Annual Student Recital – Mother Goose Melodies

Movement Arts Atlanta cordially invites the public to our Annual Student Recital. It will be held on Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 3:00 pm in the Dance Space at Inman Park United Methodist Church, 1015 Edgewood Avenue. It is free and open to the pubic and will include a ballet, Mother Goose Melodies, and a modern piece entitled Sky & Earth. The performance will be followed by a cake and punch reception.

Mother Goose Melodies includes dances to familiar childhood songs such as Little Bo Peep and Mary Had a Little Lamb. Music has been arranged for MAA by composer Andrew Choe. As is MAA’s custom, students of all ages dance together to create an enjoyable theatrical vision.

The modern piece on the program, Sky & Earth, is set the music by British composer Oliver Davis. The work strives to invoke the breadth of the sky and the pleasure of the ground under the feet. Because this piece is being performed by our Multi-Age Beginning Modern Class, it also includes mix-age cast.

2024 Inman Park Dance Festival

Movement Arts Atlanta is happy to announce that our short film Beauty Through Mattus will be included in the inaugural Film Showing of the Inman Park Dance Festival. The Inman Park Dance Festival is a part of the Inman Park Festival and Tour of Homes which is a fundraiser of the Inman Park Neighborhood Association. The dance festival will present two live performance on Saturday, April 27 and Sunday, April 29 at 4:00 pm and the film showing on Sunday, April 29 at 2:00 pm. All three events will take place in The Trolley Barn, 963 Edgewood Avenue, Atlanta Georgia 30307.  Events free and open to the public.

Beauty Through Mattus is a part of MAA’s major project A Time with Isadora. This short film uses the dance of the same name by MAA Director Carolyn Stine McLaughlin as the starting point to continue to explore the roll of beauty. It also works with the idea that it is the job of artists to bring to the audience a glimpse of the divine from chaos. The film is Co-Directed by McLaughlin and Carrie Miller with Editing and Design by Margot McLaughlin. The dance artists are Charlotte Angermeier, Julie Feracota, and Jodi Jernigan. Original music for the film was created by Andrew Choe. The work also includes image of the painting Three by Margaret Katz Nodine.

The Inman Park Dance Festival is a celebration of the quality and breadth of the Atlanta dance community. This year’s festival includes six companies in its two live performances and features two companies and and an individual artist as a part of the film showing. The six performing companies are Ballethnic, Full Radius Dance, Callanwolde Pro-Prim Movers, The Georgia Ballet, Kit Modus and Monica Hogan Dance Works. The three films are being offered by Full Radius Dance, Jodie Jernigan and MAA.

More information about the Inman Park Festival and Tour of Homes and the Inman Park Dance Festival can be found here.

Summer Short Semester

For Summer 2024, Movement Arts Atlanta will be offering a Short Semester of classes in June and July. This abbreviate semester schedule has beginning classes for adults and young children (ages 3-7) and a series of classes for the intermediate dancer (ages 11+ and adults).

Classes will be held the first, third and fourth weeks of June and the second and third weeks of July.

Absolute Beginner Adult Ballet is available on Wednesdays 5:45 pm – 6:45 pm and Thursdays 11:00 am – 12:00 pm. This hour-long class is perfect if you have never had a ballet or a dance class before or you may have studied as a child and need a refresher. The five week semester tuition is $115 and the drop-in rate is $25.

Kinderdance will be held on Wednesdays from 3:30 pm – 4:15 pm and is for ages 3 and 4. This class is an introduction to dancing in a structured way. It works on class-taking skills and gross motor movement development. There is a good dose of imagination and joy, too. Tuition for the 5 week semester is $87.

Ballet I is next on the Wednesday schedule and will be held from 4:30 pm – 5:15 pm and is for ages 5 – 7. Introducing the first steps of classical ballet, this class continues the development of gross motor movement, class-taking skills and imagination. Tuition for the 5 weeks is $87.

Open Ballet will be held all five weeks on Thursdays from 1:30 pm – 3:15 pm. This is an intermediate class appropriate for ages 11+ and adults. The tuition for this hour-and-forty-five-minute class is $180 for the semester with a drop-in rate of $25.

Open Ballet with Ladies Variations is a series of three two-hour classes which will be an intermediate ballet class followed by a simplified ladies variation. Variations will be representations from three eras of ballet; Romantic, Classical and Neo-Classical. These special classes will be held on June 27, July11 and July 18 from 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm. The drop-in rate for this class is $30, the full series of three classes is $80.

Guest Class Series – Hortan Basics with Alysea Darby

Movement Arts Atlanta is happy to announce the next instalment in our Guest Class Series, Horton Basic with Alyseia Darby. The class will be held on Saturday, March 16 from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm at the Dance Space at Inman Park United Methodist Church. The class is $25 and is for dancers ages 11 through adult with a least two years of dance experience in ballet and/or modern dance. Class size is limited to 20.

Please complete this Google Form to register for class.

The 2-hour class will include both the technique and history of American Modern Dance Pioneer Lester Horton. It will be a great introduction and in-depth look at the work of Lester Horton for the young student or the mature modern dance artist.

Ms. Darby is currently the Programs Director and Principal Female Artist for Atlanta Dance Connection. Ms. Darby is originally from Louisiana where she received here training and started her professional career at age 17. While receiving her degree at Louisiana State, she was a featured dancer in many shows including two Debbie Allen Productions, All The Right Moves, and Derek’s Song and New Venture Theatre’s Productions of Shout and The Color Purple. In 2016, she relocated to Atlanta and joined Element Circus Troupe as Principal Aerialist & Assistant Director and Atlanta Dance Connection.

Ms. Darby has performed in two production connected to Movement Arts Atlanta. In 2023, she was a principal dancer for Jesus and The Beatles and in December of 2024 she was a part of the dance ensemble of Inman Park United Methodist’s Christmas concert. Both these production featured choreography by MMA Director, Carolyn Stine McLaughlin.

Guest Class Series – Free Social Dance Class

Movement Arts Atlanta(MAA) is happy to announce the first in MAA’s Guest Class Series for 2024. Wilder Smith of Reframed will teach a Social Dance Class on Saturday, January 27, 2024 from 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm. Students age 11 and older are welcome. No experience is necessary. The dances taught for the class will be selected according to the students who attend the class but may include tango, merengue, and/or bachata.

To register for this class, please complete this Google Form.

Reframed is a small business which sells fine art prints and teaches social dance classes all over Atlanta. Reframes has classes at Sycamore Chapel in Decatur, Glover Park Brewery in Marietta, The Trolley Barn in Inman Park, Wild Haven Brewery in West End and Social Fox Brewery in Norcross. Classes are taught at a beginning level but always have something for the experienced student.

MAA is offering the Guest Class Series to its students and the community as an way to experience some of the many wonderful teachers in the Atlanta dance community.

Artist Award Received

Movement Arts Atlanta is grateful to announce that Carolyn Stine McLaughlin has been awarded an individual artist’s grant from the City of Atlanta, Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs. This grant is for the creation of the short film entitled Beauty Through Mattus as a part of MAA’s major project A Time with Isadora. The short film uses the dance by the same name which was created as a part of A Time with Isadora as the stepping off point for the film. The project will use film to amplify the themes of the choreography. These intentions are to demonstrate that the job of the artist is to work through the disorder and chaos to give the audience a glimpse of the divine and that the need for beauty is innate.

The film will premier as the Inman Park Dance Festival in 2024 and then be available to the public via this website and other public platforms. To see what happened on shoot day, visit this gallery of images.

The City of Atlanta, Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs Contracts for Arts Services Individual Artist Program is designed to support practicing artists residing in the City of Atlanta. It provides project support to artists working in the areas of dance, literary arts, media arts, visual arts, music, theater, and multidisciplinary genres.

Absolute Beginner Adult Ballet Class

Movement Arts Atlanta is happy to announce a new class, Absolute Beginner Adult Ballet. If you have  always wanted to study ballet, this is the class for you. This class will give you a basic ballet vocabulary and the knowledge of ballet class etiquette. For students 18 and older, the class will be held on Wednesdays from 5:45 pm – 6:45 pm at Inman Park Church, 1015 Edgewood Avenue NE, Atlanta GA 30307. The cost of the class is $25 for a drop-in, $96 for a four-class card or $391 for the 17 week semester. This class begins January 3, 2024. Visit here for more information.

New Students are Welcome!

As we look to starting the New Year and the Winter/Spring Semester, it is import to let the community know that we welcome new students throughout the year. We have availability at all levels beginning with Kinderdance for the youngest students ages 3 and 4 through adult classes. Movement Arts Atlanta offers class in ballet and modern with a focus on the joy of dance. Benefits of MAA’s programs are small class size, professional instruction and inclusive pricing. Classes for the Winter/Spring Semester begin on January 2. Visit here for a complete listing of classes.

Congratulations!

Congratulations are in order! We are happy to share with you the video of this past Sunday’s Christmas Concert at Inman Park Church. MAA students Amity McGinnis, Mab McGinnis and Sophie Son did an outstanding job! We created, learned, and performed nearly 15 minutes of choreography in less than seven days. Here is a link to the video on Vimeo. If you are pressed for time, our dances are at 4:55, 8:36 (the solo danced by guest professional Alyesia Darby), 42:00 and 1:04:08. We are very grateful to Inman Park Church for giving us this opportunity.

Gift Packages are Back

Gift packages are back! Looking for a unique gift? Movement Arts Atlanta offers both its children’s and adult classes either via gift certificates or packages that include two wonderful dance books. Gift certificates are at the regular all-inclusive tuition rate and packages are this plus $60. Packages also include gift wrap and delivery to the recipient. Visit here for more information.