Transvergence

A monthly improvisational dance/movement space for queer and trans folks. The last Sunday of each month unless otherwise noted.

Transvergence // challenging conventional divisions and embracing complexity, incompleteness, or even chaos, moving beyond artifical seperation.

Buy your tickets on eventbrite or venmo at the door, NOTAFLOF. Ticket sales go towards renting the space and paying the organizers.

This time our facilitated portion of the night will be held by: Tal (he/him) is a Lover of love, seeker of depths and soul questions, a community builder, a bringer of play, movement, and nonverbal knowing, and a song maker/carrier, whose special interest is people and relationships. He is a trans, – genderfluid, gender queer, transmasc, trans gay boy – queer, white, anti-Zionist Jew. Tal was born and raised in San Francisco, California, and currently lives in Oakland (Ohlone Land). Tal loves to create spaces where people can unmask in their bodies and expressions, removing social obligations, in the hopes of creating new ways and worlds of connection and possibility for human relationships.

Access: Both Studios East and West, along with BANDALOOP Studios’s bathrooms are ADA Accessible. The bathrooms are gender neutral. Please click on this link to read more in depth about BANDALOOP Studios commitment to accessibility: https://www.bandaloopstudio.com/accessibility

We ask that our space be a fragrance free space, please refrain from wearing scented products before coming. You are welcome but not required to wear a mask. Please do not attend if you have any symptoms of any contagious illness.

Join us at BANDALOOP Studios to move, play, and dance with other trans and queer folks. No dance/movement experience is required! This space was born out of the desire to have an exclusive movement improv space for queer people that centers trans bodies to build comfort and trust outside of a cis/het centric space.

The flow of the evening begins with an opening circle where names, pronouns, and introductions are shared as well as community agreements. After that, there will be a 45 minute arrival practice which aims to guide participants into settling into their bodies and the space. Partner work (contact improvisation/group scores) may be introduced during this, but all offerings are optional. Contact Improvisation (CI) is an element of our jams but not the sole focus, and is approached with consent at the center. After the arrival practice ends, we will go straight into an hour of uninterrupted open jam time. During the jam, a curated playlist follows a natural arc, beginning with slower paced music that builds into energetic beats, and then back to slowness to wind down. Individual, partner, and group movement and play emerge naturally in the jam, every time looking and feeling very different depending on the unique group of people in the space that night. While the jam is a nonverbal space, expression of sound through voice and body is highly encouraged and welcomed.

Tal and Chloe facilitate the arrival practice regularly, and every other month, we aim to host guest facilitators to bring their offerings to the community.

We hope to have live instrumental musicians occasionally if possible in the future, and right now recorded music is a part of the soundscape.

Email us at [email protected] with any questions!