CREATIVE DANCE with Alison & Ceitlynn (5 – 7 years)
Explore the basic building blocks of ballet/contemporary dance forms through creative play. This program focuses on social-emotional development through interactive games using movement vocabulary drawn from contemporary and ballet dance forms. Little ones develop a sense of autonomy with opportunities to share and express their creative voices. We begin to explore the Five Elements of Dance, which make the foundation of all dance forms.
Date(s): September 13 – Nov 15th, 2023 (no class Oct 4 & 18, 8 classes total)
Day(s): Wednesdays
Age(s): 5 – 7 years (firm minimum age, must be 5 @ start of classes)
Time(s): 3:30 – 4:25 pm
Location: Earth Temple, Daajing Giids
Instructor: Ceitlynn Epners & Alison Keery
Cost:
- $144 ($18/class, 8 classes)
- Drop-in: $20/class (cash or online)
A minimum of 8 participants is required for this class to run, max 12.
Cancellation Policy:
- If registration cancellation occurs 5 days (120 hours) prior to the start of the first class, 100% of the cost of registration will be refunded.
- If registration cancellation occurs 2 (48 hours) days prior to the start of the first class, 60% of the cost of registration will be refunded.
- If registration cancellation occurs after the start of the first class, but before the start of the second class, 30% of the cost of registration will be refunded.
- If registration cancellation occurs after the start of the second class, the cost of registration will not be refunded.
- If a participant is unable to attend a class due to illness or the presence of COVID-19 symptoms, the cost of the class will be returned upon request in writing to Haida Gwaii Recreation.
INSTRUCTOR BIOS
CEITLYNN EPNERS
As a certified BC teacher, Ceitlynn has worked with children in the classroom, the dance studio and the outdoors. In 2023 she completed Limon dance technique teacher training with Donna Krasnow. In her dance classes, she aims to build on children’s natural love of movement and to develop their skills and confidence in a fun and positive environment. She has an extensive dance background. In her youth and early adulthood, she trained in contemporary dance and ballet at the Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre and the School for the Toronto Dance Theatre. She performed and choreographed in festivals and shows in ON and BC. She has taught dance classes on Haida Gwaii on and off over the last 18 years and continues to keep dance in her life.
ALISON KEERY
Alison Keery is a certified Limon Instructor, a British Association of Teachers of Dance Associate (BATD) and a graduated from York University (2013) with a BFA Honours in Dance specializing in Performance and Choreography and with a focus in Dance Kinesiology. She has taught modern, ballet, jazz and contemporary dance for upwards of 20 years and is currently a teacher with Making Music Together (Toronto). She is the founder and artistic director of Masset Dance Troupe here on Haida Gwaii.
Alison has taught dance through Gudangaay Tlats’gaa Naay Secondary School’s COAST program (2020, 2021) and worked alongside GidGalang Kuuyas Naay Secondary School’s PE Teacher to develop a virtual dance program during the pandemic. She also worked alongside Tahayghen Elementary School’s grade 7’s to create a performance piece for Global Water Dances 2021. She is a former MamaDances instructor and has developed and taught programs for daycare centres across BC and Ontario. Over the past 10 years, she developed a Movement Literacy Program which she has taught in Elementary Schools throughout School District 57, BC. She also taught a similar program called SunDance through Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre in Toronto, ON. The goal of these programs were not to create dancers, but rather to provide students with the skills necessary to be able to interpret movement through the 5 Elements of Dance. To develop “dance literacy” rather than technical dancers. Alison believes passionately that all humans are born ready to dance and that tapping into their personal creative and expressive voices allows them to connect more deeply with themselves. Her classes are designed to maximize student engagement and discovery in safe and meaningful ways.
When Alison is not in the studio dancing or teaching, she can be found snuggling with her cats or with her nose buried in a book.
COVID-19 SAFETY PROCEDURES
Staying safe is a shared responsibility. These procedures and our combined efforts help to lower the risk of spreading COVID-19, but there is still a risk.
Please do your best to abide by these new procedures to ensure we can recreate safely and respectfully together on Haida Gwaii.
