GYROKENISIS (In Person)

@BAX with Emily Kessler

Wednesdays from 6:15-7:15pm, Weekly drop in registration
Ages 16+
February 1, 2023 to June 14, 2023
*No class on April 12 or May 31st

The GYROKINESIS method is a movement system that takes a holistic focus. The class travels through fluid movement sequences where participants will challenge and increase their range of motion, stimulate their nervous system, and create functional strength. Over the class hour, we will move through a range of repeated sequences that uniquely require coordination of the physical body, breath, and focus. Long lines of contrast in the body coupled with generous stretch and expansion in the joints and torso leave class goers feeling longer, taller, and more connected to their kinesphere.

Emily Kessler (she/her) is an American-Croatian dance-based artist raised in the United States and Switzerland. Since moving to New York, she has had the pleasure of performing work by Elena Bajo, Doug Varone, Phoebe Berglund, Jee Eun Ahn, Stuart Singer, and Matthew Westerby among others. Her own work has been performed in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Texas, Singapore, and Vietnam, and she has been an artist in residence at Chapman Steamer Arts, Sky Hill Farm Studio, Utica Dance, Mount Tremper Arts, Cunneen-Hackett Arts Center, Peaceable Barn, and the Neuberger Museum of Art. First introduced to the GYROTONIC® Expansion System at 15, Emily dove further into the method after she graduated from SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance and moved to Brooklyn. GYROTONIC® and GYROKINESIS® work help her feel at home in her body, and she seeks to empower others to feel the same through its movement methodology.

MELT (In Person)

@BAX with EmmaGrace Skove-Epes

Fridays from 6:15-7:45pm, Weekly drop in registration
Ages 16+
February 21, 2023 to May 26, 2023

The MELT Method is a self-treatment technique and body literacy system that focuses on rehydrating dehydrated connective tissue throughout the body and nourishing our nervous systems. Using props, including rubber rollers and balls, we will simulate the effects of therapeutic bodywork techniques- the props will serve as the “hands” of a bodywork practitioner. Drawing from practices including CranioSacral Therapy, Neuromuscular Therapy, Reflexology, Lymphatic Drainage, and Structural Integration/Rolfing, the MELT Method can help people recuperate from daily activities, including exercise, intense exertion, long periods of working at a desk or on your feet, and accumulated physical and/or emotional tension and stress. It can also be helpful in disrupting chronic pain patterns, healing from injury, preventing reinjury, helping your body prepare for or recover from surgery, and decreasing inflammation. By providing gentle compression and sensory feedback to different parts of your own body, you will learn how to systematically work with the fluid flow in your own body’s amazingly vast connective tissue matrix. Through learning to locate your fascial lines and how you can impact their interconnected currents of fluid flow, you will learn how to identify “pre-pain” signals and sensations that your body is communicating before pain or injury occur and to gently shift various physical symptoms. The MELT method, especially practiced over time, offers a way into deeper self-knowledge- allowing you to identify how you can offer yourself care and invite more ease, grounding, and deepen embodied awareness and presence.  

*WHAT TO BRING: Please bring a water bottle- drinking water intermittently throughout class will maximize the benefits of our practice. Wear comfortable clothes that you can easily move in- layers are ideal so that you can stay warm! It can be helpful to have a notebook and writing utensil to record any insights that come up as we move through the techniques together.

*Please inform EmmaGrace ahead of class if you have had any surgeries. You are also welcome to disclose any other health information you are comfortable with. You can email her in advance at emmagraceteaches@gmail.com, or notify her in person. Please note that it is not advised to have a massage or other bodywork on the same day as taking a MELT Method class. While MELT techniques can be adapted to be quite gentle, because they replicate the effects of hands-on bodywork, both directly impact connective tissue. A part of the practice is finding how much is the right amount for our particular body and system, and sometimes less can be more in the span of one day.

*Access Note: All bodies are different, and you know your body best! All MELT classes include a body literacy and inventory practice- you are guided through noticing physical cues that can help determine what you might need on that specific day, so group classes will always have an individualized component. MELT techniques can be adapted to suit those with various physical abilities- the techniques taught in each class will always be adjusted to the access needs of the individuals in class. I will always offer modifications and you are always invited to opt out of a technique if you sense it’s not right for you. If you have access needs you would like me to know before class, feel free to reach out to me at emmagraceteaches@gmail.com. Please note that class participants will need to walk up 2-4 flights of stairs (the class studio may shift week to week between the 2nd and 3rd floor). 

While MELT is a hands-off form of bodywork, there are moments when in working one on one, giving cues through touch can help some people access a new movement pattern. I will always ask for your consent before giving a hands on cue. There is no greater benefit to having hands on than hands off, they are just different approaches. Please trust your own instincts in the moment as to whether or not you want a hands on cue- you will always be the one who knows best. 

EmmaGrace Skove-Epes (she/they) is a movement based artist and educator, and a BAX alum. She has taught dance, movement, and somatics for the past six+ years at various studios, schools, and universities. Her work as a MELT instructor is informed by her experience as a hypermobile dancer and performance maker and her experience navigating her performance career amidst healing from repetitive spinal injuries and subsequent periods of severely limited mobility and chronic/cyclical pain. In addition to their study of MELT, EmmaGrace’s teaching practice is informed by a wide web of movement lineages they’ve studied including: functional anatomy, Bartenieff Fundamentals, trauma-informed somatics, improvisational dance forms, Modern and postmodern dance forms, Afro-Caribbean Diasporic dance forms, and Flamenco. EmmaGrace is currently studying Hypermobile Accessible Proprioceptive Therapy (HAPT) with Hyp-Access, a duo of hyper-mobile educators who offer education and care-consulting to hypermobile people. This work greatly informs her approach to teaching the MELT method to hypermobile students and dancers. EmmaGrace’s teaching practice is trauma-informed, body positive, and queer and gender affirming. In addition to teaching open drop-in classes, EmmaGrace has a 1-1 practice teaching sliding-scale  MELT Method sessions to clients seeking more individualized support. She is also a new member of Bodies for Bodies, a collective of queer and trans bodyworkers and somatic educators who organize collective sliding scale and free offerings for queer and trans clients based in Brooklyn, NY. You can find more information on all parts of their practice at emmagraceskove-epes.com.

Kelindah Schuster (they/them) is a nonbinary educator and drag performance artist known as “Theydy Bedbug” who grew up in Singapore and Indonesia. They studied Drama and Gender studies at Vassar College and have been teaching, technical directing, and creating art at BAX since 2015. As their performance persona, they have performed and produced in venues such as Pioneer Works, Gibney Dance, Dixon Place, Triskelion Arts, Coney Island USA, The Stonewall Inn, UCB, Chelsea Music Hall, The Tank, BAM, VICE Headquarters, Columbia University, National Sawdust, and The Knockdown Center. Their teaching makes space for problem-solving societal dilemmas, imagining new possibilities, and expressing differences with joyful authenticity. They believe that access to spaces of genderful play in performance and creation is a step toward collective liberation. https://www.kelindahbee.art/

Drag Performance: Between & Beyond Gender (In Person)

@BAX With Kelindah Schuster AKA Theydy Bedbug

Mondays from 6:30-8:45pm
March 13, 2023 to May 15, 2023
Ages 18+
Tech week May 16- May 19, Shows on May 19 and May 20

Applications due February 17th, participants notified February 20th 

This class focuses on developing drag characters that expand what it means to be a drag queen, king, thing, in between or beyond what we’ve seen. Through group games, writing prompts and discussion, solo and collaborative movement exercises, we give ourselves permission to express the full range of who we are and can be while releasing narratives about how we “should” move, express, or dress based on gender norms we’ve inherited. We experiment with the tools of pantomime, clowning, lip sync, caricature, structured improv and intuitive movement to build towards in-process drag performance acts. While this class is focused primarily on performance skills, we touch upon what goes into making a drag act including: makeup, costumes, creating a musical track, movement choreography and technical production choices.

*All in person events will follow up-to-date City and CDC covid-safety recommendations.

Guest Teachers:

Miz Jade is a Black, trans, queer drag performer, event host, and professional dancer. Known for her teaching, activism, and quick wit, she’s bound to gag you and turn the party. Miz Jade has been described as fierce, sensual, sophisticated, and full of surprises.  Miz Jade works with Drag Story Hour NYC, which fosters children’s imagination while providing glamorous, positive, and unabashedly queer role models. She is extremely proud of her involvement with DSH NYC, as she is passionate about the program’s message of acceptance and inclusivity. She is also the face of a national campaign called ‘The Real Ms Information’. A collaborative effort with GMHC and FCB Health to motivate and educate LGBTQ+ people on the importance of being covid vaccinated. Miz Jade has been nominated for ‘Best Dance Performer’ at the Glam Awards. She was also nominated for ‘Queen Of The Year’ and ‘Best Performer’ at the Brooklyn Nightlife Awards. 

The Cake Boys are a network and platform for live, digital, and hybrid events to showcase Drag Kings and alternative queer & trans performers.
The Cake Boys serve a unique and growing community within the NYC Drag scene and beyond, elevating underrepresented talent and introducing new audiences to varieties of drag not yet seen on television. The Cake Boys performer network includes over 100 artists and growing, with open set opportunities for new performers every month.
At the helm of our productions both on stage and behind the scenes are Muscles Monty, Richard, Senerio, and Sweaty Eddie.