Borderless Arts Tennessee is proud to announce 2 dance projects this spring. Both dance projects are with Jennifer James (her bio is below).
Project 1
The big project is for a program called Face Off. Dance rehearsals for this project will be:Saturday, March 28Saturday, April 11Saturday, April 18Saturday, April 25
There will be one additional rehearsal in May closer to the performance. All rehearsals will be from 10am-noon at the Sumner Teen Center, 976 Grassland Place, Gallatin. The dance lessons are free of charge.
Participants will perform the dance that they learn in special costumes at the Tennessee State Museum for Statehood Day, which we believe will be celebrated on May 30. We are waiting until January for the museum to set the exact date.
Depending on the desire of the group, the group may be performing this dance at additional historic sites over the summer and possible for legislators. More on that later.
Registration to be part of this project is first to respond.
This program is supported by funding from the Nashville Predators, an ABC grant from the TN Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts and the Community Foundation of Middle TN.
Project 2
Participants will meet twice – Monday, March 2 and Monday March 16 at 4pm at Middle Tennessee State University Tom Jackson Building. They will learn an Irish dance that they will perform Monday March 16 at 6pm at a St Patrick’s Day festival at MTSU.
This is also free dance lessons. It is also first to respond.
Future
Borderless Arts TN is working with MTSU to bring in an international inclusive dance instructor who will be leading a week long training working with Borderless Arts dancers and MTSU dance students. This will take place in the evenings for one week in Sept (date yet to be determined). The MTSU students and Borderless Arts dancers will dance together in performance on the Saturday at the end of this training week. MTSU has said that if the dance is of high enough quality it may be featured in their fall dance program later next fall.
If you are interested in staying on the list for information about this project, please let me know.
Other
Dancers may elect to participate in only one of the project above, two or all three.
All of the dance projects above are free of charge.
The first two dance projects will be led by Jennifer James. Jennifer James is a native to Middle Tennessee. She trained for 14 years in ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, pointe, hip hop and competitive dance. During that time, she performed in several southern region competitions and numerous shows where she gained valuable experience collaborating with an ensemble as a member/company dancer. After taking some time to explore early childhood education and build a family, Jennifer has returned to her dance roots. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in Dance Pedagogy, with a minor in Special Education at Middle Tennessee State University. She trains in modern dance and ballet; as well as gaining knowledge in early childhood development, adaptations for learning diversities, and instruction on how to thoroughly and effectively become a dance instructor. During her time, she has looked for ways to grow her experience, training, and knowledge by attending the American College Dance Association and the Tennessee Association of Dance conferences. She has participated in two dance concerts performing in choreographed works by her professors, and special guest artist Daniel Gwirtzman. As well as, had the privilege to receive dance technique instruction from other guest artists such as Katherine Duke and Will Gill. She recently studied abroad in Guatemala working with a non profit organization to bring dance and theatre to an underdeveloped community of children. She hopes to integrate dance movement and education to work alongside diverse learners or those who may benefit from its therapeutic potential.
The 3rd project will be led by Silva Laukkanen.Silva Laukkanen loves dance. She loves movement. She loves diversity. She loves the beautiful moments that are created in space by bodies telling stories. During a chance opportunity to teach at a rehabilitation center in her native Finland she was reminded of the transformative power of movement in the lives of everyday people, and because of this experience she decided to re-focus her career on community and mixed-ability dance. Using her passion for both choreography and performance she has worked with Remix Dance Company and SCORE in Cape Town teaching children and adults in local communities. A Certified Dance Ability Instructor since 2003, she has given workshops in Finland and England for mixed aged and ability groups, including a two year stint teaching a weekly class for the Finnish mixed ability company Magic Dance. She was introduced to Forklift and Body Shift in 2010 as a participant during its inaugural event. Silva holds a BFA in Dance from The North Karelia College of Outokumpu and a post graduate degree in Community Dance from The Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, UK.
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