Here at the Dance Complex, we are committed to making dance accessible to everyone. There are no “others” here. No dancing is treated as “other” dancing. In other words, whoever you are and wherever you come from, you are welcome here. As a dancer and Arts Administration intern here, I am constantly inspired by the inviting and accepting atmosphere that the Dance Complex provides for myself and others. Dance has for so long been an art of the exclusive; from a young age many of us are taught that if we are not able-bodied, youthful, flexible, thin, strong, and versatile (the list goes on and on), we might as well just give up. At the Dance Complex, we are striving to break those boundaries that society has so wrongly defined for us.
With the new installment of Studio 7, we are able to welcome an even broader range of people into our world. Studio 7 is located on the ground level and is accessible to all. The Dance Complex also has a chair lift, providing access to the Julie Ince Thompson Theatre and main lobby.
So we have a brand new, state-of-the-art, fully accessible studio, but that alone does not make dance itself available to all bodies and minds. The All in Movement program, founded in 2016 by Dance Complex Project Lead Kara Fili, offers free, age-friendly classes to anyone seeking a physically modified dance experience. Participants of previous classes have identified as having Parkinson’s Disease, Cerebral Palsy or arthritis, being wheelchair users, or coming back to dance after an injury or extended period of time. The class, which meets on Fridays from 11 – 12:30 PM, is also open to care partners, family members, and friends of anyone wanting to participate. The classes incorporate elements of meditation, yoga, modern, jazz, flamenco and African diasporic dance among other modalities of dance and bodily awareness for people over age 65 or people with mobility challenges. The class is organized into seasonal sessions, the current one being April 13 – June 22.
In order to gain a better understanding of this class, I decided to take it myself. When I arrived, I felt immediately welcomed by Kara, who would be teaching the class, and Nuru, who brings live percussive accompaniment to the class. The class has utilized both live and recorded music in previous sessions. I then met and talked briefly with a few of the participants, who were self-deemed “regulars.” Once everyone had arrived, we all took a seat in the circle of chairs in the middle of the studio. The first activity of the class was for each of us to share our name, something about our week, and how we were feeling. This helped all of us to get a better idea of how to interact with one another as the class went on.
Next, Fatou-Carol Sylla, who co-teaches the class, led us in a peaceful meditation, in which we took time to become present and aware, focusing on our breath. Following the meditation, we began to warm up various parts of the body, starting with the head, and moving gradually down through the torso and extremities. The entire warm-up was completed while seated in our chairs and was quite effective. For the next part of the class, flamenco instructor Yosi Karahashi came in to work with us on our hand articulation as well as rhythm and use of our voices. We worked together to learn a song in Spanish while practicing precise clapping, vocal enunciation, and even learning some new Spanish vocabulary words along the way.
We then turned our chairs to face the front mirror, and Kara led us in a fun movement combination, including various types of movement qualities (e.g. sustained, quick, free-flowing). For this activity, we had the choice of standing or remaining seated, as the movements could be applied to both standing and seated bodies. As I moved through class, it became quite clear to me that the participants who chose to sit did not feel as though their movements were “modified” versions of the standing ones. This is essential to ensure that all participants feel included and empowered in the community.
At the end of the class, we all gathered around the refreshment table to engage in some light conversation about anything and everything on our minds. Unlike any other dance class I have been to, I felt encouraged to stay and talk with the teachers and fellow students. Even though I have only attended one All in Movement Age-Friendly class, I already feel welcomed into this rich community of individuals. I am truly inspired and energized by the inclusivity, positivity, and dedication that I witnessed and experienced in just an hour and thirty minutes.
