Month: May 2022

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News / Announcements

Dark Room Ballet Introductory Classes for Blind and Visually Impaired Students — New Cycle Begins Saturday, June 25th

Image as shared and described on Instagram: A flyer with text that is superimposed over a photo of Krishna, a thin, pale skinned woman with long dark hair pulled into a braid, poses on a studio stage. She is wearing a simple white dress with her shoulders exposed and a fluffy white headdress perched on her forehead and wrapping down her braid. She looks over her left shoulder as she lightly holds a straight cane between her hands and points her left foot behind her. Text in orange and black over a grey background reads: Dark Room Ballet with Krishna Washburn INTRODUCTORY BALLET FOR BLIND / VI ADULTS (no prior knowledge required) Starting June 25th 8 SATURDAYS 4 PM to 5:30 PM (Eastern / New York Time) All Dark Room Ballet classes and workshops take place online via Zoom - visit darkroomballet.com or LINK IN BIO for more info!
Instagram promotional image (described in alt-text)

Beginning Saturday, June 25th from 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM (Eastern / New York Time)   

NOTE: This class is designed specifically for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired adults.

This is a FREE class!

Hosted by Movement Research, Dark Room Ballet classes are designed specifically for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired adults.

About Saturday Introductory Level Class:

This class is suitable for people with no prior knowledge of ballet. This repeating series of eight classes introduces students to the most common ballet vocabulary that they would need to know in order to participate in Open Level Dark Room Ballet Class. The class introduces students to necessary anatomical concepts like turnout, torso stability, foot sensitivity and mobility, sightless balancing, and the use of a taped floor for orientation.

Classes take place each Saturday online via the Zoom platform; there is also the option to call in via phone.



Register:


If you are a blind or visually impaired individual interested in learning ballet remotely, you MUST contact us by no later than June 18, so you can complete the intake process to register for this class.



To register, email info@darkroomballet.com to begin the intake process

You can also reach Dark Room Ballet by phone at (929) 367-0025


If you have some ballet experience, you may also qualify to join the ongoing Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class on Monday nights; please contact us if you are interested.

Returning students are welcome to re-join intro level classes, as well as encouraged to join Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class. Please let us know if you would like to re-join intro class as a returning student.

If you work with an organization that serves blind or visually impaired people, please share this information with people who may be interested in registering for this class.

If you are NOT a blind or visually impaired student, you may qualify to join the ongoing Dark Room Ballet: Open Level Class on Monday nights on a select basis; please get in touch with us to explain your interest.

Other Classes in the Dark Room

In addition to online Introductory and Open Level ballet classes for blind and visually impaired adults, Krishna often teaches workshops on related topics open to everyone, including anatomy, improvisation and audio description.


Learn more about past and upcoming online workshops: Dark Room Ballet Workshops

Categories
News / Announcements

JUNE WORKSHOPS: Anatomy and Audio Description

image as originally shared and described on Instagram: A flyer with a black background and combinations of dark orange and white text, an orange banner at the bottom with black text. Dark Room Ballet with Krishna Washburn JUNE WORKSHOPS Black and white photo in the center: Krishna seen from the waist up in a rehearsal studio, with eyes closed, head tilted back, arms apart and fingers bent in various positions, sensing her body’s internal rhythms. TEXT CONTINUES: No prior knowledge required - priority given to Blind/VI students Anatomy ("Butt Class") - Sat. June 11 Audio Description - Sat. June 18 4 PM to 5:30 PM (Eastern / New York Time) All Dark Room Ballet classes and workshops take place online via Zoom - visit darkroomballet.com or LINK IN BIO for more info!
Instagram promotional image (described in alt-text)

Announcing two upcoming workshops open to all (priority given to blind and visually impaired students), no prior experience required.

Both workshops take place online via Zoom.

To register for one or both workshops, please write to info@darkroomballet.com as soon as possible to complete the intake process.

Saturday, June 11, 2022

4:00 PM to 5:30 PM (Eastern Time)

No Diagram Anatomy for Dancers in the Dark Room Presents Anatomy in Detail: The Gluteus Complex (Butt Class) 

(link to Movement Research class listing)

The first in a series of three highly detailed workshops analyzing specific anatomical areas in detail. In this workshop, we will use movement and conversation to not only cultivate scientific knowledge related to the gluteus complex (the butt!), but also initiate a higher degree of body awareness and neurological learning in this area. Evolutionary history and the marvels of human variation will also be addressed in this workshop. No prior knowledge of human anatomy, dance, or self-audio description are required to participate, but all students will come away with deep anatomical knowledge, reduced movement anxiety, and tools to start learning how to talk about movement in a visceral way. Yes, we’ll be laughing, too.

Part One: Superficial muscles

Part Two: Intermedial muscles

Part Three: Deep muscles

Part Four: Bone

Part Five: Nerves and patterns of motor neuron response

Saturday, June 18, 2022

4:00 PM to 5:30 PM (Eastern Time)

Voices from the Dark Room: The Multitude of Audio Descriptions and When to Touch Them 

(link to Movement Research class listing)

This self-audio description workshop gives students the framework for thinking of audio description as not a singular process with a singular best practice, but as multiple art forms with multiple purposes. Audio description has, for too long, been considered as an access tool that can be deployed at a moment’s notice with little forethought, but this sort of thinking creates environments of severe inequity. Classrooms, rehearsals, and performances where blind and visually impaired people are given inadequate connection to the art at their center are ableist places.

Part One: Audio Description in Technique Class

Part Two: Audio Description for Narrative Performance (story arc)

Part Three: Audio Description for Non-Linear Performance (emotional quality)

Part Four: Audio Description as Cooperative Creation and Collaboration (two voices)

Part Five: Audio Description for the Ensemble (a thousand voices)