Tag: 2026

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Rotating Faculty 2026: Improvising with our Ecosystems with Shannon Brooks

image is described in caption
Shannon crouches on the floor holding a microphone with neon yellow/green tulle draped across their body and smushing their face. They speak/sing into the microphone with their eyes closed. Photo credit: And Keller

Presented as part of our 2026 rotating faculty series:

Improvising with our Ecosystems: a Laboratory and Introduction to Improvising with Movement, Sound, and Self-Audio Description with Shannon Brooks

About Shannon Brooks:


Shannon Brooks is a multisensory, multimedia artist grounded in iterative, time-based experimentation. Their practice engages with the full range of our senses and draws on ritual, material, and performance, to construct strange worlds between the physical and the ephemeral. Their practice researches the interconnected systems between ecology, decay, the body, disability, power, ghosts, geologic time, movement, textile, and memory.

Their practice decentralizes sight as the ultimate means of validating experience, creating cacophonies of textures and sounds to explore the dimensions of our senses. As a low-vision person, Shannon understands accessibility as an imperfect creative force that transforms time, space, and power structures.

About This Workshop Series:

monthly ritual to connect with, stretch into and experiment with the glory of our senses.

We ground into our practice with guided imaginative eco-embodiments and learning different approaches to improvising with movement and sound. Then we will play with, touch, taste, listen, and smell materials found in our own everyday life to celebrate and map out the landscapes of our sensorial experiences. Our time will conclude by folding our somatic exploration into our improvisations, and developing imperfect audio descriptions reflecting on our practice together.

After each practice, participants will receive an overview of the improvisation techniques we explored, music selections, and an ever-evolving dictionary of terms specific to Shannon’s class series.

Workshop Dates and Details:

These workshops are set up to build on one another but can be taken separately. 

They will be offered virtually on Zoom.

Each workshop is two hours long:

  • Sunday, February 1, 2026 – Improvising with Our Ecosystems with Shannon Brooks, 2 PM to 4 PM (Eastern/New York Time)
  • Sunday, March 1, 2026 – Improvising with Our Ecosystems with Shannon Brooks, 2 PM to 4 PM (Eastern/New York Time)
  • Sunday, April 12, 2026 – Improvising with Our Ecosystems with Shannon Brooks, 2 PM to 4 PM (Eastern/New York Time)

To register for this workshop series, send an email to info@darkroomballet.com with the subject line Improvising with our Ecosystems

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Rotating Faculty 2026: Cultivating a Studio Art Practice with Bill Porter

image described in caption
Bill Porter is seated on a couch on the left side of the frame, wearing a blue Henley and jeans, and has a neatly trimmed brown beard, facing the camera with a thoughtful, engaged expression. He is surrounded by his studio space, including woodworking tools, paint, and other materials.

Presented as part of our 2026 rotating faculty series:

Cultivating a Studio Art Practice with Bill Porter

About Bill Porter:

Bill Porter is a multidisciplinary artist and educator whose research-based studio practice examines how personal histories, cultural narratives, and visual systems shape perception and reinforce social inequalities, drawing on his lived experience with an inherited retinal disorder and the broader realities of blind and low vision communities to critically examine systemic ableism. Bill teaches studio art at the College of Art and Design at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA, and develops accessible studio courses for artists with disabilities through museums and nonprofit organizations, including the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s Access Studio program. An active disability advocate, he founded the Lesley University Disability Advocacy and Education Group and organizes exhibitions and public programs that amplify the perspectives and lived experiences of people with disabilities. His teaching and scholarship focus on cultural narratives of blindness, inclusive studio instruction, and peer-based learning. Bill has collaborated with an interdisciplinary faculty team researching student-led peer critique, contributing to the development of a widely presented three-step feedback protocol and the co-authored publication Student-Led Peer Review: A Practical Guide to Implementation Across Disciplines and Modalities (Routledge, 2022).

About This Workshop Series:

This studio art course focuses on building a sustainable studio art practice within a supportive learning environment. Students will develop a single art project over the course of the program, working through research, making, feedback, and revision. The course also introduces art history and contemporary art through the perspectives of blind and low vision artists and scholars, grounding studio work in critical and creative contexts.

This seven-week course meets weekly for two-hour online sessions that include lectures, group discussions, and critiques. Creative individuals of all levels of art training and experience are welcome. Students are encouraged to work with the materials, modalities, and methods that best support their projects, including non-visual media. Attendance and active participation are expected, including engagement in class critiques and the shared process of giving and receiving feedback.

Workshop Dates and Details:

These workshops will be offered virtually on Zoom.

Each workshop is two hours long:

  • Thursday April 9, 2026 — 7 to 9 PM (Eastern/New York Time)
  • Thursday April 16, 2026 — 7 to 9 PM (Eastern/New York Time)
  • Thursday April 23, 2026 — 7 to 9 PM (Eastern/New York Time)
  • Thursday April 30, 2026 — 7 to 9 PM (Eastern/New York Time)
  • Thursday May 7, 2026 — 7 to 9 PM (Eastern/New York Time)
  • Thursday May 14, 2026 — 7 to 9 PM (Eastern/New York Time)
  • Thursday May 21, 2026 — 7 to 9 PM (Eastern/New York Time)

To register for this workshop series, send an email to info@darkroomballet.com with the subject line Cultivating a Studio Art Practice with Bill Porter

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Introductory Ballet for Blind and Visually Impaired Adults – New Cycle Begins February 21, 2026

On a white background, faint orange abstract shapes appear alongside ribbons, and small orange outlines of ballet dancers, all behind large orange text in the center that reads: Dark Room Ballet,Intro Class returns February 2026

Beginning Saturday, February 21st
From 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM (New York Time)

About Saturday Introductory Level Class:

This is a FREE class!

This class is suitable for people with no prior knowledge of ballet.

This 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.

Dark Room Ballet classes and workshops are taught by Krishna Washburn, a blind dancer and dance teacher, and they prioritize the needs of blind and visually impaired students.

Note:

This is the ONLY time this Introductory Ballet class will be offered again for the foreseeable future — if you or a another blind or low-vision individual ( adult 18+) or organization you know of might be interested in participating, they MUST reach out to us as soon as possible!

Register:

The next Intro Level cycle begins on Saturday February 21, 2026

If you are a blind or visually impaired individual interested in learning ballet remotely, you MUST contact us by no later than February 18, 2026, 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

Please note that Dark Room Ballet Introductory Level Classes now operate as a scholarship program for new blind and low-vision students.

Learn more about the Dark Room Ballet Intro Level Scholarship Program


  • 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

We look forward to hearing from you soon!