Studio Spotlight: Taiko Drumming with Peter Marino

Peter Marino has been teaching percussion for the past 20 years and is the head of the Atlanta Taiko Project, whose aim is "spreading the joy of music-making." It is Peter's professional focus to help amateurs understand the secret that professiona musicians know but rarely share: that it is more fun to play an instrument than to listen to one. Taiko drumming - an ensemble style of drumming that originated in Japan - is easy to learn for any age, and does not require any previous experience or even knowledge of how to read music. It's also a great stress-reliever, and great exercise for your brain.

1. What do you teach at CORE Studios?
   Taiko Drumming

2. What got you into teaching?
   I’ve done it most of my life. I love the feeling of helping people understand something they didn’t know before.

3. How long have you been teaching?
   20 years

4. What two adjectives would you use to describe your classes?
   Engaging and Fun

5. Tell us a little bit about what your focus is for your classes?
   Getting participants, some who have never played before, to experience the joy of playing music with others.

6. Do you have any upcoming projects or events you are excited about?
   We are working on a five-movement piece to represent the five classical elements of fire, water, air, earth and spirit.

7. What do you love about CORE Studios?
   The location, the feel, and the people I have met.
   
   
   Learning Taiko takes place on the 2nd and 4th Sunday of each month, with a beginning class from 3:00pm to 4:15pm and advanced class from 4:30pm - 5:45pm. To sign up, visit  atlantataikoproject.com.
   
   
   
   

Studio Spotlight: Vital Cardio Blast with Tim Roberts

 

As a licensed personal trainer, for the last 9 years, life coach and massage therapist,  Tim Roberts has developed various programs that will change the clients outlook, empower the clients ability to exercise, and strengthen the body to the best of the clients ability which in turn enhances the clients physical, mental and spiritual well-being.


To learn more about Tim read below, and be sure to visit his website at tryworkout911.com

1. What do you teach at CORE Studios?
   Vital Cardio Blast on Fridays 6:30pm to 7:30pm

2. What got you into teaching?
   My love of fitness, working with people and the growing obesity epidemic in our community.

3. How long have you been teaching?
   6 years

4. What 2 adjectives would you use to describe your classes?
   Invigorating and Fun

5. Tell us a little bit about what your focus is for your classes.
   To give people a different perspective on fitness…make fitness fun so participants don’t feel like they are working out because they are having fun.

6. Do you have any upcoming projects or events you are excited about?
   January 2014 – Community Fitness Fair in Stone Mountain, GA

7. What do you love about CORE Studios?

The location, space, community and courses that are offered. 

France Comes to Atlanta

This week starts our collaboration with Association Manifeste from Toulouse, France. The one language that we all speak fluently is dance, and that is how we communicate, besides the broken English, Spanish, and French.

You can see the work we'll be creating here next Thursday at the Rialto Center for the Arts in downtown Atlanta. You can also see the performance of Association Manifeste next Saturday outside of the Rialto. If you can't make either one of those shows or you want a different experience, come to our Salon next Tuesday at the studio. See you all soon.

Studio Spotlight: Ania Bartelmus

Ania Bartelmus is a flamenco dancer from Poland, based in Atlanta. In the fall of 2011, she decided to follow her dreams and began her journey in Seville, Spain, though she had been breathing flamenco for several years before...

Ania's flamenco classes for both beginners and more advanced dancers take place Saturday afternoons at CORE Studios.

To learn more about Ania read below, and be sure to visit her website at breathingflamenco.blogspot.com

1. What do you teach at CORE Studios?

Flamenco dance

2. What got you into teaching?

While I was studying flamenco in Spain, I was required to teach as part of the dance scholarship I received. I instantly loved teaching!

3. How long have you been teaching?

I taught for several months in Spain and ever since I moved to Atlanta, which is several weeks ago.

4. What 2 adjectives would you use to describe your classes?

Invigorating and unique

5. Tell us a little bit about what your focus is for your classes.

In my beginner class I want people to discover what flamenco is, get them to dance simple combinations and develop some basic technique. In my intermediate/advanced class, the focus is to help students become stronger and more confident dancers; have more confidence in the flamenco rhythms, improve the speed and precision of footwork and coordination of body movements.

6. Do you have any upcoming projects or events you are excited about?

I am working on a project which involves bringing flamenco musicians from Seville to Atlanta and create a Seville-style flamenco performance.

STILL in progress!

We are gearing up with costumes, lights, and sound for our first show for the season that opens on Friday (tomorrow) at 8 pm at the Decatur High School!

Erik works diligently on putting music together for our Picasso piece that is a part of our show. We had the task of combining each vignette into one seamless section of Picasso-inspired dances, and Erik alongside the help of Josh was able to help make the music flow nicely.

Here is Patton, company manager & costume designer extraordinaire, making sure Derrick's costume fits well and works for the show.

Come see us in the theater to see it all put together! Our shows are free and are at 8 pm for both Friday and Saturday night this weekend! See you there!

Studio Spotlight: Tap Dancing with Dotti Warren

Dotti Warren has been teaching dance for 40 years. She opened her own studio Simply Dancing in Lilburn, and brings her expertise to CORE Studios Monday evenings from 7:15pm - 8:15pm.

1.       What do you teach at CORE Studios?

Tap Dancing and Ballet Barre Stretch, the stretch class is coming in October.

2.       What got you into teaching? 
I began dancing as a child.  I was a performer in Atlanta years ago with Carolyn Fleetwood and Southern ballet.  I later opened my own studio “Simply Dancing.”

3.       How long have you been teaching? 
40 years

4.       What 2 adjectives would you use to describe your classes? 
Entertaining and Energetic, exercise that is fun!

5.       Tell us a little bit about what your focus is for your classes. 
It is my goal to pass my knowledge of dance to new dancers and provide some performance opportunities if wanted.

6.       Do you have any upcoming projects or events you are excited about? 
I am hoping to seek performance opportunities!

7.       What do you love about CORE Studios? 
The availability, size and location

Process and Collaboration

What does your art mean to you? Why do you do it? How do you approach it? What is your process? These are questions we as artists ask ourselves all of the time, for me almost every day. One great thing about CORE is that we get to explore these questions with every workshop, class, and new project. Process is constantly being examined. This week is no exception.

We continued working with Sue today. Yesterday, we listened to a wonderful, thought-provoking story. We then wrote for several minutes, chose words from those stream-of-consciousness writings, and lived with those words, moved around, walked with them inside our heads. Continuing with the words and the movement today, we also brought in objects from nature and arranged them around the studio. Like these objects, we are all very different. We differ in how we move, where we come from, how we view the world, and on and on. We are different, but we come together to form images, movement, and art. We all bring our individuality to the process and the creation, and hopefully people see the beauty that is us and our collaboration. By arranging our objects in different locations and different arrangements, we could still see the beauty in each one, no matter how it was presented. We could also still see our individuality in each one. Take a look at the photos and decide for yourselves which arrangement belongs to which person in the company. You can also try to guess which object was brought in by which dancer.

Mind, Body, and Creation

In case you didn't know about our summer intensive, the company has been working with Chelsea Gregory this week. Chelsea is teaching workshops in Body-Mind Centering, which helps us to understand the relationship between our body and mind as well as our bodies and the world around us. This type of work can be quite revealing and sometimes emotional when you release tension that you've been holding in a certain part of the body for a long time. The work also helps us discover different ways of moving, helps us break old habits, and helps us to step out of our comfort zones. You still have two more chances to take class with Chelsea. She will be teaching classes tonight and tomorrow focusing on Body-Mind Centering and social change. Come out and experience this wonderful workshop with the rest of the company.

In other news for the company, we started creating new work with Sue this afternoon, and I have no doubt that all of the information from the intensive will bring new life and creativity to the work we will create. I am so excited to be back in the studio, creating with my fellow dancers. Besides the Body-Mind Centering work with Chelsea, we will also be taking workshops with Ann Law Thursday through Saturday, so be sure to check those out as well. Ann's workshops will be related to risk-taking inside the art of dance-making, exploring new ways of empowering dancers to perform at their full potential through creating dances that aim for personal transformation. We hope you come out and share in these experiences with us. 

TechnoToning with Mary Vallo and Kaitlyn Bryant

The exciting new form of fitness training known as TechnoToning is a revolutionary dance workout incorporating techno and house music into several exercise routines that will help you tone and sculpt your body into perfection. Come join us and learn hot new dance moves as you workout in our club-like atmosphere. As you dance to the invigorating pulse of the music, you’ll quickly realize how fun and easy our program is. The TechnoToning dance workout will forever change the way you feel about getting in shape.

Mary and Kaitlyn teach TechnoToning at CORE Studios Wednesday evenings from 7:30 - 8:30. Check out their website for more information at technotoning.com

 
Get to know a little more about Mary and Kaitlyn and TechnoToning below:

What do you teach at CORE Studios? TechnoToning. It is a sexy new fitness dance routine for women, guaranteed to get Goddesses fit and have fun!

What got you into teaching?  TechnoToning has been the dream of both Mary Vallo and Kaitlyn Bryant for several years. They created it together to lose weight, resulting in both losing 30 lbs each! They have so much fun doing it together, they decided to brand it and share TechnoToning with women everywhere.

How long have you been teaching? TechnoToning just launched in the beginning of 2013 and had their first official class April 20th 2013 at CORE Performance Studios.

What adjectives would you use to describe your classes?  Our classes are fun, sexy, and effective!

Tell us a little bit about what your focus is for your classes? The focus of TechnoToning is for women to get a full body workout while dancing along with their girlfriends! We create a fun and exciting atmosphere with rockin tunes and sexy dance moves! We want women to find their inner dance goddess and let her shine! We want to make sure every Goddess will achieve toned muscles and a tight tummy! Come sculpt the body of your dreams and have a blast doing it!

Do you have any upcoming projects or events you are excited about? Since we are a brand new start up, we have many upcoming plans for the future! Soon we will be planning to add a second weekly class to our line-up, and progressively grow the business bigger and have classes occurring in numerous places around the city. Next year in 2014, we plan to create a TechnoToning DVD that customers can buy and workout from home!

What do you love about CORE Studios? TechnoToning loves CORE Studios. The minute we walked into the facility, it felt like home. We had toured other locations around Atlanta, and CORE was our top pick! Since beginning our classes in April we have had a wonderful experience teaching there.

Florida Dance Festival Performance

Last night at the Florida Dance Festival in Tampa we performed four dances that have been created over the past year. It was such an amazing experience to perform all of these dances together for the first time. Four different choreographers, four different dances, and four different worlds through which we move, an experience that stretched our bodies, minds, and imaginations. This has also been an experience that pulled us even closer together as a company. Everyone agreed that we had fun, felt one another's presence, and responded to each other in a way that we had not been able to do in rehearsals.  Sometimes it takes an audience to complete a performance.

Friday morning we performed a piece from STILL, choreographed by Sue Schroeder, on an NBC morning show, Daytime TV. It will be aired next Wednesday, June 26, on an NBC station near you. Company manager Patton White discusses the company with the hosts. Check it out!

We finished off the weekend with a master class at the Florida Dance Festival.  Sue Schroeder led the class and the company had the experience of working with some of the young dancers attending the festival. It's always a great experience as a dancer to reconnect to your body and muscles that you may have forgotten existed, a feeling I often get while taking Sue's class.

Thank you for checking in with us. We can't wait to get back in the studio and create some new work. We hope to see you soon.

We're Back and Florida Bound

The company is back in rehearsal this week. We are remounting four of the works we created over the past year. These works will be performed at the Florida Dance Festival in Tampa. 

Remounting works is an interesting process.  Not only do the dancers have to remember the movement,  they have to remember the process that led to the creation of the piece. They have to remember the intent behind the movement.   Each of these four pieces was choreographed by four different choreographers with very different processes, so we have a lot of work to do in just a few days. 

In addition to this process, we are also replacing two dancers in three of the pieces. Juana Farfan and Erik Thurmond will also be joining us for this trip. Juana, artistic associate and outreach coordinator for CORE, will be performing in Herd, choreographed by Leslie Scates. Erik, who is already performing in the Liberated Accident, choreographed by Amanda K. Miller-Fasshauer, will also be performing in STILL, choreographed by Sue Schroeder, and Web, choreographed by Becky Valls. 

If you're in Tampa, come out to see how our hard work has paid off as we continue to breathe new life into these beautiful works. We hope you're having a wonderful summer and we're looking forward to seeing you soon. Here are some photos from rehearsal today. 

Zumba Party with Dawn Stocks

Dawn Stocks loves teaching Zumba classes. The reason is simple: Every class feels like a party! Come join her classes here at CORE Studios you'll see. You don\t even have to know how to dance. Just move your body and follow Dawn's lead. It's easy! Come try it, we guarantee you will have a blast!

Dawn teaches Zumba at CORE Studios Saturday mornings from 10:00am to 11:00am. Check out her website for more information, http://dawnstocks.zumba.com/.

Get to know a little more about Dawn below:


What do you teach at CORE Studios?  
I teach Zumba at Core Studios!

What got you into teaching?   After having my son, I gained a significant amount of weight.  I tried everything to get it off, including crazy diets and every Saturday morning infomercial exercise gadget that you can think of.  I finally decided to try Zumba.  I wasn’t going to invest in a whole collection of DVD’s just to have them collect dust on the shelves.  Instead, I chose to try a live class.  That was the best decision I have ever made.  I’ve been hooked since!

How long have you been teaching?  I have been an instructor and actively teaching Zumba since June 2011.  Since then I have also become licensed to teach Zumba Toning (which uses weights) and Zumbatomic (which is Zumba for kids).

What two adjectives would you use to describe your classes?  My classes are high energy and addictive!!!

Tell us a little bit about what your focus is for your classes?  

The focus for my classes are for people to have lots of fun while relieving stress and burning a significant amount of calories at the same time.

Do you have any upcoming projects or events you are excited about? 

Absolutely!  On Saturday, June 29, 2013, I will be having a Zumba Party on the Square from 8:00-10:00pm.  The reason that I am so excited about it is because this  party will help with Zumba’s efforts to end world hunger.  In short, people get to help in 2 ways.  The first way is to donate burned calories to Zumba, and in turn, Zumba gives a cash donation to charities such as World Food Programme and Feeding America.  The second way is to purchase a Zumba Rhythm Rocker World Hunger Stopper shirt or outfit, and 30% of the proceeds will go toward these charities as well! As an added bonus if you are interested in saving 10% on your order, please use my Zumba Affiliate Code dress4less. For specific details on how to do both, please visit www.greatcaloriedrive.com.     

What do you love about CORE Studios? 

I am originally from Decatur, and there is no place like home! I love CORE Studios because it is in the heart of the square, and it embodies all of the positive high energy that I need to help make my classes optimally successful.

Our Spring Season Spider Webs

Having performed at the Tanz Farm two weekends ago with Amanda K. Miller-Fasshauer's The Liberated Accident, I can say that we have discovered and uncovered more beauty within ourselves. It is sure to be an ongoing process just as it is for anything that grows. We have also grown closer as a company through all of the amazing experiences we've had working in "Amanda-world."

Amanda & Erik Spider-webbing...












Here is a link to Andrew Alexander's ArtsATL review of our performance at Tanz Farm!
http://www.artsatl.com/2013/05/review-tanz-farms-the-liberated-accident-fleeting-beautiful-fast-bound-train/

Last week we got ourselves ready for a little break by rehearsing some pieces from our SHIFT show to keep it fresh before we head to the Florida Dance Festival in June. Anna reworks a lift with Erik.















Then we cleaned up the studio a little and made sure our shelves were tidy.
In the spirit of "Spring cleaning," Derrick says,

"You better check your shelf..."

"Before you wreck your shelf."

Diagonals, Lines, Shifting Space, and EnCORE

Today was another whirlwind day of creation with Amanda K. Miller at the Goat Farm. It's amazing how much material has been generated within just a few days. The material isn't the most important thing for the dancers and Amanda, however. It is more important to exist within Amanda's world, the way she sees images. It is those images that we have to see in order to perform the work. The work is about lines, diagonals, shifting space, and seeing the images we create when we shift the space. This may sound difficult to understand, but once you arrive in Amanda's world, you begin to see things in a different way. Everything around you becomes a part of the dance. The performances of Amanda's work will be at the Goat Farm May 9, 10, and 11.

And now to step away from the Goat Farm for a moment. I would like to shift back to our studio in Decatur. Tomorrow night will be the kick off for EnCORE, a social gathering for the arts. Imagine an open-mic night in which any artist can participate. You don't have to be a singer or a musician. You can sing, dance, juggle, read poetry, anything you've been wanting to perform in front of someone, you can do it here. Tomorrow night we will have performances by our very own company member, Joshua Rackliffe, Cicada Rhythm, d. w. Tanner, and the Imperial OPA Circus Bodystackers. Sign up begins at 8:45. All performances must be eight minutes or less. Show off your talent. We'll see you there.

First Day at the Goat Farm!

Yesterday was our first day in residency at the Goat Farm. We returned to our work with Amanda K. Miller on a new commission to be premiered as part of the Tanz Farm series presented by gloATL. Company classes will be held the rest of the week at nine in the morning at the Goat Farm. Take classes with Amanda and check out the show at the Goat Farm May 9, 10, and 11. Here are some photos from rehearsal.

Atlanta to Houston

We made it to Houston and got to work our pieces in the actual space at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. We are excited for Thursday's performance and can't wait for it all to come together --- lights, sound, costumes, dance, paintings, audience.
Our Picasso-inspired performance Monochrome in Black, White & Gray starts at 6:30 pm at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. If you're in town, you don't want to miss it! Admission is free and open to the public on a first-come, first-serve basis. See you there!

Getting ready for Picasso

Getting ready for Picasso....

We started the week with an awesome and very informative MELT class by Karen Wells .... melting on balls and foam rollers. Great start for a packed week.
This week was just loaded with work. Creating our work for the Picasso Black & White exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, TX, Teacher Training all day on Wednesday with the amazing Ann Law, and remounting a piece for Florida Dance Festival in June....
Not sure how we did it, but we got it all done!
We worked great together as a team, supporting each other with our creative minds in the process. Great time management and working super focused allowed us to finish the week with satisfaction.
Awesome Team!

PICASSO / AOPSICS?

Hello Internet!
Here we are once again at the studio in Downtown Decatur! This has been an incredibly productive week at CORE Dance. In preparation for our upcoming visit to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, we have been co-creating the work under the direction of Artistic Director Sue Schroeder. Our entry point to the work was developed after visiting Pablo Picasso's "Black and White" exhibit at MFAH. By using Picasso's intentions for the works, Sue guided our point of entry and allowed us to develop vignettes from pieces that resonated with us.
This is a show not to be missed! For those of you reading from Texas, we all anticipate seeing you at the show. The exhibit is absolutely stellar and we are so honored to be presenting work alongside one of the greatest artists of the 20th century.
The dancers are hard at work refining and digging, so if we don't hear the doorbell ring then just knock louder! Have a fantastic weekend and perhaps we will see you all at company class on MONDAY at 9AM! Love and light and deep plies!
CORE Dance

Painting Intentions With Dance

Today we pulled together as dancers and continued creating movement for our Picasso project. It was a full day of painting Picasso's intention with bodies in space in which we worked as a whole group, in two trios, a solo, a duet, and back as a group! With so much creative juices flowing, it was difficult having to close up the day come 4:30 pm.

I wonder how today's creations will change and develop in the coming weeks. Can't wait to do more on Thursday!

A few of Picasso's works that we are using in our project...

You can see more of Picasso's work from the Gugganheim's exhibition Picasso Black and White here:

http://web.guggenheim.org/exhibitions/picasso/

Fitness and Picasso

After our trip to Houston, we had a bit of a break on Monday and Tuesday. We started back with TTI on Wednesday. Our guest teachers were Patton White and Kevin and Megan from FitWit. We learned a lot about the importance of teaching fitness to those who need it most, those who don't have a fitness program available to them. After our class Juana Farfan, our outreach coordinator, thought it would be a good idea for us to work out with the FitWit team the next morning. These are some of the photos from our class on Wednesday and the workout Thursday Morning. After a strenuous workout on Thursday, we reconnected with the Picasso black and white paintings, sculptures, and prints we saw in Houston. We began to explore Picasso's intentions, what he was trying to get across in his art. This led to further research about Picasso's life and art which carried over into Friday. We began to take those intentions of Picasso and translate them into movement. I am so excited to be working in this way and I can't wait to see what we come up with for our performance in April.

We have arrived at the Menil Collection in Houston ! We finally got here to Houston this morning and went straight to the amazing Menil Collection to walk and walk and discover and walk and discover.... and discover! The place is huge and just feels endless in a way. It is so curious how the skylight changes as the sun moves and the colors of the fluorescent lights change when people move in the space. We worked on establishing our pathways and finding clarity in it, and within that there were lots and lots of new discoveries... We finished the day with a few costume alterations. Super excited about tomorrow's experience at the Menil Collection at 5:30pm and 6:30pm :-))

Thriving Thursday

Walking, lifting, looking, releasing, noticing, falling, exchanging, completing, driving, and thriving. Today was full of action and adventure for our creative process in our Menil piece. Can't wait to try it all in the real space next week!

Monday Funday

Happy Monday! We've had quite an exciting day in and around the studio today! We started off Monday funday with an invigorating class with the amazing Sarah Hillmer, where we took ballet to another level. After catching our breath from a couple runs of grande allegro, we revisited some of our repertory from our guest choreographers Becky Valls and Amanda Miller. It is always refreshing when we get to revisit the work even when the choreographers can't be with us. After lunch, we explored our minimalist work for the Dan Flavin installation and took it outside to the square to experience the essences of our walks using the actual distance (which happens to be double the size of our studio!) Here are a couple pictures from our adventures!

A Field Trip to the Woods

Today we were surprised with a field trip. We packed up our things and, without knowing where we were heading, took off on a journey. We ended up at a beautiful park not too far from the studio. There we played and created all while enjoying a gorgeous day. We allowed that open space, the trees, the earth, the sky to inform us in our creative choices. We made dances inspired by our surroundings. We could have been out there all day, creating, dancing, and allowing the space to move us. There was so much there to inspire. Our trip helped us to understand and deepen our work within the Minimalist aesthetic. Within a space like that, the smallest movement, the simplest gesture takes on so much meaning. Everything is intensified by the beauty and size of the space itself. It was a great experience that I'm happy to have shared with the company. Our task is to now take that feeling, that importance, that beauty into the performance itself. Here are some photos taken throughout the day as we journeyed through the forest. We can't wait to share our experiences with you in the space that Dan Flavin designed at the Menil Collection.