by David Sepulveda
On a wedge-shaped city block that includes part of the Dwight neighborhood and environs of the Yale campus, spires of the 156-year-old Christ Church tower overlook an amalgam of modern and Gothic Revival architecture below. Inside the gated entrance on Elm Street, a lush courtyard garden leads to the doors of an arts organization providing quality instructional music and movement programs.
The Episcopal church at 84 Broadway is a hub of religious and social service activity in the heart of Broadway’s bustling collegiate commercial district, where stores like J. Crew, Yale Book Store, and the landmark Cutler’s Records, cater to students and visitors.
Monday through Friday, the church opens its facility, serving as New Haven’s largest community soup kitchen, maintaining a tradition of community outreach since the mid 19th century. In the church’s majestic sanctuary, traditional liturgies and associated pageantry serve the spiritual needs of worshipers, while below, in the church’s undercroft, artistic and cultural opportunities are nurtured through the New Haven Center for the Arts at Christ Church (CACC).
According to the CCAC website (www.centerarts.org), “Instructors are drawn from the finest conservatories, yoga, and dance programs in the country.” Among the arts and community oriented programs at CACC is The Life Dance Cooperative and offshoot, New Haven Elements of Dance Meetup Group.
Venice Walters, the programs’ founder and director, said that the programs are targeted to all age groups, but those who have responded thus far, are in the 20 to 60 year old demographic. “We are still on baby steps in efforts to increase visibility and participation” she explained.
A long time enthusiast and practitioner of dance movement, Venice is presently a student with the Stratford Career Institute, based in St. Albans, Vermont, and is working for certification in Relaxation Therapy (which includes Yoga, Movement, Aquatherapy and Relaxation Technique).
Elements of Dance, according to Venice, “is a fun dancercise program that promotes upper and lower body coordination and the ability to move more freely in daily life, providing vital elements for relaxation.” Part of the Meetup program schedule includes occasional guest teachers that lead groups in Zumba, Bhangra, Salsa, Middle Eastern/Belly Dance and other dance forms.
The Life Dance Cooperative idea was born in part, out of Venice’s participation in the International Festival of Arts & Ideas finale on the New Haven Green in June of 2008. Volunteers were invited to join in with the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange bearing thousands of “prayer ties” (strips of Tyvek material with written prayers, wishes, dreams and demands) onto the New Haven Green. Tied onto horizontal strings like bow-ties on a kite tail, the prayer ties were created through Liz’s “613 Radical Acts of Prayer” residency by Connecticut citizens at schools, churches, retirement centers, and other locations. Some of those prayer ties now reside at the Center for the Arts at Christ Church, brought there at Venice’s request in April 2009, when Life Dance Cooperative went from concept to reality.
After the 2008 Festival of Arts & Ideas, Rachel Shapiro, International Festival of Arts & Ideas Volunteer Coordinator and Andria Matthews, Manager of Community Programs, responded to Venice and others who were interested in increasing further community participation, by holding a series of workshops with members of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange emphasizing “all-abilities” participation. Individuals with disabilities, in wheelchairs, or on crutches, participated and created dance alongside able-bodied counterparts with equal collaboration, cooperation and enthusiasm. This was the inspiration, in part, from which Life Dance Cooperative grew. One of Venice’s ultimate goals is to participate in the Village of Villages event of the International Festival of Arts & Ideas in 2010, using the prayer ties and the “all abilities” concept to inspire others to reach beyond themselves.
For her program’s website, Venice has posted a photo of CACC’s wrought iron entry gates to symbolize the Life Dance Cooperative and New Haven Elements of Dance Meetup Group because the program “is about people entering through those gates and finding previously unknown potential in themselves.” Her mission at present, is to let the public know that affordable, interesting and fun classes in dance, exercise, yoga and music are available at the Center for the Arts at Christ Church. Programs have been designed to enrich lives and create wonderful new paths for participants, and, with modest community-friendly fees, may just be the best bargain on Broadway.