Southern California Dance Collective's
Ecstatic Community Dance Gathering
Fall 2001 Dance Camp at Camp Max Straus
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Movement theater with Christina Morales
Calling all Actors and Dancers... What story do you long to tell? This class will give you the technique to tell your story non-verbally using only your body. -Great for actors to become aware of the story their bodies are telling. -Great for Dancers to become aware of how they visually communicate emotion.

Christina has created this format based on the teachings of Marcel Marceau, Stephen Neizielzowski, Theater, Modern Dance & Swami Chidvalasananda and put together a fabulous class full of self-awareness , suspension and magic!

Preparing for Bliss- Jashana Kippert
What keeps s from merging in Bliss into Dance Ecstasy? Each of us, individually and then collectively, have certain mechanisms in place that sop us from having too much fun. Some of these are unique to our upbringing and others are generational. Through a series of exercises, we will examine and playfully push our "limits". This class requires a willingness to take responsibility for your experience and will challenge some old cherished beliefs. For adults only.

Jashana's background is an eclectic mix of spiritual and academic studies. >From receiving a M.A. in Social Ecology to living in the Findhorn Community. Jashana has trained in Holotropic Breathwork, Yoga, Insight Meditation and Psychosynthesis. She is currently a candidate for a PhD. in Metaphysics.

West African Dance & Drums with Dadisi Sanyika
Enjoy learning the healing rhythms and movements of the Mande people of the Mali Empire of West Africa. The easy to follow movements, accentuate looseness of joints and limbs, with an emphasis on letting go of inhibitions and restrictions. The class will help participants tune their body movements to the liberating rhythms of the live Djembe drums. Participants will learn rhythm parts, song and movement unified into a choreographic sequence to replicate the experience of communal celebration.

Dadisi Sanyika teaches and performs with the Djembe Ensemble and Golden Thread Productions through out the Los Angeles area.

Dance Alive with Melinda
Come and be guided into your Body, Spirit and Soul! Allow your True Self to emerge in a soft, gentle, fun, creative and invigorating way. Explore how your body moves with you Self and others. Lengthen, strengthen, and let loose in a safe, supportive environment. Everyone is welcome!

Melinda Deamon is a certified Dance Alive TM instructor and staff member trained in Dance Alive method, KarouBodywork, dance, gymnastics, cardiovascular training, biomechanics and martial arts. Melinda teachers people how to connect deeply with themselves and others. She creates a safe, nurturing environment for personal discovery, growth and healing through movement.

Contact Improvisation with Craig Schwartz and Jeffrey Nash
Conference Hall A contact improv workshop helping people to find how EASY it can be to support other dancers or be supported by other dancers (lifts, rides, and flying). We will focus on understanding and "experiencing" the body structure (bones) in relationship to the support of the earth. In this was people can let the earth do the work while while they themselves stay relaxed during lifting interactions of a dance. We will also explore the uses of momentum as a part of a contact dance. All of these explorations will be built on a foundation awareness of, and connection with, the dance partner, to establish a sense of "oneness" (two bodies, or more, interacting as if they were one body) to deepen the trust, knowledge and safety within a contact dance.

Craig Schwartz has been in passionate affair with Contact Improvisation since 1990. His movement roots are in Continuum, and he currently studies with Camille Maurine's Moving Theatre. Craig offers Evolutionary Astrology counseling in the style of Steven Forrest, with whom he apprentices twice a year. He's also a certified Ipsalu Tantra teacher.

Jeffrey Nash has been studying dance and body mechanics for nearly 20 years and teaching Contact Improv. for 15. He joined the Carol Soloman Dance Co. to teach them Contact and stayed and performed with them in Europe. He just finished teaching a class series on lifts and flying at the Sunday Contact Jam at Dance Home.

Tantric Puja Ritual with Robert Frey MA
The Puja Ritual consists of a series of short guided exercises, changing partners for each exercise. There are two circles -- an inner and an outer circle, one of men and the other of women. Once of these circles rotates while the other remains as a "station". Thus with the rotation, men and women shift to new partners. The guided exercises are accompanied by special music and instructions, and choices are given so that people can choose how close they want to be with each new partner. The exercises are gentle and loving, and emphasis is given to safety and honoring of boundaries.

Robert Frey, (MA, PhD candidate in Psychology) has been teaching various forms of Sacred Tantra and Sacred Sexuality for 22 years. He has been leading pujas for many years and is considered one of the best puja guides. He is internationally known as one of the best Tantra teachers in the West. Robert brings both a deep spiritual flavor and a light, playful, loving energy to the workshops. He is also known for the safety, respect and honoring that he cultivates in group "Sacred Space".

Belly Dancing with Melanie Kareem
Do you yearn to dance to live Drums? So may of us relish the few opportunities we have to dance to live Middle Eastern percussionists. Our dancing skills and knowledge of rhythms increase as we train ourselves to respond spontaneously and creatively to live musicians.

Husband and wife team, Jamie Papish & Melanie Kareem host this dance session.

In Tune to Tango with Rick Knowlton
Through movement explorations of Contact Improvisation, we learn the principles-- the feel -- of partner dancing. That feeling of flowing attunement, provides a basis of grace and playfulness as we learn the beautiful and dramatic Argentine Tango.

Rick Knowlton has been practicing, studying, and teaching Contact Improvisation since 1981. His training includes a B.A. in Movement therapy (U. of Minnesota), Certificate of Dance Therapy (Naropa Institute) and Ballroom Teacher Training from Starlight Dance Studio (Hemet,CA). Rick works as a pianist in the Palm Springs area, and teaches Tango in his home town Idyllwild, CA.

Mindia Robin, forever a lover of dance, shares her swirling self through performance projects, teaching adventures, and magical appearances as "Fairy Jazzmindia." She guides "Dancing Dreams," a movement discovery workshop for children and families to express their true selves. Mindia is also a Feng Shui consultant, teacher, and author.

Tai Chi and Qi Gong Moving Meditation with Jin-An Wong
Qi Gong from the Harbin Monastery in China, Tai Chi: "The 8 Treasures for long life" from Toishan, China.

Body Holotropics with Ellen Davis
Moving meditations, dance and directed improvisations designed for participants to experience wholeness, balance, expansiveness, freedom, unity and one's innate creative intelligence while empowering their ability to use the body as a means for creative self-expression and extending the grace of dance to all of life.

The emphasis is on freeing up the energy in the body so that the body becomes an open channel for creative self-expression and healing. Learn to release thoughts and beliefs held within the body. Explore the connection between a flexible body and a flexible consciousness. Experience breathing into the now.

Ellen Davis is former owner/director of Rozann-Zimmerman Ballet Center in Los Angeles. She danced with the Stuttgart Ballet CO. and was a Ford Foundation scholarship student at the School of American Ballet in N.Y.C. Ellen has taught beginning - advanced/professional level ballet and improvisation for over 24 years. A choreographer, she has performed, choreographed and improvised works in California, New Mexico and abroad. She has lived and taught at the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in India for a year.

Hip Hop and Jazz with O"shalla

Leila Flores has performed with legendary artists such as Micheal Jackson, Sergio Mendes, Carlos Santana and Michey Hart from the Grateful Dead and is currently performing as principle dancer for Charo. She also specializes in Latin dances such as Salsa, Merrengae, cha-cha-cha and Cumbia , as well as basic Belly Dance.

Yoga with Rob Milhander a.k.a. Bharata
Rob teaches classical Hatha Yoga asanas in the Sivananda style. Also included are basic stretches from Tai Chi Chuan. Emphasis is placed on breathing with the postures, proper body alignment, and relaxation. All levels are welcome!

Rob took teacher training in '79 and was a staff member with Sivananda Yoga for 5 years. He lived in centers/ashrams, taught classes, courses and helped run the Los Angeles Sivananda Yoga Center in the early 80's.

Yoga with Flora
Come join this vigorous style of Yoga with Flora. This Bikram style focuses on a constant flow of asanas designed to warm up the body, strengthen and stretch. Come prepared to really get into a flow.

Flora is a certified Bikram Yoga instructor and psychotherapist.

Breath into Yoga & Massage
Marci Javril leads a group dance using yogic breath, relaxing partner stretches and invigorating massage. She guides sensitive, respectful bodygames, bringing awareness into flowing freely with the breath. Rejuvenation practices have long been used to activate, cleanse and balance the central nervous system and bodily functions. Learn how simple visualizations can charge up your hands and dances!

Marci Javril, Vital Energist, playfully and skillfully teaches the Art & Science of Rejuvenation. She is a movement therapist, spiritual counselor, master bodyworker, and choreographer. Her career spans over 30 years in the healing & performing arts, and 22 years of yogic practices including advanced training in Tantric Kriya Yoga with Sunyata Saraswati. Ms. Javril has taught internationally in topics such as improvisation and creative movement, lymphatic massage, internal organ cleansing, and integral yoga.

see my web site for credentials and dance bio http://vitalenergycenter.com/MJdanceBio.html

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