sat march 27 :: 2PM - 4PM
sat april 3 :: 2PM - 4PM

$10/per class
cash only

Class Description:

Partner Stretch and Release
Level: Open to All

Do you have sore muscles, or wish that you were a bit more flexible? Give yourself the gift of being comfortable in your own body.

We will start with a light warm-up so that the muscles can open and release safely. Then we will partner up to use the contact and weight of another person to support deeper opening and relaxation than we can achieve while stretching on our own. Finally, we will use balls and other props to facilitate release.

Maria is offering tricks and tools for muscle recovery and lengthening that she learned as a touring dancer on the road. She teaches in an affirming and light-hearted way!
No need to bring a partner.
All body types and levels of experience are welcome.

Bio:

Maria Bauman just finished her seventh season with acclaimed contemporary dance company Urban Bush Women. She originated roles in "Walking with Pearl: Africa Diaries," "Walking with Pearl: Southern Diaries," and in guest choreographer Bridget Moore's "Sacred Vessel." Recently, Maria traveled to Senegal to participate in a collaboration between Urban Bush Women and contemporary African dance company, JANT-BI. She was also Urban Bush Women’s Associate Artistic Director for Community Engagement, co-facilitating workshops on pairing arts and activism, organizing Community Engagement activities in various cities, and writing curriculum.

Now, Maria travels throughout the United States as a freelance choreographer and teacher, and has created dances for Spelman College, Virginia Commonwealth University, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, and New Jersey Governor’s School for the Arts, among others. In New York, her work has been showcased multiple times at the Kumble Theater, as well as at the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance (BAAD!), WOW Café Theater, New 42nd Street Studios, BRICstudios, and as part of an installation at Dance Theater Workshop. In addition to presenting her own work, Maria dances with Nia Love/Blacksmith’s Daughter.

She just presented The Gratitude Project for two sold-out nights at WOW Café Theatre. Her other current projects are “50 Ways to Say…” Bauman’s duet piece based on the murder of Sean Bell by police officers in Queens, New York (premiered 2009, Kumble Theater) and “Touch Me,” a collaboration with Anna Halprin dancer Terre Parker, based on sensory exploration and tactile sensation (premiered in Berkeley, CA 2009).

Maria has also danced with Adele Myers and Dancers, and apprenticed with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. She graduated cum laude with a B.F.A. in Dance and English from the Florida State University and is also trained in the art of capoeira, a Brazilian martial art which employs dance. You may learn more about Maria Bauman at www.mbdance.org

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