Thank you for a wonderful 2009 - here's to 2010!

Dear expandance friends,

It's been a great year for us, and we want to thank you for being a part of our group of supporters and friends.

We performed 'Trio with Invisible Third' at Movement Research's Open Performance Series at Dance Theater Workshop, NY, & CoisCéim Dance studio, Dublin simultaneously, premiered two new pieces ('Making Change' for Brooklyn Arts Exchange and 'Fountain' for 60x60Dance NYC), were accepted to two festivals (BAX Upstart Festival & Absolut Fringe Dublin), became certified as a Pilates instructor (Laurie), became certified as a Transforming Cellular Memory teacher (Rachel), ran a marathon (Alicia), and began teaching the expandance technique to the wider NY dance community.

We became a lot more tech savvy too! We're now on Twitter - come follow us :D

Thank you especially to the following incredibly talented people who've been a part of our journey this year: dancer ChristinaNoel Reaves, choreographer & videographer Carlos A. Cruz-Velázquez, and video editor Lauren Aurrichio.

We wish you all a happy happy New Year, and a prosperous, creative and joyous 2010.

Thank you for being fabulous!

Dance on...

Rachel, Laurie & Alicia
expandance

Come dance with expandance

Come dance with expandance as we share the technique we use at the beginning of every rehearsal & in our choreographic process! No dance experience necessary, just an open mind and the willingness to play, open your heart, and dance from your higher self. Dancers will find new tools to pre-empt injury and perform from a more authentic place.

Cost $35 To RSVP e-mail rachelwynne@gmail.com

Come dance with expandance

expandance WORKSHOP!

I am excited to facilitate the 1st expandance workshop in New York City.

Sunday, November 29, 2009
2:15pm - 4:45pm
Keystone Studios
252 West 30th Street 4B, New York, NY (1 block from Penn Station)
Cost $35

We will move, create and play in an openhearted, supportive and safe space. This workshop is open to all - no prior dance experience is necessary, just an openness to enjoying yourself of a Sunday afternoon :) The expandance technique also teaches professional dancers how to pre-empt injuries by noticing energy blocks & tiredness in the body much sooner.

RSVP is required by e-mailing me at rachelwynne@gmail.com Places are limited, so please RSVP early.

Wear or bring comfortable clothes you can move easily in & water. There is a space to change.

This is a once-off event for now.

In my workshops I merge over 25 years of dance and 8 years of Transforming Cellular Memory training with some kick ass music.


"Rachel Wynne is a gifted and intuitive teacher and healer. As a writer, I spend a great deal of time in my head and experience occasional bouts of anxiety and depression as a result. Rachel has taught me to move my focus away from my brain and into the rest of my body. Not only has my anxiety and bodily pain subsided, but I'm learning to channel that energy into my work and gaining more confidence as a writer and performer as a result." - Sarah Rainone, Author.

Photo by Kate Hess

Dancers doing good...

Here at expandance we are so proud of Alicia for running the Dublin City Marathon this year. This from a girl who had never been jogging just a year ago, and who trained herself up to do it. Her fundraising target was €1,000, and she far surpassed that, raising €1,795 in total for Aware. Here she is being held up by her Dad at the end of the race :)

Alicia gets her run on

Alicia is taking part in the Dublin City Marathon, October 26th 2009. After training herself for the last year, running through Queens, NYC, and the on the roads and hills of Wicklow, Ireland, Alicia is currently up to her 20 mile mark in training. We at expandance are pretty much in awe of her. She is running in aid of Aware and you can sponsor her here.

Trio with Invisible Third at Project Brand New

Excerpts from Trio with Invisible Third - the 1st installment / Dublin footage
Premiere performance, Project Brand New, The Project Theatre, Dublin, Ireland 2008
Choreography: Rachel Wynne & dancers
Edit: Lauren Aurrichio

Making Change is ONLINE

The video for Making Change - the original solo - is now watchable online here.

Thanks to Lauren Auricchio for her editing.

Musings

Rachel was recently asked to write a response to the rather vague question 'What is dance?' for online arts magazine Burgeon.

Her piece is here.

Rollercoaster rides

The great news:

At the beginning of May, 'Making Change' was accepted by Dublin Fringe Festival 2009. This is an honour: expandance are big fans of DFF. However...

The sad news:

After months of deliberation, we had to concede that without funding, it is not possible to put this show on as part of DFF. It's the first time I (Rachel) have turned down a performance opportunity because of finances in over a decade of making dance. It was a tough decision, but one which we, as a company, came to mutually. We hope that 'Making Change' will have it's chance in the near future, and we thank those of you who made the first couple of performances in New York so magical, especially Christina, Carlos Cruz, and those at BAX.

In other news, Alicia has a busy summer of expandance workshops coming up in Ireland, and we'll be posting those dates soon.

Making Change at DNA

Coming up - NEXT PERFORMANCE

Missed the premiere of Making Change?

Here's your second chance:

As part of DNA's VISA VOICES

A studio showing of Making Change, the newest piece from expandance

Saturday April 25th 6pm At Dance New Amsterdam
280 Broadway, 2nd Floor (entrance on Chambers)
New York, NY 10007

212.625.8369 for more info

THIS WEEK! Next two NYC performances

'Making Change'

A new piece by Rachel Wynne about change and making it, involving lots of coins. Performed by the incredibly talented Christina Noel Reaves

Saturday April 4th 2009 8pm
Brooklyn Arts Exchange 421 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn NY As part of BAX Upstart Festival.

For tickets go here: http://www.bax.org/tickets.php

60X60 Dance
at Galapagos Arts Space, Brooklyn

Come see Rachel & Christina do their 60 seconds of heaven! With video footage by Rachel Wynne.

Tuesday April 7th at 8pm
For tickets go here: http://www.galapagosartspace.com/events.html

Making Change in rehearsal

We are currently working on 'Making Change' for BAX Upstart Festival NYC. A couple of photos of Alicia and Christina in rehearsal at Keystone Studio.

'Making Change' at BAX, 4th April 2009

We're delighted that guest artist Christina Reaves will be performing Rachel Wynne's 'Making Change' at BAX Upstart Festival on April 4th.

expandance met Christina through a recent piece by Krista Racho-Jansen that Rachel and Alicia danced in, and we felt she was perfect to take Alicia's place in 'Making Change', which was originally choreographed on her.

About Christina: After a BFA in Music: Voice Performance from Georgia State University, and an MFA in Dance from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Christina Noel Reaves pursues dance and voice performance, instruction, and composition. In addition to singing in operas and musicals, she has had the privilege of dancing for Doug Elkins, Ellis Wood, David Dorfman, Ivy Baldwin, Curt Haworth, Gary Abbott, Christopher Williams, Gus Solomons Jr., Kay Cummings, Candess Giyan, Melanie Lynch-Blanchard, Kelly Hayes, Patrycja Noworol, Yue Yin, and Carlos Cruz.

BAX Upstart Festival

We are delighted to post that our newest work in progress has been accepted to Brooklyn Arts Exchange's 'Upstart Festival' - a festival showcasing work by choreographers who are new to showing their work in New York City.

'Making Change' is choreographed by Rachel Wynne and will be performed on

Saturday 4th April at 8pm at BAX.

More details to follow.

www.bax.org
421 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn

Trio - the second installment

The second installment of our highly successful Trio With Invisible Third is this week!


In DUBLIN:

Thursday 8th January 2009 1am

Laurie Schneider dances
Cois Ceim Dance studio
2nd Floor, 14 Sackville Place, Dublin 1 (just off O Connell St)
www.coisceim.com

Free / donations accepted

For more info please e-mail mrslschneider@gmail.com

And simultaneously, in NEW YORK CITY:

Wednesday 7th January 2009 8pm

Alicia Christofi-Walshe and Rachel Wynne dance
Dance Theater Workshop, Robbins studio
219 West 19th Street
(Subway: 1/9 to 18th Street or F/L/A/C/E to 14th Street)

www.movementresearch.org - Open Performance Series

Free / donations accepted

For more info please e-mail rachelwynne@gmail.com

We look forward to seeing you at one of these performances. Trio with Invisible Third is a piece about friendship and connection, even when those we are close to are thousands of miles away. It is a piece that will open your heart, and remind you that distance is only physical.

Photo by Viktor / www.viktorsphotography.com