Movement
If you’re an early riser, this is the place to grab a morning yoga session. Need to move a little more? Take a class in some high energy dance! If you’d rather stimulate your mind, opportunities abound for intriguing panel discussions. Make a statement!
Bellydance
Endymienne
Class Description: Shake/Shimmy/Stretch for all Shapes/Styles/Sizes
Join Endymienne’s bellydance class to shake, shimmy, and stretch into your body – all skill levels welcome! You’ll learn tribal fusion bellydance fundamentals while listening to WTFriendly music in a body-friendly setting: basic movements from head to toe with a focus on technique and drills, culminating in a short choreography you can practice out on the floor. Use these bellydance basics to create your own fusion!
Biography: Endymienne has been dancing since early childhood — ballroom, swing, salsa, cabaret, go-go, hip hop, American Tribal Style, and modern dance — and fuses these influences in her own unique style. You can learn more about Endi and upcoming performances on her website, She also performs regularly with Bridgetown Revue and Cloud City Circus in Portland, Oregon.
Learn to Bellydance! Shake, shimmy, and stretch for all shapes, styles and sizes with Endymienne!
Bob Marley Yoga
Chris Calarco
Class Description: The practice of yoga is an invitation to create space and freedom from limiting physical, mental, and emotional bondage within. We will celebrate Bob’s music and his message of internal liberation through pranayama, asana, and meditation. We will support practice with a heady mix of Marley classics, remixes, and rarities. May the practice return us home. One love
Biography: Chris is a yoga student and teacher in Portland, Oregon. He loves to teach alignment and flow and his classes are filled with passion, inspiration, and heart centered teaching. Chris is a music geek and frequently links his love of yoga and music in thematic workshops centered on iconic artists like Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, Phish, Pink Floyd and Madonna. Chris is helping to expand his home studio, Yoga Union, in Portland by taking on the Living Building Challenge and building The Breathe Building
Booty Luv®
Heather Craig
Class Description: Set to original mixes by DJ Danny Corn, Booty Luv® lifts, tones, and tightens your best asset through a FUN combination of yoga, Pilates, kickboxing, barre, and dirty dancing!
Biography: Heather Craig is an experienced personal trainer/yoga/Pilates/group fitness instructor and the creator of Booty Luv®, the class that “Shape What Your Mama Gave Ya™”. She is based in Portland, OR.
Breaking
Huy Pham
Class Description: Learning to breakdance has a ton of practical applications besides making you feel awesome…ALL the time: Need a date? Breakdance. Came to WTFestival alone and need to make friends? Breakdance. Can’t dance? Breakdance. Also known as B-boying or breaking, this style of street dance originated among Black and Puerto Rican youth in New York in the early 1970s. It is now a worldwide phenomenon. A practitioner of this dance is called a b-boy, b-girl, or breaker. The four main categories of movement are toprock, downrock, power moves, and freezes.
Biography: For the last 10 years, Huy has been invited to compete, lecture, and host breakdance workshops in 18 states and 2 countries. He has also worked with 100s of kids and adults through Ethos.org, a non-profit that puts arts and dance into underserved communities. He is largely credited with helping to establish Portland’s identity in the global breaking community. Huy co-founded his crew Moon Patrol in 2005 with 4 members. Now with 20 members around the world, the group has inspired countless dancers with a style that is distinctly Portland.
Learn how to breakdance! You’ll learn toprocks, footwork and freezes. In just one hour, be ready to breakdance your way into the hearts of all your friends and fellow festival goers!
Burlesque
Laurel Buckley
Class Description: Burlesque is best served sultry and sensual, with a splash of humor. This class will teach students how to find their inner siren while incorporating modern music and choreography with elements of classic burlesque fashion. The energy of this class tends to be medium paced and focused on the exploration of each dancer’s personal movement. Be prepared to sweat, flirt, laugh, and tease while shaking what you’re mother has bestowed upon you. BYOG (Bring your own glitter).
Biography: Laurel Buckley is currently a dance instructor at Vega Dance+Lab in Portland, OR. Her styles include burlesque, hip hop cabaret, and traditional hip hop. She has been dancing for 15 years up and down the west coast and has appeared in numerous productions in Oregon and California.
Burlesque is best served sultry and sensual, with a splash of humor. This class will teach students how to find their inner siren whilst incorporating modern music and choreography.
Capoeira
David Allison
Class Description: Capoeira Angola as an Afrocentric art form focuses on trickery over force. The play-fight rules of how to ‘roll with the punch’ are set by the coded beats played in the music. This playshop-workshop focuses on learning to play and recognize these beats on the berimbau, as well as the fundamental game-skills of creative evasion, tumbling setups, and entrapment all hidden in this unassuming martial art through dance.
Biography: Esquilo Cinza (David Allison) has been training and playing Capoeira since 1992. He and his family have been playing for Capoeira Angola Palmares since 1997. He teaches this Afro-Brazilian form of dance as a martial cultural art under the guidance of Mestre Gulliver (Paulo Aires) of Sao Paulo, and the icon Grande Mestre No (Norival Moreira de Oliveira) of Ilha de Itaparica, Salvador, Bahia.
Good Times Yoga
Nona Fender & The BEnders
Class Description: A real “class act” & a rockin good time for all! Nona leads an uproarious experience for all levels of class. Celebrate life in body & community, dress crazy & show off your rockstar faces, moves & sounds! Sonically elevated by the beloved Eenor, rockstar extraordinaire, The BEnders raucous whimsy carries you in musical waves of ecstasy, reflection, & down & dirty playful wildness. All normality will be transcended. Familiar poses become brand new adventures. Opportunities for expression are room for outrageous expansion…Yoga naysayers will be converted, the pious will party! YES!! We can be WILD & take great care of ourselves and others! Come dance the dance of the sacred profane!
Biography: Lucid Dawn is a yoga teacher, healer and performance artist who also leads movement celebrations as “Nona Fender & the BEnders” w/ her long time partner, Eenor (Les Claypool, Yard Dogs Road Show, Beats Antique), a professional musician and magician. Lucid has been practicing and studying all aspects of yoga since 1994 and is certified to teach thru Yoga Tree, SF and has continued to train and dive deeper into Yoga ever since.
Good Times Yoga is a rockin good time for all! Led by Nona Fender and perfect for all skill levels, this class invites you to come dance the dance of the sacred and profane!
Hoop Dancing
GroovinMegzz
Saturday:
This class is perfect for the first time hooper, those who are hoping to freshen up their moves, or to try something new! You will learn the basic moves of hoop dance that will become your foundation to dance from! You will loosen up your body, build strength and confidence. Discover self expression through hoop dancing! All levels welcome. Hoops will be available for use.
Sunday Hoop Dance Workshop: Graceful As a Butterfly
Building off our basic movements from Saturday’s workshop, we will begin to play conceptual dance exercises with and without a hoop to discover new ways to move and transform your hoop dance movements. Rhythmic exercises, developing phrase counting, incorporating choreography and improvisational movements, ending with drilling on and off body movement patterns. All levels welcome. Hoops will be available for use.
Biography: GroovinMegzz is a multiple prop performance artist who works towards inspiring others to shine from within through dance, movement, fitness and nutrition. She has been teaching hoop dance in Portland for over six years and incorporates elements of flexibility and rhythmic exercises to create a unique, centering, and fun style of dance.
Come learn to hoop dance! This class is perfect for first time hoopers or those who are hoping to freshen up their moves. You will learn the basic moves of hoop dance that will become your foundation to dance from!
House
William Jay
Class Description: Learn to house dance! Come get your legs moving and grooving. Enhance your festival experience by learning the basic steps to Chicago and New York house with William Jay! You’ll be jacking your body to the beat in just 1 hour.
Biography: William began his dance training at The Oregon Ballet Theater at the age of 5. After dancing with multiple professional companies in Portland, he moved to Los Angeles to further explore his love for dance. During his time there he toured asia with the internationally renowned group “The Waakers”. Will is now back in Portland spreading the word of dance and its powerful connection to all things good, exploring the idea of dance as a ritual and a way to connect.
Meditation
Chris Calarco
Class Description: Join Chris for a 30 minute group meditation practice. No experience necessary. Some guidance/instruction will be provided.
Biography: Chris is a yoga student and teacher in Portland, Oregon. He loves to teach alignment and flow and his classes are filled with passion, inspiration, and heart centered teaching. Chris is a music geek and frequently links his love of yoga and music in thematic workshops centered on iconic artists like Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, Phish, Pink Floyd and Madonna. Chris is helping to expand his home studio, Yoga Union, in Portland by taking on the Living Building Challenge and building The Breathe Building
TALK: Living Building Challenge
Chris Calarco
Talk Description: Currently under construction in Southeast Portland, Oregon, The Breathe Building is a commercial project pursuing The Living Building Challenge, the highest standard of green construction. The Breathe Building will be the future home of three businesses, Yoga Union, one of Portland’s most popular and respected yoga studios, Prema Health, a holistic wellness center and Fern Kitchen, a whole foods restaurant. Building owner and Yoga Union instructor Chris Calarco will be discussing the green building goals and the progress of the project.
Biography: Chris is a yoga student and teacher in Portland, Oregon. He loves to teach alignment and flow and his classes are filled with passion, inspiration, and heart centered teaching. Chris is a music geek and frequently links his love of yoga and music in thematic workshops centered on iconic artists like Bob Marley, Michael Jackson, Phish, Pink Floyd and Madonna. Chris is helping to expand his home studio, Yoga Union, in Portland by taking on the Living Building Challenge and building The Breathe Building
TALK: Natural Builders
Kevin Rowell
Talk Description: Can festivals inspire people to become more involved with sustainable practices? Education is key to this movement and this is your chance to be inspired! In this talk, we will explore new environmentalism and take a look at how disaster relief, music festivals, building codes, and a little old world technology are shaping the future and how you can too!
TALK: S.O.S
Talk Description: Being sober at events is no small feat. Come meet like-minded individuals and find your support network at WTF?!
