Summer Movement Series at the Root School House

When
Saturdays, June 21st- August 30th (no class on July 5th & 12th)
10:00am-11:30am

Experience
All levels

Where
All classes are at the Root School House,987 Union Village Road, Norwich, VT (https://rootschoolhouse.org/)

Instructor
Various

Price
$16 drop in

Class description and teacher bio below.

  • June 21st- Bollywood with Sumana Turimella

  • June 28th- Open Improvisation with Kate Gamble

  • July 19th- Bollywood with Sumana Turimella

  • July 26th- Contemporary Dance for People (Intermediate) with Molly Armbrust

  • Aug 2nd- Contemporary Partnering with Lydia Frew

  • Aug 9th- Contemporary Dance for People (Beginner) with Kelly

  • Aug. 16th- Bollywood with Sumana Turimella

  • Aug. 23rd- Open Improvisation with Kate Gamble

  • Aug. 30th- Open Improvisation with Kate Gamble

Bollywood:

This class offers an introduction into Bollywood and Indian dance styles. It will cover a variety of Bollywood songs with bits of other Indian dance forms woven in. There is no prior dance experience needed. 

SumanaTurimella is a trained classical Indian dancer with over a decade of experience in various styles, and I am excited to share a bit of that culture with you! 

Open Improvisation:

Using a somatic warmup to come into our bodies with ease and playfulness, we will then explore improvisational scores and prompts. Each class will allow students an opportunity to find expressive ways to share their unique movement qualities and stories.

Kate Gamble has over 40 years of teaching experience in contemporary dance, improvisation, and somatics. Her classes make people feel confident and safe as they open to their bodies' inherent grace and complexity. She is the founder of Open Door Integrative Wellness in White River Junction.

Contemporary Dance for People (Intermediate):

This contemporary class will be a mix of different styles and embodied approaches, taking significant inspiration from Countertechnique and the Axis Syllabus. Class will involve floorwork, center work and movement across the floor and will be structured as a series of offerings with which dancers are invited to engage. Exercising agency and making choices about how to engage with the material are central values of the space. Class is open to all levels and movement experiences but geared towards intermediate-level dancers who are open to longer phrases, movements to and from the floor, channeling weight through the arms, and an athletic/spacious approach to movement. 

Molly Armbrust(she/her) is a rising sophomore at Mount Holyoke College where she is majoring in dance and studying a variety of social science and humanities disciplines. Molly has been dancing for most of her life and is trained primarily in ballet, contemporary and modern. More recently she has expanded her studies beyond western concert dance and incorporates/considers wisdom from diverse dance traditions in her approach. She particularly enjoys contemporary floorwork and partnering, locating and surrendering center, and incorporating both athleticism and subtlety in dance/movement. In dance Molly attends both to technique and freedom/exploration and values nuance, collaboration and the somatic potential we can access through embodied practices.

Contemporary Partnering:

This class will explore modern partnering techniques and include various improvisation exercises and scores focused on connection and collaborative world-building. While the class will involve touch, some scores will involve dancing together without contact. We will focus on building listening skills towards dancing as a collective. Some previous movement experience will be helpful.  

Lydia Frew is a dancer and musical theatre performer from Norwich, VT. She is a 2021 graduate of Canada’s National Ballet School where she studied for five years in the Professional Ballet Program as well as a Fall ‘23 grad of Broadway Dance Center’s Professional Semester program in NYC. She graduated in 2025 with a degree in Dance and Psychology from Bates College and was recently selected to perform at Jacob’s Pillow this summer through the American College Dance Association. Her personal dance style is heavily influenced by Gaga, Horton, and an eclectic variety of modern dance techniques. 


Contemporary Dance for People (Beginner)

Join us for a beginner friendly exploration of contemporary dance that will include floorwork, standing center work and traveling through space. We'll start on the floor, settling into our bodies and inviting in our ability to be present with both our inner and outer experience of moving. And challenge ourselves to hold onto that awareness as we move through the rest of class.

As we learn movement patterns/exercises and phrases, we'll focus on qualities that make movement feel good, such as taking up space and moving efficiently, and we'll play with the elements that transform natural pedestrian movements into what we recognize as "dance". My hope is that we will experience the satisfaction of moving and dancing in the company of our fellow humans.

Kelly Armbrust holds a BA in dance and an MA in somatic psychology/dance therapy and has engaged with dance both artistically and therapeutically for much of her life.  As a teacher, her approach blends the traditional and technical with more contemporary and somatic practices, always holding the dual intention of training dancers while supporting her students’ growth as human beings. She believes that dance can connect us more deeply to ourselves and our world, and strives to awaken a growing curiosity and authenticity in her students.