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WORKSHOP: No Diagram Anatomy for Dancers in the Dark Room Presents: The Lower Leg Complex (Foot Class) – Saturday, October 29th

Hosted by Movement ResearchDark Room Ballet is designed specifically for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired adults.

NOTE: This is a FREE class, but donations are welcomed.

No Diagram Anatomy for Dancers in the Dark Room Presents:

The Lower Leg Complex (Foot Class)


Saturday, October 29th , 2022
4 PM to 6 PM (Eastern / New York Time)

NOTE: This is a 2 hour class

This workshop is offered online via Zoom


To register, please email: 
info@darkroomballet.com


Workshop Description

The third and final in a series of three highly detailed workshops analyzing specific anatomical areas in detail. In this workshop, we will use movement, touch, and conversation to not only cultivate scientific knowledge related to the lower leg complex (the foot and related structures!), 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. Let’s get right down to the real nitty gritty!

Material covered in this workshop will include:

  • The skeletal structure of the lower leg, ankle, and foot
  • The locations and functions of musculature of the lower leg, ankle, and foot, and their relationships to commonly known dance vocabulary
  • The nerves and nerve plexuses of the lower leg, ankle, and foot, and what it means to cultivate neurological connection to this part of the body
  • The connective tissues (fascia, tendons, cartilages and ligaments) of the lower leg, ankle and foot.

All students will receive the complete script of the workshop two days beforehand, and the script can be reviewed either before or after the workshop.

This workshop is designed for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired people and does not use diagrams.

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News / Announcements

WORKSHOP RESCHEDULED: No Diagram Anatomy for Dancers in the Dark Room: The Cervical Complex (Neck Class) – Friday, August 26th

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

Note: This is a FREE class, but donations are welcomed.

No Diagram Anatomy for Dancers in the Dark Room presents:

Anatomy in Detail:
The Cervical Complex (Neck Class)

NEW DATE & TIME!

FRIDAY, August 26th, 2022
6:00 PM to 7:30 PM (Eastern/New York Time)


This workshop is offered online via Zoom


To register, please email: 
info@darkroomballet.com


Workshop Description


The second in a series of three highly detailed workshops analyzing specific anatomical areas in detail. In this workshop, we will use movement, touch, and conversation to not only cultivate scientific knowledge related to the cervical complex (the neck!), 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. Let’s get right down to the real nitty gritty!

Material covered in this workshop will include:

  1. The cervical spine, the hyoid bone, and neighboring related skeletal features
  2. The layered musculature of the front, sides, and back of the neck
  3. The cervical spinal cord, nerves and nerve plexuses of the neck
  4. Organ systems of the neck (respiratory, digestive, endocrine)

All students will receive the complete script of the workshop two days beforehand, and the script can be reviewed either before or after the workshop. This workshop is designed for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired people and does not use diagrams.


About No Diagram Anatomy Workshop Series


No Diagram Anatomy workshops are in-depth dancer’s anatomy workshops that de-center sight and are designed for the educational needs of blind and visually impaired people. Participants will learn about their bodies’ layered anatomy from the outside-in using a combination of guided audio description, imagination, touch, and movement experimentation, and will also be given opportunities to practice talking about how the movement feels in the body (self-audio description).

For 2022, the theme for No Diagram Anatomy has been Nitty Gritty, in which a single anatomical region is demystified and explained in depth. These three workshops are:

  • The Gluteus Complex (Butt Class) (June 11, 2022)
  • The Cervical Complex (Neck Class) (Rescheduled to August 26, 2022)
  • The Lower Leg Complex (Foot Class) – (October 29, 2022)
Categories
News / Announcements

JUNE WORKSHOPS: Anatomy and Audio Description

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)

Categories
News / Announcements

COMING SOON: No Diagram Anatomy for Dancers in the Dark Room (March 19 and March 26)

Sponsored by Movement Research, these two workshops are a continuation of and makeup dates for workshops held last year in the anatomy series.

Like all current Dark Room Ballet classes, these workshops:

  • Will take place virtually using Zoom
  • Prioritize the educational needs of blind and visually impaired adults
  • Are free, especially for blind and visually impaired students
  • Are taught by Krishna Washburn, a blind professional dancer and dance teacher

Workshop dates:

  • The Complete Lower Body: from the soles of the feet to pelvis — Saturday, March 19 from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM (Eastern / New York Time)
    The Complete Upper Body: from the fingertips to the crown — Saturday, March 26 from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM (Eastern / New York Time)

You can participate in either or both workshops.

Our instructor Krishna says of the workshops:

These two workshops are meant to help participants cultivate deep levels of body awareness, to get to know and appreciate the unique features of their own anatomy, and to feel movement in a highly specific way that can then be described verbally (self-audio description). These workshops are an invitation to disabled dancers, especially blind and visually impaired dancers, who may have been denied important information about their own bodies, or who have been discouraged from trusting their own physical perceptions, to find certainty, confidence, and joy in movement. 

These two workshops are not fine-grain scientific anatomical analysis, but workshops that do deep dives regarding sensing highly specific anatomy on more targeted regions of the body will be coming up later this year (June: Pelvis, August: Foot, November: Neck)

To register:

Please write to: info@darkrooomballet.com

Please let us know which workshop you would like to attend…

If you are not blind or visually impaired, please let us know why you would like to attend these workshops…

If you are a current or returning Dark Room Ballet student who has already registered, you don’t have to write, but you can if you want to!

Please note:

These workshops are separate from Dark Room Ballet Introductory Level ballet classes for blind and visually impaired adults (which begin again on Saturday, April 9th) and Dark Room Ballet Open Level classes, which are ongoing and open for registration; please let us know if you are interested in either class so we can learn more about you as a potential new student.

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WORKSHOP: Self Audio-Description and the Motor Neuron: Learning How to Play Your Own Instrument, Wed. February 16th from 6 PM to 7 PM (Eastern Time)

Krishna Washburn of Dark Room Ballet will be sharing one of her popular anatomy and audio description workshops, this time sponsored by Hook & Loop out of Philadelphia (not Movement Research in NYC).

The Dark Room Ballet community and friends are invited — if you have participated in a version of this workshop before, please feel free to join again!

The workshop is free and will take place online; you must register directly with Hook & Loop to receive the Zoom information and recording after the event.

Description and RSVP link below.

Self Audio-Description and the Motor Neuron: Learning How to Play Your Own Instrument

Wednesday February 16th, 2022

6:00 PM to 7:00 PM, Eastern Time


Facilitated by Krishna Washburn
Closed Captioning available

This workshop helps people to begin developing a self-audio description practice, in order to create movement art that connects with others on a visceral level. This workshop de-centers and de-prioritizes sight, and is appropriate for movers and dancers of all levels of experience or inexperience. Learn how to understand how movement feels in your body, and then practice talking about those feelings with others while also learning about the wonders of human anatomy.

By RSVP-ing you will receive the zoom link, full access information and a recording for this workshop. Recordings will be sent out by early March via Hook & Loop.

Please fill out this form to RSVP: Self Audio-Description and the Motor Neuron: Learning How to Play Your Own Instrument

Please send email to hookandloopphl@gmail.com with any questions.

Categories
News / Announcements

WORKSHOP: No Diagram Anatomy for Dancers in the Dark Room (beginning November 13)

Dark Room Ballet presents:

Image Description: This is a black vinyl tote bag. On the
front of the bag, there is an orange square that frames the words in all
caps: AIR BETWEEN MY VERTEBRAE. Right underneath the words, there is an
image of part of a curving spine. The square, words, and spine detail
are made of an orange, flock vinyl material that has a soft velvet,
fuzzy feel.

No Diagram Anatomy for Dancers in the Dark Room

Note: Dark Room Ballet classes prioritize the educational needs of blind and visually impaired students, but anatomy workshops are open to all.

Sponsored by Movement Research

This is a series of 5 individual workshops held online via Zoom beginning Saturday, November 13, 2021.

All workshops take place on Saturdays, from 4:00 PM to 5:30 PM (Eastern/New York Time)

(no class November 27, 2021)

Students can take the complete series of 5 classes, or attend individual sessions as fits their schedule.

Class Description:

  1. Planes and Chains: how the body relates to space, surfaces, directions, and itself (November 13)
  2. Biomechanics 101: How every single joint in the body operates (November 20)
  3. The Spine and its Supports: when people talk about the core, this is what they mean (Rescheduled to December 11)
  4. Motor Neuron Function and Human Variation: Learning How to Play Your Own Instrument (December 18)

Please note: The Complete Lower Body workshops have been rescheduled and will be taught in 2022.

Dates to be announced soon.

To register:

 email: info@darkroomballet.com

And please let us know which/how many of the workshops you would like to participate in.

You can also let us know more about your interest in taking classes with Dark Room Ballet.

Please note:

This workshop series is separate from other class offerings; please contact us if you are also interested in: