Virtual Dance Lab
The TAPS Dance Program partners with resident company Lucky Plush Productions to provide daily online dance and movement classes for all levels of experience! Check the schedule HERE. New classes are still being added, so check back regularly!
University Students, Faculty, and Staff: Free with code VDLUC
Non-UChicago guests: sliding scale of $5-$30
Weekly Classes
Wednesday 8:00-9:00 am CT
BeMoved® is a dance experience designed to inspire anyone from first-time dancers to professionals to embrace dance as a lifelong means to health, joy, and fulfillment. See BeMovedDance.com to learn more.
Weekly Virtual Classes
Wednesdays 10:00-11:00AM CT
Explore modern dance basics through floor and standing exercises followed by simple dance combinations that can be adapted for any room in your house! Beginning levels recommended.
Saturdays, 9-10 am CT
Create strength as you focus on flexibility, posture, balance, and the joy of movement. Class will build on the basic principles and exercises of Pilates. Modifications will be given and all levels are welcome.
On-Demand Class Recordings
On-Demand Class Recording
We will warm up the body discovering the notions of "Flow" and "Groove" as we connect our movement with the beat. We'll discuss the development and fundamentals of House Dance footwork as well as uncovering tools for improvisation, interpreting received information through own freestyle
On-Demand Class Recording
Salsa is the evolution of Afro-Cuban dances and music and it is still continuously evolving. It has been danced socially for decades and it is still very much alive in Cuba. In the class, we will touch on different social dances that came before salsa.
On-Demand Class Recording
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. Dunham Technique creates strong, dynamic dancers who embody rhythm and grace. Classes will offer a variety of experiences, including breathing, isolations, barre work, and progressions.
In this open level class, dancers will learn the foundational movements of the Dunham Technique and be introduced to Dunham Technique’s Afro-Cuban and Afro-Brazilian influences.
On-Demand Class Recording
Hip-Hop Meets Dancehall (HMD) is an open-level community dance workshop developed by Leyda "Lady Sol" Garcia, a self-proclaimed Professor of Practice who grew up in Chicago's street dance community at the intersection of House, Hip-Hop & Dancehall club culture. HMD explores the Jamaican sound system and its influence on Hip-Hop's foundation, (namely music, dance, and community). Participants will be introduced to Jamaican social dances of the 90's and 2000's which developed in direct connection to its popular music genre, Dancehall.
On-Demand Class Recording
This class will be a dive into a fun and conversational way to approach and interpret dance and hip-hop music!
On-Demand Class Recording
Come dance with Imania!!!.. In class, you will go on a journey through the beginning traditional west African movement and how it relates to the contemporary music played now. Fusing styles of movement that shows similarities through different genres of music, including House music, Afrobeat, Hip Hop, and World Music.
On-Demand Class Recording
In this class, you'll learn steps that include a fusion of styles and techniques! Matt Pumanes is the artistic director of Chicago’s “Piecemakers” and “The Puzzle League”. Since 2010, Matt has led The Puzzle League to numerous dance championships including World of Dance, Prelude, and Chapkis' Collaboration. He has earned many scholarships from Debbie Reynolds, Millennium Dance Complex, Urban Jamm, and Monsters of Hip Hop. Some credits include The Luvabulls, ABC7 New Years, and Jennifer Hudson. Currently, Matt teaches weekly classes at The Puzzle Box Dance Studio and travels across the US to share his craft!
On-Demand Class Recording
Participants will practice the techniques and underlying grooves associated with House dance, which grew out of the Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ House music subculture in Chicago and New York in the early 1980s and is now practiced widely across the globe. We will explore hallmarks of House movement including jacking, skating, footwork patterns, polyrhythm, the counter-pull of contrasting energies and directions in the body while leaning into the spiritual and philosophical values held within house spaces including freedom, inclusion, community, upliftment, and love.
On-Demand Class Recording
Kevin Iega Jeff will teach a virtual Modern Class based in Graham Technique and repertory movement.
On-Demand Class Recording
Create strength as you focus on flexibility, posture, balance, and the joy of movement. This class will build on the basic principles and exercises of Pilates. Modifications will be given and all levels are welcome.
On-Demand Class Recording
I spell the word “dance”, f-u-n, and it is my duty to reteach my students how to spell! We begin with a classic jazz warm-up, include a sprinkle of technique, and end with a combo that can range from heart-wrenching lyrical, or show-stopping musical theater, to powerful sissy-ography!
On-Demand Class Recording
Cuban Modern Dance, a mix of forms of traditional American modern dance with Afro-Cuban dances and Flamenco dance from Spain developed by Ramiro Guerra, the Father of Modern Dance in Cuba, represents the cultural mosaic of Cuban culture. The technique focuses on the work of the torso with contractions and undulations while keeping fluidity in the arms.
On-Demand Class Recording
Class will begin with a full barre and transition to center work focusing on weight shifting, alignment, spiraling, elongating, expression, and gratitude. This class will be catered to intermediate dancers but all are welcome.
On-Demand Class Recording
This class will teach the basics of traditional West African movement and folklore while using this art form to bridge genres of dance from the African diaspora.
Muntu is more than just a performing company. We are also a company of teachers: an essential element to the perpetuation of our art form and its accurate transmission to our audiences.
On-Demand Class Recording
Somatic Streets focuses on the experiential edge in which Hip Hop and Krump were birthed. Through learning foundation movements, intentions, and sociopolitical realities we will stretch their applicability creating personal and group aesthetics, emotional catharsis, and narrative storytelling. In class movement and culture-making will be developed as a personal act of physical theatre, empathic communication, and physical intelligence.
On-Demand Class Recording
Participate in an African Dance fundamentals class that will engage your body, mind, and spirit. We will focus on guided movement that can be defined as "indigenous movement" toward freedom on the West Indian islands of Jamaica and Haiti. Our class will progress with a spirited physical output as we look at the stylized and performative vestiges of rooted Afro-Caribbean dance.
On-Demand Class Recording
Maxx’s inspiration to teach Chicago Steppin’ comes from a sincere commitment to serve, coupled with the strong desire to share his passion with those who want to learn the dance. Through DMX Dance Company, Dave Maxx is transforming a rich Chicago tradition into a fun activity that crosses community, cultural or ethnic boundaries. He believes Chicago Steppin’ is a fast-growing dance form that offers musical versatility, social interaction, and mature entertainment options.
On-Demand Class Recording
Paige Fraser’s modern technique class is inspired by her years of training in Horton and Graham. This class will strengthen and lengthen your body while encouraging you to find freedom in movement!
On-Demand Class Recording
Dancehall is a unique and expressive style created within Jamaican culture. Derived from Reggae music, this style has its own culture and dances that have been created by individuals and dance crews from Jamaica and around the world. This specific style became known in the mid to late 80s and has become popular ever since.
In this class, students learn the history of Dancehall culture as they execute classic steps to corresponding riddims, choreographies, and freestyle techniques. Each class includes a warm-up covering old, middle, and new school dances that are danced at dancehall/ reggae parties across the globe. For the second half of the class, students incorporate these dances into choreographies and freestyles set to the hottest Dancehall tunes. Through learning these energetic and fun dances, students will develop confident and bold self-expression- the foundational element of Dancehall culture.