fREE & Open to the public!

All CDF master classes will take place in the Gund Dance Studio in the Idea Center at Playhouse Square.

Pre-registration is strongly encouraged. Walk-up’s are welcome!

Playhouse square, 1375 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, Ohio 44115

Level: Advanced 18+

Level: Ages 12-18, Intermediate/Advanced

Professional Master Classes

Contemporary Movement Forms in storytelling & Improvisation

Morgan Joanne Grube of MoJo Co.Lab

11/7/25 (11:15 - 12:45 pm)

Let's talk about the they, you, how, when, who, where, and why of exploration and story telling through contemporary movement forms and task-based improvisation. This class connects you to you, you to them, and them to we as we explore movement levels, negative space, concept, emotion, and connection.

About the Artist: Morgan Joanne Grube, a Cleveland-based movement artist, holds a BFA in dance performance and choreography from Kent State University. Morgan began her professional career with Philadelphia based company, Cardell Dance Theatre, while concurrently training on scholarship at The Ailey School in New York, NY. In 2019, Morgan joined Cleveland-based and integrated dance company, Dancing Wheels Company. During her five seasons with Dancing Wheels, she was a full time company member and company class instructor. In her final two seasons, Morgan led as Dancing Wheels Company Rehearsal Director and Wardrobe Manager. Creatively, Morgan is an ever-evolving and passionate choreographer driven by inclusivity, empathy, candor, and collaboration. Throughout her creative journey she has been commissioned by establishments such as Kent State University, Bellingham Repertory Dance, GroundWorks DanceTheater, Cleveland Dance Festival, Dance City Festival, Mark DeGarmo International Dance Festival, OhioDance Festival, and Contemporary Dance Choreography Festival. In 2023, Morgan was awarded the Michigan Residency Award by Detroit Dance City Festival and became a GroundWorks DanceTheater Discovery Residency Artist. In 2024, Morgan was selected as a Commissioned Artist for Cleveland Dance Festival where she premiered her newest work, “Happily Ever Never.” Presently, Morgan is a freelance dancer and collaborator for Dominic Moore-Dunson's, The Remember Balloons Tour, Ajayi Dance in Cleveland, OH, and also STILGO dance + tech in Columbus, OH where she is collaborating on a dance film project set to film in 2025.

Contemporary

Tori Zegarelli

11/7/25 (1:15 - 2:45 pm)

A joyful and energetic contemporary class fostering community and inviting artistic exploration. Concepts such as improvisation, breath work, sequencing, and floor work will be explored and progressed towards dynamic phrase work.

About the Artist: Tori Zegarelli (she/her) is originally from Chicago and began dancing at age 14 at Dancenter North. She continued her studies at Point Park University, earning her BFA in Dance and graduating magna cum laude. Tori has also received training at Axis Connect, Movement Invention Project, ODC, and Salt Contemporary Dance. Throughout her career, Tori has had the privilege of performing as a company member with Aerial Dance Chicago, Dance in the Parks, Hedwig Dances, and most recently with GroundWorks DanceTheater. In her time with GroundWorks, she had the honor of performing works by Antonio Brown, David Shimotakahara, FLOCK: Alice Klock & Florian Lochner, Olivier Wevers, Peter Chu, Rena Butler, Sidra Bell, and Spenser Theberge. In addition to performing, Tori served as Artistic Associate and Web Designer for GroundWorks in her final seasons. Tori has taught dance in the Chicago and Cleveland areas, including at Cleveland State University. Additionally, she is a certified yoga instructor.

Contemporary Flow

Lucy Dillon

11/7/25 (3:00 - 4:30 pm)

This class is informed by release technique, Bartenieff Fundamentals, Floorwork, and Lucy Dillon’s training in Africanist forms such as Jazz, House, and West African. Class will begin with guided improvisation, move into skills to challenge coordination and adaptability, and end with choreography that challenges group connectivity and individual choice-making. Class will encourage dancers to seek efficient, enlivened movement that utilizes a personal sense of momentum and excites the thrill of bodies moving together.

About the Artist: Lucy Dillon is a dance artist investigating the utility of movement for claiming embodied agency. Her work declares aliveness and unapologetic presence, disrupting systems that restrict bodily autonomy. Her lived experience, community, and training as a dancer, runner, and athlete fuel her movement invention. Pushing against a capitalist patriarchal hegemony intent on driving us to numb and isolate, her work activates a need to connect to our bodies and one another to survive. Lucy is currently pursuing an MFA in Dance at The Ohio State University. She has been an artist-in-residence at Levy Dance, Iowa Choreography Festival, and SAFEhouse Arts. She has shown her work in festivals such as Berkeley’s Broad Statements Festival, Ohio Dance Festival, and PUSHfest Global to name a few. In 2024, she participated in the ATLAS choreographic training program at ImPulsTanz, Vienna’s International Dance Festival. Lucy moves from core commitments to anti-racism, sustainable practices, and body empowerment.

Safety Release: A somatic movement lab

Caitlyn Schrader and kt williams of DanSeries

11/8/25 (9:00 - 10:25 am)

Co-taught by Safety Release (SR) Master Teachers, Caitlyn Schrader and kt williams, this master class will focus on the principles of SR Technique, offering an intermediate/advanced approach to foundational contemporary dance technique. Class will dive deeply into the full somatic structure of Safety Release. Class is evenly split between floor work and big, traveling movement phrases: the warm-up will function as a somatic movement laboratory and will progress into standing and physically rigorous traveling patterns that challenge directionality, weight shift, counter balance, and suspended movement.

About the Artist: Caitlyn Schrader (based in Greensboro, NC) and kt williams (based in Chicago, IL) join forces under the moniker DanSeries Collective. They make dance in the form of performances, installations, and events that are typically presented as a series, often placed in public locations, and many times (but not always) involve Doc Martens, a cooler, a sign, and a chair. Together, they aim to challenge easy classifications of dance and performance. Fostering long-distance collaboration, they use dance as a catalyst for maintaining and sustaining their creative partnership, ultimately making dances together, while apart.

Postmodern breaking

Jonathan “JayWAN” Pattiwael

11/8/25 (10:30 - 12:00 pm)

With over 19 years of experience in breaking, Jonathan will guide participants in a workshop combining acrobatic techniques, contemporary dance and contact improvisation to explore original movement creation to flow into and out of the floor as a solo body. The workshop will take contact improvisation techniques to merge with breaking, and contemporary floorwork. It is highly recommended that participants wear kneepads for this master class.

About the Artist: Organi City was born to create visual sociopolitical, cultural, emotional and ancestral discourse that subverts hierarchies from our experiences in the world. Through the human body as our primary artistic medium, we create, play, explore, nurture and challenge each other. We emphasize creation through play, ambiguity, experimentation and serendipity. Jonathan "JayWAN" Pattiwael is an Indonesian immigrant dancer, teacher, and choreographer who creates cross disciplinary performances by remixing their artistic practice in breaking, hip-hop, house, indigenous dances, experimental theatre and contemporary forms to reinforce our place in the world and subvert the social order. Born and raised in Indonesia, JayWAN lives in multiple artistic worlds that reflect the negotiation of their authentic identity as a 21st century US immigrant. From 2019 to 2023 JayWAN served as Hip-Hop lecturer at the University of Dayton and resident artist at Dayton Contemporary Dance Company before moving to Texas. JayWAN has completed 7 evening length choreographic works, 22 performances, a film, and 11 guest artist residencies spanning 10 US States and 8 countries. JayWAN's work has been sought by the Ohio Dance Festival, REST Fest, Dayton Contemporary Dance Company, Fayetteville Movement Festival, Festival Entrelaçados, the Nordic Fringe Network and TicTac Art Centre Belgium.

Youth Master Classes

Ballet

Emmaline Devore of The Movement Project

11/9/25 (9:00 - 9:55 am)

Through classical/contemporary ballet techniques and terminology. The class will focus on working from an anatomical approach, creating honest and sound movement. By removing any preconceived notions of what dancers should look like, dance like and be capable of, dancers can focus on the correct placement of bones, allowing muscles to function effortlessly and efficiently. Dancers are encouraged to take artistic risk, think independently and to explore their qualitative approach to movement. The ballet curriculum will include Vaganova, Cecchetti, and Balanchine techniques. 

About the Artist: Emmaline Devore started dancing at age 3 and trained in multiple states (Missouri, South Dakota, Arizona, and Oklahoma). She attended Mercyhurst University where she graduated with honors, attaining her B.F.A. in Dance Performance while holding dance and academic scholarships. She performed with Seiche Dance Collective 2022-2023 under the direction of artistic director Danielle Kaiser, has appeared as an artist with Deos Contemporary Ballet under the direction of Tess Sinke. Some of her favorite performances include performing the role of Rothbart in Swan Lake and performing original choreographic works during Seiche’s spring show intra-action. 

Contemporary

Christine Howe

11/9/25 (10:00 - 10:55 am)

Release and claim space in community! This class will explore floorwork and dynamic range while encouraging experimentation and freedom of artistry. I encourage you to have socks, long pants, and a shirt that covers your shoulders available for ease of moving through the floor. Let’s move together!

About the Artist: Christine Howe (she/her) is a dance educator, performer, and maker serving as an Associate Lecturer at The University of Akron. She holds a BFA from The University of Akron and an MFA with performance emphasis from The University of Iowa. She received the Iowa Arts Fellowship and served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant under the direction of Rebekah Kowal. As an educator, she strives to create community environments in the classroom to support spaces of exploration and experimentation to leave students with a sense of creative individuality, an investigative curiosity, and a deep passion to move. As a maker, her choreographic works have been presented by Columbus Contemporary Dance Company, The University of Akron Dance Company, The Cleveland Dance Festival, Take Up Space in Chicago, and Lindenwood University in St. Louis. She is excited to have been selected as The Movement Project's 2025 Choreographic Fellow and Suttle Dance Company (Detroit) Emerging Artist. Her choreographic research works deeply with performance techniques to dance beyond just spectacle, creating empathetic and humanistic connections.

Story-telling through Odissi

Monali NandyMazumdar

11/9/25 (11:00 - 12:00 pm)

Odissi, one of the oldest classical dance forms of India, traces its origins to the temples of Odisha, where it was performed as a sacred offering to deities. Known for its graceful and lyrical movements, Odissi beautifully blends fluid upper body gestures with strong, grounded footwork, creating a harmonious balance between elegance and strength.

Everyday stories, as told by class participants, will be elaborated with basic Odissi movements and hand gestures, culminating in a small routine.

About the Artist: Monali NandyMazumdar, a research scientist with a doctorate in Microbiology, continues her scientific career in the USA while nurturing a deep passion for Odissi dance, cultivated under the guidance of Dr. Kaustavi Sarkar. She has showcased her artistry in numerous dance festivals across the USA, performing both as a soloist and in ensemble choreographies with her Guru. Committed to continuous growth, Monali refines her skills through regular workshops and training from world-renowned artists. She has also established online practice groups to build a global community of Odissi practitioners, encouraging daily 'sadhana' (spiritual practice). Her academic curiosity about the meaning of dance drives her to engage in theoretical and scholarly dialogues surrounding Odissi. Looking ahead, Monali plans to explore collaborative expressions of Odissi through different dance styles, music, poetry, and painting. With a deep desire to share the beauty of Odissi with a global audience, she is dedicated to empowering herself and others through the transformative power of dance.

Pre-registration is strongly encouraged. Walk-up’s are welcome!