex, Lansing Community College, and Happendance. Heather holds an MFA in Dance from the University of Michigan, a BFA in dance from Western Michigan University.

This class guides you to connect with yourself, with others, and within a community. Drawing from pilates and somatic dance movement vocabularies, you’ll be invited to move within and beyond your movement habits to find expressive movement that meets you where you are and represents where you want to be, and how to get there. Come fight holiday and social stress in the medium you love best- movement.

DITA, Int/Adv Contemporary Technique w/Amy Cova

August 29, 2016

Join us in welcoming Amy Cova to Dance in the Annex!
Sunday September 11th
Wealthy Theatre Annex
4-5:45pm
1110 Wealthy St SE
Grand Rapids, MI
$15/$12 (students w/ID)
For Int/Adv dancers ages 16+
Contact [email protected] for more information

Amy Cova, (MFA in Dance from the University of Michigan) is Artistic Director of Amy Cova Dance (ACD), a Brooklyn based contemporary dance ensemble often working in collaboration with musicians, composers and visual artists. Cova is currently a Facilitator at The Field (NYC) and a recent Groundwork Artist in Residence at Cora Dance in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Cova’s movement vocabulary punctuates the highly physical with a quiet gestural sense evoking worlds of turmoil, confusion, hope, and happiness in a single theatrical experience. Cova is interested in embodied text, oral histories, subjugated knowledge and personal reflections as they dialogue through evocative movement languages.

Amy Cova has been presented at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival Inside/Out, and throughout NYC at Dance New Amsterdam, the Manhattan Movement and Arts Center, Triskelion Arts, The Flea Theatre and The Irondale Center. Her work has been showcased at the Alvin Ailey Studio Theater, The Alchemical Theater Laboratory, the John Ryan Theater, Studio AIR, Dixon Place, Spoke the Hub, the Green Space, and the Detroit Institute of Art.

Cova has performed in works by Laura Dean, Daniel Gwirtzman, Rennie Harris, Alex Springer, Ginger Thatcher and Nadia Tykulsker. She has most recently performed at WestFest All Over WestBeth with compositional, improve dance cooperative, The Lovelies.

Cova has been an adjunct faculty member/guest artist at numerous institutions, including University of Michigan, Eastern Michigan University, Grand Valley State University, Wayne State University and Oakland University. Her choreography has been presented internationally in Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica and Italy. She enjoys continued collaboration with composer Alvin Hill.

This class celebrates freedom in movement; big, juicy moves alongside quiet gestural shifts. With a focus on an organic, personal way of moving, students are encouraged to tap into their physical, intellectual and emotional history throughout class. We begin with an easy, rhythmical movement pattern gently waking the muscles and brain, uniting the bodies and energies in space in order to create a fresh community for learning. Together we move in and out of the floor with the aim of priming the body for more vigorous movement tasks. We explore the space through dynamic and often virtuosic movement patterns. Finally, extended phrase work invites students to couple their emotional and physical self in order to articulate their performative voice.

DITA, INT/ADV Contemporary Tech w/ guest artist Joy Voelker

August 1, 2016

Join Dance In The Annex in welcoming Joy Voelker!

Wednesday & Thursday August 24 & 25
7:30 – 9:15 pm
Wealthy Theatre Annex
1130 Wealthy St Se
Grand Rapids, MI 49506
$15/$12 Students w/ID
For more information email [email protected]

Joy Voelker’s approach to movement has a deep relationship with the anatomy and physiology of the dancer’s instrument. Being in touch with the instrument and using energy in opposing direction gives way to more efficient movement and frees the body to express and enjoy dancing.This approach has formed over connecting aspects from movement techniques such as Gyrotonics, Alexander Technique, and Yoga as well as dance techniques such as Classical Ballet, Countertechnique, Limon, and other contemporary dance styles.

Joy is a graduate of the Interlochen Arts Academy and holds a BFA from the Purchase College Conservatory of Dance. Her pre-professional training also includes The Juilliard School, The Paul Taylor School, Joffrey Ballet, Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Amsterdam, and Anouk van Dijk Dance Company. Her performing career includes CorbinDances, 360º Dance Company, Lane & Co, Headless Horse, Artichoke Dance Company, children’s’ programs at the Metropolitan Playhouse and Guest Artist as the Sugar Plum Fairy for Iowa State Center’s The Nutcracker. Joy has also participated in outreach programs. Her most significant trip was with the Beech Foundation working with choirs of all ages and dance with children while breaking ground for Tumaini Children’s Home.

Joy was a faculty member at the Mark Morris Dance Center for 6 years in New York teaching all ages in Ballet, Modern, Creative Movement and more. Some of the institutions she has taught master classes or intensive workshops for include Dance Society of Colorado Springs, Lawrence Arts Center, Robert Thomas Dancenter, Park Hill Dance Academy, and Landing Dance Academy.
While living in New York Joy trained extensively at the Shen Tao Studio. The Sen Tao approach combines aspects of Gyrotonics, Pilates, Yoga, Sports Psychology, Vipassana Meditation, Anatomy, and Self Massage with Classical Ballet and Modern/Contemporary Dance technique. Joy is passionate about teaching this work as cross training while also integrating it in to the dance classes. Joy’s classes work to develop the dancer as a whole by incorporating these different teachings to form a healthy and efficient physical approach with a fulfilling spirited artistic approach.

DITA, Int/Adv Modern Tech w/guest artist Molly Ross

May 16, 2016

Join us in welcoming Molly Ross to the Annex
Sunday May 22nd
4-5:45pm
$15/$12 Students w/ID
For dancers 16+
Email [email protected] for more information

Molly Ross is an artist focused on making work that finds connections between the absurd, the flawed, and the private. In Grand Rapids she is co-founder of the dance collective CHOIR and collaborates on the multi disciplinary project BIG LOTTO. Before relocating to Grand Rapids in early 2016, she danced professionally in Chicago Illinois with Khecari and Hedwig Dances. She has studied movement at the University of Michigan, the London Contemporary Dance School, and in Northern Israel on Kibbutz Ga’aton.

In class we will consider how we can shift the space between public and private, loud and quiet, empty and filled. Movement fluctuates between improvisation and set material as we use our kinetic instincts in order to find what moves us in the relationship we have with ourselves and with others. Throughout class, a focus on moving in and out of the floor prepares our bodies for the weight, fluidity, and athleticism required for vigorous center work. We will use our time to sweat, boogie, and honor the joy of the flesh.

Int/Adv Contemporary Technique w/guest artist Hannah Sullivan

July 28, 2015

Join us in welcoming Hannah Sullivan to Dance In The Annex!

Thursday July 30th & Thursday August 6th
Wealthy Theatre Annex
7-8:45pm
1110 Wealthy St SE
Grand Rapids, MI
$15/$12 (students w/ID)
For Int/Adv dancers ages 16+
Contact [email protected] for more information

Class Description:
Int/Adv Contemporary
Hannah’s teaching focus fuses ballet, yoga, Horton and release techniques. Her classes are known for encouraging students to connect intentional emotion to movement. Come experience a challenge for your body coupled with empowering emotional work. Intermediate and advanced dancers 16+ welcome!

Bio:
Hannah Sullivan is a West Michigan-based instructor and choreographer. She is the Co-Artistic Director of the HIS Dance Ensemble with Tassia Hooks Johnson, writing & choreographing original contemporary ballets every year since the partnership formed in 2011. She is current faculty for the School of Grand Rapids Ballet, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, LOCALZ iNTENSiVEs, Hearts In Step Dance Academy and the Dance Coalition. Hannah’s original works have been performed by both professional and student companies including Grand Rapids Ballet, Dance In The Annex (DITA), Macomb Ballet Company, Blue Lake International Ensemble, Young People’s Ballet Theatre and Muskegon Dance Company. Under the direction of Amy & Erin Wilson, Hannah was a collaborator with DITA’s ArtPrize 2014 Juror’s Time-Based Award winning work “respirador (breather)” and ArtPrize 2013 juror-nominated “Angle of Repose”. Hannah is also a featured performer with DITA, dance-on-camera films, and various West Michigan productions including the 2014 Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp opera “Hansel & Gretel”. Hannah is a master’s social worker and marriage & family therapist in West Michigan.

DITA, Int/Adv Contemporary w/guest artist Thom Dancy

July 5, 2015

Join us in welcoming Thom Dancy to Dance In The Annex!

Monday July 6th & 13th
Wealthy Theatre Annex
7-8:45pm
1110 Wealthy St SE
Grand Rapids, MI
All Levels
$15/$12 (students w/ID)
For dancers ages 16+
Contact [email protected] for more information

Using improvisational technique and a ballet base, class works from the ground up. Focus is turned to allowing specific points in the body to be the causality of movement as we progress through increasingly complex combinations. Class finishes with center-work designed to propel the body off its natural axis, using concepts worked on in class to test the body’s potential and create expansiveness. Be prepared to sweat.

Thom Dancy studied ballet at the University of Oklahoma and has danced with Milwaukee Ballet, Grand Rapids Ballet, and The Big Muddy Dance Company (currently under the direction of Brian Enos). Thom is also a member of Actors’ Equity and has performed at The MUNY in Hello, Dolly! and My Fair Lady (2015), as well as in State Fair with the Ohio Outdoor Historical Drama Society. He has originated principal roles in works by Kate Skarpetowska, Victor Alexander, Brian Enos, and Harrison McEldowney.

As a choreographer, Thom has created work on The Big Muddy, Milwaukee Ballet II, Grand Rapids Ballet, COCA, and Danceworks Chicago. His work has been presented at Spring To Dance and the Palm Desert Dance Under The Stars Choreography Festival, and he has won “outstanding choreographer” at YAGP and the World Ballet Competition. Thom is one of The Big Muddy’s in-house choreographers.

Tag: Contemporary Classes