Rigorous Play, Towards Multiple Ways of Being
An extended intensive
@ The Whole Shebang, South Philly
Sat Oct 24 + Sun Oct 25
Sat Oct 31 + Sun Nov 1
Sat Nov 7 + Sun Nov 8
Join PHILLY DANCE SHARE & THE WHOLE SHEBANG
and an intimate cohort of movement-artists for 3 weekends of body technologies
((technique/somatics))
and creative practice workshops.
ACCESSIBILITY: Shebang is up one flight of wooden stairs with a banister and has one gender neutral bathroom.
Teachers
The theme is Rigorous Play Towards Multiple Ways of Being
and what we mean by that is…
Rigorous Play: We tap into our childlike wonder and curiosity, to explore and make without presciousness, judgement, or pre-editing. We approach this practice of play with rigor– focus, diligence, care. We take our play, our joy, our fun, seriously. Loosely. This work of movement is vital and profound and at the same time… its just dance!
Multiple Ways of Being: The counterpart to our rigorous play, perhaps the outcome. How can we use this practice of rigorous play, to explore our multifaceted natures as movers makers and performers? This mini intensive offers six creative perspectives on the question. Rigorous play as an oxymoron, the practice of letting disparate ideas live all at once in our bodies, in our movement, and in the room. “Both things can be true.” We explore confusion and contradiction, and what can emerge from sitting with the discomfort that comes along with those concepts. Maybe the discomfort dissipates after a while to make way for—
something yet to be discovered!
WEEKEND 1
FRIDAY OCTOBER 23RD
KICK OFF EVENT
6-8PM @ The Whole Shebang
Come meet and mingle with your workshop cohort!! More details TBA.
Schedule
SATURDAY OCTOBER 24TH
WORKSHOPS DAY 1
10AM-4PM @ The Whole Shebang
10:00AM-12:00PM: Body Technology with Kayliani Sood and Allison Smith
12:00-1:00PM: Lunch break
1:00-4:00PM: Creative Practice with Germaine Ingram
SUNDAY OCTOBER 25TH
WORKSHOPS DAY 2
10AM-4PM @ The Whole Shebang
10:00AM-12:00PM: Body Technology with Shannon Murphy
12:00-1:00PM: Lunch break
1:00-4:00PM: Creative Practice with Germaine Ingram
WEEKEND 2
FRIDAY OCTOBER 30TH
IMPROV JAM
6-8PM @ The Whole Shebang
Join an improvisational jam facilitated by Kaijo Caggins to get your creative juices flowing for the weekend!
WEEKEND 3
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 6TH
GO SEE A SHOW
7-8:30PM @ The Whole Shebang
Let’s go see a show together, venue and show TBD!!!
SATURDAY OCTOBER 31ST
WORKSHOPS DAY 3
10AM-4PM @ The Whole Shebang
10:00AM-12:00PM: Body Technology with Anna Martone and OreOluwa Badaki
12:00-1:00PM: Lunch break
1:00-4:00PM: Creative Practice with Ben Grinberg and Rhonda Moore
SATURDAY NOVEMBER 7TH
WORKSHOPS DAY 5
10AM-4PM @ The Whole Shebang
10:00AM-12:00PM: Body Technology with Kayliani Sood and Allison Smith
12:00-1:00PM: Lunch break
1:00-4:00PM: Creative Practice with Adam Kerbel
4:00-9:00PM: Book free, open studio time to process/reflect on the intensive so far
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 1ST
WORKSHOPS DAY 4
10AM-4PM @ The Whole Shebang
10:00AM-12:00PM: Body Technology with Jungwoong Kim
12:00-1:00PM: Lunch break
1:00-4:00PM: Creative Practice with Adam Kerbel
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 8TH
WORKSHOPS DAY 6
10AM-4PM @ The Whole Shebang
10:00AM-3:00PM: Fast and loose making
7:00PM: Showing, open and free to the public!
REGISTER
Class Descriptions
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In this floorwork and street style fusion workshop, teachers Allison Smith and Kayliani Sood lead athletic and playful exercises to condition a skilled, adaptable dancing body. Expect a thorough group warm up, floor work, foot work, and choreography that draw from house, breaking, and contemporary dance. This workshop is intended to create a social, sweaty, and collaborative atmosphere for experienced moving artists to enjoy.
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In this workshop, we’ll explore the embodied technology of echolocation: the process of emitting sound or energy in order to receive echoes from your surroundings that help you orient where you are. We’ll draw from different folk and vernacular dance traditions that center the reciprocity and shared agency of call and response practices. We'll work with movement vocabulary from our most recent pieces, seed & sound and Threaded, which premiered with Philadelphia Dance Projects and Philadelphia Fringe Fest respectively in 2025, as a foundation upon which participants can play and remix in order to explore what echolocation as an embodied technology can look like in their practice and consider how to activate spaces, stages, surroundings, and audiences through these practices.
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For a few years now, I've trained a focus on what it means to be "available"---in these demanding times, in this aged Black woman body, in ways that are expressed sonically, somatically, emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, relationally..... I aim to bring this exploration into this 2-session workshop, with emphasis on vocal and movement improvisation as vehicles for discovering our capacities and boundaries for availability and how we might expand them, should we choose. We will use vocal improvisation strategies from Rhiannon's Vocal River and somatic strategies from Gaga and elsewhere; we will motivate ourselves with text and writing. We will engage one another's availability to tap into our own.
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This improvisation jam invites us to practice deep listening and play as individuals and together. We will move through a guided somatic warm-up to tune our mind body connection, open space for weight sharing, and fall into jamming. Contact is not required for this jam, and all experience levels are welcome!
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Description coming soon!
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Description coming soon!
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Description coming soon!
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Description coming soon!
FAQS
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We are prioritizing having a cohort of 10 people doing the full intensive. If we still have open spots closer to the workshop, we will open up drop in spots.
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Invest in these perspectives, and how they layer together. Begin together, end together and talk along the way. How might navigating this as a group expand the experience of YOUR rigorous play towards OUR multiple ways of being, in ways expected and not?
Let’s get into it and have fun together! -
We will open up drop in spots on DATE TBD, so if you plan to do the full intensive we recommend registering BEFORE that date.
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Feel welcome to reference this method devised by Alexis J. Cunningfolk of Worts & Cunning Apothecary and introduced to us by Cannonball Festival! It’s very helpful.
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Yes, there is a payment plan available at registration/check out! You can pay a deposit of $100 and then in 4 installments based on how much you’re paying on the sliding scale! If that doesn’t work for you and you want to do a different type of plan, get in touch via email (phillydanceshare@gmail.com) and we’ll figure something out!
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Email us at phillydanceshare [at] gmail [dot] come. We are happy to answer any questions you may have!