CREATIVE AGING CLASSES
The Wallis offers courses for older adults designed to stimulate creativity, connect to others, and tell your personal stories. Courses are held either in-person at The Wallis or virtually through the ZOOM platform. Class sessions start several times per year and sell out quickly!
Staged Stories 1 and Beyond Staged Stories
Instructor: Debra PasqueretteDo you have a story to tell? Staged Stories jumpstarts your creativity and invites you to start writing YOUR story. Through a series of short assignments students explore various themes and excavate memories and life events, learning the power and importance of finding and sharing your voice. The class culminates with a public sharing of a selected piece at The Wallis.
Staged Stories 1
Wednesdays 1:30 – 3:30 P.M. August 7 - September 19, 2024Staged Stories 1 is open to all students. This is an in-person course offered for people ages 55+.
Cost: $125Beyond Staged Stories (Prerequisite)
Tuesdays 1:00 – 3:00 P.M. August 6 - September 19, 2024 WAITLIST ONLYWednesdays 10:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M. August 7 - September 19, 2024 WAITLIST ONLY
Thursdays 10:00 A.M. - 12:00 P.M. August 8 - September 19, 2024 WAITLIST ONLY
Thursdays 1:30 P.M. - 3:30 P.M. August 8 - September 19, 2024 WAITLIST ONLY
Beyond Staged Stories continues the journey of writing your story with the option of adding fiction and provides new ways to add to your creative toolbox. The class focuses on short assignments and culminates with a public sharing of a selected piece at The Wallis. This course is open to students who have completed Staged Stories 1 and 2. This is an in-person course offered for people ages 55+.
Cost: $125
Instructor: Debra Pasquerette
Debra Pasquerette is the Director of Creative Aging Programs at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts. She has been with The Wallis since 2014 and was previously Manager of Community Engagement. Debra has worked in Theater and Arts Management for over 30 years, including serving as the Director of Education at The Geffen Playhouse for 12 years. Debra is a writer, director, and mixed media artist. She studied Performance Studies at Arizona State University and New York University.
Dramatic Writing: Crafting a Monologue
Instructor: Dan OliverioTuesdays 12:30 – 2:30 P.M. August 6 - September 19, 2024
So often in life, we leave things unsaid. Sometimes we wish we’d spoken up, or sometimes we wish someone else could have just understood us. In this introduction to dramatic writing, you’ll create and polish a dramatic or comedic monologue that gives voice to what a character is thinking or feeling at an important moment in their life. That character might be fictional, or real, or it might even be you… whatever you choose to focus on. You’ll also have the option of performing the monologue yourself, or hearing your words performed by someone else.
Cost: $125
Instructor: Dan Oliverio
Dan Oliverio has written books, plays, translations, and articles, as well as directed and produced plays in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. Having taught for over 30 years, he’s led courses in theater history at American Jewish University and writing at the University of Southern California. His seminars about sexuality and relationships eventually led to his award-winning book, The Round World: Life at the Intersection of Love, Sex, and Fat. He is currently one of the co-hosts of the Big Fat Gay Podcast. Dan earned his bachelor’s from Cornell University and received an MFA in Stage Directing from the University of Texas at Austin
Comprehending Life Through Poetry
Instructor: Gubnit Ní DhúinnWednesdays 2:00 – 4:00 P.M. August 7 - September 18, 2024
This course will encourage students to consider Poetry as a philosophical and practical tool for life. While 'penning' Poetry may be an outcome, it is not mandatory to take the class. Emphasis will be placed on the process and effect of each selected poem. The class will embody an appreciation of Poetry as a means of self-expression. This combination of poetry, creativity and philosophy will offer students instant community, focused on self-expression through their response to, and through, poetry.
Instructor: Gubnit Ní Dhúinn
Gubnit Ní Dhúinn, an Irish Poet, holds respective degrees from Trinity College, Dublin, and Oxford University, England. She enjoys over a decade's worth of both creative and academic experience lecturing at Ivy league Institutions. A multi-linguist, words are her passion, and the combination of Poetry and Philosophy to deepen our understanding of life a primary objective.
Exploring the Art of Personal Essay
Tuesdays 10:00 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. August 6 - September 19, 2024 WAITLIST ONLYJoan Didion, Zadie Smith, David Sedaris — a great personal essay can help us see the familiar in new ways with humor and surprising insight. In this generative workshop series, we’ll explore this form — the argument with yourself! The week of August 26 class will be held on Friday August 30.
Cost: $125
Instructor: Brian Sonia-Wallace
Brian Sonia-Wallace has had essays published in The Guardian, Rolling Stone, and LitHub, and has a book of essays out with Harper Collins entitled The Poetry of Strangers: What I Learned Traveling America with a Typewriter.
Afro Cuban Dance with BODYTRAFFIC
Fridays 9:30 – 10:30 A.M. August 30 and September 6 & 13Join 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+.
Cost: $75
Instructor: Joan Rodriguez
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.
Rewriting Destiny - with the Feldenkrais Method
Thursdays 12:00 – 1:00 P.M. August 15 - September 26, 2024 WAITLIST ONLYThe body is the archive of our lived experience. These life experiences are scribed in us and form the foundations of our habitual ways of being. Through the interplay between our patterns of thinking and our patterns of action, this series will inspire a curiosity within as we delve into a world of problem-solving. The Feldenkrais Method is a learning modality that uses movement and awareness to expand our habitual tendencies, giving us more possibilities from which to respond. In this series, the movement itself is very simple and you will be encouraged to work within a range that is comfortable to you. The Feldenkrais Method promotes neurological benefits; enhances the sense of balance; improves posture and helps reduce pain.
Please note: The classes will be either sitting in a chair or lying down on a yoga mat. No class week of September 12
Please contact Charleen Molina for more information.
Cost: $125
Instructor: Ami Shulman
Ami Shulman has worn many hats in the realms of the Performing Arts. She is a Performer; Choreographer; Movement Director; Educator and Somatic Therapist. Ami choreographed for the National Theatre of London, UK; the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington DC where she received a Helen Hayes Award and she co-created works with the Cirque Du Soleil; the National Ballet of Canada and Ballet British Columbia. Ami has staged works internationally and has been a Rehearsal Director to the GoteborgOperans Danskompani, Sweden. Ami has taught throughout Europe, Canada and the USA including for the Netherlands Dans Theater; Venice Biennale; Cirque Du Soleil and the Juilliard School amongst others. Her invested passion in the healing arts has brought her to present at conferences internationally. A certified Feldenkrais Practitioner, Ami’s work is published in the Feldenkrais Journal and Dance Magazine, she co-authored for the anthology Back to the Dance Itself with Dr Hillel Braude.
Act 3 All Levels
Instructor: Cindy TrostThursdays 1:30 – 3:30 P.M. August 8 - September 19, 2024 WAITLIST ONLY
This course takes the exploration of the Acting R.O.P.E.S. to new heights. Actors will delve into characterizations, complex relationships, and challenging scenarios throughout this program. They will continue to explore the nuance of behavior using the foundational techniques of Sandford Meisner, which leads an actor to live truthfully under imaginary circumstances. The culmination of this journey will be a showcase of final scenes scenes at the end of the session.
Cost: $125
Instructor: Cindy Rucker Trost
Cindy Rucker Trost is the Creative Director of the Meisner Institute, which sponsors acting programs worldwide. She is a producer, director, actor, and acting teacher with 35 years of experience in Radio, Television, Film, and Live Events. Cindy began her study of the Meisner Technique in 1995 at Playhouse West and began teaching at Playhouse West in 2012. While teaching at Playhouse West, she served as assistant director and cast member of Welcome Home Soldier, one of the longest-running non-musical productions in American Theater. In addition to acting, Cindy is also a writer and poet. “The Pandemic Rat Race,” written in response to a Staged Stories class prompt, was published in the online literary magazine Drunk Monkeys (June 2021-Vol.6, No.6). She is a staunch supporter of education programs in Beverly Hills and is a past president of the Beverly Hills Education Foundation. Cindy serves on the Friends of Greystone Board of Directors and is the Friends of the Beverly Hills Public Library Board Secretary.
Hamlet
Instructor: Jake BroderWednesdays 10:00 – 12:00 P.M. August 7- September 18, 2024 WAITLIST ONLY
Do you want to enjoy Shakespeare and really comprehend what’s going on in the play? Want to get to a place where you might feel comfortable trying out a few lines, or a scene? Come dive into a lively discussion about Hamlet and dig into the context, history, meaning, characters, dramatic structure and poetry, so that you can enjoy Shakespeare how it was intended to be enjoyed… with your mouth. No pressure to perform, but an opportunity to dig in and have fun. You’ll come out of this class with a good understanding of Hamlet and know why Shakespeare is still relevant 500 years later!
Please note that is a continuation course, students who are new to the course are encouraged to attend a one-time course review session on Tuesday August 6, 2024
Instructor: Jake Broder
Jake Broder lives in Los Angeles with his wife Lucy and children Ella & Louis. He is currently an Atlantic Fellow at the Global Brain Health Institute (at UCSF and Trinity College, Dublin), He was the Hellman Visiting Artist in 2019, which resulted in the script for his play UnRavelled unravelledplay.com. His play Our American Hamlet premiered at the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, and was nominated for best new play, IRNE (Boston). His musical, Miravel, won the LADCC for best score, composed by Jake. He co-wrote and originated the role of Louis in Louis & Keely Live at the Sahara, winning Jake Ovation, LADCC, Garland and LA Weekly awards for Best Actor and Best Musical the Geffen Playhouse, directed by Oscar-winner, Taylor Hackford, and since toured Chicago and SoCal. As an actor, Jake recently shot The Patient, with Steve Carrell, was on The Morning Show on Apple TV+. and has a recurring role on HBO’s Silicon Valley He received his BA from Tufts University and trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. www.jakebroder.com
ENROLL TODAY
If you are not yet a registered Creative Aging student, click HERE to register and a Wallis staff member will contact you.
If you are already a registered Creative Aging student please email Charleen Molina,CMOLINA@THEWALLIS.ORG with the name of your desired course, or call (310) 295-1918
TESTIMONIALS
