FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

Brett Alan Garfinkel, GYROKINESIS | 9:30am at Tulane University

The GYROKINESIS® Method is a movement method that addresses the entire body, opening energy pathways, stimulating the nervous system, increasing range of motion and creating functional strength through rhythmic, flowing movement sequences. It is an original and unique method, which coordinates movement, breath and mental focus.

Brett Alan Garfinkel is from Long Island, New York. He received is BFA in Dance from Adelphi University and an MFA in Dance Performance & Teaching from Purchase College, SUNY. Brett is a certified GYROKINESIS® & GYROTONIC® trainer. He has performed with numerous companies in and around NYC. Brett was a member of BODYART Dance Company for 6 years and continues to work with them in production. He has also performed and toured with Lucinda Childs Dance Company, Vissi Dance Theater, Flexicurve, Hydroflo, Naganuma Dance, Genesis Dance Company and Mary Seidman & Dancers. Brett is chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance and a Professor of Dance at Northwestern State University.

Nicole Goldin, Rueda de Casino | 11:00am at Tulane University
Casino (commonly referred to as Cuban salsa) is a partner dance that originated in Cuba in the 1950s.  Later, a multi-partner version was created in the shape of a circle called ""Rueda de Casino"" which directly translates to ""Casino Wheel."" Rueda de casino is a circle of couples dancing simultaneously to the commands of a caller in the circle. Whenever the caller calls a command, all the couples execute the figure, including partner figures and partner changes.

Nicole Goldin is the Executive Director of Dile Que NOLA Cultural Association, a nonprofit focused on Cuban culture and dance. She also serves as the artistic director and choreographer for their performance team, as well as the instructor for Dile Que NOLA's weekly casino and rueda de casino community dance classes. Dile Que NOLA organizes cultural exchange trips to Cuba, as well as various free and low-cost dance opportunities for the New Orleans community. @dile_que_nola

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

Kelly Bond, The Actual Feeling | 9:30am at Tulane University
The Actual Feeling is directed exploration of sensation, emotion, and connection as playful research of performative attention. The purpose is to discover in front of others and is inclusive of skill level and experience, asking only for openness and self-love.

Kelly Bond is a choreographer, director, performer, teacher, yogini, and mother. She and collaborator Ellery Burton premiered their most recent work, FUZZY BULLDOZER, in May 2024 in New Orleans presented by Mondo Bizarro. Other recent works include Dancing with Myself (2020), Escapade (2019), and Jean & Terry: Your Guides Through Dark, Light, and Nebulous (2016) with Mel Krodman. Kelly serves as an adjunct professor of dance at Tulane University where she also earned an MFA in interdisciplinary dance performance. She holds an MA in European dance-theatre practice from Laban in London which she attended as a Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Scholar. This year, Kelly is excited to join the TIERA (Tulane Interdisciplinary Environmental Research & Action) Program as a Senior Researcher, helping to guide students during a field course at FCAT (Fundación para la Conservación de los Andes Tropicales) in Ecuador. Kelly is a mom of three kids and originally from Mississippi. @kellyoflight

Sara Silkin, Contemporary | 9:30am at Tulane University

Movement Narratives: A dance class focused on creating unique physical characterizations through the use of choreography.

Sara is blind in her left eye and explores the things she can't clearly see; her memories. By going back and capturing the smallest gestures to the largest leaps of faith, she creates work that moves you viscerally through her unique approach to storytelling through movement and film. She holds her BA from UCLA and her MFA from USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, where she was awarded: The John Houston Directing Scholarship and Kodak Grant. She choreographed the Emmy-winning short film Jibaro in the Netflix animated series Love, Death, & Robots. She has collaborated with AI digital artist Refik Anadol on the LA Philharmonic’s 100th Anniversary at The Walt Disney Concert Hall. Sara has choreographed and movement directed for brands: Samsung, Adidas, Converse, Sandro, and many more. Silkin’s stage work has been presented at LACMA, The Ford Theater, Electric Lodge Theater, LA Fashion Week, Coachella, CONGRESS:Legalize Dance, and The Centre Pompidou Museum in Paris, France. She was commissioned by LA Contemporary Dance Company in 2020 to direct and choreograph her award-winning short film LOST MIND. @sarasilkin

Joshua P Bell, Contemporary | 11:00am at Tulane University
Rooting to rise. This class focuses on building connections to our personal inner wisdom through breath work. We'll further explore those connections through dance exercises, guided improvisation, and phrase work.

Joshua P. Bell is a multidisciplinary artist born in Chicago Illinois and raised in Clinton Mississippi. Graduating from Belhaven University with a BA in dance, he moved to New Orleans to embark on a new journey in 2016. He has enjoyed many career highs as a freelance performer, dancing locally, nationally, and internationally. He is now exploring his interest in fashion as a designer. With the support of the Material Institute, Joshua expands his creative ability in textile development and garment construction. Joshua is looking forward to sharing his vision and artistry with all who are open to receive. (1 Corinthians 13:13) @heisyoungman

Tariq Mitri | 11:00am at Tulane University
Class focuses on connecting to texture, dynamics, and presence in the body through contemporary improvisation and guided movement. We will begin with durational improvisatory tasks, awakening our senses and bodies. We will then move into across-the-floor movement scores and phrases and learn contemporary material. We will utilize our voices as a tool to generate warmth in the body, and will physically interact with other attendees. We will make collective noise, feel our weight, and relish in the body to connect to the joy of movement.

Tariq Mitri is a gay Palestinian-American freelance dance artist and choreographer in Seattle, WA. Originally from Abu Dhabi, U.A.E and raised in Portland, OR, he graduated from California Institute of the Arts in 2015. He’s worked in Los Angeles, Seattle, and New York for multiple choreographers including Kate Wallich + The YC, MADBOOTS Dance, WHYTEBERG, and others. In NYC, he was the Rehearsal Director and Co-Director of Brooklyn-based company HEIDCO, assisting with the creations of METALBODY and The Heaping Kind from 2019 to 2021. Returning to Seattle in 2022, he danced for Andrew McShea, Emily Schoen Branch, Beth Twigs, Alana Rogers, Alyza Del-Pan Monley, and Jenna Eady. Tariq has been presented at SAM Remix, the Seattle Erotic Arts Festival, FOUR organized by CO–, and Velocity’s Bridge Project. @tmitri

Laura Stein, Work It Out | 12:30pm at Tulane University
Work It Out with Laura is a joy-filled dance, fitness, and movement exploration class that combines hip hop, jazz, aerobics, conditioning, and contemporary improvisation techniques to create a holistic experience for the mind, body, and soul. Set to an energizing playlist, Laura creates a welcoming space for movers of all ages and ability levels to release, sweat, and connect in new ways with themselves and their fellow dancers.

Laura Stein is a consultant, facilitator, community organizer, and dancer. She is the CEO of Rooted Evolution, a holistic consulting practice that guides organizations and leaders through critical periods of transition. She is also a trainer and anti-racist organizer with the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond Undoing Racism® workshop. Laura is the former Executive Director and co-founder of Dancing Grounds (DG), a nonprofit dedicated to arts and social justice. During her 10-year tenure, she built a community dance center, established the largest adult dance program in New Orleans, and co-created the nationally recognized Dance for Social Change program. From 2003-2011, Laura worked in various roles in educational and arts organizations in New York. She received her M.P.A. from New York University and her B.A. from Wesleyan University. Laura is also a passionate advocate for social justice. Her latest choreographic collaboration is with the band, Sweet Crude. @laurakaminsteinstein

Kai Knight, Rooted/Afro-Modern Movement | 12:30pm at Tulane University
A unique blend of African diasporic aesthetics and modern dance techniques. It is a full-body movement class that incorporates isolation/undulations, contract/ release techniques, polyrhythmic movement dynamics, and musicality.  Experience this cultural explosion featuring choreography rooted in African diaspora movements, including African, afro-Brazilian, Haitian, Caribbean, and African American-based movements.

Choreographer, Cultural ambassador, professor, and performing artist. Adjunct professor: Loyola University, Xavier University, and Tulane University. Founded Seasons Center (est. 2014),  multicultural program assisting women and communities. Executive Director of Cultural Ties Dance Festival: Movement of the African Diaspora. Artistic Director of Silhouette Dance Ensemble and Kai Knight’s Dance Theatre Collective (Breathe!). She is the Executive Producer of “Landscape of Africa Diaspora Dance.” and Director/ Executive Producer of Cultural Soul/ A Dance on Film, paying homage to the ancestral connected movements of the African Diaspora of New Orleans. She is a featured performing artist/ co-movement developer in  Junebug Productions/ Gomela, directed by Stephanie McKee-Anderson, and has choreographed “Le Code Noir,” directed by Tommye Myrick in 2017 and  2023.  As a Choreographer and Director, Kai Knight’s process work is featured in 2023 with “M.U.S.E.:Door of No Return,” presented at Loyola University, and “Ori: Journey Within,” featuring “ Breathe.”

Crystal Kent, Jazz | 2:00pm at Tulane University
Crystal will be teaching a Classical Jazz dance class.

Crystal Kent has 16 years of experience teaching jazz, ballet, lyrical, contemporary, and burlesque. She has her B.A. from UC Santa Cruz in Theater, with a concentration in dance. She currently is working in upstate New York teaching children lyrical and contemporary classes at EGC Dance Center. @crystalakent

Kesha McKey, Contemporary Modern | 2:00pm at Tulane University
Contemporary Modern (Horton Based) - This class is catered towards pre-professional and professional dancers looking for a challenging experience in contemporary modern dance. Rooted in Horton technique fundamentals, this class will integrate anatomical principles with modern dance technique to engage deep body awareness and an efficient physical practice. Through center and across the floor exercises dancers will investigate deep connections to their already existing foundations, pushing endurance and expanding physical practices through rigorous choreographic phrases.

Kesha McKey is an educator, choreographer, and performing artist from New Orleans. After graduating from NOCCA she received her BS from Xavier University of LA and her MFA in Dance Performance from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is the founding Artistic Director of KM Dance Project and the Director of Arts at NOCCA. Kesha’s recent awards include a 2022 Dance/USA DFA Fellowship, 2022 UBW CCI 2.0 CCI Alum, 2021-22 NPN Creation & Development Fund, 2020 CAC N.O. SweetArts Award, 2019 NEFA NDP Production Grant, a 2018/19 CAC Southern Crossings Residency, and a 2016 Dancing While Black Fellowship. Her recent choreographic credits include 2024 Lamar University Dance Unleashed, 2024 Alabama Dance Festival, 2019 NPN Conference, 2018 UBW SLI, and 2018 Women in Dance Conference. Her recent performances include KM Dance Project Raw Fruit tour, Urban Bush Women Hair and Other Stories tour, Junebug Productions Gomela:to return tour. @kmdanceproject

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 15

Kristal Jones, Bounce NLine  | 9:30am at Tulane University
Bounce'N Line is a cardio class with a series of line dances and sequences. Inspired by bounce dances and body isolations to New Orleans bounce music, it is designed to work out the body and mind while having fun. Let's dance.

Kristal Jones also known as M2daE, is a self-taught  and community-developed choreographer, mover, and instructor. Her relationship with dance through  a love choreographing began at the age of 12. She has then cultivated a style of dance that is a blend of Hip Hop, New Orleans Bounce, and Contemporary movement. With interest in intuitive/ expressive, healing movement, Kristal  knows that the body is our first home  and we can design its movement by being our full selves. She promotes this by creating feel good movement inspired by community design - transmuting it into a reflection of cultural expression and  breaking steps to their smallest elements as a way to move energy through the body. Kristal has worked with artists such as Tank and The Bangas and Ani Di Franco. She is currently working as an Intern Architect while exploring new styles of performance in the world of burlesque, improvisation, and expression. Kristal continues to hone her craft by hosting classes and workshops and performing with artists she has met along the way.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 20

Las Especulativas, Coreomanía   | 11:00am at Tulane University
  | 9:45am at Basin Arts, Lafayette
  | 11:00am at Northwestern State University, Natchitoches
COREOMANIA: Dance Practices and Networked Dialogue was born out of the urgency to train, dance, engage in dialogue, and organize meetings during the social movement in Chile in 2019. At that time, the practice offered an invitation to move through a narrative of shared common imaginaries, guided by a gentle leadership, simple trainability, and an ongoing dialogue within the act of dancing.

The practice is based on the concept of self-care and shared well-being, making it a transversal experience for diverse communities and contexts. In this way, everyone—dancers, aspiring artists, adolescents, older adults, and dance lovers—can experience a collective, sensitive, and ephemeral encounter through dance.

Las Especulativas is a management platform for the performing arts in the south of the world. Experimentación Escénica Valdivia was created in 2009 with the aim of professionalizing the area of ​​contemporary dance and the promotion of Living Arts in the Región de Los Ríos Chile, a water landscape immersed in the Valdivian rain forest. It has four main lines of work: Training, in its PULSO programs, for dance, circus and its new commitment to performing arts - Creation and Research, through the realization of seasons, Residencies and Laboratories - Artistic Mediation, in different communities and territorial contexts and - Project management in performing arts from the local, southern area, and with a strong interest in internationalization.