We have been hosting
Sensorial Dancing and Creation sessions in Prospect Park!
By settling and focusing, we can access more of our energy. By beginning with simple awareness of sensation, we can build towards greater range of movement. By noticing and riding the present movement in our bodies and in the space around us, we can let go of effort, stress, tension, and unhelpful thought. By noticing the space around our bodies, we realize we are connected to each other and every other living being; this connection is palpable and tangible. All of a sudden, we are not alone. By moving outdoors in a public park together, we engage in embodied creation that is communal and inspiring.
You may leave class having shed a layer of protection or having found new meaning to a problem within. You may leave class feeling supported by your fellow community of participants. You will leave class feeling settled yet enlivened, more connected to your Self, empowered, juicy, and satisfied.
Then, with musicians present, we transition to a live creation of music and movement. All other disciplines are welcome. Create and participate as you wish.
If you are a beginner to movement, Welcome! Each participant moves at their own pace and volume. If you are an experienced mover, such as a professional dancer, you will be challenged in your movement capabilities and may open new connections to your physical body. If you are a therapist of mind, spirit or body, you will enjoy integrating these aspects in a new way.
Mission Statement
The world we exist in requires a universal level of connectivity now more than ever before. As dancers and movement practitioners, we are interested in pursuing our ongoing mission to provide platforms and opportunities for human-to-human connection, and now we are finding ways to amplify the voices of local activist organizations by sharing our craft of dance and embodied healing. Through a unified effort of donation based classes and various engagements, we want to encourage the moving body community to join us for a week of putting their bodies, minds, souls, and spare change where it matters most…..in the hands of our frontline activists.
Activism
...is Embodied Activism. We, Ashley Menestrina and Isabel Umali, have co-created a platform to bring awareness to an area that needs attention and love, and raise money for local activist organizations. We've put together our skills and invited some friends to offer AMAZING workshop weeks of movement, meditation, growth and exploration across many mediums.
Get an idea of what we do from our past workshop weeks:
Environmental Justice
This workshop week is centered around Climate Awareness and we are partnering with the performance platform, CreateART. The performances they art putting on with NoOSPHERE ARTS will bookend our workshop week and the amazing choreographers will be teaching us class- on the roof of NoOSPHERE ARTS!
We are raising money for WE ACT for Environmental Justice, a Harlem-based nonprofit working to fight environmental racism at the city, state, and federal levels.
Our amazing lineup of movement teachers will be teaching OUTSIDE. Sign up and donate! See our schedule below
photos by Effy Grey
09/21
2:30 pm EDT
Cameron McKinney
NAGARE Technique
in Prospect Park
This contemporary floorwork-based class holds influences from street dance, capoeira, and house dance. The class is rooted in Cameron McKinney’s NAGARE technique which activates oppositional forces and contrasting sensations to achieve fluid transitions in and out of the floor.
09/22
4pm EDT
Kelly Ashton Todd
Yoga
on the roof of
Mothership, NYC
Kelly is a 500 hr RYT certified yoga teacher. With two decades of yoga practice and teaching, Kelly views yoga as a journey of understanding the connection of pathways between the body and mind. As a playful teacher, she strives to give students another avenue into exploring dynamic postures and honing into what their individual body craves. You are invited to chant, dance, walk on your hands, lay on the floor, and experience present emotions.
9/23
5pm edt
Alex Beaty TALKS
with Ashley
on IG LIVE
Join us for a Talk on practicing sustainability! Techniques and insights we've always wanted... and composting!
09/24
4pm EDT
Alex Beaty
Mobility Training
on the roof of
Mothership, NYC
Alex’s mobility class will be part yoga, part pilates, and a lot of joint strength to help you find the right balance of strength and flexibility. The tools you will learn in class will help keep your body safe, strong and limber.
09/25
11am EDT
Isabel Umali
Sensorial Dancing
in Prospect Park
Isabel will lead a movement exploration guided by her work in biodynamic craniosacral therapy. Together we will move dynamically and listen to the powerful movement within us, our connection to each other and wider forces, and our potential to come up against our discomfort and heal. We can create embodied connection while connecting to the love and practice of dance.