Core Dance
Wake Up to Dance!
Led by established, progressive dance artists, Core Dance’s morning classes are offered to the community for $10 per class. Must register and pay online before class time. Any questions or concerns, please reach out to outreach@coredance.org
Classes this fall are offered on Mondays (The Mindful Body), Tuesdays (Capoeria), Thursdays and Fridays (Contemporary Modern Technique). Special guest instructors will teach on certain Wednesdays throughout the fall. Sign up at the links below. Scroll through the box below to see the upcoming options.
Core Dance Morning Class Faculty
NOTICE : Advance registration is required. All attendees must follow the instructions of the class leader with regard to masking. Hand sanitizer is available in the studio and each studio is equipped with a high-powered air cleaner. The HVAC system has also been upgraded to clean and sanitize the air.
Amelia Reiser
The Mindful Body
Atlanta based movement artist Amelia Reiser, a native of Oklahoma, started
training at a young age at The Classical Ballet Academy. Amelia went on to attend The University of Georgia (UGA) where she completed a BFA in Dance
Performance in 2011. She spent time living in Ireland after graduation working with local artists through an internship with Athlone Arts and Heritage and collaborated on a dance film with visual artist Lesley Wingfiled titled Waters and the Wild (2011). Over her 25+ years of performing and creating, Amelia has had the opportunity to work with numerous dance-makers and artists including T Lang Dance, Nick Cave, Maryn Whitmore, Erik Thurmond, Christina Noel Reaves, Lesley Wingfield, Emily Christianson, Sara Santamaria, Greg Catellier, and George Staib. Her most recent work includes “Sheltered in Place” (2020) in collaboration with sculptor Sara Santamaria presented by Creatives Project and DriveThru ATL, and “pinion” (2021) a solo work in process shown at Excuse The Art presented by Fly on a Wall. Since 2013, Amelia has been a collaborative company member of Staibdance in Atlanta, GA. In addition to creating and performing, Amelia teaches yoga at Tough Love Yoga and Emory Healthcare, and is a trauma informed yoga and mindfulness teacher working with incarcerated youth through local nonprofit Centering Youth. An avid lover of dramatic skies, wild mountains, and trees, Amelia spends most spare moments in her garden, or escaping the city in search of adventure and wilderness.
Class Description: The Mindful Body is an opportunity to cultivate mindfulness through an exploration of contemporary dance forms meshed with somatic practices. Mindfulness is so much more than attention alone, these practices invite us to discover a sense of connection with those around us, love, compassion, openness, creativity and playfulness. Everything is fleeting.
Tatiane Cristina da Silva Pontes
Capoeria
Tatiane Cristina da Silva Pontes, also known as Lutadora is an Instructor at Maculelê Capoeira, where she has been helping various communities with social projects. She started Capoeira in 2007 in a small city called Goioerê, state of Paraná, Brazil, and soon fell in love with the magic that this beautiful martial art brings. In 2013 Tatiane moved from Brazil to New Orleans to teach capoeira and since 2018 has been located in the Atlanta area to support Capoeira Maculelê programs in Decatur.
Class Description:
These are ongoing classes where anyone can join, no previous experience necessary. It covers all aspects of Capoeira; martial-arts, dance, music, acrobatics, culture, language and more. It focuses on developing the students rhythm, reflexes, balance, coordination and increasing strength and flexibility as they learn. All the necessary skills are taught in class.
We recommend this class for anyone wanting to start in the art of Capoeira. Class prepares each student at their own pace to join into our beginner Capoeira lessons in which they will start getting a better understanding of the art. You will work on basic steps of Capoeira; Ginga, Esquivas, Attack / Defence / Counter-attacks, dance elements, musical skills, and basic acrobatics. Should you wish to go further than just basics, you should then join our Beginner class to start progressing through the different levels of Capoeira. Capoeira is a great form of fitness and exercise that works not only your whole body, but also your mind.
Mestre Fran
Capoeira
Mestre Fran (Francisco Da Silva) is the founder of Maculelê-Capoeira. He began Capoeira in 1976 under the renowned Mestre Bradesco. 2022 marks his 20th year teaching Capoeira in the US. He has focused on awakening the talents of his students, elevating the awareness of society, and encouraging the practice of Capoeira as an art, fight, and a means of social, cultural, and athletic integration. Mestre Fran is constantly researching capoeira and improving his style. Today, anyone would agree that Mestre Fran has succeeded in these endeavors. He has taken his passion and shared it with thousands of people all over the world and, unintentionally, Mestre Fran has created a reputation as one of the greatest Capoeira Mestres and maintains international recognition for his accomplishments in the field.
Class Description:
These are ongoing classes where anyone can join, no previous experience necessary. It covers all aspects of Capoeira; martial-arts, dance, music, acrobatics, culture, language and more. It focuses on developing the students rhythm, reflexes, balance, coordination and increasing strength and flexibility as they learn. All the necessary skills are taught in class.
We recommend this class for anyone wanting to start in the art of Capoeira. Class prepares each student at their own pace to join into our beginner Capoeira lessons in which they will start getting a better understanding of the art. You will work on basic steps of Capoeira; Ginga, Esquivas, Attack / Defence / Counter-attacks, dance elements, musical skills, and basic acrobatics. Should you wish to go further than just basics, you should then join our Beginner class to start progressing through the different levels of Capoeira. Capoeira is a great form of fitness and exercise that works not only your whole body, but also your mind.
Kristin O'Neal
Contemporary Modern Technique
Kristin O’Neal is a performer, teacher and choreographer residing in Atlanta,
GA. She received her MFA in Dance from Hollins University/ADF where she began her research of solo performance and character creation. Her character investigations led to an unfolding series of solos inspired by the lives of her grandmothers, Glenna and Dorothy, as well as aunts and great aunts named June, Helen, Diane, Constance and Nell. Many of these solos live in the repertoire of Sarasota Contemporary Dance in Florida. Early in her career while dancing with Gerri Houlihan, Kristin discovered a love of site work alongside choreographers Dale Andree and Heidi Duckler, which led to performances in various sites, including avocado groves, restaurants, galleries, hotels, and any water resource imaginable. Kristin’s long-time relationship with Andree led her to assist in the operations of Andree’s National Water Dance, which first started as the Florida Waterways Dance Project in 2011. Kristin has been deeply involved with the Bates Dance Festival since 2007 where she has worked consistently as Box Office Manager, participated in its rich community of colleagues & participants, and
taught for the Young Dancers Intensive. Kristin has worked as rehearsal assistant for many visiting artists at the University of Florida and Emory University and worked as rehearsal director for Core Dance in Atlanta. Kristin teaches varying levels of Contemporary Modern, Movement Improvisation, and co-teaches Contact Improvisation at Emory University with her husband, Greg Catellier, with whom she also collaborates in curious dance-making. An avid practitioner of Contact Improvisation, Kristin enjoys organizing CI Jams, classes and workshops for the Atlanta community.
Photo by Paige McFall
Class Description: Geared for the intermediate to professional mover who enjoys deepening and clarifying alignment/technique through somatic lenses, we will warm our way from the floor investigating our bodies’ nuances that morning considering the weight of our bones to activate deep core muscles. Solo Contact Improvisation concepts will invite ease and efficiency while conditioning thoughtfully, readying the body for a myriad of delightful possibilities that contemporary modern dance asks of us. We will consider all surfaces of our bodies in contact with the floor, noticing anchor points of stability to find freedom of movement in our joints and in space while sliding, swinging, floating, falling, pouring, gliding and all the things that inspire us along the way. Pants, kneepads and long-sleeved shirt encouraged.
Guest Faculty
Marco Palomino
Senses and Sensations
Born in Cuba, Marco Palomino is a choreographer, dancer, and director, making work for both live theater and film. He graduated from the prestigious Escuela Nacional de Arte with a BFA from La Universidad de las Artes in Havana. Marco has shared his work in 11 different countries across the globe,
created his own dance academy in Cuba called LaCueva, and has worked with Ballet Revolución, Rosario Cárdenas, Acosta Danza, Birmingham Royal Ballet, with revered choreographers such as Juliano Nuñes, Pontus Lidberg, Micaela Taylor, Javier de Frutos, Jorge Cresis, Osnel Delgado, Rosanna Gamson and
Carlos Acosta. Marco is passionate about exploring the connections between the mind, body, and soul through spirituality and emotional depth. His love for immersive dance theatre seeps into his choreography - finding much of his inspiration in character development and world.
Class Description: Build confidence while exploring and developing tools to unlock and expand your body expression including senses and sensations, movement quality, Floorwork, pedestrian movements into dance, immersive experience, Character interpretation, finding and expressing your own movement, phrases & A LOT OF FUN!!
Katarzyna Pastuszak and Natalia Chylinska
Fungi: a remedy for the body-in-crisis
Katarzyna Pastuszak (Poland) - dancer/performer, choreographer, and artistic director of Amareya Theatre & Guests, adjunct and lecturer at the Department of Performing Arts (IAiA - University of Gdańsk), member of Between. Pomiędzy Research Group (UG), member of CEMiPoS (Centre for Environmental and Minority Policy Studies, Sapporo). Holder of numerous artistic scholarships. Her performances were presented, among others, in Japan, Greenland, Norway, Turkey, Israel, Germany, France, and Poland. She also collaborates with the Ainu Women's Association (Sapporo) - artistic projects with Ainu women and with the Park ON Association (Poland) - conducting dance workshops for PD patients.
Natalia Chylinska is an artist of Amareya Theater & Guests, vice-president of the Amareya Art Association, and a two-time scholarship holder of the City of Gdańsk. In artistic activities, he moves between work (with) body/movement, text, sound, and visual material. Recent performances and projects: “Anatomie” (2021), “Dom-Bieg-Dom” 『家 - 逃亡 -家』 (2020), “(Po) voices: Bridges between Poland and Japan“ (2019), “As part of the dance: Wrzeszcz “(2021),“ Anatomy of a Process“ as part of the Cultural Scholarship of the City of Gdańsk“, “Invisible Cities 3.0”, movement workshops for people with Parkinson’s disease, Amareya_LAB workshops. She collaborates with Menoko Mosmos (Ainu Women’s Association in Sapporo) and Prof. Hiroshi Maruyama (CEMiPoS), co-creating performances with the participation of Ainu women.
Class Description: In this workshop, we will explore the body’s ability to adapt to a changing environment. Using choreographic scores, we will explore the possibilities of transforming ourselves into an open communication network. We will stretch time and change our sense of scale by deepening our awareness based on micro/experiential experiences. Can the mushrooms show us new ways to communicate and coexist? Can they guide us in our search for a posthumanist sensibility and a non-narcissistic relational capacity? The workshop will consist of breathing practices, deep listening, choreographic scores, and elements of butoh dance, with a pinch of speculation and new materialism, among others.
Marco Casagrande & Nicolò Giorgini
The artistic duo casagrande // giorgini was born in 2019 founded by Marco Casagrande and Nicolò Giorgini. Their first work "CUM-LAEDERE" is selected by the "Residanza B-Side" action of "Movimento Danza" and debuts in the "Resid'And" review of the National Academy of Dance in Rome. Together they participate in the project "Dancescapes-in a Landscape" of the Associazione Danza Urbana, starting the search for their latest work "DOT". In 2022 this work was selected by “Alloggiando Art Fest”, “Centre for Choreographic Development SE.S.TA” (Czech Republic), and by the tender “FLIC25–Spazio ai Giovani!”. They are currently part of the CIMD's "Incubator for future * coreograf *" path.
Dahyun Kim
Flowing Through the Floor- Intermediate Contemporary Floorwork
Dahyun Kim (she/they), pronounced [Da-hyeon Khim] is a dancer, choreographer, and educator from Seoul, South Korea. She has recently received her M.F.A. in Dance at Tisch School of the Arts and M.A. in Dance Education at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development. Dahyun is deeply passionate about creating a culturally responsive and research based practice. Her artistry recently has been focused on understanding her cultural identity, and sharing with the world the nuanced beauties that lie in Korean art forms. This can be seen in her works such as ‘흥 | Joy’ premiered in Queensboro Dance Festival 2022, ‘수심가 | Depth of Water’ premiered in Tisch Masters Concert 2023, and ’일엽편주 | Paper Boat‘. A versatile mover, Dahyun has performed in choreographies by Ronald K. Brown, Jesse Obremski, Kaya Wolsey, Deborah Damast, Austin J Eyer, Michele Dunleavy, Esl Kim, Yunjung Jang, Rafael Cañals, David Cartahena Lee, and more. She is currently a company member with Gotham Dance Theatre, and she works as a freelancer based in NYC. Dahyun is a deep believer that dance is for everyone, and they wish to live as living proof.
Class Description: This class is a contemporary floorwork class focusing on safe navigation in and out of the floor, which in turn gives freedom in movement. The class will consist of a warm up- including pilates-based core activation as well as pulling and pushing activities, across-the-floor movement exercises, and phrase work inspired by the movement explored throughout the class. This is an intermediate-level class with the goal of finding flow on the floor and unlocking various pathways of movement accessible to us.
Directions: Our back entrance is accessible by way of North McDonough Street, at the intersection of Trinity Avenue and the Decatur Square. Look for the entrance between Waffle House and DeWoskin Law Firm. If you get turned around, please call our office at (404) 373-4154.
Parking: Due to the very small nature of our parking lot, Core’s lot is limited to Core staff. Please find on-street parking or take MARTA when attending class. (Free on-street parking is available on Electric Ave!) MARTA’s Decatur Station will plop you down right next to us in the Decatur Square. Visit itsmarta.com for details on Decatur Station and for train and bus schedules.