Stroud's Monday Nights Class now with Leigh Tolson

Monday Night Class Drop-in community Dance Sessions

Leigh Tolson, fellow local dance teacher will be holding the Monday Evening Class. I will be offering days weekends and retreats in Stroud and elsewhere. To contact Leigh  info@drumzone.co.uk

Please be responsible for your own health and well-fare and please protect those who have health vulnerabilities by taking a lateral flow test at home or on the door. Everyones temperature will be taken as they arrive.

Please let's not make this class all about covid please just do what it takes so that the vulnerable or fearful can feel safe to come and dance. Once we are on the dance floor together the fear melts and we come into this beautiful way of being together, and connect to what is important so essential to our health and well-being!

What Happens at a Class:

When you arrive at the class there will normally be music playing & people will be dancing, warming up, stretching, arriving in the space, getting ready for the teaching part of the evening. This beginning part of the class is very important and sets the atmosphere, preparing for what is to follow. You might want to talk with friends when you arrive, please keep this to a minimum & respect the space by stepping outside the main hall so you don't interrupt & distract the other dancers or the teacher.

For some of us not using words might feel a bit strange at first, for some of us it is a relief & allows us to move & be with our 'body-self' in a way that is similar to a meditation practice, with the added bonus of dancing!

For those of you who prefer a minimum of structure & teacher input, this warm-up time is your opportunity to enter your own dialogue with the dance.
Then often we will come together in a circle for an introduction to the evening.
There will usually be a mixture of newcomers & experienced dancers at the class.

If it's your first time, I warmly welcome you. I encourage you to thoroughly enjoy yourself and to totally engage with what is on offer to find out whether or not this is for you. Please be patient with yourself and this practice if & when you feel challenged, see if you can stay with how it is for you as you move, you may go through many different phases and experiences during the class. If you feel tired, slow down or take a rest.

Regular dancers, I warmly welcome you & appreciate the experience & support you bring to the class from the hours you have danced & the many teachers you may have worked with. Please use this space & what I offer as an opportunity to deepen your practice to have fun, to resource yourselves & become present dropping ever deeper into this beautiful practice. I invite you to come to each class with all your experience, yet like a beginner. Please be inclusive of and sensitive to newcomers.

This work naturally brings a sense of community where we commune with ourselves & the dancing community. We have the opportunity to become aligned with our natural essential sense of self. This can be at times deeply moving, catalytic, transforming and ordinary.

It is great when the class is smooth, enjoyable and easy and you feel in sync with what is being offered. However, as in life, this will not always be the case. The invitation is to position yourself so that you can be responsible for what arises in you, the challenges as well as the joy, and use it all as fuel for your dance exploration & your personal growth.

Wearing socks on smooth floors, chewing gum, wearing dangly earrings & other jewellery etc, can be dangerous, and it's a good idea to remove jewellery and watches, especially if they're sharp or may catch. Please turn off your phone...unless you need to be available for your babysitter, or similar.

I know it can seem unnerving/exciting when you first begin coming. Despite how it looks, not everybody knows everybody - though as time goes by this practice does catalyse our ability to be open & honest with ourselves and one another. There's no rush for anything. Take your time, go with what works for you. We're all different and that's to be honoured and celebrated.

Everybody came for a first time. If you can, speak to someone (or two or three) at the end of the session, especially if you notice that you're feeling anything (shy, weird, exhilarated, etc). Ask questions, tell them how you are.

Please don't use this space to actively seek a partner, sometimes people meet on the dance floor, a relationship may or may not follow. However, part of holding a safe & permissive atmosphere is to hold the understanding that what happens on the dance floor, is generally for the dance floor. It is a circumstance where we practice dancing with what arises, all of it, as a practice for life. We are exploring & we touch our vulnerabilities and open to ourselves & each other non-verbally. Just because you have a great dance with someone does not mean that you will necessarily get on as personalities. Please be sensitive and respectful with each other. I know how busy the mind can be creating agendas and 'what ifs'. Try to be in the moment, breath, move, follow your physicality, get fascinated by your own dance, let go, fall in love, let go more, explore fully & keep letting the head stuff go. 

Please do not use drugs or alcohol before or during or after class. 

Welcome to this practice.

Classes held at The Space, Lansdown Stroud, Gloucestershire GL5 1BN.