Dancing with Shakti Andrea Smith

 

Contact Improvisation, Authentic Movement, Thai Yoga Massage, and Massage Therapy

 

Upcoming Events in NYC and New England:

 

ONGOING, Private lessons and classes

APRIL 18-19, 2009, 5th Authentic Movement Weekend, Concord, MA

 

Former Events

About Shakti

About Authentic Movement

For More Information

 

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PRIVATE LESSONS AND CLASSES

NYC – Ongoing

 

Private lessons/sessions and classes for two or more in:

 

Contact Improvisation

Authentic Movement

Thai Yoga Massage

Massage Therapy

 

Contact Shakti to make appointments: 917-405-5877 / shaktismith@hotmail.com

 

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APRIL 18-19, 2009 – Authentic Movement

Saturday/Sunday weekend workshop

 

5th Annual Concord, MA Weekend

Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts, Concord, MA.

 

Beginners welcome!!!

 

These weekend Authentic Movement workshops have been a really special time to connect – with oneself, with others, with Nature. A time to slow down, breathe in deeply and explore. Shakti brings a lot of experience to facilitating this workshop and beautifully sculpts the time and space to honor your needs and the collective whole. We truly hope you will join us, either for the first time or again.

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 It is an opportunity to gather with others in a beautifully weathered dance space in Concord, as well as in the nearby woods--to dance deeply from within--whatever needs to be expressed, to allow the layers to unfurl, to get to know ourselves anew. We'll do some "pure" Authentic Movement, as well as play with different types of witnessing, writing, and drawing scores. This will be a spacious weekend with time to connect with Nature, and with others.  There will be breaks for meals, walks, rest....time to simply be.

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Come dance, let your body speak. Witness others, see other, see your Self.

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Renew, Refresh, Reconnect. Unfurl, Unfold. Express. Be.

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We will move together over the weekend in the beautiful dance studio at Emerson Umbrella Center for the Arts on the 2nd floor, 40 Stow Street, Concord, MA, 01742. EU is a 20-25 minute drive from Harvard Square and is accessible via public transportation on the Fitchburg commuter rail. The studio is within walking distance of the Concord rail stop or we can pick you up. Parking is available. The drive away from city life is itself an awakening.

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Read about one participant’s experience here bxbro.com/blog.

 

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A price increase for 2009 is expected but a significant savings will be offered for early registration. Please check back. All registrations and full payments need to be received by March 28th. Because of contractual agreements, there are
NO REFUNDS AFTER MARCH 28TH, so please plan carefully.

 

Registration is limited to 15 participants.

 

 Click here to Download the Registration Form .

 

You will need Acrobat Reader to open the form. Please click here if you need the software.

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About Shakti:

Shakti was very active teaching in the Boston area from '95-01 and returns annually from NYC for this event. For more information on Shakti, please click here. For more information on the workshop, please contact Shakti at 917-405-5877 / shaktismith@hotmail.com or Wendy at 978-496-1397 / wolfberg@post.harvard.edu

 

Beginners welcome!

 

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FORMER EVENTS:

 

CONTACT IMPROVISATION – Soho, NYC

Movement Research
Wednesday Nights in December

Dec 5, 12, and 19 from 6:45-9:10pm
with Shakti Andrea Smith

December 5/12: Bill Young Studio--see www.Movementreseach.org for location, or write Shaktismith@Hotmail.com

December 19: Cathy Weis Studio, 537 Broadway (between Prince and Spring)
N/R to Prince, 6 to Spring, B/D/F/V to Broadway/Lafayette
All levels of experience welcome.  $13. Drop-Ins Welcome.

Wake up your Improviser, Soften your Body, Hone your Skills.

This class is an open level class, for beginners and experienced practitioners alike. In a safe and grounded space we'll visit some fundamental Contact skills and awareness, cultivating these also with enough subtlety for the seasoned dancer of Contact.

Classes will include long, luscious warm-ups and plenty of dancing. Deepening our connection with the form, we'll find greater ease in being upside down and explore new possibilities for lifts and ledges. These explorations will be supported by experiential anatomy--developing our structural understanding of the body.

For more info. call Shakti@917-405-5877

 

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NYC, Boogie Bliss

Sat. December 8, 2007, 8:30-9:30 PM

 

Dancing From The Inside Out – an Internal Movement Class

followed by dance until 11:30 at the Barefoot Boogie

See www.BarefootBoogie.org  for more details

 

Boogie-ing from the Inside Out" with our beloved Shakti Smith 8:30-9:30 (In Shakti 's words “We'll start with meditation, moving into a fusion of flowing yoga, authentic movement, and experiential anatomy, gradually coming out into a space of all out dancing.” Followed by DJ's Shakti and Jilsarah until 11:30pm

 

Cost : Sliding Scale $10-15 (less if you do a door shift)

Where: Insight Meditation Center

28 W 27th Street, 10th Floor (Buzzer #27)

 

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Brooklyn, NY - Contact Improvisation

Friday Nights in Brooklyn! at EMBORA

with Shakti Andrea Smith

 

5 Week Series

September 21-October 26

6:30-8:15pm (no class Oct. 5)

 

Free for Embora Members

$13 for Drop-Ins/$60 for Series

Beginners Welcome

 

 

DESCRIPTION:

Wake up your Improviser, Soften your Body, Hone your Skills. Come to Embora and Explore this enlivening, playful, and creative dance form. Contact is a blend of Modern Dance, Martial Arts, Creativity born in the moment, and plain ol' fun. We will be cultivating skills and awareness as we meet out partners in improvisational dances connected by rolling points of contact.

 

This class is an open level class, for beginners and experienced practitioners alike.

 

Classes will include long, luscious warm-ups, skill work, and plenty of dancing. In a safe and grounded space we'll be moving on different levels, explore possibilities for lifts and ledges, being still, finding ease in being upside down, and moving through space softly and solidly. These explorations will be supported by experiential anatomy--developing our structural understanding of the body.

 

NEW TO CONTACT IMPROV?

It is practiced by dancers, "non-dancers", computer programmers, artists, and folks young and old around the world. It was born as a dance form, in 1972 at Oberlin College, by Steve Paxton, formerly of Merce Cunningham company, and The Judson Church group. It has been incorporated into the movement of many dance companies including Bill T Jones/Arne Zane and Pilobolus.

 

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MAY 26, Barefoot Boogie

NYC – Sat. May 26, 8:30-11:30pm


The Boogie will start out with an hour long dance class

"Dancing from the Inside Out" 
We'll start with meditation, moving into a fusion of
flowing yoga, authentic movement, and experiential
anatomy, gradually coming out into a space of full on dancing.

Come Celebrate Spring!

 

Followed by DJ Shakti and guest TBA
until 11:30 pm

 


Cost : Sliding Scale $10-15 (less if you do a door shift)
Where: Insight Meditation Center
28 W 27th Street, 10th Floor (Buzzer #27)

Want more info?
http://www.barefootboogie.org

 

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AUGUST 2-5, 2007 – Earthdance, MA

Authentic Movement

Western Mass Moving Arts Festival

 

Shakti teaching Authentic Movement: Deep Listening to Body and Nature

Woods Dances--Internal Movement with the trees, and a witness

 

Western Mass Moving Arts Festival

Contact and Improvisations, Performances, Outdoor Dancing, Action Theatre, Authentic Movement, Capoeira, and More!

Come for 3 days, One Day, or a Half Day

 

Earthdance, a dance retreat center in the Berkshire Mountains of Western Massachusetts, features two beautiful dance studios, farmhouse, comfortable dorm accommodations, vegetarian cuisine, wood-stove sauna, spring-fed swimming quarry, and 125 acres of magnificent hills.

 

www.earthdance.net or 413 634-5678 for more info.

 

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MARCH, Contact Improvisation

Soho, NYC – Starts Wednesday March 7th !!!

Wednesdays 6:45-9:15 PM

 

Cathy Weis Studio, 537 Broadway (between Prince and Spring)

N/R to Prince, 6 to Spring, B/D/F/V to Broadway-Lafayette.

All levels of experience welcome.

$13. Drop-ins welcome

 

Wake up your Improviser, Soften your Body, Hone your Skills.

 

This class is an open level class, for beginners and experienced practitioners alike. In a safe and grounded space we'll visit some fundamental Contact skills and awareness, cultivating these also with enough subtlety for the seasoned dancer of Contact.

 

Classes will include long, luscious warm-ups and plenty of dancing. Deepening our connection with the form, we'll find greater ease in being upside down, explore new possibilities for lifts and ledges to balance on, suspend upon, and fall/rise from.  These explorations will be supported by experiential anatomy--developing our structural understanding of the body.

 

For more information, go to Movement Research or call Shakti at 917-405-5877 / shaktismith@hotmail.com

 

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Throughout 2006

Authentic Movement in the Afternoon

Park Slope, Brooklyn, NY, Wednesdays 3:30-5:30 PM

 

Class open to drop-in on starting dates.

 

Cost: $80 per month. Four classes each month. First class of the month is open to drop-ins, class is closed for the month after that. No class on holidays.

 

Please pre-register: Call Shakti @ 917-405-5877. Send payment to Shakti Smith, 770 Washington Ave, Apt #2, Brooklyn, NY 11238. Thank you!

 

Come join us in this lovely private studio for 4-8 weeks of rich inner dancing and witnessing. Authentic Movement in the Afternoon: Moving From the Inside out. For four Wednesdays in October and November we will explore the simple yet profound practice of Authentic Movement. Embodied Meditation. In this embodied meditation we try on the roles of mover and of witness following the threads of our inner impulses. It is from these impulses that our movement comes. It is from these impulses that our movement, our dance, comes. Moving them, dancing them, brings into physical being the fabric of the stories of our bodies.

Authentic Movement is a meditative, expressive, creative and spiritual practice. It is explored by some to deepen compassion, and acceptance, by artists to source material, and by others simply for the joy of movement. This workshop is open to all Yogis, movers, shakers, writers, artists, sculptors, musicians, and folks who feel the call to dance.

LOCATION: The Loft, buzzer #3, 725 Union Street in between 4th and 5th Avenue

Closest to the N/R and also near to the Q/B and 2/3.

 

For more information on Authentic Movement see below.

 

If you have any questions, please contact Shakti 917-405-5877 / shaktismith@hotmail.com .

 

 

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OCTOBER 13-15, 2006, Authentic Movement Outside

Earthdance, The Berkshires

 

Celebrating fall, and acknowledging winter's inner pull- we bring this practice out to the Elements. What invitation does the caress of the wind hold for you? What inspiration do you find in the smell and feel of the Earth? We invite Nature to call us deeper within as we explore the layers of this simple, yet profound practice. Our physical container includes Earthdance's silky studios, the wooded landscapes and nooks, and grassy open spaces. This workshop is open to all movers, shaker, writers, visual artists, sculptors, musicians who feel the call to dance.

 

For more details and to register visit www.earthdance.net

 

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APRIL 22, 2006, Authentic Movement

Concord, MA Workshop

3rd Annual Moving into Spring

 

This will be a delicious day to sink in deeply, expand out fully and be with what is there – in movement and in stillness. With the trees holding us from just outside the windows, we will explore the world of Authentic Movement interspersed with yoga, meditation, and ritual.

 

We will move together in a lovely home in West Concord on Saturday, April 22 from 10am to 6pm. West Concord is a 20-25 minute drive from Harvard Square and is accessible via public transportation on the Fitchburg commuter rail. The home is within walking distance of the West Concord rail stop or we can pick you up. Parking is available. A light Saturday breakfast is provided 9-9:45am.

 

Registration is limited; cost is $90 due April 17th.To hold your space, please call Wendy at 978-496-1397. Also, please make the check payable to Shakti Smith and mail to Dancing With Shakti, c/o 4 Rockwell Rd., Westford, MA 01886. There is a non-refundable $25 administration fee. Click Here to Download the Registration Form .

 

Beginners welcome!

 

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April 21, 2006, Authentic Movement

Cambridge, MA – Friday afternoon 2-5pm

 

Casa Nia, 46 Porter Road, Cambridge, MA.

$35 before April 7th, $45 thereafter

 

Embodied Meditation. Deep Listening with Your Body and Your Eyes. These are a few ways to describe Authentic Movement. Come join us for an afternoon of Moving and Witnessing. AM is a dance form that focuses on following the threads of our inner impulses--it is from these impulses that our movement comes. Moving them, dancing them, brings into physical being the fabric of the stories of our bodies.

 

 

For more information, please visit or call Casa Nia 617-491-5144 or Shakti 917-405-5877 / shaktismith@hotmail.com.

 

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January 2006, Wednesday nights, 6:45 to 9:30

Contact Improvisation in Soho, NYC

Simone Forti's studio, 537 Broadway (between Prince and Spring)

N/R to Prince, 6 to Spring, B/D/F/V to Broadway-Lafayette

All levels of experience welcome.  $13. Drop-ins welcome.

 

This month at the Movement Research Contact Improvisation class, we'll be focusing on bringing our solo and duet movement into trio and larger group dances. How to be aware of more than one partner at once?  How to take advantage of the shapes and contours, the support, the moving landscape of more than one body? How to offer, with centered confidence and strength, shelves and possibilities for Contact? Come join us for long luscious warm-ups, connecting into skills and states that will support and open us, towards dances with more than one person. We'll explore some group awareness and Movement Improvisation to assist us in this as well. And then, yes, we'll have abundant dance time. And oh, the possibilities that open up when we are able to drape, leap onto, and extend from the support of more that one center and set of limbs.

 

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September thru November 2005 – Brooklyn, NY

Friday 12-2pm, beginning September 30th, weekly, at Shambhala Yoga

348 St. Marks Ave, Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, NYC.

 

“In Shambhala's lovely space we will explore the simple yet profound practice of Authentic Movement. Trying on the roles of mover and witness, we will follow the threads of our inner impulses. It is from these impulses that our movement comes. Moving them, dancing them, brings into physical being the fabric of the stories of our bodies. Authentic Movement is a meditative, expressive, creative and spiritual practice. It is explored by some to deepen compassion and acceptance, by artists to source material, and by others simply for the joy of movement. This workshop is open to all yogis, movers, shakers, writers, visual artists, sculptors, and musicians who feel the call to dance.”

 

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Pictures from Shakti’s class at the July 2005 Western Mass Moving Arts Festival

 

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About Shakti:

 

Shakti Andrea Smith is a dancer and bodyworker – practicing Massage Therapy/Thai Bodywork and teaching Authentic Movement, Contact Improvisation, and yoga in New York City and New England.  Other influences include being in nature, and other pathways to being more fully alive and present in this moment. Her current studies  are Acton Theatre, Body Mind Centering Anatomy, Dance Meditations, and Calligraphy. Shakti has a degree in Transpersonal Psychology and has been inhabiting the world with Authentic Movement since 1992.

 

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About Authentic Movement:

 

Authentic Movement is … Embodied Meditation. Deep Listening with Your Body and Your Eyes. These are a few ways to describe Authentic Movement. It is a movement form that focuses on following the threads of our inner impulses. Moving them, allowing them to emerge, brings into our consciousness the fabric of the stories of our bodies. It is a simple form, with profound ripples. We'll try on both roles of mover and witness, followed by writing, drawing, and/or speaking. No dance experience is necessary.

It is explored by some to deepen compassion, and acceptance, and by others simply for the joy of movement. It is practiced by dancers, writers, and visual artists to source material.

 

For more information on Authentic Movement, please visit “A Moving Journal” at movingjournal.org, the Authentic Movement Community at authenticmovementcommunity.org, or The Authentic Movement Institute at authenticmovement-usa.com.

 

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For More Information:

 

For more information, please join the email list by contacting us at mail@dancingwithshakti.com. You’re also welcome to contact the Concord event organizer, Wendy, at 978-496-1397 / wolfberg@post.harvard.edu; or contact Shakti in Brooklyn, NY at 917-405-5877 / shaktismith@hotmail.com.

 

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Blessings to you! We hope you can join us!

 

Click Here to Join our E-mail List

 

This page is last updated March 16, 2008. Please check back for more information.

 

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