September 26, 2008

This newsletter is dedicated to the flowing free spirit of our much-loved Jasmine...

You've seen her behind the desk, you've read her Contemporary Corner, maybe you've caught a piece of her class or even taken it- there are few authentically original people in this world and our Jasmine is one of them. After more than 3 years working and teaching at Heartbeat House, Jasmine (Jazz Burrito or Jazzbo) is leaving us to go on a long bike ride to South America. Below is her last Contemporary Corner newsletter contribution. To say the least, she will be greatly missed.

Riding on this spirit inspired by adventure and change, we have many schedule changes and NEW classes for October. If you are looking to switch things up, read this issue carefully! New teachers and new classes will be spicing things up!. Come test your openness to experience something new (FREE CLASSES) during this beautiful new season of harvest and renewal.

CHANGE IS IN THE AIR

Sometimes we crave change. Other times we dread it. Either way, we can't escape it. Here's how to live with it-and learn from it.

How can you learn to accept change with equanimity, absorbing each phase in stride and learning from each new experience? The answer may come from dealing with change in three distinct stages.

Loosen Your Grip
When any unscripted change comes down the pike, there's an overwhelming feeling of losing control, and that's perfectly normal-and also perfectly delusional, says Herdis Pelle, a teacher at the Berkeley Yoga Center in Berkeley, California. "We're moving into unknown territory," she says. "Deep down, we're never in control."

Pelle, who came to California by way of Denmark, England, and Scotland, says she bases much of her teaching on the changes she's experienced in her own life. It's not that she managed to get a better grip on those changes over the years-it's that she accepted the impossibility of any real grip in the first place.

What moment do you fantasize about? When the bills are paid, the roof stops leaking, the phone's not ringing, and you soak in the caught-up-ness of it all? That's when the dog runs away. Or the girlfriend gets pregnant. Or the tornado touches down. Life doesn't give you breathing room, but if you stop grasping for control of the uncontrollable, you can learn to breathe through it all.

Of course, just as you can dread change disproportionately, you can also overly invest in it, betting on a new job, mate, or baby to erase your troubles. Such eagerness for change may look like the flip side of resistance to it, but really it's another vain attempt to control your circumstances. "You think the change is going to be miraculous and solve all your problems," says Anna, who has, at last, found that the best way to approach change in her life-wanted or not-is to neither fear it nor think it's a cure.

Separate Your Feelings
Once you've accepted your utter lack of control, it can still take some doing to accept the emotions that often accompany a sudden unraveling of your expectations. Even minor setbacks challenge us. Take Frank Jude Boccio's experience of returning to his Hudson Valley home after time away; the famous fall colors had just faded. "I was really disappointed," he says. "I found myself wishing I could change it back, or have come home earlier. And that wasn't right."

By that, Boccio doesn't mean that his disappointment was unjustified-that he should learn to see winter's colors as just as pretty as autumn's. His idea is more nuanced: you can be disappointed with certain changes, but you accept that disappointment the same way you'd accept delight.

What does that mean? Surely you can't be expected to rate disappointment the same as delight. No, says Boccio, but you can separate your feelings from your response to them.

By distinguishing your core emotions from those that pile on afterward, you don't limit your emotional life; on the contrary, you unclutter it. As Boccio says, it's the clutter that leads you away from your true experience and into murkier territory.

Tap Into Wisdom
Learning to make peace with life's calamities-lost jobs, romances, dreams-does not mean you have to be passive.

"Sometimes we try to provoke change in our lives," Boccio says. "Rather than just be with sadness, anxiety, or anger, we want to change it. And that inability to sit with what's happening is duhkha, suffering."

In stilling your thoughts, you free up a more reliable inner wisdom. "The more peaceful your mind is, the clearer and stronger your intuition is, and the better able you are to make the proper decision."

Accept impermanence, practice mindfulness, and take a breath. Expect the unexpected.

Article Excerpt from Yogajournal.com by Chris Collin

Sign Up Now! Workshops with David

Rhythm Tap and Funk Jazz

Our beloved David Person is back! For six weeks, David will teach Rhythm Tap & Funk Jazz Workshops- don't miss the fun!

Every Saturday from October 4th - November 8th:

FUNK JAZZ @ 4:00pm
Sweat your buns off, learn the latest choreography fused with technique, and lose yourself in the beat -- it's all about attitude!

RHYTHM TAP @ 5:00pm
Build rhythms from learning basic steps, from Broadway to Gregory Hines, and jam to be challenged and free-flowing. No tap shoes required.

1) Early Enrollment
$85 - Jazz OR Tap
$155 - Both classes

2) Day-of Enrollment
$100 - Jazz OR Tap
$185 - Both classes

3) Individual Classes
$25 - 1 class

David Person is excited to return to Heartbeat House where he taught for 3 consecutive years. He has been teaching a variety of dance disciplines across the country for over a decade, and judged national competitions for Dance Xplosion. He has choreographed productions, such as 42nd Street; performed in videos, including a "Weeds" commercial for Showtime, and live events at the Rose Bowl and Warner Brothers Studio. Recently, he was a guest performer for Street Beat, and is currently doing choreography for a TV pilot.

SAMBA PARTY AT HEARTBEAT HOUSE

Dance and Party with Fransini!

Boot Camp with James Littlewolf

New Teacher, Same Time!

This incredible conditioning class is designed to bring your cardiovascular, muscle endurance, and lactic acid thresholds (the soreness level of your muscles after a hard workout) to another level. All of these are things professional athletes desire to improve at their respective sports. It's James' belief that everyone can benefit from this type of training. Uses of repetitive bodyweight exercise and movement under under time to push all three thresholds higher, forces your body to use its body fat stores in compensation. As a result, and in addition to getting a healthier heart and lungs, you get a trimmer physique. This isn't just a class for the elite, this is for you!

Starts Monday, October 6th with a FREE CLASS!
11:30 AM- 12:30 PM

James Littlewolf is a Kung Fu San Soo black belt that has trained to black belt level in multiple styles of martial arts since he was 6 and a Certified Personal Trainer with International Sports Science Association. He's studied Penjec Silat, Aikido, Escrima/Kali, Karate (Shotokan family). After completing the highest rank in San Soo his focus shifted to MMA (sport mixed martial arts). He studied Muay Thai (with Kathy Long) and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Sambo. He is currently a fight conditioning trainer, personal trainer, and self defense/sport fighting instructor. It is his belief that to be excellent in fighting form (or even just dealing with day to day stresses) you need to be happy, healthy and strong, both inside and out.

NEW CLASS: AFRO FUNK FUSION

Monday 7:30 PM with Najaa!

All New Afro-Funk Fusion Dance Class with Najaa Young! - In this hot new class Najaa uses the foundations of traditional West African and Afro-Caribbean dance to teach high energy dance routines to the infectious grooves of house, juju and highlife music of the African Diaspora. So if you've taken traditional African dance before or you just like world music this is the class for you!

Monday Nights 7:30 PM
Starts 10.6.08 with a FREE Class!

Najaa is a native of Cleveland, OH and attended high school and college in Pittsburgh, PA. A bashful kid, it was in high school that Najaa broke out of her shell and began performing with her mother's African dance company, Omi Tutu. Since then she has performed with various West African and Afro-Caribbean dance companies as a member and as a guest artist. Most notably, African Soul International, Olokumi African Arts Collective and Tam Tam Magic directed by Senegalese master drummer, Assane M'Baye. She has performed and taught throughout the midwest and written and directed productions for Karamu House, Cleveland Public Theatre and Cuyahoga Community College Dance Department. Najaa has a BA in Theatre Arts from Chatham College and a MFA in Film Production from Florida State University's Graduate Conservatory of Motion Picture, Television and Recording Arts.

SAMBA SECTION

Choreography, DVD, & Performances

For all you Samba lovers who take Fransini's Samba Passion (Thursdays 7:30 PM), you no longer have to worry about memorizing any of the choreography you learned in class! Fransini will conveniently put all the choreography from each week on a video on her website: www.sambabody.com. Go check it out! You will also see that her new upcoming Samba Body DVD is on sale now with a special pre-sale price. You don't want to miss it!

We will also be posting information about upcoming Samba performances with Fransini and her dancers. These girls are out in our community performing and dancing all the time. Maybe you can check them out in your neighborhood!

Don't miss a special performance and party with them this Saturday night at Heartbeat House 6-10 PM!

Schedule Updates

Subs, New Classes/Workshops, Cancelled Classses

SUBS:
Letania will be teaching Community Yoga on Saturday 9/27 9:15 AM.

Abbie will sub Community Yoga on Monday 9/29 9:00 AM. (Then Kumbi will be back!)

Kumbi will be teaching Body Conditioning on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting 10/2 9:30-10:30 AM.

NEW CLASSES/WORKSHOPS:
Rhythm Tap and Funk Jazz Workshops with David begins a 6 Week session Saturday 10/4 4:00-6:00 PM.

Boot Camp with James will begin Monday 10/6 11:30 AM with a FREE CLASS!

Afro Funk Fusion with Najaa will also begin Monday 10/6 7:30 PM with a FREE CLASS!

Yogilates with Rebekkah will begin Monday 10/13 8:30 PM.

CANCELLED CLASSES:
Broadway in L.A. on Mondays is postponed until further notice.

Ballet Stretch & Tone on Mondays is cancelled until further notice.

World Beat Workout on Saturdays with Kim is cancelled after 9/28.

Dancing for the People on Sundays is cancelled while Jasmine is gone.

Yogilates with Rebekkah

Starts Monday 10/13 8:30 PM

Join our much-loved Rock 'n Soul Pilates teacher on Monday nights for a combination Yoga and Pilates class - Yogilates - a great way to end an evening of dancing or just to end a long day. Enjoy Rebekkah's encouraging personality to help tone and stretch your body, then finish the class in a relaxing savasana as the stresses of the day melt away. Your body and mind will be ready for a great night of sleep.

Monday Nights 8:30-9:30 PM begins 10/13.

New Contemporary Ballet Teacher!

Mecca Andrews

With Jasmine leaving town for her bike ride sabbatical, Mecca Andrews will be taking over her Contemporary Ballet class on Wednesday nights at 6:30 PM. Come check out this FUN new class and welcome Mecca to Heartbeat House. We are honored to have such a talented, professional, dancer and teacher.

Mecca Vazie Andrews' film and stage credits include Disney's Bedtime Stories, RENT, MTV Movie Awards, Hysterica Dance Company, Commonality Dance Company, Grammy's with David LaChapelle, Sony Industrials, Vh1's Showgirl Bootcamp, and American Apparel. Mecca can been seen in the February 2008 issue of Dance Spirit with Hysterica Dance Company. Her work is spoken very highly of in Street Scene, Los Angeles Times and Arthur Magazine. Mecca was featured in the June issue of Loudmouth magazine for her performance troupe The movement MOVEMENT who were also chosen as one of 20 Finalists for the VH1 reality television show Choreographer. Mecca has choreographed for Los Angeles Comtemporary Dance Company, Hysterica Dance Company and Syzygy Theatre Company just to name a few. She has travelled to Stuttgart, Germany with Commonality Dance Company to instruct Contemporary Jazz and perform the companies repetory and has performed extensively in Europe with Electrosoul indie band Hey Willpower. Mecca choreographed singer/songwriter Eleni Mandell's video Dis Moi and completed a collaboration with 'A Family Finds Entertainment' director Ryan Trecartin for his most recent film 'I Be Area' in which she also performs. She is currently choreographing a new play Beauty For Ashes that will premiere in November. Mecca Vazie Andrews teaches contemporary jazz at Edge Performing Arts Center, Creative Movement at Gramercy Park and Jazz 3 at Loyola Marymount University. Ready Steady Go!

Volunteer/Work Exchange

Work For Your Classes

Want to dance, but low on funds? Sign up for our Volunteer/Work Exchange Program! Help us out at the studio- cleaning, filing, errands, organizing, etc. and we'll give you Free Class Passes! Every hour and half you work, you receive a Free Class Pass- good for any of our regularly scheduled classes.

Email us with your availability: heartbeathouse@hotmail.com. Our studio runs smoothly only because our volunteers are so great!

Contemporary Corner

Goodbye Jasmine!

Every issue Jasmine has been creatively contributing to our newsletter with doses of information and love about her upcoming Contemporary Ballet class. This week is her last week before she leaves for an adventure down South- biking, that is, to South America! To say the least, she will be greatly missed!

"i dreamt of a cheetah walking through the city last night. my sister was petting it and playing in such a way that it looked as though they were underwater together, a sort of gentle blend of tender violence and joy. i watched her and the giant animal in amazement as they blurred lines and made circles. i woke up covered in tears, remembering how in the next part of the dream the cheetah is tasered and sent off to Whole Foods to become their mascot. i wiped the wetness from my lashes where tiny dollar signs had formed; a gem encrusted economy of profit over peace. whether i begin to analyze this dream or not, i know one thing for sure. when everything has been taken from you-there is one thing you will never loose and that is your power to decide. so if you decide to vote for obama, or you decide to become a vegetarian, or you decide to ride your bike today, listen to all the things life whispers and dance until there's nothing left. i'd like to dedicate this class to all the beautiful people that have been teaching me so much. i cannot even begin to explain the importance of this class and the commitment of my students to learning, challenging themselves, getting their eyes off the floor, and discovering patience. although this is my last class until the new year it is only the beginning of a movement that has started. tonight we'll let the old masters decide and leave the choreography up to the unknown.

thank you for teaching me so much lovely students and please please keep taking class with Mecca. she is my teacher, mentor and dear friend who puts beauty and power into everything she does.
" -jasmine

Contemporary Ballet:
Wednesdays 6:30 PM

To be taken over by Mecca starting Wednesday October 1st!

Promotions

New Student Promotion:New Students can try any class they want their first week for only $5/class!
Birthday Promotion:
Come dance off that birthday cake with $5 classes the week of your birthday!
Referral Promotion:
Receive 20% off a 4 Class Package when you refer a new student who buys a Class Package.

FEEDBACK and TESTIMONIALS

We appreciate any and all feedback you have about our studio, our classes, our teachers, requests, etc.

If you love our little studio and have had experienced some real fitness and fun results- please help us promote by sending us testimonials. Email or write!

Thank you!