We offer Master Classes in Modern & Repertory dance and unique workshops that allow children and adults to participate in a section of the performance. These programs are based on our director Louise Reichlin’s 30 years of experience as a movement instructor at USC and her work in developing standards-based programs and workshops for use at schools in the Southern California area.
Our current Master Classes include:
- Modern Dance & Repertory
- Movement for the Actor, Singer and Musician
- Moving with more ease through the use of Feldenkrais and Bartenieff Fundamentals
- Workshops in relaxation and more efficient body use through visualization and Mind-Body techniques
Our current workshop programs include:
- A multi-ethnic dance that incorporates the Jewish, Asian and West African cultures of members of the company, and those at the location of the residency
- An auxiliary to our piece, The Patchwork Girl of Oz, so the students perform as the Joking Horner and the Hoppers in the full performance with our company
- An auxiliary to our piece, The Tennis Dances, so the students perform in the full performance with our dancers
- Programs, such as The Reality Series, that involve audience participation during the performance
Engaging with the community
We value working with a community to plan unique projects for that area, and try to put this into the planning process for a residency, sometimes visiting for a meeting before. Some we have done locally as our dances develop, that we than have used while touring to connect our work and their engagement with communities including the following examples.
The Baggage Project and Tap Dance Widow’s Club
When Alfred Desio, my tap dancer husband, died in 2007, I began creating “The Baggage Project”, as I realized that most of us carry memories of deceased loved ones like baggage, not in a negative way, but in a positive addition to the living world. For one of the pieces for this concert (first previewed in 2011) I created a Facebook page for photos and memories of loved ones. My digital artist added these images to the beautiful solo piece “Remembrance” that had different versions as it grew. We also connected with grief counselors who suggested to their clients that they attend our concert.
Another of the works connected with the larger dance community. “Tap Dance Widows Club” is a 50-minute film and live work where I met with two friends of mine who also had well known husbands, Fayard Nicholas and Jon Zerby, who had recently passed on. Besides the dance element, many people came because of that connection of the grieving process, others for the entertainment of the Hollywood connection.
A Jewish Child’s Story
A current work is an autobiographical dance multimedia work of early dreams from a granddaughter of Jewish immigrants, and research on the Holocaust connected to relatives never known. When we performed part one for young people, they connected with the characters that represented children’s heroines and heroes from my own Jewish culture and others from K’ton ton, to Wonder Woman. Their parents and grandparents connected strongly with the words in Spanish in part one (for many their native language) and the immigrant issue. For older Jewish audiences, the complete story (which includes the Holocaust), it brought out deep feelings of what so many had experienced as they grew.
When we are able to meet with a presenter before the residency, we hear their needs and goals, including both their mission statements and the practicalities of their programs. We look for elements from our works that connects with the work of the college or presenting organization and/or an element of their population. Because my works are often metaphorical, from a theme of a tennis game or science fiction story, and range from edgy (“Reboot! Reboot!”, “Invasion”, “dislocated”), to youth oriented (“The Patchwork Girl of Oz” and “The Better to Bite You With”), to universal themes (The Baggage Project, “Urban and Tribal Dances”), there are many areas to connect. I also ask where they want activities to happen (indoors/outdoors/corporate buildings/campus classrooms/hospitals/etc.).
We have completed residencies at numerous locations throughout the United States including many schools in the Los Angeles area, Loyola Marymount University, University of Southern California, the City of Las Vegas Cultural Affairs Division, a National Performance Network (NPN) residency at the Myrna Loy PAC in Montana and ARTCORE, Inc. in Wyoming. Some of our local residencies have ranged from the Los Angeles Zoo and weekly programs about endangered animals to a health partnership (the Reach Demonstration Project) through the Center For Disease Control.
For more information about our current programs, or to make a booking, please contact us.
