Special Events
Art Detectives:
Tap! Tap! Tap!: Dance! Dance! Dance!
March 1st | 10:30 am - 12:00 pm | Kalamazoo Institute of the Arts
Join us as we engage our hands with a story and a colorful painting project, followed by a fun movement session led by Wellspring Dance Academy. We will be using finger paints for the art project, so it could get messy.
Art Detectives is a free program for children 4-8 years old (but all ages are welcome). Join us as we read a story, look at art, and make a project to take home. Caregivers must stay with their children at all times.
This is a free program; preregistration is encouraged.
Coffee Hour Discussion:
Dancing through Storms
March 2nd | 10:00 am
Black Arts and Cultural Center
JWhat does the future of the arts and culture sector look like? How will we pivot in the current climate and continue creating? How are we building resilient spaces to weather these storms? Join the Coffee Hour Discussion, facilitated by Kate Yancho, to address these questions and more in a roundtable-style discussion. Open to anyone who is interested in digging into topics related to dance, the arts, and building community.
Kate Yancho (she/her) has been serving as the Executive Director of Wellspring/Cori Terry & Dancers since 2016. She holds a BFA in Dance Performance from Kent State University and an MA in Higher Education and Student Affairs from Ohio State University. In 2021, Kate was appointed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to the Michigan Arts and Culture Council and is now in her second term in that role. Kate is passionate about creating spaces that honor artists needs and help them thrive.
This is a free program; preregistration is encouraged.
Lunch and Learn
Vulnerability is Your Friend: Co-Creating Robots with Dance
March 1st | 12:30 - 2:00 p.m | Kalamazoo Public Library (Central Branch)
Co-facilitated by choreographer Stephanie Miracle and mechanical engineer Deema Totah, this interactive, embodied workshop will guide participants through a choreographic exploration with robots and mechanical objects. The session will emphasize the importance of play, experimentation and vulnerability within interdisciplinary co-creation and will share the insight the two have gained in collaborating together. Open to all levels, experience with improvisation will be helpful.
Stephanie Miracle is an international choreographer and teaching artist investigating the intersections of seen and unseen landscapes. Her highly collaborative practice is invested in the concept of abundance found within awareness and play. Her dances manifest as place-based performance interventions, sound walks, experimental films and stage productions. Described as “iconic and nuanced…with an irreverence that makes you smile unconsciously”, Stephanie's works have been presented in NYC, DC, Los Angeles, Germany, Russia, Mexico, Ireland, Italy, Turkey, Hungary, Portugal, and France. She is an Assistant Professor in Dance at the University of Iowa, a certified teacher of Klein Technique, and the artistic director of FAKERS CLUB: a live cinema performance project.
This event is FREE however preregistration is strongly encouraged.
Boxed lunches are available for pre-order from HUB Bar + Grill for $15.
Community Dance Jam with LIVE MUSIC!
March 1st | 2-3 pm | Kalamazoo Institute of Arts
This movement and music celebration welcomes all individuals interested in art, music, dance, and collaboration — Whether you consider yourself a dancer or not, explore movement through structured improvisation scores with live music, or enjoy through observations and listen and view the magic of collaboration. Featuring movement facilitation by dance artists, Allyson Lowis and Amy Wilson and with LIVE MUSIC from The Druid Drummer.
Allyson Lowis is a doctor of physical therapy and dancer in Kalamazoo, MI. In her free time she enjoys being with her husband and dogs, hiking, music (playing and listening), and traveling.
Amy Wilson is a dance artist, choreographer, dance educator and the Artistic Director of Dance in the Annex (DITA) - a Grand Rapids based modern dance collective. DITA produces and creates live and dance-film works that are site-specific with an emphasis on process. Amy has served on faculty at Grand Valley State University, Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Michigan Ballet Academy, Grand Rapids Community College and Civic Theatre and is a regular guest artist and choreographer at studios, schools and universities around West Michigan. Most recently Amy choreographed The Rocky Horror Show at Grand Rapids Civic Theatre.
The Druid Drummer is an unorthodox solo percussion act from Kalamazoo. He creates primal soundscapes that serve as self expression and a call to the audience's own inner rhythm. His performances are described as "the human spirit embodied as sound”.
This is a free program; preregistration is encouraged.