Fall 2025 Adult Beginning Modern: Mondays 7-8:30pm in The Workroom

SCDT Presents:

ADULT BEGINNER MODERN

Drop-in class with rotating teachers. Open level, all are welcome!

Mondays, September 8- December 15 2025

7-8:30pm in The Workroom at 33 Hawley!

Open to all who want to train together in a supportive environment. Rotating teachers.

CLASS FEES:

• Student/Low Income: $15-$20
• Employed/Financially Stable: $20-$25
• Arts Supporter/Able to Give: $25-$500
• SIX WEEK SESSION: $60-$120

SEPTEMBER

8- Francesca Baron

15-Francesca Baron

22-Molly Rose-Williams

29-Molly Rose-Williams

OCTOBER

6-Jen Polins

13-Jen Polins

20-Michelle Marroquin

27-Michelle Marroquin

NOVEMBER

3-Erik Elizondo

10- Madison Palffy

17-Madison Palffy

24-Gabriella Carmichael

DECEMBER

1-Gabriella Carmichael

8-Olana Flynn

15- Olana Flynn

​Jen Polins

Jennifer Polins a curator, mobilizer, movement practitioner, performance maker and teacher. Her work is in the service of cultivating qualities of appreciative joy and creating accessible programming focused on experimentation. Her mission is to activate imaginations, facilitate empowerment and transformation and encourage interest in the healing and creative potential of the movement arts. Jen founded The School for Contemporary Dance and Thought ( SCDT) in 2013 after completing her MFA through Hollins/ADF. SCDT connects dance practices, performances, and classes with thoughtful public conversation, encouraging and invigorating community engagement. SCDT offers an array of programming for all ages, most notably, a robust program for emerging and established movement artists, a vibrant adult education program and a unique and powerful pre professional program for teens. Central to SCDT's purpose is an abiding respect for the tradition and history of performance art and dance while continuing to challenge established concert dance ideals and contribute to the evolution of the field. SCDT prioritizes and is committed to programs that educate the general public about the creative process and to support the needs of independent artists at every stage in their careers.

Olana Flynn

Olana is a multi-disciplinary artist, educator, curator and producer based in Holyoke, MA. She holds an MFA in Experimental Choreography from University of California, Riverside and a BA from Hampshire College. She is a founding member and co-director of LOCULUS, a dance and performance collective that creates performance in non-traditional spaces, publishes The Loculus Journal, and directs The Loculus Studio in Holyoke. She has had the privilege of studying and performing with artists such as Chris Aiken, Angie Hauser, Kathleen Hermesdorf, Luis Lara Malvacias, Paul Matteson, Jennifer Nugent, taisha paggett, Joel Smith, and Sage Ni’Ja Whitson. Her choreography has been performed in New York, Philadelphia, Southern California, and throughout New England. Her photography has been featured in a number of zines and journals and has been exhibited at VSOP Projects in Greenport, NY. Olana has held faculty positions in the Dance Programs at Sarah Lawrence College, Springfield College, and Keene State College, and was a graduate teaching assistant at the University of California Riverside, and has been a guest artist at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts High School. She serves as Communications + Special Events Manager for Assets for Artists Inc., works as a freelance teacher, light designer, and producer throughout Western Mass, and collaborates with Deborah Goffe as the Creative Producer for Scapegoat Garden.

Madison Palffy

Madison Palffy is a performing artist, dance-maker, and movement educator based in western Massachusetts. She holds an MFA in Dance and Choreography with an emphasis in Somatics and Improvisation from University of Colorado, Boulder. Her work is driven by a sense of experimentation and artistic cross-pollination and has taken the form of films, installations, and evening length performances. Her work has been shown at Studio 303 (Montreal), The Iron Factory (Philadelphia), Ponderosa (Germany), The School for Contemporary Dance and Thought (Northampton, MA), GreenSpace (NYC), AS220 (Providence, RI), The Dairy Arts Center (Boulder, CO), and throughout New England. Madison is a founding member and co-director of LOCULUS, a dance and performance collective that creates performances in non-traditional spaces, produces an experimental dance journal, and directs The Loculus Studio in Holyoke, MA. As an educator, Madison has been on faculty at Keene State College, Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School, Berkshire Pulse, SCDT, Northampton Center for the Arts, Block 1750, Ape Co Movement School, and The Spark Performing Arts Center. She was a graduate teaching instructor at University of Colorado Boulder and has been a guest teaching artist at Amherst College, Smith College, Hampshire College, Moving Target Portland, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, Earthdance Workshop & Retreat Center, the Williston Northampton School and as an in-school teaching artist in Springfield, Holyoke, and Pittsfield public schools. She currently teaches dance and pilates at The School for Contemporary Dance & Thought, Berkshire Pulse, Loculus Studios, and Smith College.

Molly Rose-Williams

Molly Rose-Williams is a performer, writer, audio producer, and educator. Their work melds dance, physical theater, and circus, and draws heavily on a childhood spent playing sports and practicing Chinese acrobatics. They have presented on stages across the US, and in Canada, Belgium, and Mexico. When they’re not dancing, they work as a creative producer for The Nocturnists podcast, teach cooking and science, and write about dance.

Gabby Carmichael

Gabby Carmichael is a choreographer and educator based between Western Massachusetts and Brooklyn, NY. She approaches dance as a site for transformation and collaboration, with her research being driven by a curiosity with how the body stores, reshapes, and recalls information across time. Gabby holds an MFA in Choreography and Performance from Smith College and a BA in Anthropology and Dance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is an ongoing collaborator with Barbie Diewald, and additionally has performed with Annie Health and Niki Farahani. Her work has been presented at Smith College, Gibney Dance, New Dance Alliance, Movement Research at the Judson Church, BAAD Bronx, Center for Performance Research, Triskelion Arts, and the School of Contemporary Dance & Thought, and she has been in residence at The Field Center, The Floor on Atlantic, MOTive Brooklyn, Leimay, and Brooklyn Arts Exchange.

Erik Elizondo

Erik is a dance artist from Monterrey, Mexico. He began his career in 2009 with the company Teoría de Gravedad and co-founded Colectivo la Aurora in 2010 with Jessica Huerta, Jesús Leos, Sara Alonso, and Catalina Castilla. In 2012, he joined Inside the Body Performing Arts, directed by Aladino Rivera.

His professional collaborations include work with Ruby Gámez, Gavin Webber, Cinthya Dueñas, Francisco Córdova, João Cidade, Marion Sparber, Milla Koistinen, Nadia Lartigue, and others. Erik graduated from SEAD Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance in 2017, majoring in Performance in Contemporary Dance.

In 2017, he co-founded Los Little Guys with Dimitri Kalaitzidis, developing their own movement improvisation methodology. His projects have led to collaborations, workshops, and residencies at venues such as NYU Tisch School of the Arts, Iceland Dance Company, b12, Gibney Dance, and Boston Conservatory, among others. Showing their choreographic work in Mexico, USA, Canada, Malaysia, and India.

Questions? Call or email our program coordinator Jen: +1 (413) 695 1799 // [email protected]

For more programming through SCDT, please visit www.scdtnoho.com.

SCHOLARSHIPS:

Scholarships and tuition help are available upon request for everyone, especially BIPOC students. Please contact us at [email protected] to inquire about scholarships and fee waivers.

COVID-19 SAFETY:

Learn more about our COVID-19 safety policies and find updates HERE >>>>

Questions? Call or email our program coordinator Jen: +1 (413) 695 1799 // [email protected]

For more programming through SCDT, please visit www.scdtnoho.com.

SCHOLARSHIPS:

Scholarships and tuition help are available upon request for everyone, especially BIPOC students. Please contact us at [email protected] to inquire about scholarships and fee waivers.

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