Healing and Wellness Series

Chicago Therapy Collective's Healing & Wellness Series is a weekly space for trans, non-binary and queer community members to tune inwards, explore a variety of healing modalities, and build community. Classes in December will be Sundays at Cheetah from 1:30-4pm. There will one Saturday offering on 12/21.

--

• 1:30-2:30pm: Somatic Movement w/ Radia
• 3:00-4:00pm: Your Body is an Orchestra (Strength thru Dance) w/ Darling Shear

*Sign up for one or both classes. You must reserve your spot. Capacity is capped at 15 students for each class.

Program Vision:

Our intention for this Healing and Wellness Series is to offer our community curated healing and wellness practices across various modalities that collectively nurture us amid the tumultuous times we find ourselves in. Our goal is to disrupt the status quo of stress, isolation, and limited resources for accessible, inclusive health, wellness, and care by providing a wealth of sorely needed offerings. Through the series, we will strive to create an experience that rebuilds connections between mind, body, and soul.

Class:

Somatic Movement w/ Radia

1:30-2:30 PM

SUNDAY @ CHEETAH GYM

Bio:

Radia Ali, also known as Noori, is a multi- disciplinary queer performing artist, poet and fire dancer. She performs an array of styles from South Asian classical & folk, belly dance, flamenco, samba to bachata, salsa, and burlesque. She uses  props such as silk veils, Fire fans and swords to tell stories across cultures with her movements. 

Growing up in different countries, Radia was able to experience dance, music and cultural practices both in Asia and Europe. She uses these experiences to create fusion choreography and movement experiences. 

Radia is an organizer at the Chicago Full Moon Jam, performs with with Egyptian trance indie artist NAXÖ, and other live music acts. She teaches fire performance, ,movement healing as well as fusion dance classes. 

Radia has performed extensively over the years, and some of those venues include Electric Forest Festival, Chicago Dyke March, Beat Kitchen, Chicago Pride parade, The Empty Bottle, Museum of Contemporary Art ( MCA), Tribal Stomp, The Metro, The Den Theater and many more.

Find her on IG @noori0202

Classes/Offerings:

 This class is an exploration into diverse movements from cultures around the world.. There are 2 main goals- getting comfortable moving our bodies to music and learning how different cultures express themselves through movement.

This is a class for EVERY BODY. No exceptions. No prior experience needed. Just come with curiosity and respect.

What to wear: whatever you are comfortable in. Personally I love dressing up in flowy garments ,but it’s not a requirement. Just come as you are feeling that day! 

Intentions: I am focused on helping others move through their joys and their pains. This is a heart-centered and liberation focused class. All I ask is that you bring your full self. We will take time to get to know each other, and if you are called to, you can share your stories with us.

Dance as we know it today, was born from communities and tribes singing and clapping around bonfires, childbirths, initiations and so much more. I treat dance as an opportunity to connect with each other and learn from each other.

Disclaimer : I am not a clinical therapist or healer. I work only in the realm of somatic release through movement and music. 

Please let me know if you have any injuries or concerns, and I’ll do my best to make your experience the best one possible for you.

Your Body is an Orchestra w/ Darling Shear

3pm-4pm

SUNDAY @ CHEETAH GYM

Darling is a Chicago Native but has roots in Atlanta where Darling started dance training. Darling attended North Springs Charter School of the performing arts, began dancingprofessionally right out of high school and in that time worked with many great choreographers. The highlights were working with Bubba Carr choreographer/artistic director to Cher for 12 plus years, Rhonda Henriksen soloist with Hubbard Street and Twyla Tharp, Tracy Vogt former Philadanco dancer, Lauri Stallings Hubbard street soloist and founder/artistic director of gloATL.

Darling moved back to Chicago the summer of 2011 to start as a freelance dancer/choreographer. Darling has worked with The Fly Honeys of the The Inconvenience,Links Hall, Victoria Bradford, Ayako Kato, chances dances, no small plan productions, Slo’ Mo, the Public hotel, Soho House Chicago, Growing Power inc., EXPO Chicago, Queen at Smart Bar, SAIC, Depaul museum, University of Chicago, University of Illinois in Chicago, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Chicago Film Archive, Salonathon, and Open TV beta. In 2018, Darling was chosen as the cover model and also quoted in Micah Salkind's Oxford published book 'Do you remember house? Chicago's queer of color underground'. Followed by receiving the Between Gestures scholarship to Austria to attend Impulstanz in Vienna also the Chicago Dancemakers Forum fellowship and Links Hall CoMission Fellowship along with a 3Arts nomination in 2019 and 2022 and 2020 Darling became a cohort to Hubbard Street Dance. In September of 2023 Darling performance alongside Grammy winning artist Corrine Bailey Rae for B.A.R(Black Artist Retreat) created by Theaster Gates and performed in the Stoney Island Art's Bank. To close out Darling, made history co-producing and performance with Slo'mo Queer dance party and NBC Chicago airing a love broadcast cast for NYE for at the newly renovated Ramova Theater in Bridgeport.

Darling's mission has been one with a strong spiritual center and allowance of universal well-being.

Class Description:

'Body is an Orchestra' 

A kinetic linguistics class that combines pedestrian mannerisms/gestures and classical modern, jazz and ballet  techniques to help bring your awareness to a 360 focus for more robust expression and exploration to your personal movement practice.

Host or Publisher Chicago Therapy Collective