Explorations in Walking with Qigong (7 Weeks)

Instructor: Tim Kooken
Mondays November 4 - December 16. 9am-10am

Cultivate healthy movement habits out of formal walking meditations. Qigong walking involves a heavy focus on balance, core strength, energy flow, and proprioception. This class will introduce Qigong to students with an aim towards stronger balance and spatial awareness. (Involves physical contact & group work) Registration Suggested / Drop-ins Welcome. 

Tim is a certified medical-based Qigong and Aikido teacher, performer, poet, and playwright. Their work involves a focus on somatic investigation, philosophical investigation, abstraction, rhythm, and nature. 

Register for this courses with Tim at timothythomasadams@gmail.com

Embodied
Nature Poetry
(7 Weeks)

Instructor: Tim Kooken
Saturdays November 2 - December 14. 2pm-3:30pm

Nature has long been subject of poetic investigation. Many of the somatic arts reflect rhythms and flows of nature. This class will explore conceptual and real objects of nature in both embodied and linguistic practice in order to write from an expanded perspective. We will create poems, read poems, share observations through group techniques, and use somatic, performative, and linguistic tools to embody and represent nature. (Involves physical contact & group work)

Register for this courses with Tim at timothythomasadams@gmail.com

Introduction to Photography
(8 Weeks)

Instructor: Aaron Sarles
Sundays November 3 - December 22. 11:00am-12:30pm

This course will introduce students to the fundamentals and core concepts of photography, providing a historical overview and theoretical groundwork, with a particular emphasis on moving beyond the traditional Western Male paradigm approach to the medium. Classes will focus on aesthetics, history, composition, the camera, lenses, light, and post processing, with the final class consisting of a guided photo walk during which students can directly apply all that they have learned. It is preferred that students each have their own camera, but it is not required. A phone camera is sufficient.

Aaron Sarles is a portrait, fashion, and editorial photographer living in New Orleans.

Conceptual Counterpoint
(4 Weeks)

Instructor: Michael Mason
Mondays November 4 - 25. 8pm-9pm

Through discussion and hands-on experimentation we will seek to find a way to better our understanding of the world using the musical concept of Counterpoint and how it is translatable to various aspects of life. Having musical knowledge is not required but certainly doesn't hurt. The concepts discussed will get pretty complicated but it's my goal to arrive at the concepts together so hopefully it won't be too difficult. Students will gain an increased awareness of the forces of counterpoint that affect our everyday lives. They will gain a better understanding of music in general and will leave with enhanced active listening skills. 

Michael Mason is a guitarist, composer, and educator living and working in New Orleans. He cut his baby teeth on a toy & plastic guitar, doing his best to recreate the rock and roll and folk dreams that fell out of his boyhood radio and into his head. He found his way to NOCCA, where he plunged headfirst into the deep end of jazz, which studies he continued at UNO, ultimately receiving his B.A. in jazz composition from the Berklee College of Music.

Introduction to Music Theory (4 Weeks)

Instructor: Zachary Pine
Mondays November 4 - 25. 6pm-8pm

Students will gain or improve skills in reading and writing Western musical notation. The material is introductory; no prior experience with music theory is required although familiarity with a musical instrument or voice will be an advantage for students.  Additionally, they will acquire a foundational vocabulary of musical terminology.

Zachary Pine is a composer and teacher in New Orleans with a studio-practice where he creates popular music using computer-driven tools.

Scene Study Workshop
(6 Weeks)

Instructor: Bennett Kirschner
Wednesdays November 6 - December 11. 12pm-2pm

Participants will work on a short, realist scene (approx. 10-15 minutes) with one or two partners. Using essential Stanislavskian concepts such as action, objective, and given circumstance to interpret and embody their text, participants will move through the process of scene study, beginning with text analysis and leading up to defined, repeatable blocking. The class will culminate with a performance that is open to the public.

Bennett Kirschner is the founding Artistic Director of Intramural Theater, a New Orleans based theatre company that has been producing original, site-specific works since 2014. He received his MFA in Playwriting from the University of New Orleans in 2019.

Kinesthetic Realignment Workshop
(4 Weeks)

Instructor: Rachel Nelson
Saturdays November 9 - December 7. 4pm-5:30pm

Using the seven main chakras, we will move through the body's main energy centers, freeing tension, finding legibility, and increasing awareness. This is a great class for performers, as well as anybody looking to deepen their relationship with their body. Will include some movement and some journaling. No experience necessary.

Rachel is a professor at Hollins University and Bard College who has taught and directed around the country. She is especially interested in using theater as a way expand social justice work in our communities and liberation in our bodies..

Imagining Sound Workshop
(2 Weeks)

Instructor: Justin Peake
Mondays December 9 & 16. 6-8pm 

Imagining Sound is a series of two meetings with an attention to the variety of images and sensations that accompany the sounds which surround us. It is an experiment in imagination, memory, and stillness. By playfully exploring the multisensorial aspects of sonic and musical experience we might be able to expand and augment our approaches to composition to expand beyond music's ethereal nature and perhaps discover a more metaphorical, unified or inclusive language for describing our experiences of sonic phenomena. This class is open to all current and aspiring listeners.

Justin Peake is a drummer, sound composer,  improviser, and experimental media artist based in New Orleans, LA. His music incorporates acoustic and electronic elements often using his own interactive software instruments. A graduate of  NYU’s Interactive Telecommunications Program (ITP), he focuses on software for variably structured improvisation in performance. He has released music on the Moodgadget, Ghostly International, Ears & Eyes, and Articulated Works labels.