***This class is FREE and open to the public***
WHEN: Friday, November 22nd, 2024 6:30 - 8:00 PM
WHERE: The Rooted Space (1803 W Byron St #201, Chicago, IL 60613)
CLASS DESCRIPTION / WHAT TO EXPECT
Joshua is here to offer an outside perspective of ballet. Joshua acknowledges that many folks may have had damaging experiences with ballet. His approach to ballet is, "what is needed for your body to execute certain steps?" He is not interested in making your body fit ballet technique.
Joshua's class will follow the standard ballet class structure of barre, center, and across the floor. He believes in staying true to the specificities of ballet technique as a means of making people eloquent in the ways they want to speak physically. Technique is your diction and your grammar. How can we communicate and express ourselves using ballet technique? This concept can be applied to any dance form/dance technique!
Joshua is a very malleable teacher. While having prior dance/ballet experience is helpful, it is not a requirement to take this class. Whoever you are, wherever you come from, you are welcome! As long as you are able to move your body in ways where you are not afraid of discomfort or awkwardness, come to class so you can learn more about yourself!
About Joshua + his relationship to ballet:
"I was first introduced to ballet pretty young but I was asked to take it more seriously just before going to Performing Arts school around 13. I absolutely hated ballet throughout my grade school tenure. A primary aversion was certainly due to the stigmas associated with men doing ballet and surviving the ignorance that infuriated and plagued the environment I grew up in, which was obviously not exclusive to my circumstances. I'm sure another major deterrent was how difficult ballet was on my very stiff body. My love and appreciation changed when I came under the care and tutelage of Mr. Eckhard Hiedrich, a former principal Dancer of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. He was instrumental in helping to change my views on and approach to studying ballet by showing me how to make it work in my body without losing the integrity of the technique.I cannot say it has shaped my life, per se, but it's certainly a tool I've grown to use frequently. If you're in the woods with a great knife, no one would ask how having such a great knife shaped your life. Seeing as I'm still actively dancing with Deeply Rooted Dance Theater as well as teaching and choreographing, it's irrefutably a muscle that's being flexed daily. "
Learn more about Joshua by visiting his profile.
If you have any specific questions (or anything you'd like to share) about the series please contact me (Tuli Bera).