Ysaÿe Alma

UPCOMING…

Join us for Ysaÿe Alma’s class:

WHEN: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18th, 2024 6-7:30PM

WHERE: VISCERAL DANCE CENTER, STUDIO 4 (3121 N Rockwell St. Chicago, IL)

Class Description:

This ballet class will be informed by concepts of the DUNHAM TECHNIQUE:

  • Form and function

  • Polyrhythms

  • Storytelling

The class will begin with a Dunham-inspired ballet-barre and end with a combination where we explore how storytelling influences our technique and artistry.

What words/phrases describe you as an educator?

EASY-GOING BUT ABOUT BUSINESS + MUSICAL + GROUNDED + RESPONSIVE

What words/phrases come to mind when you think of Ballet?

LINES + FLOAT + RIGOR + BISCUITS (LOL) + RITUAL + SPINE + ELASTICITY

“Ballet was first introduced to me in elementary school. The coach for my elementary school dance had us do a Ballet warm-up 1 - 2 days a week. I really enjoyed it! Our team competed at UDA competitions and we did all styles: Hip-Hop, Jazz, Poms, etc. Ballet was the newest style for me when I joined but, to my surprise, I picked it up the fastest of all the styles we did. Ballet has been a solace and a healthy challenge for me. I feel very fortunate to have had such an overall positive experience in Ballet but that is perhaps because I never pursued it professionally, but supplementary. The most harmful experiences I’ve had in the dance world have been in Modern dance and other entertainment dance work.

Ballet has helped me with physical conditioning. It has been a way of connecting with communities from different parts of the world since it’s now such a widespread practice. I usually take a Ballet class once a week. Benjamin Wardell (!!!), Stefan Wenta (who passed away in 2022) and Birute have been my biggest influencers for Ballet. I recently started teaching Ballet to kids again and I’m really excited about the idea of finding new ways to explore the form. I’ve also worked with a lot of adults who stopped dancing because of Ballet/Dance trauma they experienced in their childhood or adolescence. I’m passionate about technique, artistry, and virtuosity in emotionally & physically healthy ways.”

About Ysaÿe

Ysaÿe Alma (she/her) is a professional dancer, choreographer, and teaching artist from Chicago and is now based in Los Angeles. She is currently a dancer for Ocandeniye Dance Company and recently worked as a Rehearsal Director for the 2022 touring production of Netflix, Shondaland, and Fever’s production of The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience. She has been a dancer in Disneyland’s Viva Navidad! Parade since 2019 and has also had the honor of dancing with professional dance companies such as Viver Brasil, Red Clay Dance, Momentum Sensorium, The Humans and also with comedian Hannibal Burress. Ysaÿe graduated magna cum laude from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a BFA in Dance and a Minor in Philosophy and also had the honor of studying dance at the Taipei National University of the Arts where she performed in work by Ming-Lung Yang. She has also trained with and performed in work by Jhesus Aponte, Darrell Jones, Renée Wadleigh, Jan Erkert, Sheldon Smith, and more. She has been a resident choreographer for Teatro Luna (now Studio Luna) since 2014 and has also choreographed plays for Greenway Court Theater, Free Street Theater, and Depaul University. Equally passionate about dance education, she has taught dance programming for well over a dozen public schools and community centers in Chicago and Los Angeles. She has also had the honor of being a guest dance instructor for Lucky Plush Productions, Ayodele Drum & Dance, University of Chicago, the University of California at Los Angeles, and more. Ysaÿe also earned her Social-Emotional Learning Teacher and 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Certifications and is currently a third-year Dunham Technique Instructor candidate.