We are excited to announce that due to high demand, a second donation-only Community ShaGa Class has been added one Thursday a month at our beloved Living Arts Collective! This gorgeous space provides a sprung floor and a beautiful, accessible environment. In this community class for movers of all abilities, we learn to approach movement as a dynamic, healing, and ever-changing power, using evocative ideas and imagery in a safe, non-judgmental environment.
Class begins slowly and builds in intensity to continuous motion, providing enjoyable exercise for both body and soul. Shaga allows us to actively explore our habits, expand our range and discover the endless possibilities of healing ways of moving in a welcoming, accepting atmosphere.
This community class is open to ALL and is designed for individuals who wish to open themselves to movement in new ways. Dancers, yogis, and movers of all kinds and abilities are invited to participate. No prior experience necessary.
Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing and to move barefoot or in socks.
Price: $10 Suggested Donation (no one will be turned away for lack of funds)
About ShaLeigh:
ShaLeigh Comerford is an Irish & Native American dancer, choreographer and artistic director of ShaLeigh Dance Works in Durham, NC. She is a graduate of Hollins University with a Master’s degree in Visual and Performing Arts. She has been commissioned by Cambridge University, Keio University, Washington & Lee University, Cirque USA, North Carolina Museum of Art, Arts Access, Shannon Media Inc., Campaneria Ballet Company, Durham Ballet Theatre, Mill Mountain Theatre, Roanoke Ballet Theatre, Roanoke Children’s Theatre, Virginia Ballet Academy and City Modern Ensemble. Her choreography and commissions have been presented throughout the United States and abroad, most notably at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Judson Memorial, Dixon Place, Chen Dance Center, The American Dance Festival, Durham Performing Arts Center, Tokyo Wonder Site Shibuya, Keio University’s Noguchi Room, The Week of Foreign Female Dancers in Tokyo, Serendipity Gallery Berlin, The Ailey Citygroup Theatre, Washington and Lee University, The American Dance Guild, North Carolina Dance Festival, and The Flea Theater.
ShaLeigh began her formal dance training on scholarship with the Roanoke Ballet Theatre and the American Dance Festival and continued her training in NYC and at P.A.R.T.S in Brussels, Belgium. In addition, she was personally invited to train in the Gaga movement language with Ohad Naharin and the Batsheva Dance Company in Tel Aviv, Israel for their inaugural teacher training program. ShaLeigh apprenticed with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company and has performed with Keigwin & Company, Tina Croll & Company, the Dendy Dance Theater, Carolina Ballet, Martha Clarke, Rosie Herrera, as well as a restaging of Batsheva Dance Company’s Minus Sixteen and an Official Music Video for Blind by Christian Loffler. Comerford continues to perform and choreograph internationally and works as an independent director and creative consultant.
ShaLeigh is a recipient of the 2018 Ella Pratt Fountain Emerging Artist Award, the 2018-19 Mary Duke Biddle Foundation Grant Award, a showcased artist of DIDA’s 2014-15 & 2017-18 Seasons, and an awarded winner in the 2013 Tokyo Experimental Festival of Sound, Art & Performance to design a performance installation at the Institute of Contemporary Art and International Cultural Exchange. The performance installation toured to the Noguchi Room at Keio University (MITA) and Comerford was invited to perform at The Week of Foreign Female Dancers in Tokyo at Roppongi Stripe’s Space. Her contemporary choreography The Within was selected by the World Ballet Competition International to be featured alongside of Momix and several other award-winning dancers and choreographers in the 2014 Gala. While based in NYC, ShaLeigh was the recipient of Dance Theatre Workshop’s 2007 Creative Residency and was a featured choreographer at Chen Dance Center’s 2007 NewSteps. For more information, visit www.shaleighdanceworks.com
