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March 22-27, 2021
gender euphoria in movement
Gender dysphoria is the feeling of discomfort or that might occur in people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth or sex-related physical characteristics.
Gender euphoria is the feeling of comfort that occurs when people feel completely aligned with their gender identity, or the sense of that comes with aligning yourself closer to your gender identity.
distress
happiness
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Dancer: David Norsworthy, Choreographer: Marie Lambin Gagnon, Costume Designer: Mairi Geig
build community with master LGBTQIAP+ dancemakers
HAVEN Global Sanctuary for Dance is delighted to partner with Teagan Reed to help create the inaugural pro.noun dance festival (#Pronoun2021) in celebration of LGBTQIAP+ identifying dance artists.
To help increase visibility and access to queer art and artists HAVEN and Teagan have curated a collection of somatic and technique classes, educational seminars, and a creative process for dancer’s to be able to develop their own material and artistic voice, while actualizing the self spiritually, intellectually, and physically.
This week-long queer dance celebration advocates for a gender inclusive dance future. Join a community of artists who create outside toxic heteronormativity and work to create queer-affirming, anti-homophobic, and intersectional accepting spaces. With the intention of increasing access and visibility to artists working at the forefront of creating representational danceworks for LGBTQ+ people, this first iteration is the pilot program for the in-person festival projected to take place in the Windy City in the spring of 2022.
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Photo credit: Noor Eemaan
Photo credit: Noor Eemaan
Photo credit: Christian Bufford
ELIGIBILITY
Dancers age 16+ can participate in a myriad of empowering personal development that entails somatic attunement, formal technique study, participation in the creation of a new work, queer-centric seminars, and community building. (Minors age 16 and 17 are required to have a parent or legal guardian sign a release of liability.)
STRUCTURE
Dancers can drop-in for one class or purchase a class pass or unlimited access.
TIMES (listed in Pacific Time)
8-9:00 am Somatic attunement
9-10:30 am Technique study
11 am-12:30 pm Creative process rehearsal
1-2:30 pm Educational seminar
FEES
60 Minute Drop-in Somatic Attunement: $15
90 Minute Drop-in Movement Practice: $20
5-Classes (Somatic or Movement): $75
5 Rehearsals & Performance Opportunity: $150
5 Days of Movement Practice & Rehearsal: $200
90-minute Seminar on 3/25: $20
Unlimited Access $250
FINANCIAL AID
HAVEN and pro.noun dance festival feel strongly that no one should be turned away because of financial constraints. Full and partial scholarships are available! BIPOC Trans and genderqueer folks who may be struggling financially due to the global pandemic are strongly encouraged to apply for financial aid.
Send the following materials to Skye@thehaven.dance
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Written Statement of Financial Need
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Two Letters of Recommendation and/or two references (email & phone number)
REGISTRATION:
Everyone (age 16+) with previous movement experience is invited and encouraged to participate. To register, email: Skye@thehaven.dance
SATURDAY SHOWCASE
This event is designed to showcase the artists who participated in the pro.noun dance festival. More details coming soon!
FESTIVAL SCHEDULE (Pacific Standard Time)
Monday 22
8-9 Meet at the Mat (free community building)
9-10:30 Release w. Kara Brody
11-12:30 Creation w. Teagan Reed
Tuesday 23
11-12:30 Creation w. Teagan Reed
Wednesday 24
11-12:30 Creation w. Teagan Reed
Thursday 25
8-9 Embodied Practice w. Mikaela S. Brandon
11-12:30 Creation w. Teagan Reed
1:00 Seminar w. Bradon McDonald & Leon Wiebers (see below for description)
Friday 26
11-12:30 Creation w. Teagan Reed
Saturday 27
8-9 Roll the Rolls (free community building)
9-10:30 Improv w. David Norsworthy
11-12:30 Artist Showcase
Special Seminar ~ Thursday, March 25 @ 1:00 PM PST/ 4:00 EST
INQUEERY: COSTUMING CONVERSATIONS ABOUT SEX AND GENDER
pro.noun is ecstatic to offer this moderated discussion/Q&A with guest speakers Bradon McDonald (designer for Project: Runway, American Ballet Theatre and Jessica Lang) and Leon Weibers (costume designer for Royal Opera, Professor at Loyola Marymount University, and Fulbright scholar). Festival founder Tea Reed will guide conversation about Bradon and Leon's experience creating costumes for dance, theatre, and opera as well as the intersection of gender theory, fashion design, and live performance. Participants are invited to stick around after the Q&A for an open forum style community building to create connections between artists and share more about our experiences. For more information and registration, email:
CREATIVE PROCESS WITH TEAGAN REED DESCRIPTION
Like never before it is imperative to cultivate ourselves as creative, vulnerable, and imperfect vessels of our autonomy in order to find artistic resonance without judgement and with acknowledging fear, doubt, shame, and the entire range of human emotion that goes along with art making. Creative decision making starts with you, and it is my dream to work with you to help you develop your improvisational, compositional, mental, spiritual, and physical selves. Spend time working, playing, and contemplating with me to masterfully craft an artistic vision all your own. Participants will be able to use our time together to create footage and media for the participants reels, or other self- promotional material. More than that, It is my goal that at the culmination of our time together we have created a sense of unity among us.
ABOUT PRONOUN FOUNDER TEAGAN REED
Teagan Reed (he/she/they) is a Chicago based dancer, choreographer, and teacher. They are an alumni from the Pinellas County Center for the Arts ('16), Boston Conservatory at Berklee ('20), and the Hubbard Street Profesional Program (‘20). They trained at various intensive programs such as The School at Jacob’s Pillow, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, One Body One Career Countertechnique x Springboard Dans Montreal, Peridance, and Bodytraffic. During their time at university they danced with Junichi Fukuda, Adam Weinert & Company, and at the American Repertory Theatre in The Donkey Show directed by Diane Paulus. They have performed works by Jose Limon, Merce Cunninham, Ted Shawn, Maurya Kurr, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Cayeatano Soto, Ron Brown, Jennifer Archibald, Ryan Mason, Rena Butler, Jonathon Alsberry, Gabe Katz, Levi Marsman, and Jenna Pollack among others.
In 2016, Teagan started a process-based movement project called Ballet Naked. The project was started by speaking to my peers in college about what performing naked would mean to them. About 30 performers participated in the project and we explored research as performance, and asked what it felt like to be vulnerable while executing movements on stage that were generated by a practice of improvisation as composition. This led me to desire to make dances that make themselves. Generative and restorative movement tasks that are composed through rehearsals and mutual agreements to cultivate a practice of acceptance amongst the performers. During the COVID-19 global pandemic, Teagan is offering donation based zoom classes that are clothing and camera optional. The classes are an improvisational ballet class where we stimulate our autonomous creativity at the barre, or chair, or wall, or shelf. For more information visit www.Balletnaked.com
ABOUT THE SEMINAR SPEAKERS
BRADON MCDONALD has had a diverse career in both the Performing Arts and Design fields. Upon graduating Juilliard in 1997, McDonald danced with the Limón Dance Company for three years, and with Mark Morris Dance Group for 10 years. He has served as choreographer for opera productions at Gotham Chamber Opera, Wolftrap Opera Company, Aspen Music Festival, Berkshire Opera and the Juilliard Opera Center, as well as teaching dance to musicians at LA Opera, the Bolshoi Opera, Houston Grand Opera, the Royal Academy of Music and Tanglewood Music Festival.
After retiring from the stage, McDonald began studying Fashion Design at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising where he earned two degrees and the Fashion Design Award upon graduation McDonald is currently working as a
freelance designer in high-end (custom Special Occasion/Bridal garments) and mass markets, as well as designing costumes for the Performing Arts. McDonald showed a collection at Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week as a finalist on the Emmy Award winning Project Runway Season 12. McDonald has combined his performing arts roots with fashion design in many exciting projects. Costume design credits include LAOpera – Figaro 90210, American Ballet Theatre - Her Notes; Let Me Sing Forevermore, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater - EN, Pacific Northwest Ballet - Her Door To The Sky, BAM Next Wave Festival – Jessica Lang Dance - The Wanderer, Miami Art Basel – Shen Wei Dance Arts In Black, White and Gray, Limón Dance Company - Rosie Herrera - Querida Herida, Cabaret/Burlesque sensation Lady Rizo, and three signature collections for dancewear giant CAPEZIO.
LEON WIEBERS has dsigned productions in the United States and internationally. He was a Fulbright Senior Scholar to South Korea examining traditional dress. His work encompasses musical theatre, dance, opera, and straight plays. Recent credits: Oslo for the Pioneer Theatre, Dance pieces for BodyTraffic, an LA-based modern company, at the Hollywood Bowl, Empire, a new musical for LaMirada Center for the Performing Arts, The Secret Garden for Cincinnati Playhouse and Center Stage in Baltimore, The Music Man for Glimmerglass Festival and the Royal Opera in Oman and The King and I for the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, and Il Trovatore for the Sacramento Opera. He is a long-term collaborator at California Music Circus whose productions include: A Chorus Line, The Wizard of Oz,Show Boat, Anything Goes, I Do, I Do, Spamalot!, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, 42 Street, My Fair Lady, Gypsy, Guys and Dolls, Kiss Me, Kate, Jekyll and Hyde, Aida, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to
the Forum, Grease, West Side Story, The Fantasticks and The Scarlet Pimpernel. Other companies include the San Francisco Opera Center, Georgia Shakespeare Festival, the English National Opera, the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, the Getty Museum and Portland Center Stage. Awards include: The Carbonelle Award, Fulbright Research Grant to Korea, Back Stage West Garland and LA Weekly Awards for Three Sisters for Interact Theatre, LA and an LA Ovation Award for Ubu Roi at A Noise Within. He is member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829 and a national board member for the Costume Society of America.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
KARA BRODY is a native of Detroit, Michigan and received her BFA in dance from Wayne State University. She relocated to Chicago working with companies Khecari, Lucky Plush Productions and The Cambrians, and has worked with artists Erin Kilmurray, Amanda Maraist, Ayako Kato, Kevin Iega Jeff, Shannon Alvis, Brendan Fernandes and Alice Klock. Brody teaches frequently as a guest teacher at University of Chicago and has been on faculty at Virtual Dance Lab, Visceral Dance, Dovetail Studios, The
Cambrians’ Winter and Summer intensives, Lucky Plush Productions, Brighton Dance Festival, and The Actors Gymnasium. She is currently working with Danceable Projects with Erick Montes as well as Jodie Randolph Dance. a native of Detroit, Michigan and received her BFA in dance from Wayne State University. She joined Khecari in 2016 for her first project with Jonathan Meyer and Julia Rae Antonick. Kara is in her 4th season with Lucky Plush Productions under the direction of Julia Rhoads. She is a recurring member with The Cambrians for their annual Chicago Dances showcase, and has performed works by Kevin Iega Jeff, Shannon Alvis, and Alice Klock. Brody teaches in Chicago and throughout the Midwest. She has been on faculty at Visceral Dance,Dovetail Studios, The Cambrians’ and Summer intensives, Brighton Dance Festival, and The Actors Gymnasium. She guest teaches at University of Chicago and regularly teaches company and master classes for Lucky Plush Productions.
CLASS DESCRIPTION:
Wake up your body with this release-based practice. We’ll familiarize ourselves with movement sequences that partner with the use of momentum & gravity. Our priority is to be efficient as we activate and amplify our bodies. Be ready to move with ease and to analyze how we absorb, inform, and approach the way we embody movement.
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MIKAELA S. BRANDON (She/her), originally from Warren, NJ, is a freelance artist, dancer, and choreographer. She began formal dance training at the age of three at Washington Rock Dance under the mentorship of Cleo Mack. She furthered her education at Fordham University/The Ailey School, where she received her BFA in Dance with a minor in Psychology. Mikaela was the 2018-2019 recipient of the Denise Jefferson Memorial Scholarship, and was afforded the opportunity to perform Alvin Ailey’s work, Memoria, at New York City Center in 2017, as well as Robert Battle’s work, Battlefield (excerpt) in the 2018 Ailey Spirit Gala at David H. Koch Theater in Lincoln Center. She also assisted choreographer, Bradley Shelver, in setting his original work, Where There Are Tongues, on Alvin Ailey’s second company, Ailey II, in 2018.
Mikaela Sinclair presented original choreography at the Ailey Citigroup Theater for three consecutive years (2017-2019). Her work has been described as powerful, meaningful and thought-provoking. She seeks to demonstrate the rawness of the human experience, through strong emotion, connection, and partnering work. She aims to bring to light the truth, so often tucked away in the darkness. Her choreographed works have included the following: And They Have Escaped the Weight (2016), Common Ground (2017), tri (2017), Void // Turn (2018), Materfamilias (2019), and EN MASSE (2019), all of which were presented at the Ailey Citigroup Theater as a part of various student choreography performances.Mikaela has been a faculty member for the Ailey School Junior Division Program, the Dance Theatre of Harlem School, and the
Hubbard Street Youth Education Program in Chicago, IL. In 2017, she traveled abroad to Guatemala with JUNTOS Collective, an organizationfounded by a fellow Ailey/Fordham BFA alumnus to cultivate international community through dance and outreach. Most recently, Mikaela is a Springboard Danse Montréal alumnus (2019), and has completed Hubbard Street’s Professional Program (HSPro) under the direction of Alexandra Wells (2019-2020). Ms. Brandon has worked closely with artists such as Jennifer Archibald, Gregory Dolbashian, Peter Chu, Adam Barruch, Bobbi Jene Smith, and Troy Ogilvie, amongst others. In addition to her work as a performer and educator, Mikaela is a creative at heart. She seeks to explore her role as an artist, activist, and all around human being. She practices yoga, finds healing in nature, and is currently in the process of writing a book. Mikaela is interested in how we can have a greater, more holistic, interdisciplinary impact on the world through the cultivation of personal practice and study. She believes that Life is here for us to breathe, create, and share our stories. “I have learned to stop needing the answers, and instead, I have learned to listen.”
Class Description: This class is dedicated to exploring consciousness through movement. Becoming aware of our internal rhythms and heightening our physical awareness allows us to deepen our experience in this form. We will focus on imagery, listening, choice-making, and specificity of intention. You are invited to journey, investigating your own unique range of sensation and vulnerability.
DAVID NORSWORTHY is a Toronto-based dancer, choreographer, and educator. Described as “an exceptionally lucid performer, technically impressive and articulate with choreographic detail” (Globe and Mail), David has been privileged to perform and tour with companies and creators including Peggy Baker Dance Projects (Toronto), Toronto Dance Theatre (Toronto), Dancenorth (Melbourne), ZviDance (New York), Brian Brooks (New York), Skånes Dansteater (Malmö), Andersson Dance (Stockholm) and Magma Dans (Stockholm) among others. He has presented his choreographic work at the CanAsian KickStart Festival (Toronto), Dance Matters (Toronto), Wave Rising Series (New York, USA), Our Voices (Stockholm), and the OnSite/InSight Festival (Winston Salem) among other festivals. Recent choreographic commissions include Lamondance (Vancouver), Point Park University (Pittsburgh), and The School of Toronto Dance Theatre (Toronto). Teaching experiences include workshops at several high schools, dance studios, and universities including Simon Fraser University (Vancouver), Point Park University (Pittsburgh) and York University (Toronto).
Photo credit: Alvin Collantes
A graduate of The Juilliard School (New York), David is the grateful recipient of the Living Arts Centre’s 2016 Ron Lenyk Inspiring Youth Arts Award (Mississauga) and one of three finalists for the Toronto Arts Foundation’s 2018 Emerging Artist Award (Toronto). David is a Co-Founder and Co-Artistic Director of TOES FOR DANCE, a non-profit organization that produces dance workshops and performances across Canada.