In theme with the class, we’ll be inviting in the possibility of playing with absurdity for this event. In the movie Everything Everywhere All At Once, doing some act that was so absurd and out of their comfort zone, was the pathway to accessing some higher part of themselves. This is a theme Be has been wanting to bring into the dance so what better timing than on Be’s birthday 😉 and it just happens that Wren LaFeet offers an amazing class along the lines of this.
Clowning is a Dance Skill with Wren LaFeet
We are here to do a job. It is not our job to be interesting. It is our job to be interesTED; in the dancer’s case, in their partner. Drawing from and in gratitude to the work of Avner the Eccentric and his long lineage, this class will introduce some basic principles of clowning and how they can be used to increase your presence, trust and innovation in your social dance (as well as life). In order to truly enjoy life we have to first become fully invested in it. It wants us to play.
Wren LaFeet
Wren is an embodiment guide intent on learning how to be in right-relationship as a 21st century human so he can best serve life. A trained dancer, theater worker, mindfulness facilitator and recovery counselor, Wren shares body-based practices synthesized from social partner dance, mindfulness, Taoism, the Gene Keys, waterways and relating with humans that support interpersonal connection and positive change. In 2013, Wren co-founded Cocréa with Antje Schaefer as a vehicle for exploring mindful, consent based relational practice through movement and dance. Channeling what he has come to acknowledge as an intelligence that wants the best for humanity, he creates brave spaces for humans struggling with disconnection and longing for a deeper sense of belonging to come home to themselves through the body.
He is a TEDx speaker, featured author in “ReInhabiting the Village”, certified Attunement Therapy practitioner and HeartMath certified trauma sensitive educator. Wren is currently in transition from living on the unceded lands of the Awaswas and Amun Mutsen peoples (Santa Cruz, CA) to the traditional unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations (Vancouver, BC).
He has been dancing since 1998 and began performing on stage when he was 6 years old. He recently completed working with Embodied Recovery as a substance use disorder counselor in Los Gatos, CA.
Laughing Matters
The evolving sound of Laughing Matters experiments with a variety of musical genres. Integrating traditional piano with the magic of electronic production, Laughing Matters offers a genre-defying soundscape of acoustic instrumentation, effortlessly blended with eclectic samples, cinematic themes, and gooey bass droplets of squish.
Josh was introduced to the wonderful world of social partner dancing in 2013 when he followed his heart to Shades of Blues in San Francisco. It wasn’t until over a year later that he first shared his original music with the Fusion world, performing at Mission Fusion in San Fransisco. Since then Josh has played all over the world and his compositions have drawn endless inspiration from this incredible community of dancers.