WORKSHOPS
Indy Movement Arts offers special workshops and residencies facilitated by local, regional, national and international movement-artists. Over the past seven years, we have welcomed artists from Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, New Orleans, New York, California, Michigan, Nebraska, Ohio, Germany, Mexico, and Isreal.
Current Workshops
Embodied Research Lab
Facilitated by Lani Weissbach
December 2025-May 2026
Select Saturdays | 1-3pm
The Basile Opera Center
Embodied Research Lab is a new monthly somatic movement class led by Lani Weissbach focusing on creative self-expression through body-based practices rooted in Butoh dance. Butoh is a multilayered metamorphic dance form that came out of post WWII Japan and is a flexible medium for somatic movement education. The sessions will encourage individual and group exploration to foster growth and community over six months.
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Radical Resonance Butoh Workshop
Facilitated by Julie Becton Gillum
March 13th-March 15th, 2026
The Basile Opera Center
During the workshops, participants will explore movement and stillness by investigating the body's natural anatomical potential, including floating, hanging, and using strings. Exercises from Noguchi Taiso water body practice and aspects of butoh will help remove customary societal and cultural behaviors, guiding dancers toward bodily emptiness. Without the constraints of old habits, the unconscious body can respond freely to sensations, forces, and emotional states, becoming a fully expressive body. Dancers will be instructed in lessons to expand their range of movements, including subtle, unrestrained, fading, animal, and revolutionary styles.
Past Workshops
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Participants experienced the intersection of exposure, cultivation and creative play. Offerings included: improvisation, and creative play, contemporary dance techniques, cultural and social dance forms and partnering.
Indy Dance Exchange
Winter Intensive
January 2025
Rooted in New Orleans' unique spiritual and cultural traditions, The New Orleans Original Buckshop provides not just a window, but a doorway into practices that have sustained communities through joy, rhythm, and resilience.
The New Orleans Original Buckshop w/Michelle N. Gibson
June 2024
![Devin - Movement 2 [Credit Julia Cervantes].jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bdcaef_bfaf1baa99394296b5927d8184f84ab7~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_0,y_50,w_3840,h_3493/fill/w_310,h_282,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/Devin%20-%20Movement%202%20%5BCredit%20Julia%20Cervantes%5D.jpg)
Four full days of dance and movement and discussion facilitated by former and current dancers of Hubbard Street Dance Company, Doug Varone and Dancers, Nederlands Dans Theater, Helanius J. Wilkins, Gibney Company, & more!
Indy Dance Exchange
Winter Intensive + Performance
January 2024
Amy Sigil from California and Brittany Laleh Banaei from Colorado facilitated several Belly Dance workshops in their signature styles. Their residency at Indy Movement arts concluded with a lecture and performance a PRDS.
Amy Sigil and
Brittany Laleh Banaei
July 2023
A short-term mentorship program for people in such fields as dance/theater/music performance, visual arts, therapy, education, and social justice interested in cultivating creativity through experiential practice.
Somatic Roots of Creativity
with Lani Weissbach
May/June 2023
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Participants touched a deeper level of consciousness to understand why we move, how we move, and where we take ourselves in space. Participants were encouraged to convey their emotions and imaginations through gesture and dance and movement,
Julie Anne Stanzak | Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch
March 2023
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A full body experience that works through awareness of self and space through improvisational tasks and blending of various technical languages.
Andrea Garay is a Mexican performing artist and choreographer.
Andrea Garay
October 2022
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A movement system to help the dancer think about the dancing body, focusing on the process of incorporating information into action. Jennifer Lott is an Assistant Professor at USC Kaufman and Director of the Traverse City Dance Project.
Countertechnique
with Jennifer Lott
May 2022
Kamrah is Chicago's first trans masculine belly dancer. He has performed fusion, Amercian cabaret, Lebanese and Egyptian Belly Dance since 2001. Kamrah's residency included three workshop opportunities, a Hafla and a performance at The District Theatre.
Kamrah
May 2022
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An Ecosomatic Movement Laboratory informed by Butoh. Ecosomatic practices remind us of our inherent connection with all that exists. We discover that we do belong here as an integral part of the ongoing flow of life.
Moving with Nature
with Lani Weissbach
March 2022
We welcomed New-York based artist, Vangeline, to Indianapolis for a series of Butoh workshops and a performance of her work Eternity 123 at the Tube Factory. This residency was presented in partnership with Big Car Collaborative and supported by Arts Midwest.
Butoh & Eternity 123
with Vangeline
November 2021
Kossi Senyo is an African recording artist, Afrobeat dancer, video producer and founder of Omaha Afrobeat Dance. It was an absolute JOY to move in community with Kossi and learn about Afrobeat dance and music.
Afrobeat
with Kossi Senyo
April 2021
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Madeline Reber is a choreographer, dance educator, and Certified Laban Movement Analyst, as well as Artistic Director of Salty Lark Dance. This workshop asked us to sense inward and move outward through guided somatic experiences, developmental patterns and movement improvisation.
Somatic Integrative Movement
with Madeline Reber
January 2020
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Movers explored how the body is supported dynamically by the space around us, using the principles developed by Rudolf Laban
Space Harmony
with Idrienne Steiman
November 2019
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Devonte trained dancers in footwork and basic groove fundamentals. He also taught a combination that focused on musicality and clean execution of the choreography.
Groove & Footwork Foundation
with Devonte
November 2019
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This workshop was designed to challenge and entertain dancers of all levels. Lauren's style blends her training in Hip Hop and Modern and includes elements of Urban, Street, and Jazz styles.
Urban Choreography
with Lauren Day
October & November 2019
Jess is investigating the ways in which we can locate euphoria and pleasure within the moving body as we digest our place within current societal relations. How can we use dance as a vessel to achieve this? What is the place and importance of music and pop culture in this investigation? This residency was supported by the Indy Arts Council.
contemporaryTRAP, Jazz Funk, & Hip Hop with Jess Pretty
October 2019
Participants were invited to experience this approach to depth of movement that connects and heals. This is a unique approach to dance/movement found nowhere else in Indy.
Butoh
with Lani Weissbach
September 2019
Molly Brennan, “Chicago’s Queen of Mischief and Make-Believe”, joined us in Indianapolis for 4 masterclasses during her residency and a performance at the IndyFringe Basile Theater. This residency was presented in partnership with NoExit Performance and supported by Arts Midwest & the Indy Arts Council.
The Art of Theatrical Clown
with Molly Brennan
September 2019
We Welcomed Vixen DeVille to IMAC in August of 2019! Vixen DeVille is an accomplished, multi-talented, international Variety Burlesque performer, and live event Host, specializing in fire-eating, glass-walking, aerial hoop, and magic.
Burlesque
with Vixen DeVille
August 2019
This workshop introduced participants to the street dance styles of Animation and Popping and was taught by [Insert Crew Name Here] members Koi Roi and Popping Neji. This workshop explored the technical aspects, history, and freestyle components of these two street dance styles.
Animation & Popping
with Insert Crew Name Here
June 2019
Participants dove into juicy dancing, from the raw elements and subtle sensations, down to the bare bones, and spiraled into complex articulations of movement. As soloists, duets, and ensemble, they investigated inner (body) and outer (space) patterns that support dynamic, integrated, balanced movement.
Center to Edge and Back
with Madeline Reber
June 2019
We hosted Batsheva Dance Company member Maayan Sheinfeld for a weekend of Gaga Workshops in May of 2019. Maayan Sheinfeld was born in Israel in 1992. She joined the Batsheva Dance Company in 2012 and has participated in the creation process for three of Ohad Naharin’s works: The Hole (2013), Last Work (2015), and Venezuela (2017) and has performed in many other works by Naharin.
Gaga with Maayan Sheinfeld
of Batsheva Dance Company
March 2019
We welcomed Indiana native Brandon Welch to IMAC for two Contemporary Technique Masterclasses in February of 2019. While in New York, Brandon danced with Momix Dance Illusionists, Doug Varone and Dancers and Gibney Dance Company. Come and MOVE with us!
Contemporary
with Brandon Welch
August 2019
We welcomed Queer Canadian Poet, Jc Bitonti, to Indy Movement Arts in January of 2019. Jc led us through a two-hour exploration of play-full, contemplative movement, compellingly paired with contemplative writing.
Jc Bitonti
January 2019
Indy Movement Arts and NoExit Performance presented Gerry Trentham, an internationally recognized director/performer based in Toronto and Artistic Director of lbs/sq”, in November of 2019. Gerry was our OPEN Indy inaugural artist. This residency consisted of workshops and a performance at the District Theatre and was made possible with support from the Indy Arts Council.
Gerry Trentham
November 2019
This workshop, led by Lani Weissbach, provided participants with an introduction to the history and practice of Butoh. Participants were led through a variety of body explorations. The exercised focused on what wants to happen in the body as a way to bypass rational thought and open us up to an infinite number of possibilities.
The Body Speaks:
Butoh-based Somatic Practices
May 2018