CLASSES AND WORKSHOPS
WINTER WORKSHOP
SERIES
Contemporary/Modern
with Jessica Brown
January 3
12:30-3:00 PM
Contemporary modernish: it’s everything you want and nothing that you don’t! We’ll build heat in a shared physical practice that invites an exploration of our weight, alignment, and spatial reslationships. Together we can appreciate some foundational modern pathways, but in a contemporary atmosphere where you arrive just as you are. This workshop intends to ignite individual strength and collective awareness while offering movement that is anatomically informed and supportive of all moving bodies. Let’s dance!
Floorwork Release
with Jessica Brown
January 10
12:30-3:00 PM
Rooted in principles of mindful movement, “floorwork release” reminds us the power of doing less. By diving deep into our use of the floor, movers are empowered to eat up space, while finding ease in their joints and spirits. Expect to run, sweat, roll, and fly together, as we attend to the natural inclinations of our bodies and our agency.
Contemporary
with Avery Trask
January 17
12:30-3:00 PM
This master class offers a rigorous contemporary experience rooted in Selah’s creative practice. Through technique-driven warm-up, repertory-based phrasework, and guided exploration, dancers will pursue dynamic momentum as a driving force in engaging movement as both craft and research.
Improvisation
with Molly Gray
January 24
12:30-3:00 PM
This master class offers a rigorous contemporary experience rooted in Selah’s creative practice. Through technique-driven warm-up, repertory-based phrasework, and guided exploration, dancers develop musicality, dynamic range, and expressive presence while engaging movement as both craft and research.
Partnering
with Meredith Ventura
January 31
12:30-3:00 PM
This 2.5-hour master class/workshop with Selah Dance Collective Artistic Director Meredith Ventura centers on her signature approach to contemporary partnering – an embodied, research-driven practice rooted in trust, responsiveness, and shared momentum.
Designed for advanced dancers, the workshop moves from a guided warm-up into progressive partnering studies that emphasize weight-sharing, counterbalance, listening, and spatial awareness. Dancers will explore partnering as a dialogic process: adaptive, relational, and dynamically negotiated in real time. Phrasework drawn from Ventura’s choreographic work for Selah DAnce Collective invites dancers to integrate technical clarity with expressive intention, risk-taking, and care for their partner.
This workshop is ideal for dancers seeking to deepen their partnering skills while expanding their artistic range, physical intelligence, and collaborative presence.
$30 per workshop
or pay $120 for all 5!
*Discounts are available for college students.
ABOUT THE WORKSHOP TEACHERS
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JESSICA BROWN
Jess Brown is a thoughtful, curious creative. She grew up moving in the hills of the Santa Ynez Valley, and is a recent graduate of George Mason University. With a BFA in dance and minor in well-being, she is passionate about interdisciplinary arts research, mindfulness based teaching practices, and dancing outside. She is continuously inspired by her time spent with Christina Robson, Lewis Cooke, Kendra Portier, Joy Davis, David Dorfman, Doug Varone, David Zambrano and Charlie Slender-White. Her work is earnest yet slightly tongue in cheek, as she believes everything deserves to be questioned.
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AVERY TRASK
Avery Trask started dancing at 11 and trained under the direction of Kirsten Oakley and Laurin Boland at Oakley Ballet Center in Ventura, California. Predominately trained in ballet and modern dance, she was a part of Footworks Youth Ballet from 2017-2023 as a dancer and rehearsal assistant. She has been featured in soloist and principal roles in the company’s repertoire, including The Sugarplum Fairy in The Nutcracker, and Snow White in the production by the same name. She is pursuing her BFA in Dance at the University of California of Santa Barbara.
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MOLLY GRAY
Molly Gray started dancing when she was 3 years old in an Allen Hancock performance of The Nutcracker. She went on to study ballet and jazz at the Los Olivos Dance Gallery, and later attended UC Irvine where she majored in dance performance and dance choreography. Molly supplemented her training through workshops and intensives with Alonzo King Lines Ballet, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and RUBBERBAND Dance. In 2018, Molly moved to New York City and is now excited to be working with Selah Dance Collective.
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MEREDITH VENTURA
Meredith Ventura is a choreographer, educator, and scholar whose work bridges concert dance, theater, and performance studies. She is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Theater, Dance, and Performance Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she also earned her M.A. and B.F.A. in Dance (cum laude). She holds an M.F.A. in Dance from Hollins University. Ventura is the Artistic Director of Selah Dance Collective and Novus Contemporary Ballet, two Santa Barbara–based companies merging high-level artistry with critical inquiry and community engagement.
Weekly Class with Meredith Ventura
Come dance with us! Artistic Director Meredith Ventura teaches Advanced Contemporary Class every week at Santa Barbara Festival Ballet.
✺ Frequently asked questions ✺
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It really means all! When we use this language to describe a class, it means that is meant for any skill level or ability. Generally, our contemporary classes are called "all levels" because they are suitable for the absolute beginner but still offer something for the seasoned dancer. These classes are also easily modifiable and will contain different "options" within the phrasework that allow dancers to choose their own adventure.
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Any class labeled with "donation based" are our sliding scale classes that are part of our efforts to provide classes to our community at an affordable rate. Any donations made towards these classes go directly to our Selah Dance Collective General Fund which helps to offset the cost of our community events and productions.
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We're sorry about that! Our method and kinds of classes are not for everyone. We don't do refunds (especially for donation-based classes) but we are happy to suggest other classes or studios that might be a better fit for what you want!
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Here's some of our favorite community partners and friends!
- Evoke Motion Society
- Synrgy Dance Collective
- The Dance Networks
- The Dance Hub SB
- State Street Ballet Academy
- CSD School of Performing Arts -
Currently, we are only offering our Wednesday all levels class throughout the year. There are great adult classes through our above community partners!