ShaGa Movement

Beautiful People! Don't miss your last chance to join us for ShaGa TOMORROW Friday, June 14th from 6-7pm at the Reality Center in Durham! Come groove yourself into wellness! Classes are donation only and open to everyone. No registration required and no one is turned away for lack of funds!


ShaLeigh Dance Works

Photo credit: Stephanie Leathers

THIS FRIDAY! COME GROOVE WITH US! ShaGa is back for TWO more classes this month! Join us on Fridays, June 7th & 14th from 6 pm - 7 pm at the Reality Center in Durham! Classes are donation only and open to everyone!

Photo Credit: Caroline Cockrell

Join us this Sunday, 5/21, for our final ShaGa session this month. We hope to groove with you 💖
In ShaGa our body is our refuge. We give ourselves permission to listen and discover layers of guidance. It opens us up to the capacity to experience movement as a source of healing and vitality. We discover that by inhabiting our bodies more fully, we are able to more fully inhabit our lives.

Register via link in bio✨

📸 Michael Washington

Image Description: A diverse group of dancers in a circle, with arms around each other.

“In just a couple of classes, I feel like I’ve been able to reconnect with my inner child and creativity, with things that I did not remember I had in me. It’s been a discovery and I feel very grateful for the chance to learn about myself and to share my energy and my passions with you. I hope many more people understand how powerful and strong we are when we are moving consciously and cultivating our imagination.”
-Anonymous

Image description: A computer screen with Zoom ShaGa participants of all ages!

📸 ShaLeigh Comerford

ShaGa is back today at 2:30EST! We would love for you to join us! Register here: https://www.shagamovement.org/classes ✨

Today is the day! Join us for ShaGa virtual classes at 2:30pm EST! We will offer these classes every Sunday in May. ShaGa is a great way to refresh your mind and soul. Join us in our movement ✨
Register here: https://www.shagamovement.org/classes

📸 Stephanie Leathers

Image description: A black and white photo of a diverse group of people of all genders and ages rocking out together!

ShaGa is pure freedom. I am able to step into the room as I am in that moment, and am given the space to explore, let go of, or just be. Shaga has given me the ability to connect to a deeper part of myself and those around me." - Hannah Marr, ShaGini
Join us virtually on Sundays in May at 2:30pm EDT. Classes are donation only and open to everyone!
Register here: https://www.shagamovement.org/classes✨

📸 unknown ShaGini

Image Description: A black and white photo of a dancer with her left arm reaching overhead while she gazes intently to the right past her outstretched arm and pointed finger.

ShaLeigh Dance Works is excited to announce the addition of Runa to our team!
"I am incredibly excited by the work SDW is doing to make dance a more inclusive and accessible artform. I look forward to the opportunity to be a part of this community and support these amazing dancers through an administrative role!"- Runa King
Runa graduated from Washington and Lee University in 2021 with a double major in geology and politics, and a minor in dance. While at W&L, she presented work at the Center for Movement Research, Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater, and Lenfest Center for the Arts in addition to interning with the Joffrey Ballet School. Following graduation, she worked at Moondance Adventures planning and guiding wilderness-based trips across the United States. Having collaborated with members of Shaleigh Dance Works and studied with Shaleigh Comerford at Washington and Lee, Runa is thrilled to join the team as SDW's Executive Assistant.
Image description: A white female with brown hair and blue eyes is smiling before a white background. She is wearing a magenta turtleneck with a cameo necklace.
📸 Kevin Remminton

"I'm excited to get the opportunity to work with ShaLeigh Dance Works! Like SDW, I often work collaboratively and devise choreography that draws directly from a union of our lived experiences. Over the years, I've found certain prompts, tasks, studies, games, exercises, and approaches have helped me through the 'oh-no-what-do-I-do' moments in my own creative process. I aim to facilitate an environment that is safe, creative, generative, and cathartic for others. I loooooove process and look forward to also learning from SDW's way of being." - Pioneer Winter
Each year, renowned and emerging choreographers are invited to spend time with the company for a period of creative collaboration in a mentoring relationship. This May, SDW is honored to welcome Miami-based choreographer and artistic director of Pioneer Winter Collective, !
Image Description: Pioneer Winter, shirtless, looking at the camera and smiling.
📸 Karloz Torres
Catch Pioneer Winter Collective's dance-theatre work Birds of Paradise this May 24th & 25th at The Wilson Center in Wilmington, NC!

“In ShaGa, the depth of your question reveals the depth of your answer.” - Founder and Creator ShaLeigh Comerford
ShaGa can be many things for many people. The practice offers individuals an opportunity to be in dialogue with their unique, inner longings.
Join us virtually on Sundays in May at 2:30pm EDT. Classes are donation only and open to everyone.
Register here: https://www.shagamovement.org/classes
Image Description: A group of dancers striking silly poses at the end of a ShaGa class, with some captured in motion.
📸 ShaLeigh Comerford

“ShaGa has allowed me to let go of fear, and rediscover why I love to move. I have developed a better understanding of myself both emotionally and physically since starting my personal journey. I have found new ways to create vulnerability, take risks, and expand my growth as an artist within my practice.”

Join us virtually on Sundays in May at 2:30pm EDT. Classes are donation only and open to everyone! ✨
💫Register here: https://www.shagamovement.org/classes 💫

Jessica Wooten is a dancer and teacher from Raleigh, NC. She graduated from East Carolina University with a BFA in Dance with a concentration in Performance and Choreography, as well as an Entrepreneurship Certificate. Jessica has attended the American Dance Festival summer intensives where she performed in Dark Meadow Suite by Martha Graham. She also had the opportunity to study at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance study abroad summer program in London, UK. Jessica studied as an apprentice with ShaLeigh Dance Works in 2021 and was invited to officially join the company in January 2022.

Image Description: A dancer in the corner of a room, in a kneeling position, reaching back to the floor. Two windows coming together at the corner, with vines hanging from the windows.

📸

ShaGa is back! Join us 5/7-5/21 for movement, community, and healing next month from the comfort of your own home (or outside!)
Classes are open to everyone, and available by donation. No one is turned away for lack of funds. Come groove with us! Register here: https://www.shagamovement.org/classes

Image description: Eight dancers are wearing vividly colored tops with black shorts and are grooving through different levels and shapes on a balcony that overlooks the Durham baseball stadium.

📸ShaLeigh Comerford

Hey ShaGa Family! If you have been with us for a while, you know our beloved ShaGini Janie Desmond and she is hiring a direct support staff person! She is looking for a female staff person to provide at-home and in the commuity assistance in downtown Durham. Part-time and weekly single shifts are available! Pay rate is $15.00/hour with advancement possible! If interested, please email Betsy MacMichael at [email protected]

No Shaga class tonight at 7:30!
Thank you and stay groovy✨

Throwback to graduation day for these two 🥳 We know it’s been a while! Check out our website and save the date for our new Fall classes coming soon!✨🦋 Link in bio

A wonderful new opportunity from our partner Grounded Path Holistic Counseling 🙏💗

Embracing Change: A Guide for Resilience | InStill Mindfulness SWVA 'Embracing Change: A Guide for Resilience' is an 8-week online mindfulness training program, featuring 12 hours of live, interactive classes.

Wounds can become wisdom and and pain can become the path when we let it in 🙏🌈🦋

“Through the gateway of feeling your weakness
Lies your strength;
Through the gateway of feeling your pain
Lies your pleasure and your joy;
Through the gateway of feeling your fear
Lies your security and safety;
Through the gateway of feeling your loneliness
Lies your capacity to have fulfillment, love and companionship;
Through the gateway of feeling your hate
Lies your capacity to love;
Through the gateway of feeling your hopelessness
Lies true and justified hope;
Through the gateway of accepting the lacks of your Childhood
Lies your fulfillment now.” - Pathwork Prayer "via" Brian T Stokes

Beautiful people! Join us! For 2021 we are going on the regular 💫 Here is our class schedule through April! More info on our website. https://www.shagamovement.org 🧚‍♂️✨💝

May we all blossom and thrive in 2021 🙏🦋

In "Memos for Migration," choreographer ShaLeigh Comerford offers us new tools for moving and thinking, with a score based in the ShaGa movement practice. We recommend trying these instructions from any comfortable spot—a chair or the floor, lying on the grass and looking at the sky or lying in bed.

Invite the sensation of weightless amusement.
Cherish without loss.
Elevate to fortify the strength of your form.
Feel your senses growing astute and agile.

Find the full score at EcotoneMagazine.org - We hope it offers a grounding experience of lightness in these challenging times of heaviness and offer our deep gratitude to for this invitation to share our first published ShaGa score.



🎥 .photography

Beautiful people! Help us spread the word! December Mindful Movement & Meditation, Movers, and Wednesday’s 8pm Community classes are FREE for frontline healthcare workers! We want to THANK YOU for your service!

ShaGa Movement updated their website address.