Kaatsbaan Cultural Park Announces Community Classes Beginning This Month

Kaatsbaan Cultural Park has announced that their Community Classes will begin on March 27, 2023. Kaatsbaan offers Ballet, movement, family dance, and contemporary movement classes. Advanced registration is encouraged, and walk-ins are welcome. For more information, visit kaatsbaan.org/community-classes.

The Kaatsbaan Spring Community Class series offers a variety of movement classes tailored to different age groups. For our youngest dancers, there are creative classes that foster imagination, creativity, and self-expression. Adults can choose from a range of options, including beginner and intermediate ballet, contemporary dance, and yoga. Kaatsbaan's professional instructors are passionate about sharing their love of movement with all ages and skill levels, creating a supportive and inclusive learning environment.

"We are thrilled to deepen our involvement with the Hudson Valley community and expand opportunities for individuals to gather, learn, and participate in physical activity," said Artistic Associate Adam Weinert. "We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to experience the transformative power and joy of movement."

Mondays: Ballet Lab with Adam Weinert

5:30-7:00pm

9 sessions, March 27-May 22, 2023

$15 per class

Ballet Lab with Adam encourages creative approaches to ballet while emphasizing breath, alignment, and musicality in a supportive environment. Class begins with a thorough and methodical barre, followed by center work and jumping to help build strength, balance, and grace. We prioritize movement efficiency, supported by the understanding that our bodies have an innate capacity for balance. Learning not to interfere with that natural organization is a large part of our work. Ballet shoes are optional. Previous dance training is recommended. Willingness to learn, explore, and have fun is a must!

Wednesdays: Ballet Lab with Lindsay Clark

11:30am-1:00pm

10 sessions, March 29-May 31, 2023

$15 per class

Ballet Lab with Lindsay encourages creative approaches to ballet while emphasizing breath, alignment, and musicality in a supportive environment. Class begins with a thorough and methodical barre, followed by center work and jumping to help build strength, balance, and grace. We prioritize movement efficiency, supported by the understanding that our bodies have an innate capacity for balance. Learning not to interfere with that natural organization is a large part of our work. Ballet shoes are optional. Previous dance training is recommended. Willingness to learn, explore, and have fun is a must!

Wednesdays: Contemporary Movement Practices with Charlotte Stickles & Maddie Leonard-Rose

4:00-5:15pm

10 sessions, March 29-May 31, 2023

$15 per class

In Contemporary Movement Practices, we'll work to develop and evolve the conversation between technical skill, creative choice-making, and composition. Come prepared to engage with phrase work, improvisation, and compositional scores for the purpose of skill building and breaking. As teachers and facilitators, Charlotte and Madeleine value rigor, curiosity, and playfulness. Come to dig in! Some experience in a dance context required (Wear comfortable clothes for layering and moving.)

Thursdays: User Manual for Human Movement with Sondra Loring

4:00-5:00pm

10 sessions, March 30-June 1, 2023

$15 per class

Great music. Cool moves. Freedom.

Yoga - Somatics - Sweat

For all bodies: athletes, dancers, yogis, elders, youngsters, scientists, body workers, physiotherapists. Sneakers suggested.

Saturdays: Family Dance with Judith Nelson

10:00-11:00am

8 sessions, April 1-May 20, 2023

$15 per class

In Family Dance, experience a magical hour of connection with your child/children through the exploration of brain dance; a nationally and internationally recognized teaching methodology. Explore dance concepts, experiment with instruments, and practice movement skills with a wide variety of music and dance props. Adaptations and guidance are offered to accommodate different ages and abilities so class is engaging, appropriate, and fun! This brain-compatible approach strengthens body and brain while nurturing creativity, imagination, and the joy of dancing with others. (Ages: walking-5 years old)

Saturdays: Begninner Ballet (12 years-Adults) with Hillary Jackson

11:30am-1:00pm

8 sessions, April 1-May 20, 2023

$15 per class

Beginner Ballet will introduce students to the beauty and discipline of classical ballet. Through the practice of exercises progressing from floor work, to the barre, to the center, and movements across the floor, students will gain strength, flexibility, and focus. They will learn how to execute movements safely, with joy and grace! Hillary's class is influenced by the Vaganova Method which is based in science and emphasizes proper alignment, core strength, injury prevention, and musicality. (Attire: ballet slippers required; leggings and form-fitting top recommended)

About the Faculty

Adam Weinert, Ballet Lab: Recently named "Artistic Associate" at the Kaatsbaan Cultural Park in Tivoli, NY, Adam Weinert is a choreographer, researcher and gardener based in The Hudson Valley. He produced and choreographed two award-winning dance films screened nationally and abroad, and his performance works have toured to four continents including a number of non-traditional dance venues such as the Museum of Modern Art, The Tate Britain Museum, and The Tate Modern Museum. He danced with The Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company, The Mark Morris Dance Group, and Shen Wei Dance Arts and in 2020, Adam was named a Bessie Honoree for his work reconstructing and interrogating the choreographic legacy of Modern Dance pioneer Ted Shawn. His ongoing research includes teasing out the sensual connectivity between performance, agriculture, nourishment and community.

Lindsay Clarke, Ballet Lab: Lindsay Clark has performed and taught in NYC and internationally since 2005. She has had the pleasure of working with Shen Wei Dance Arts, Faye Driscoll, Jennie Mary Tai Liu, Yve Laris Cohen, Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People, Vanessa Anspaugh, Jack Ferver, John Jasperse, Yasuko Yokoshi, Michelle Boulé, Pontus Lidberg, Xavier Le Roy, and Juliana May. Lindsay has been a faculty member of the Bard College Dance Program since 2017. She has taught professional and open ballet classes in NYC and modern dance, composition, and improvisation at the University of the Arts, Hollins University, and the American Dance Festival. Lindsay attended High School at the North Carolina School of the Arts as a ballet major, holds a BFA in dance from SUNY Purchase and an MFA in dance from Hollins University. She is currently enrolled as a postgraduate fellow at Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy, to become a licensed psychoanalyst. Lindsay is a certified Alexander Technique teacher, with a private practice in Clermont, NY.

Sondra Loring, User Manual for Human Movement: I am a movement artist, educator and steward of a small botanical, bird, and fox sanctuary near Hudson, NY. I am drawn to the mystical, the poetic, to dirt, to rewilding, and to the daily rigorous investigation of somatic embodiment. I look forward to making dances and performances, to failure, to sharing stories and to overturning stones to see what is underneath. Under the shadow of the pandemic quarantine, I made my first dance film,Threshold, followed by two outdoor dance events at Hudson Riverfront Park, as part of Waterfront Wednesdays. My latest piece, Codex Claverack was performed inside the Claverack library.

I danced with many companies in NYC (Laura Dean, Neil Greenberg, Donna Uchizono, David Rousseve...) and was honored to be awarded a Bessie (NY Dance Award) for my work as a dancer, writer, and improviser. I co-founded the Improvisation Festival/NY, bringing dancers, musicians, spoken word, visual and theater artists together for two-weeks each year for seven years. My choreography has been presented by BAM, Danspace Project, DIA, PS122 and in Canada, Mexico and Venezuela. I received the prestigious Meet the Composer award, working with a choreographer, composer, and dancers from Mexico, along with at-risk teens and dancers from NYC. I co-created JUICE, an underground dance journal, with writing by dance artists. Upon moving upstate, I was supported by the NYS DanceForce, to create community dance projects.

While dancing I fell in love with yoga, traveled to India several times, and opened Satya in Rhinebeck and Sadhana in Hudson, which turns 20 this April! Committed to decolonizing wellness, I founded the Sadhana Service Project and educate yoga instructors to bring yoga into local prisons, jails, and recovery centers.

Hillary Jackson, Beginner Ballet: Hillary Jackson received her early training at the Princeton Ballet School and Eliot Feld's New Ballet School (now Ballet Tech), as well as in summer intensives at the San Francisco Ballet and Joffrey Ballet schools. She was a YoungArts finalist in ballet, as well as the recipient of the New Jersey Governor's Award in Arts Education. Hillary performed with the Princeton Ballet and Milwaukee Ballet before leaving dance to pursue other interests, including theatre and music production. She returned to dance in the early 2000s when she discovered Simonson Technique at Dance Space Center in NYC. Hillary is an ABT Certified Teacher, who has successfully completed the ABT Teacher Training Intensive in Pre-Primary through Level 3 of the ABT National Training Curriculum, and is currently pursuing certification in the Vaganova Method through the Ohio Conservatory of Ballet, studying with master pedagogue, Annette T. Thomas. Her dance pedagogical studies also include Laban Movement Analysis and the Simonson Method of Teacher Training. Hillary has been on faculty at Ballet Central New Jersey, Barefoot Dance Center, and the Catskill Mountain Foundation where she helped launch the Orpheum Dance Program directed by Victoria Rinaldi.

Judith Nelsen, Family Dance: Judith Nelson has over 35 years of experience teaching in studios, public schools, and higher education. She danced with the Jose Limon Company, David Gordon Pick-Up Company, and toured the US and Europe as a solo artist and in musical theatre. Judith has taught and directed dance programs at a number of colleges and universities, as well as worked extensively in children's dance, teaching and directing programs across the country in schools and community programs. An expert in BrainDance, she uses innovative teaching practices to develop a comprehensive understanding of dance and movement. In NYC, she was a senior faculty member at the Mark Morris Dance School where she taught children and adults of all ages and abilities; a teaching artist and professional development presenter at the 92nd St. Y; and taught vision-impaired preschoolers at Helen Keller Services. Here in the Hudson Valley, Judith frequently teaches for the Lifetime Learners Institute, hosted at Bard College. She holds an MFA from the University of Arizona, and a BFA from the University of Utah.

Charlotte Stickles, Contemporary Movement Practices: Charlotte Stickles is an interdisciplinary movement artist, performer, and educator with an inquiry around how dance lives beyond its more traditional western performance and pedagogical settings. She has been featured in film and music videos, collaborated with choreographers and playwrights on virtual and physical performance works, and presented her own performance and print work in galleries, public spaces, and on screens. Charlotte is currently based in Hudson, NY. @lunarlot

Maddie Leonard-Rose, Contemporary Movement Practices: Madeleine Leonard-Rose (she/her) is a dance artist, performer and improviser. She comes into the role of teacher with 20 years of performance experience. She has danced on proscenium stages, in art galleries, on tiny sidewalk squares, in fields, forests and on camera. She cultivates a dedicated improvisation practice that supports all she does, in the studio and beyond. Madeleine holds a BFA in Dance. @madslenro

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