Dance & Drum Classes
All bodies welcome. Dance and music are our unifying languages.
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DANCE LESSON VIDEOS on-demand ~ Practice on your own time, as many times as you wish. Details below.
Live/online dance classes are on hold until Feb 2021.
Private lessons are available online.
DRUM CLASSES are live online every Wednesday until further notice. Details below.
Video Lessons in Guinea Style West African Dance
Available for on-demand access through February 2021
All Levels / Beginners
Edited from outdoor classes in the summer, each dance/rhythm is different and each video is about 45min with warm up included. Offered on sliding scale, with suggested $5-10 per lesson. Choose 1, 2, 3, or 4 different dance lessons.
Click Here for Video Lesson Sign Up
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Free *Your* Movement | Personalized Private Lessons Online
Guided free-form lessons to help you access your own movement flow.
Get unstuck from inhibiting movement patterns or move beyond a well worn groove, exploring movement from the privacy of home with lessons designed specifically for your needs.
~ If your movement freedom is inhibited by self-conscious thoughts or fear of judgment, this offering is for you.
~ If you enjoy moving/dancing and want to access more movement freedom or find new ways of expressing, this offering is for you.
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For more details, or to schedule your first private lesson:
Contact Marita
Learn more about Marita here
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*What is the Communally Supported Sliding Scale?
For those with the means, paying the suggested price or more supports the teaching artists and helps offset those whose funds are limited.
Honoring the source and original teachers of this form, our classes bring community together through the healing power of movement and music.
We focus on foundations and feeling, exploring the heart and hip opening movements of Guinean traditional dance. Students learn the origins and cultural context of each of the dances/rhythms.
Classes are being shared from unceded Wabanaki Confederacy Territory, known as Portland, ME under colonization.
To learn more about land acknowledgment visit this link.
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Guinea style West African Drum Classes, Live Online
Drum Class
with Annegret Baier
All Levels Welcome
Ongoing WEDNESDAYS 6:00-7:00pm
Online via Zoom. LINK HERE
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Drum Class
with Namory Keita
Temporarily on hold.
EMBODY THE RHYTHM ~ ALL ARE WELCOME.
“If you can walk, you can dance. If you can talk, you can sing.”
~ Proverb from Zimbabwe
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Guinea Style West African Dance Class
Dance and drumming are a rich part of culture and community in Guinea. There are traditional rhythms and dances that accompany all manner of life’s passages and natural cycles, including births, weddings, coming of age ceremonies, the planting and harvesting of crops, full moons, and celebrations of many sorts.
In these classes Marita shares dances from 20+ years of study under master West African dance and drum artists, both in the U.S. and in Guinea, West Africa. She will share the names, meanings, regions and ethnicities from which the dances come, honoring the source and recognizing our place in the lineage of learning. Marita promotes awareness and appreciation for the culture and traditions of her teachers and for the interconnectedness of all life.
What to expect:
Classes begin with a warm up, we tune into our bodies and get our blood flowing…
Next, dance steps or sequences are broken down and repeated in parts…
The environment of these classes is welcoming to students of all levels.
Marita teaches a different dance monthly in each class, starting new dances at the beginning of the month or series. Students are lead through short sequences or choreography and invited to enjoy the enlivening rhythms of Guinea.
Live drumming in the traditional rhythms is provided by a fantastic crew of professional drummers for Tuesday nights class; beautiful Guinean recordings are utilized for the Beginner series.
Dance steps and sequences are broken down for every class. No prior knowledge is required for drop-in students. Those who come consistently can really get the moves into their bones.
What to wear & bring:
We generally dance barefoot, but dance shoes are fine too, if preferred. Please wear comfortable clothing that allows you ease of movement, and the ability to work up a sweat, and
bring water to stay hydrated.
