April/May 2018
Movement Explorations/ImproV
Playshop 4 everyBODY
CoLABorative Playshop hosted & facilitated by Michelle AVA M.A.
Bring your inner child out to play and collaborate with the AVAdance community.
Saturdays
April & May 2018
2:00-3:30pm
REVIEWS:
" We all have stories to tell; journeys of joy ,pain, sorrow, challenges and triumphs. During the AVAdance play-shops, I am invited into a process that allows me to experiment with expressive interpretive dance that comeos out of me from the inside out. My story comes alive. I can see more of who I am through the eyes of my dance "
Evelyn E. - AVAdance student
"Relief! I have been in a state of moderate depression for some time. My experience for moving together and connecting with participants in Michelle's creative Motion play-shops, snaps me out of my funky mood and brings me into a happier place. My entire day unfolds more effortlessly"
- Samantha, WDC
"Motion is my medicine. Having "permission" to be my self and not be judged, allows me to feel more comfortable in my body and creative in my soul. Thank you Michelle for creating this safe space for exploration and feeling great!"
- Jack, Fairfax Va
What to Expect at these PLAYSHOPS:
* Enchance your expressive imaginitive self with guided improvisational dance/theatre modalities
* Experience the JOY of BEing in Motion
* Engage with others in the community to simply connect, collaborate and create together
* Expand creative options in everyday living by discovering creativity in your dance!
NO PRIOR EXPERIENCE NEEDED
This playshop is for newbies as well as more experienced movers.
Seeking performers for 2018 performances. This is a good forum to discover possibilities.
Location: City Fitness Foundation
3525 Connecticut Ave NW
Red Line Metro /Cleveland Park
This is a community pay as you can/if you can event.
Suggested contribution $15.00-$20.00.
All proceeds go toward operating costs for our AVAdance upcoming staged works.
We are currently seeking movers, musicians and more for our 2018/19 projects.
This is a great opportunity to stop on by, MOVE with us !
michelleavadance@gmail.com
301-704-2935
_______________________________________________________________
AVA ARCHIVE/ Past Workshops
DANCE JAMS w/ AVAdance Co-LABorative !
Fridays, October 20 and December 1, 7:30 - 9:30pm
Community Event. Pay as you can !
Location: Joy of Motion Dance Center.
5207 Wisconsin Ave NW
Friendship Heights
Come to a different kind of happy hour on Friday night. This is a great opportunity for you to engage your improvisational skills, dance away the stresses of the week, and groove to liv...e music at this free community event.
At this event, participants will be able to express their authentic selves and their expressions of joy through movement with live accompaniment from a variety of genres.
WHAT TO EXPECT:
This is not a technique class. Facilitators from AVAdance will invite participants to move in an improvisational and expressive fashion while offering movement suggestions. These guided improvisations will invite those in attendance to connect with the space, each other, and themselves. This will be followed by an hour long dance flow, exploring a variety of styles, moods, and tempos. Participants are invited to move at their own pace or follow the suggestions that the facilitators offer. The evening will conclude with a group collaborative movement experience.
LEVEL: All levels welcome.
ATTIRE: Casual attire that allows for free and unrestricted movement.
ABOUT THE STYLE:
This Expressive AVAdance Jam aims to give movers, groovers, and dancers of all skill levels the space to play, invent, and explore through expressive dance & improvisation.
ABOUT THE EVENT: Your artistic and monetary contributions to AVAdance Jams provide support for a new AVAdance Co-LABorative production happening at Joy of Motion in June of 2018. Donations to the production will be accepted at the door.
AVAdance PLAYSHOPS
Join Michelle AVA and AVAdance Collaborative
to share movement and creation in a safe, playful, and fun atmosphere!
Playshop 1: Fri. April 21, 8:00pm - 10:00pm, Friendship Heights
Playshop 2 and Open Rehearsal: Fri. June 23, 8:00 - 10:00pm, Friendship Heights
In preparation for its July 16, 2017 concert at the Jack Guidone Theatre,
the members of AVAdance will share and preview their works in progress.
Learn some choreography, improvise and collaboratively create. Bring a musical instrument, poetry, prose or prop if you wish. This is a salon style atmosphere.
If you have a short work that you want to share, this is the place!
Live and recorded inspirational music will accompany the "play".
This event is open to all levels of movers, musicians, magicians, and more!
In addition, AVAdance is seeking performers for the July 2017 show.
This is a good opportunity to learn more about the project and possibly get involved.
Free admission.
Participants are welcome to pay what you can at the front desk upon check-in.
Sign up ! www.joyofmotion.org
You Can Dance!!! ™
Run, hop, skip, jump, pulse, reach, fly and feel your spirit-in-motion breaking through the barriers that inhibit freedom and flow in energy. If you always wanted to "Dance" freely and did not know how or where to begin — now is the opportunity to breakthrough "dance-phobia" with Authentic Vibrant Awareness (AVA Technique). A yoga stretch warm-up will be followed by instruction and coaching in movement/dance basics that encourage personal self-confidence and individual style.
Benefits:
AVA ARCHIVE/ Past Workshops
DANCE JAMS w/ AVAdance Co-LABorative !
Fridays, October 20 and December 1, 7:30 - 9:30pm
Community Event. Pay as you can !
Location: Joy of Motion Dance Center.
5207 Wisconsin Ave NW
Friendship Heights
Come to a different kind of happy hour on Friday night. This is a great opportunity for you to engage your improvisational skills, dance away the stresses of the week, and groove to liv...e music at this free community event.
At this event, participants will be able to express their authentic selves and their expressions of joy through movement with live accompaniment from a variety of genres.
WHAT TO EXPECT:
This is not a technique class. Facilitators from AVAdance will invite participants to move in an improvisational and expressive fashion while offering movement suggestions. These guided improvisations will invite those in attendance to connect with the space, each other, and themselves. This will be followed by an hour long dance flow, exploring a variety of styles, moods, and tempos. Participants are invited to move at their own pace or follow the suggestions that the facilitators offer. The evening will conclude with a group collaborative movement experience.
LEVEL: All levels welcome.
ATTIRE: Casual attire that allows for free and unrestricted movement.
ABOUT THE STYLE:
This Expressive AVAdance Jam aims to give movers, groovers, and dancers of all skill levels the space to play, invent, and explore through expressive dance & improvisation.
ABOUT THE EVENT: Your artistic and monetary contributions to AVAdance Jams provide support for a new AVAdance Co-LABorative production happening at Joy of Motion in June of 2018. Donations to the production will be accepted at the door.
AVAdance PLAYSHOPS
Join Michelle AVA and AVAdance Collaborative
to share movement and creation in a safe, playful, and fun atmosphere!
Playshop 1: Fri. April 21, 8:00pm - 10:00pm, Friendship Heights
Playshop 2 and Open Rehearsal: Fri. June 23, 8:00 - 10:00pm, Friendship Heights
In preparation for its July 16, 2017 concert at the Jack Guidone Theatre,
the members of AVAdance will share and preview their works in progress.
Learn some choreography, improvise and collaboratively create. Bring a musical instrument, poetry, prose or prop if you wish. This is a salon style atmosphere.
If you have a short work that you want to share, this is the place!
Live and recorded inspirational music will accompany the "play".
This event is open to all levels of movers, musicians, magicians, and more!
In addition, AVAdance is seeking performers for the July 2017 show.
This is a good opportunity to learn more about the project and possibly get involved.
Free admission.
Participants are welcome to pay what you can at the front desk upon check-in.
Sign up ! www.joyofmotion.org
You Can Dance!!! ™
Run, hop, skip, jump, pulse, reach, fly and feel your spirit-in-motion breaking through the barriers that inhibit freedom and flow in energy. If you always wanted to "Dance" freely and did not know how or where to begin — now is the opportunity to breakthrough "dance-phobia" with Authentic Vibrant Awareness (AVA Technique). A yoga stretch warm-up will be followed by instruction and coaching in movement/dance basics that encourage personal self-confidence and individual style.
Benefits:
- Discover your inner dancer
- Connect deeper within self and with others
- Practice "listening" to your own body, not just "doing"
- Expand vocabulary and language of movement
- Move with greater self-confidence
- Breakdown of the barriers that block you from open expression
spiritYOGAmotion w/ Michelle Ava
OPUS YOGA
257 Market Street West, 2nd Floor
Kentlands/LakelandsGaithersburg, MD 20878
240-425-2039
www.opusyogakentlands.com
*** Dance-Move-Connect-Community ***
YOGAmotion: Moving From The Core
Experience greater Alignment Balance and Centering--- the ABCs of movement awareness and personal expression. Moving from the core allows us to fully manifest our fullness and essence from the deep place within . Breath awareness, movement meditation and rhythmical dance will be included in this YOGAmotion experience
YOGAmotion: Dancing from the heart
Dance your feelings, memories, emotions and JOY! Open your heart center to include experiences of compassion, kindness loving and longing.Solo and group, dances we co- create, in solos and in group,represent the richness of our Being . Love and light guide us through this YOGAmotion experience
YOGAmotion: Chakra dance
Each chakra represents a different energy dynamic that is associated with various energies colors, and aspects of our total Self. We will explore each chakra energy and allow it to inform us to expand and-unlock the places that are stuck and blocked and expanding those that at are open.
OPUS YOGA
257 Market Street West, 2nd Floor
Kentlands/LakelandsGaithersburg, MD 20878
240-425-2039
www.opusyogakentlands.com
*** Dance-Move-Connect-Community ***
YOGAmotion: Moving From The Core
Experience greater Alignment Balance and Centering--- the ABCs of movement awareness and personal expression. Moving from the core allows us to fully manifest our fullness and essence from the deep place within . Breath awareness, movement meditation and rhythmical dance will be included in this YOGAmotion experience
YOGAmotion: Dancing from the heart
Dance your feelings, memories, emotions and JOY! Open your heart center to include experiences of compassion, kindness loving and longing.Solo and group, dances we co- create, in solos and in group,represent the richness of our Being . Love and light guide us through this YOGAmotion experience
YOGAmotion: Chakra dance
Each chakra represents a different energy dynamic that is associated with various energies colors, and aspects of our total Self. We will explore each chakra energy and allow it to inform us to expand and-unlock the places that are stuck and blocked and expanding those that at are open.
YogaMotion™
Relax...Rejuvenate...Restore your body with YogaMotion. YM combines Yoga-based stretch and postures with free-flowing movement. Begin in silence, then focus on breath, flexibility and letting go into the moment of movement...releasing the tension of the body. Explore the Authentic, Vibrant, Awareness of becoming one with your body. Being at home in the Body is as simple as ABC, *Aligning*Balancing*Centering. Each session concludes with Meditation.
Moving Awareness: Breathing, Rhythms an FlexAware®
Dance & Drum With Michelle and Friends
CREATE: A Choreography Workshop
Spring Full Moon Dance and Drum
Performance Workshop Studio to Stage: Modern/Improv and Beyond
Intro to Female Empowerment Through Movement
Female Empowerment Through Movement: Four week series
New To Dance Workshop
Workshop Descriptions
Below you will find descriptions of the various workshops that are offered through AVAdance. Designed and facilitated by Michelle Ava, these workshops address a range of topics and utilize several movement paradigms to offer students multiple creative, healing, and rejuvenating dance experiences.
"I wanted to thank you for your awesome workshop tonight! It was perfect for me at this moment. It is so rare to find an environment filled with fun, freedom, play and empowerment specifically for women. I loved practicing 'listening' to my body and it was great to interact and share with the other participants and form a community, even for just 1.5 hours. I'm really looking forward to the workshop series I registered for tonight! "
-Michelle's Female Empowerment Workshop participant 2010
"I wanted to thank you for your awesome workshop tonight! It was perfect for me at this moment. It is so rare to find an environment filled with fun, freedom, play and empowerment specifically for women. I loved practicing 'listening' to my body and it was great to interact and share with the other participants and form a community, even for just 1.5 hours. I'm really looking forward to the workshop series I registered for tonight! "
-Michelle's Female Empowerment Workshop participant 2010
Spirit in Motion™
a Movement Awareness and Improvisation Workshop
This workshop will explore movement as a pathway to one's creative and expressive self. Experience movement spontaneously, intuitively with Authentic Vibrant Awareness. Participants will work solo and as part of the group dynamics. Inspirational music (live and recorded) will be used. This workshop includes the elements of contact improvisation, theatrical dance, the development of movement stories, the use of props and simply how to listen deep within, let-go into the dance go with the flow and feel your Spirit move. Open to all level of movers. Bring a percussive instrument and object of significance.
An Introduction to AVA Technique
Discovering your Inner Dancer
No prior experience necessary! Join us in a safe, supportive environment for exploring and discovery. Breathe into your body as we move from the inside out moving with greater ease, flow. Deep within each of us is a fluid mover, your "dancer". Connect with your own personal style and creative expression. An opportunity to unfold the dancer deep within. Each of us has a special and unique way of being true movement. Unlock Authenticity, Vibrancy, Awareness. Remove the blocks that inhibit you from moving freely, loosely.
From Moment to Movement
A Playshop with Michelle Ava
Contacting your Authentic, Vibrant, Awareness
Life is a dance, Live it NOW!!
In this supportive and sacred space, we will be with silence. Using a variety of approaches, we'll tap into our vital source energy, guiding us to be the Inner Dancer.
Life is a dance, Live it NOW!!
In this supportive and sacred space, we will be with silence. Using a variety of approaches, we'll tap into our vital source energy, guiding us to be the Inner Dancer.
- Be and Become the mindful Motion
- Move without judgment and self-criticism
- Expand self-expression and the language of dance/movement
YogaLITE
Based on the core principle of of AVA technique...Yoga is about unifying the mind, body and spirit... to come into wholeness, feel relaxed, at ease and centered.
No need be concerned with difficult postures (asanas) and strenuous exercises... YogaLITE is an easeful, flowing fun and calming exercise/wellness class that will leave you feeling rejuvenated stretched, toned and "at home in your body."
LITE means simply moving and breathing effortlessly while joyously having fun in the process.
No prior experience necessary.
Wear loose comfortable clothing so you can move freely!
No need be concerned with difficult postures (asanas) and strenuous exercises... YogaLITE is an easeful, flowing fun and calming exercise/wellness class that will leave you feeling rejuvenated stretched, toned and "at home in your body."
LITE means simply moving and breathing effortlessly while joyously having fun in the process.
No prior experience necessary.
Wear loose comfortable clothing so you can move freely!
TantraDance
~ Feel your senses come ALIVE ~
Discovering and Enhancing personal empowerment and expanded awareness through movement and the senses.
TantraDance: a journey into the senses and feeling at home in our bodies. Together we engage in expressive dance, meditation, improvisation and creative arts processes as a source to increases joy, community connection, passion and moving from the heart. We focus on specific themes that will enliven, liberate, and expand our mind body heart and soul. A merging of Yoga and Dance, this workshop series include exploring the Chakras T, balancing our male and female energies, sensual dance & music, and the application of tantra dance in our daily practice.
Arrive ready to play, unfold, liberate and live life more fully and joyfully!
No previous experience necessary.
Discovering and Enhancing personal empowerment and expanded awareness through movement and the senses.
TantraDance: a journey into the senses and feeling at home in our bodies. Together we engage in expressive dance, meditation, improvisation and creative arts processes as a source to increases joy, community connection, passion and moving from the heart. We focus on specific themes that will enliven, liberate, and expand our mind body heart and soul. A merging of Yoga and Dance, this workshop series include exploring the Chakras T, balancing our male and female energies, sensual dance & music, and the application of tantra dance in our daily practice.
Arrive ready to play, unfold, liberate and live life more fully and joyfully!
No previous experience necessary.
Female Empowerment through Movement
BE more
DO better
HAVE it all!
A recent personal life changing trauma served to reinforce Michelle's already deeply rooted understanding that dance and movement is an essential portal to ones higher self, allowing core energy to assist in living our lives powerfully with integrity and totally engaged.
Utilizing Improvisation exercises along with AVAtechnique principles of Authentic Vibrant Awareness along with charka energy processes, we will tap into the "E-Motion Reservoir" and discover how personal empowerment through movement can assist us with life choices, being completely present, survival and recovery from crises, and thriving in life every "step along the way".
No previous experience in dance or related movement arts necessary.
This workshop is open to all females, teens through seniors.
DO better
HAVE it all!
A recent personal life changing trauma served to reinforce Michelle's already deeply rooted understanding that dance and movement is an essential portal to ones higher self, allowing core energy to assist in living our lives powerfully with integrity and totally engaged.
Utilizing Improvisation exercises along with AVAtechnique principles of Authentic Vibrant Awareness along with charka energy processes, we will tap into the "E-Motion Reservoir" and discover how personal empowerment through movement can assist us with life choices, being completely present, survival and recovery from crises, and thriving in life every "step along the way".
No previous experience in dance or related movement arts necessary.
This workshop is open to all females, teens through seniors.
