July Outdoor Queer Dance Workshop with Abigail Ripin & Jo Troll

Queer Dance Workshops are a chance for queer folks of all identities and experiences to connect through dance. Featuring a rotating roster of teachers and dance styles, these workshops are a time to simply dance around joyfully with other queer people. These special workshops will be held outside near Egleston Square in Jamaica Plain.
Our July workshop features contemporary dance with Abigail Ripin and Irish dance with Jo Troll.

Abigail Ripin (any pronouns) is a rather silly creative person making a home in the Boston area. Abigail likes to make faces, improvise, and most of all build inclusive communities that center play and a sense of belonging. As an educator, Abigail has taught movers ages 3 years old to 83 years old, having taught for The Click, School Moves, Arthur Murray Boston, The Stuttering Association for the Young, and 2Life Communities. Her workshops include collaborative improvisational exercises that she learned from the Pilobolus Summer Workshops and a sprinkling of her own choreography. Abigail is the creative director of Unkempt, a dance theatre project that examines the sociocultural history of body hair removal. Excerpts of Unkempt have been presented at the Salem Arts Festival, Onstage 360, Culture House’s Gilman Square Pop Up, and the Watertown Free Public Library. Come to Abigail’s class ready to laugh and connect with others!

Jo Troll (they) is a disabled queer art-maker, teacher, and creative life coach with a particular focus on using tradition as a means to build connection and community. Through teaching and community building, they actively work to create space for folks who “slip through the cracks” of other existing systems. Jo has studied Irish dance with Kieran Jordan since they were 11 years old, holds a graduate diploma in dance from Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, and is experienced in a variety of traditional percussive dance practices. They perform around Boston and virtually, including as part of OnStage Dance Company’s Residency Program, Dancing Queerly, and Meraki’s Y.A.M.S. The House Sessions and teach regular virtual adult dance classes with students across the US and in Canada. Jo also the founder of these workshops and loves every opportunity they get to dance with others!

Exact location details will be sent to registrants. Some parking is available. It is about a 10 minute walk from Stony Brook on the Orange Line and near bus stops for busses 42, 22, 44, and 29.
Queer Dance Workshops offers $10 stipends for participants to travel to and from the in-person outdoor workshops. This is intended to alleviate some financial pressure for those who might not otherwise be able to enjoy the workshops. If a stipend would make your workshop experience more doable or enjoyable, click the “travel stipend” option in the RSVP form.

Learn more about how travel stipends work here.

There is a question about access needs in registration. In particular, if you need ASL interpretation please note it in your rsvp or email me at [email protected] as it is often easier to get interpretation with a confirmed need. Unfortunately, I will need at least a week's notice to ensure interpretation.

Workshops are free, but please consider donating (no more than $20) to help pay our wonderful teachers.