dreaming with the body creative workshops and intensives
From July to December 2023, I will be hosting a series of creative workshops and intensives in association with my latest professional performance project, For you, I dream of me (formerly titled Dreaming with the Body). These intensives, Dreaming with the Body, will invite community participants of any gender identity to examine classic fairy tales, ranging from The Little Mermaid to Beauty and the Beast and beyond, questioning the role of sacrifice as a necessary means for happiness. Through individual and group reflections and creative prompts, such as drawing, dancing and journaling, we will reimagine the tales' "happy endings" in favor of plot points that leave more space for autonomy, nuance, self-empowerment, and joy. Learn more about these intensives, and the performance project, below:
Wilmington
Wilmington Teen Intensive October 8-9, 2023 @ 335 Main Street, Wilmington MA Ages 14-18 | $140 (intensive only), $200 (performance experience) Register Now!
This intensive experience will recreate the professional creative process of Dreaming with the Body in a student workshop setting designed for teens. Participants can select to participate in the workshops alone, October 8-9, OR the full experience, which includes the opportunity to perform in the professional production at the JMAC Brickbox Theater in Worcester, December 2023.
This program is a project of Bodies Moving and is supported by a grant from the Wilmington Arts Council, a local agency, which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Westminster
Westminster Teen Intensive November 25, 2023 @ 217 State Road East, Westminster, MA Ages 14-18 | $75 (sliding scale pricing available for those in need) Register Now!
This one day workshop is meant to mimic the professional creative process of For you, I dream of me. Students will be guided through improvisations and creative prompts meant to generate unique choreography in response to select fairy tales.
Past Events
Worcester
Worcester Young Adult Intensive September 2-4, 2023 @ The Dance Place Studio, Worcester Ages 17 - 23 | FREE!
This program is a project of Bodies Moving and is supported by a grant from the Worcester Arts Council, which was made possible with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funding from the City of Worcester.
For you, I dream of me
This contemporary dance theater project will explore the themes of love, sacrifice, and violence depicted in fairy tales and lore from various cultures and traditions around the world to reveal through motion biases and assumptions embedded in mainstream culture.
Fairy tales are stories that describe a society’s cultural morals. These morals become the lens through which society defines its boundaries and biases. The plight of women, particularly queer, BIPOC, and otherwise disenfranchised women, historically become cautionary tales in these stories. By exploring both classic and contemporary texts through movement, For you, I dream of me seeks to convey more expansive, complex and nuanced depictions of character, conflict, and resolution that highlights and challenges accepted cultural biases.
Stories to be investigated include Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Mermaid”, “A Rose for Zemira” by Fred Crump Jr, and two selections from Carmen Maria Machado’s collection of short stories “Her Body and Other Parties” (“The Husband Stitch” and “Real Women Have Bodies”).
This project is made possible by the JMAC Worcester's Project Sponsorship grant program, administered in collaboration with the Worcester Cultural Coalition and funded by the Barr Foundation. The project will be presented as a full length production December 15-16, 2023 at the JMAC Worcester Brickbox Theater.