Movement & energy based research class

Class structure:

Class will always include a somatic based warm up that will build to address & navigate the Chakra system, via energy work & identifying blockages, participants will learn to tune into their bodies & sensation from an authentic and honest place. Improvisation tools and best practices will also be explored, which can later become means to set choreography and develop a personal language vocabulary. All participants are welcome, dance experience is not required. Just bring clothes you can move in, trainers or socks, and an open mind.

Through the exploration of movement and play, we can begin to learn how to undo and rewrite our habitual movement patterns to access more of our raw, untapped nature. Rather than repressing our weaknesses, we want to lean into them, accept them, and from this place of vulnerability and consciousness, we can find agency to express ourselves. To let go of the pressure to perform or move perfectly, we can learn to express from a place of desire, openness, a commitment to being deeply understood by ourselves & others.

Class value and experience:

Chakra & energy work

Improvisation tools & practices

Creation & composition techniques

Group connection & reintegration

Body authority

Movement as a healing practice

Biography Jasmine Melrose

Performer:

Jasmine, born in Toronto Ontario, began dancing at the age of 3, as per her request. After dancing competitively for many years, her passion for movement and expression took her to NDT to study improvisation, and later to San Francisco to further her training with Alonzo King’s LINES Ballet. There she was lucky to perform choreography by Alonzo King, Maurya Kerr, Kara Davis, Sidra Bell, Erik Wagner, and Iraxte Ansa. It was in San Francisco that she found gaga and fell in love with finding origin and essence within form.

Jasmine was then given the opportunity to travel to Italy by means of generous support from the Ontario Arts Council, and soon after, moved to Rome where she danced as an apprentice with Spellbound Contemporary Ballet, and as a company member of Equilibrio Dinamico Company (EDC) in Bari, and later moved to Austria to dance with Landestheater Linz. As a freelance dancer, she has had the opportunity to work and perform in Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Holland, Italy, Austria, and Spain.

Teacher and lecturer:

Throughout the years, as a teacher and lecturer, Jasmine has taught at many Universities, Colleges, and High Schools in Toronto Canada, and the surrounding area, including working as a dance mentor and improvisation lecturer at Rosedale Heights School of the Arts. She has performed for and worked as an assistant to Iratxe Ansa (NDT, Nacho Duato, Metamorphsis) for DAF (Dance Arts Faculty) in Rome, and for IBStage Barcelona. She also taught and choreographed in the Puglia region, including creating works for the EDC young ensemble in Bari Italy.

Healing via movement:

Jasmine currently works as a freelancer as her passions are deeply rooted in collaboration, teaching, and giving back to the community. To further establish community within the respective fields, she runs and manages a wellness and art blog called DECO.

In addition to dance, Jasmine is a Barre instructor, trained by Italy Padilla, master trainer and owner of FORM Barre & Yoga Amsterdam. Jasmine started her yoga journey back in 2014, and was lucky enough to receive training via mentorship to earn her 200-hour. In 2021 she received her 500-hour training as a Vinyasa Yoga teacher via the TKYM method. Jasmine currently teaches yoga at FORM.

In this stage of her life, Jasmine is interested in exploring the space between the wellness industry and the dance industry. It poses the question; can we learn to rewire the self-destructive patterns instilled in us and take back our body authority? Can we use this authority in movement as a source for healing? Jasmine enjoys addressing the body and soothing its blockages via energy and Chakra work, delving into a world of understanding of the body and what it's unique and dynamic energy can mean for dancers, non-dancers, and movement practitioners.