Autumn 23 Quarter
A quick snapshot of the AQ TAPS Dance Program offerings. Scroll down for the location and description of each class, workshop, and event!
Weekly Class Overview
Mondays, 5-6:30pm Release-based Modern with Maggie Vannucci
Wednesdays, 5:15-6:45pm Popping with Torrence “Tea Buggz” Griffin
Thursdays, 3:30-5pm Ballet with Terence Marling
Workshop Series Overview
Sat, Oct 7, 1-3pm Alexander Technique with Christine Betsill
Tue, Oct 10, 3:30-4:50pm Kyle Abraham of A.I.M (NYC)
Sat, Oct 14, 1-3pm Dunham Technique with Ysaye Alma
Sat, Oct 21, 1-3pm Capoeira with Amansu “Tempero” Eason
Sat, Oct 28, 1-3pm Fly Honeys Workshop with Erin Kilmurray
Sat, Nov 4, 1-3pm Intermediate Jazz with Keesha Beckford
Sat, Nov 11, 1-3pm Contemporary Repertory with Craig D. Black Jr.
Sat, Nov 18 & 25 OFF - THANKSGIVING WEEK
Sat, Dec 2, 1-3pm Bomba (Puerto Rico) with Ivelisse Diaz + live percussion
DJ’ed Dance Sessions @ Logan Penthouse
Sun, Oct 15, 6:30-8:30pm Funk, Soul, Hip-Hop & House with BRAVEMONK + DJ Kin Solo
Sun, Nov, 12 6:30-9:30pm House with K-Soul + DJ Vader
Weekly Classes
Release-based Modern with Maggie Vannucci
Mondays from 5-6:30pm
Bartlett Arts Rehearsal Studio (BARS)
(*AQ starts on a Tuesday, so the first class is Mon, Oct 2)
Informed by the practice and study of various release techniques, European floorwork styles, and Bartenieff fundamentals, this class aims to support awareness, coordination, articulation, interpretation, and choice-making while moving with your body, other bodies, the floor, and “set” material. We will take time to warm up, break down physical mechanics to build efficient pathways in/out of the floor, and build towards combinations with dynamic physicality infused with ease.
Maggie Vannucci is a Chicago-based dance artist and teacher, currently working with The Seldoms and independent artist Erin Killmurry. She is adjunct faculty at Northwestern University and certified in Introduction to Bartenieff Fundamentals, and she teaches improvisation, and release-based style movement classes to professionals in the community weekly. Maggie received her MFA with distinction in Contemporary Dance Performance through the postgraduate program VERVE led by Matthew Robinson in Leeds, UK. Her first three years overseas were spent at London Contemporary Dance School where she received her BFA in contemporary dance and studied a multitude of techniques and improvisational courses including Gaga, Flying Low, release-based work, physical theater, and contact improvisation. www.maggie-vannucci.space/
Popping with Torrence “Tea-Buggz” Griffin
Wednesdays from 5:15-6:45pm
Bartlett Arts Rehearsal Studio (BARS)
Open to all levels and experiences, this class will focus on the foundational vocabulary of popping and related styles, including waving, robot, animation, mannequin, and locking. In addition, students will have the opportunity to learn directly from one of the earliest pioneers of the form.
Torrence (Tea-Buggz) Griffin has been dancing and teaching hip hop for 35 years. He is proficient in popping, waving, ticking, king tutting, robot , animation, mannequin, and locking. He began dancing in 1981 on the South Side of Chicago with the original Electric Funkateers, which quickly became one of the premier pop-locking dance groups. He has worked with Genuine, Queen Latifah, Sinbad, Kurtis Blow, The magic of the Spellbinder, among many others, several of whom he has toured extensively with throughout the U.S. Torrence is the recipient of a Chicago Hip Hop Pioneer award which acknowledged all of his years of hard work and dedication in the Chicago hip hop scene. As a teacher, Torrence has taught a variety of popping styles at Columbia College, the Chicago Public Schools, Dovetail Dance Studio, and Christ University Temple in addition to teaching master classes throughout the city and beyond.
Ballet with Terence Marling
Thursdays from 3:30-5:00pm
Ida Noyes Dance Room
This class will follow a traditional ballet class structure of barre and centre work. Terence’s ballet classes are regularly enjoyed by a wide range of dancers from beginner to professional level. This intermediate level class will focus on the use of functional technique in support of the joy of dancing. Emphasis will be placed on musicality and the use of “predictive” body weight plus musculoskeletal elasticity for precise timing.
Terence Marling, originally from Chicago, began his dance training under the direction of Larry Long at the Ruth Page Foundation School of Dance in 1982. Professionally Terence danced with Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Nationaltheater Manheim, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago over the course of 17 years. He began making choreography in 1999 for Pittsburgh Ballet Theater. Over the past 24 years he has choreographed on PBT as well as Hubbard Street, Hubbard Street 2, Robert Moses’ Kin, Orange County Ballet Theater, Point Park University as well as many others. Terence has been teaching dance technique since 1994 and has functioned as a company teacher for Nationaltheater Mannheim, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago as well as Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. In 2010 upon retiring from the stage, Terence became rehearsal director for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. Later he transitioned into the role of Director of Hubbard Street 2. From 2019 to 2023, Terence created and ran COMMON conservatory as a laboratory for new choreographic works and a training program for pre-professional dancers.
Workshops
Alexander Technique: Access Movement & Vocal Freedom with Christine Betsill
Back by popular demand!
Saturday, October 7, 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Bartlett Arts Rehearsal Studio (BARS)
Explore movement, voice, and singing through the lens of the Alexander Technique. Gain tools to move with greater ease and efficiency in performance and daily life by putting simple skills into practice. Alexander Technique concepts will be explored through experiential, hand-on learning in warmups, games, and improvisation. Open to dancers, actors and movers of all skill levels.
Christine Betsill is a dancer, classically trained singer, teacher and choreographer based in Chicago. She was the co-founder and artistic director of Thread Meddle Outfit from 2005-2010 and has taught and presented her work at University of Illinois, Columbia College Chicago, Dovetail, and Chicago City Colleges, among others. She received a BA in Vocal Performance and an MFA in Choreography from University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, and she received her Alexander technique training at LCATT in London and Attic in Chicago. She is also a certified teacher of Pilates. Christine is currently enrolled in the clinical mental health counseling program through The Family Institute at Northwestern University. Learn more about Christine at www.christinebetsill.com.
Movement Workshop with Kyle Abraham of A.I.M (NYC)
In partnership with the Neubauer Collegium
Tuesday, October 10, 3:30 - 4:50 pm
Performance Hall Stage, Logan Center
This open-level workshop emphasizes four of the company’s core movement values: exploration, musicality, abandonment, and intuition. The warm-up focuses on the fluidity of the spine and core body strengthening; this builds up to challenging, creative and invigorating phrase work. Students experience a personalized postmodern movement vocabulary full of intricate gestures and signature A.I.M moves.
The workshop is followed by Neubauer Collegium Director’s Lecture. Register for the event here: Kyle Abraham: An Embodied Conversation
Kyle Abraham is the artistic director of A.I.M. by Kyle Abraham. A.I.M’s mission is to create a body of dance-based work that is galvanized by Black culture and history. The work, informed by and made in conjunction with artists across a range of disciplines, entwines a sensual and provocative vocabulary with a strong emphasis on music, text, video, and visual art. Abraham is a 2013 MacArthur Fellow, 2018 Princess Grace Statue Award Recipient, 2017-18 Joyce Creative Residency Artist, 2016 Doris Duke Award Recipient and 2015 City Center Choreographer in Residence. He began his dance training at the Civic Light Opera Academy and the Creative and Performing Arts High School in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He continued his dance studies in New York, receiving a BFA from SUNY Purchase, an MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and an honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from Washington Jefferson College. He has served as a visiting professor in residence at UCLA’s World Arts Cultures in Dance program from 2016 to 2021. In 2021, he was named the Claude and Alfred Mann Endowed Professorship in Dance at The University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance. Abraham currently sits on the advisory board for Dance Magazine and the artist advisory board for Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. In 2020, he was selected to be Dance Magazine’s first-ever guest editor.
Dunham Technique with Ysaÿe Alma
Saturday, October 14, 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Bartlett Arts Rehearsal Studio (BARS)
Dunham Technique is a vibrant African American dance form that engages the body, mind and spirit. Created by dance pioneer Katherine Dunham, the technique is informed by the traditional dances of the African Diaspora, as well as by modern and ballet. This open-level class will offer a variety of experiences, including breathing, isolations, progressions and phrase work. Participants will learn foundational movement of the Dunham Technique and be introduced to Dunham Technique’s Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian influences.
Ysaÿe Alma (she/her) is a professional dancer, choreographer and teaching artist from Chicago and 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 danced with companies such as Viver Brasil, Red Clay Dance, Momentum Sensorium, The Humans, and also with comedian Hannibal Burress. Ysaÿe graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a BFA in Dance and Minor in Philosophy and she also studied dance at Taipei National University of the Arts where she performed in work by Ming-Lung Yang. She has been 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. Ysaÿe has taught dance programming for well over a dozen public schools and community centers in Chicago and Los Angeles and has had the honor of being a guest dance instructor at colleges such as University of California at Los Angeles and Ball State University. She is a certified teacher of Yoga, Social-Emotional Learning, and is currently a third year Dunham Technique Instructor candidate.
Capoeira with Amansu “Tempero” Eason
Saturday, October 21, 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Bartlett Arts Rehearsal Studio (BARS)
Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian art form that seamlessly combines elements of martial arts, dance, acrobatics, and music. The workshop will start by tracing Capoeira’s rich history, from its African roots to its role as a martial art during Brazil's turbulent past. Then, we’ll dive into the fundamental moves and groove to the infectious rhythms of traditional Brazilian music. Discover how this art form, born from resistance, has evolved into a thriving cultural expression and a dynamic fitness activity that unites people worldwide.
Amansu “Tempero” Eason is a teaching artist with Gingarte Capoeira Chicago, and brings a wealth of knowledge in Capoeira and various African-Brazilian cultural art forms. Gingarte Capoeira Chicago is committed to the art of Capoeira and is a place where the spirit of community, rhythm, and movement converge. Individuals of all backgrounds come together at Gingarte to celebrate the dynamic blend of martial arts, dance, music, and culture that Capoeira embodies. In Capoeira, participants not only develop agility, strength, and flexibility but also forge a profound connection to the rich history and traditions of Brazil, making it a unique and transformative experience for all who engage with this enchanting art form.
The Fly Honeys Workshop with Erin Kilmurray
Back by popular demand!
Saturday, October 28, 1:00 - 3:00 pm
Bartlett Arts Rehearsal Studio (BARS)
Recognized as a ‘Chicago institution’ (Chicago Reader), The Fly Honeys are influenced by dance and performance practices that celebrate the individual through personal expressions of gender, sexuality, and identity. This workshop invites you to practice playfulness, eroticism, and body empowerment through choreography influenced by burlesque, variety performance, theatricality, and pop dance styles. Kilmurray and The Fly Honeys encourage an autonomous space in the studio where dancers can take on as much or as little as they’re comfortable with. Participants will be led through warmups, movement exercises, and Fly Honey repertory, followed by designing some of their own material. The goal is to shimmy and shake in a low-stakes space to practice what your body wants to do.
Erin Kilmurray is a genre-straddling dance artist drawing on space-making and movement practices found in nightlife culture, theater, and dance practices that relentlessly amplify women, queer folks, the underground and the underdog. She is the creator/director of The Fly Honey Show, a Links Hall Fellow (2022-23), a Chicago Dancemakers Forum Lab Artist (2020), and recognized as 50 People Who Really Perform for Chicago (2022 Newcity). Her work challenges traditional relationships between performer and spectator through electric, often political performance that enlivens body and environment, and consequently has been presented by Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Thalia Hall, The Dance Center of Columbia College, Lollapalooza, Empty Bottle, Pivot Arts, University of Chicago, Visceral Dance Chicago, Metro, Beauty Bar, The Chicago Cultural Center, among others.www.erinkilmurray.com
Jazz Dance with Keesha Beckford
Saturday, November 4, 1:00 - 3:00pm
Bartlett Arts Rehearsal Studio (BARS)
This workshop will explore jazz technique as a mixture of African-American social dance traditions and ballet and modern-dance based vocabulary that blended and evolved to form the variety of jazz styles that excite and captivate us today. The warmup, across-the-floor series, and center choreography will focus on movement dynamic, alignment, musicality, technical accuracy, clarity, transitions, and expressive and powerful movement. Beginner students will have the space to learn the fundamentals of jazz dance, while more advanced dancers can push their attention to detail, athleticism, and artistry.
Keesha Beckford began her dance studies in Queens, New York, before graduating cum laude from Princeton University with an A.B. in American history and a minor in dance. She has performed the choreography of Milton Myers, Teri Lee and Oliver Steele, Danny Herman, Paige Cunningham-Caldarella, Amy Marshall, Michael Foley, and Lorn MacDougal, among others in the U.S. and abroad. Her teaching credits include Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Columbia College Chicago, Dance Center Evanston, Charlotte Ballet, the UNC Charlotte dance department, and as a guest teacher for Thodos Dance Chicago. Beckford has served as Youth Programs Manager at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and is currently the Dance Lab Liaison at the Joffrey Academy, Official School of the Joffrey Ballet.
Contemporary Repertory with Craig D. Black Jr.
Saturday, November 11, 1:00 - 3:00pm
Bartlett Arts Rehearsal Studio (BARS)
Open to intermediate and advanced dancers, this 2-hour workshop begins with a contemporary-based warm-up and is followed by phrase work from the repertory of Chicago's very own Rena Butler, performed by Hubbard Street Dance Chicago.
Craig D. Black Jr. is the Rehearsal Director of Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. He received his BFA from The Juilliard School. He obtained additional training at Springboard Danse Montréal, Nederlands Dans Theater, and the School at Jacob’s Pillow. Craig is a recipient of the 2010 Princess Grace Award in Dance as well as the 2011 Lorna Strassler Award for Student Excellence from the School at Jacob’s Pillow. Craig performed and toured with Aspen Santa Fe Ballet for six seasons and with Hubbard Street Dance Chicago for five seasons. He has had the privilege of dancing works by Kyle Abraham, Aszure Barton, Cherice Barton, Rena Butler, Alejandro Cerrudo, Peter Chu, Nacho Duato, Jorma Elo, William Forsythe, Jirí Kylián, Fernando Melo, Robyn Mineko Williams, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, and Cayetano Soto Ramirez among many others. Craig has also served as co-choreographer and rehearsal director for Cardi B and Offset’s 2019 BET Awards performance. Craig is certified in IMAGE TECH for Dancers™ introductory through advanced level and is on faculty for Dupree Dance. He has served as guest faculty for the Hubbard Street Professional Program, Steps on Broadway, Peridance Center, The Joffrey Academy, and New York City Dance Alliance.
Bomba (Puerto Rico) with Ivelisse Diaz + live percussion
Saturday, December 2 from 1-3pm
Bartlett Arts Rehearsal Studio (BARS)
With its roots in the first native music of Puerto Rico and the traditions of the African diaspora, Bomba has developed into a creative communal expression of music and dance. Led by Ivelisse Diaz, the “Bombera de Corazón,” this open-level workshop will feature the fiery rhythms and dances of resistance that characterize the dialogue between dancer and drummer within Puerto Rican Bomba.
Ivelisse “Bombera de Corazón” Diaz was born and raised in Humboldt Park, the heart of Chicago’s Puerto Rican community. At the age of five, she began studying Bomba under the mentorship of her beloved uncle Eli S. Rodriguez, a founding member of Chicago’s first Bomba and Plena collective Group Yuba. Soon after, Ivelisse was performing as a member of Yubitas, Grupo Yuba’s premier youth offshoot. Today, Ivelisse runs her own bomba dance school founded in 2009 out of her commitment to Black and Indigenous art education and her first-hand experiences of Bomba’s revolutionary power. La Escuelita Bombera De Corazón’s bombastic pedagogy forms in-person and virtual sessions into a batey of embodied learning, reciprocity, healing, and remembrance in the spirit of Bomba’s Black liberation struggle. She is also the founder and director of the all women group Las BomPleneras. Ivelisse chooses to encounter the drum daily as a student, creative artist, community organizer, proud Boricua de Chicago, and most importantly, a mother to her dearest daughter Amaya. www.bomberadecorazon.com
DJ Dance Sessions!
Open DJ’ed Dance Sessions @ the Logan Center Penthouse!
The TAPS Dance Program will host 2 Sunday sessions per quarter with rotating DJ’s and hosts.
Autumn quarter will kick off with BraveSoul Movement building a space to Soulfully & Sonically Connect, Explore, Dance, Move & Jam! ALL BODIES ARE WELCOME! No Pretenses, Egos or Judgements… This space is strictly for the LOVE and JOY of Movement, Expression, Authenticity and Connection. Come Vibe, Move, and Build with us!
Sun, Oct 15, 6:30-8:30 pm
Logan Penthouse (Rm 901)
Host/Facilitator: BRAVEMONK
DJ: Kin-Solo
Sounds: Funk, Soul, Hip-Hop & House
Sun, Nov 12, 6:30-8:30 pm
Logan Penthouse (Rm 901)
Host/Facilitator: K-Soul
DJ: Vader
Sounds: House Music All Night Long!
Choreography Cohort
Choreography Cohort
TBA in Logan Center, 701
Led by Julia Rhoads, Director of Dance in TAPS, the Choreography Cohort offers students an opportunity to discuss approaches to creating dance and movement-based work, experiment with new methods alongside peers, and get feedback on choreography-in-progress. No experience with choreography is required to attend.
Contact: jrhoads1@uchicago.edu