This ballet technique class emphasizes alignment, placement and somatic awareness.  The class consists of barre and center work that focuses on balance, classical line, connecting steps, and simple turns and jumps.

Tina Anderson Wallum’s 23-year performing career included principal and soloist work with Minnesota Dance Theatre, Ballet Minnesota, Ballet Arts Minnesota, Ballet of the Dolls, Savannah Ballet, The Contemporary Ballet Company, and Pennsylvania Ballet. She holds her BS from Radford University in Virginia. She has taught ballet classes for Ballet Arts Minnesota, Ballet Minnesota, Classical Ballet Academy, Chinese Dance Theater and is currently teaching at the University of Minnesota. Her current scholarly research is in Mind-Body Centering and somatics where she is devoted to creating a sense of embodiment in her students.

Sundays, 1:00-2:30pm

Session 1: February 5 – April 2 | Cost: $122
Session 2: April 23 – June 11 | Cost: $110

*$15 for a single drop-in class (exact cash or check only at TU Dance Center).

This workshop is for intermediate and advanced dancers with some experience in inversions, such as gymnastics, breakdancing, or yoga, or for those who get excited when there are handstands and cartwheels in modern dance classes!  Jennifer’s inversion dance is an ever-growing vocabulary that is fluid and strong, soft and powerful, while working the body with economy of movement. Drawing from modern dance and movement vocabularies in capoeira, yoga, gymnastics, Hawkins, and contemporary approaches to movement, build your movement possibilities with the full body in contact with the floor and walls.

A native of Wisconsin, Jennifer first studied dance in a professional setting in Duluth, Minnesota. She then moved to Eugene, Oregon to continue her studies at the University of Oregon. In Eugene, she also studied with the Eugene Ballet under Susan Zadoff of Ballet Russe, at the Musical Feet school of tap, and performed four seasons with the Dance Theatre of Oregon. After moving to Minneapolis in 1997 she became co-artistic director of the dance/theater/visual art hybrid company Off-Leash Area, with which she has choreographed and directed over 25 original full-length productions. She has also worked as a performer and collaborator with several choreographers in Minneapolis, including six years with Gerry Girouard in his intensely acrobatic dance work. Ilse has also worked as an educator, teaching ballet, tap and modern dance classes for adults and children, and leading dance and theater workshops in a variety of settings. She received an Artist Initiative grant in 2009 and 2012 from the Minnesota State Arts Board, was commissioned by the O’Shaughnessy in 2010, and received an MRAC/McKnight Next Step Grant in 2015. Drawing from her past work with Gerry Girouard, Jennifer developed her own vocabulary and has been teaching her Inversion Modern Dance classes for 4 years.

Tuesdays, 7:00-8:30pm

Session 1: January 31 – March 28. Cost: $122
Session 2: April 18 – June 6 | Cost: : $110

*$15 for a single drop-in class (exact cash or check only at TU Dance Center).

Picture credit: Kari Mosel