Category Archives: free sessions

Upcoming Free Sessions!

connecting, for brain health, free sessions, wellbeing

You are warmly invited to these free classes:

  • Monday Aug. 25, 11am: Dancing for Brain Health 11am at James Bay Community Project (547 Michigan Street). To register: Lisa 250-388-7844 ext. 308.
  • Monday Sept. 8, 1:45pm: Dancing for Wellbeing (all abilities) at Cedar Hill Recreation (3220 Cedar Hill Rd, Saanich). RSVP to the Saanich Arts Centre: artscentre@saanich.ca or 250-475-5557. Drop-ins welcome.
  • Thursday Sept. 11, 7:30pm: Intro to Dancing for Wellbeing at Heart & Hands Health Collective (851 Cormorant Street). To register: contact Joanne. Drop-ins welcome.
  • Wednesday Sept. 17, 2:30pm is FULL: Dancing for Brain Health at Monterey Centre (1442 Monterey Ave, Oak Bay). To register for the series that starts Sept. 24th: 250-370-7300 or online.
  • Friday Sept. 19, 11am: Dancing for Brain Health at Cook Street Village Activity Centre (1 – 380 Cook Street). To register: 250-384-6542 / Drop-ins welcome.

Click on any of the above dates for details about that session.

Dance Games in the park! + Pride flashmob?

all genders queer social dance, dance games, dancing field trip, fernwood, free sessions

Would you like to help create a simple dancing flashmob for Pride?

Come by Wed. June 25th to come up with a flash mob together. It will likely be based on dance improvisation games, so that it is easier for people to join in. There will be no need to remember a routine or fancy choreography. No particular dance skills needed.

Photo of a rainbow crosswalk and 7 people crossing the street towards the camera
Rainbow crosswalk, photo by Travis Lupick: http://instagram.com/p/cYECkIreI7/

We’re meeting up behind the Fernwood Community Centre (1240 Gladstone) – either on the field, or on the basketball court if that is more accessible for anyone. For a map: it is at William Stevenson Park in Lekwungen Homelands.

7:00pm Dance Games warm-up facilitated by Joanne

7:30pm Planning a flash mob for during the Pride festival (Sun. July 6th) and/or Alt Pride Community Festival (Sat. July 5th), if we have enough people confirmed. If not, we’ll hang out and have a picnic in the park. (-:

For some ideas for the flash mob, here are some video examples – perhaps the flash mob could involve the liveliness of this flashmob in Mumbai (YAARIYAN presents MUMBAI QUEER FLASHMOB 2013), include a ‘follow-the-leader’ game perhaps led by a child (e.g. Little choreographer), and there could be an option during the flash mob for some people to do a bit of free-form partner dance that people will be learning on June 28th at a Homospun event. Do you have any examples of flash mobs that you really like? Feel free to comment below or send the link. Thanks!

Shoulders & hips & shaking off ‘shoulds’

@heart&hands, free sessions, video, wellbeing

This Thursday’s Dancing for Wellbeing* focus is on moving shoulders & hips, shaking off the ‘shoulds’ we demand of ourselves, and playing with switching between different speeds.

Butoh dance theatre artist Michael Sakamoto and Thai dancer Waewdao Sirisook performed a delightful show yesterday at the Phoenix Theatre. Here’s a video of Michael’s work-in-progress duet “Flash” with hip hop choreographer-dancer Rennie Harris. If you’re short on time, you could start the video at 2:21 for a fun word-associations section, 3:45 for changing speeds into hardcore punk song; 8:23 for ending duet.

*This week’s Intro to Dancing for Wellbeing workshop is free if it’s your first time. Thurs. March 27 at 7:30pm at 851 Cormorant Street, drop-ins welcome.