Beginner Ballet is for the pliè-curious adult who’s always wanted to jump and twirl with a tad more technique. In this class, we will begin with the very basics of ballet positions, learning each term and shape not only for how it looks, but also how it mechanically feels and functions in the body. We will move through a traditional ballet class format, with time at barre and in the center, warming ourselves up to complete the class with combinations that focus on presentation and flourish. At the end of the series, students will have a thorough understanding of ballet positions as well as an embodied sense of how to point a toe, find their turnout, balance on one leg, jump with lightness, and use their port de bras (upper body and arms) to bring expression to their dancing. This class aims to offer ballet without the classical rigidity often associated with the technique, queering the form such that students breathe joy into their swirling dances.
Teacher Info:
Lu Donovan is a dancer, facilitator, and writer based in Philadelphia. His work prioritizes pleasure and researches strategies of queer-ing, or, widening options for how a thing can exist, be used, be seen and be held. His movement classes vary in style, but all serve as a container through which students can try new embodiments while discovering a relationship with their dancing body. In class, he asks questions about normatively understood “truths” in our anatomy- where does sensuality lie on a cellular level? Lu has taught all over Philadelphia, including at Mascher Space Cooperative, Cardell Dance Studio, The Woodlands, and The Arts League.
Instagram - @from_lu_to_u
Beginner Ballet is for the pliè-curious adult who’s always wanted to jump and twirl with a tad more technique. In this class, we will begin with the very basics of ballet positions, learning each term and shape not only for how it looks, but also how it mechanically feels and functions in the body. We will move through a traditional ballet class format, with time at barre and in the center, warming ourselves up to complete the class with combinations that focus on presentation and flourish. At the end of the series, students will have a thorough understanding of ballet positions as well as an embodied sense of how to point a toe, find their turnout, balance on one leg, jump with lightness, and use their port de bras (upper body and arms) to bring expression to their dancing. This class aims to offer ballet without the classical rigidity often associated with the technique, queering the form such that students breathe joy into their swirling dances.
Teacher Info:
Lu Donovan is a dancer, facilitator, and writer based in Philadelphia. His work prioritizes pleasure and researches strategies of queer-ing, or, widening options for how a thing can exist, be used, be seen and be held. His movement classes vary in style, but all serve as a container through which students can try new embodiments while discovering a relationship with their dancing body. In class, he asks questions about normatively understood “truths” in our anatomy- where does sensuality lie on a cellular level? Lu has taught all over Philadelphia, including at Mascher Space Cooperative, Cardell Dance Studio, The Woodlands, and The Arts League.
Instagram - @from_lu_to_u
