CREATIVE AGING ARTS RETREAT
GRoW: A Space for Arts Education

A GRoW @ The Wallis Creative Aging Program

CREATIVE AGING ARTS RETREAT

GRoW

Jun 14, 2023

9:30 AM
Wednesday, June 14 
9:30 AM - 3:30 PM
AT THE WALLIS


A day filled with a variety of workshops and a chance to connect with others! No prior experience is necessary for any of the workshops. For ages 55+.

Confirmed classes and instructors:

Brian Sonia-Wallace: THE POETRY OF ANTICIPATION
A workshop in writing and possibility! Join Brian for an adventure into creating poetry. 

Brian is the West Hollywood City Poet Laureate, a 2021-22 Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow for LGBTQ+ literary activism, and the author of The Poetry of Strangers: What I Learned Traveling America with a Typewriter. By-lines include Rolling Stone, The Guardian, LitHub, American Poets, Rattle, and more. Brian’s company, RENT Poet, creates custom poems on-demand on vintage typewriters (including installations for The Getty, The Music Center, and Google), and he teaches creative writing at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program.

Will Nedved: BREAKING WRITER'S BLOCK
Tools for breaking through your questions, fears, and creative paralysis so you can tell the story you need to tell.

Will is a writer and writing teacher living in Los Angeles. He is the co-founder of The Gift Theatre Company of Chicago, a 21-year-old Equity ensemble. Recent collaborations include the original musical Wanderlust at Cal-State Fullerton; the audio play The Ravages with Theatre of NOTE; Medusa: The Musical with Deaf West Theatre at the Getty Villa; and the opera The Passion of McQueen at Boston Court Pasadena. He frequently adapts international films and television series into English for Netflix. He studied dramatic writing at the University of Iowa, the University of New South Wales, and the University of Southern California. He is also the former Associate Director of Communications for The Wallis. WilliamNedved.com.

Ingrid Graham: BALLET BRAIN CIRCUIT
Physical and mental fitness should be connected. It’s one of the smartest things you can do to ensure you are healthy and lucid in your later years. Ballet Brain Circuit ® is comprised of conditioning and stretch exercises based on ballet training principles. The class is designed to improve cognitive function while increasing muscular endurance, cardiovascular health, balance and coordination. It decreases chronic stress and promotes an uplifting mood. 

Ingrid is a classically trained dancer, choreographer and educator. Her performance and choreography affiliations include the Edinburgh Festival, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Brooklyn Academy of Music and the California African American Museum. As a guest artist she performed at Stephen Sondheim’s Gala Benefit in NYC.

Joan Rodriguez: BODYTRAFFIC MOVEMENT WORKSHOP
Join BODYTRAFFIC Company dancer Joan Rodriguez in a movement workshop series connecting storytelling and dance. In these classes, you will learn movement fundamentals of Latin and Afro-Cuban dance styles. No dance experience required. For ages 55+.

Joan Rodriguez was born in La Habana, Cuba where he graduated from the Escuela Nacional de Arte with the “Best Graduate of the Year” award. His professional career began with DanzAbierta, and he went on to join Malpaso Dance Company. He became a political refugee in 2017 and relocated to Arizona, where he focused on creating, teaching, and producing multimedia projects. He has also served as a Guest Artist in Residency for universities and arts centers throughout the U.S. and has received awards in several dance competitions. In 2019, he joined Parsons Dance and choreographed an original work for the company as part of the 2019 GenerationNow fellowship program. Throughout 2020 and 2021, Joan has focused on freelancing in dance, teaching and videography. Joan has also showcased his own collaborative works at the Blacktinx Dance Festival, the Solo/Duo Dance Festival, and at NYC art galleries as part of mixed media performances. He has taught guest classes at The Juilliard School, New York University, Gibney Dance, Yale University, Hunter College, Akron University, and RWU. He was recently commissioned as a choreographer by Connecticut Ballet for their “Ballet Under the Stars” 2021 summer program. 
And more to come!
 
ENROLLMENT FEE
$60/person. Scholarships are available. Questions? Email debra@thewallis.org.