Our Shawngrām Institute for Performance & Social Justice is our gathering place, where we practice (train) together, rehearse, lead workshops and community events, and teach weekly classes and our Summer Intensive. 

The Institute shares a building with a Black-owned day care and a Somali restaurant. Gordon Parks ALC High School and the charter High School for Recording Arts are across the street. We’re a block from the Lexington Avenue light rail stop. Once a used car salesroom, the building is now refurbished with floor to ceiling windows, a sprung floor dance studio, an access ramp, and an office /meeting space. Works of visual art, donated by and created by community members, surround us as we dance.

Current Classes

Find rhythm, groundedness, and flow with dance classes
at Ananya Dance Theatre's Shawngram Institute for Performance & Social Justice.

Weekly classes are now in session, IN-person and online*!

All in-person classes are held at the Shawngrām Institute for Performance & Social Justice (located at 1197 University Ave W, ST Paul, MN 55104). Students attending in-person classes must wear face masks during class.

*All virtual and hybrid classes have new corresponding Zoom links.

Contact Kealoha at kealoha.ferreira@ananyadancetheatre.org with questions about accessibility.

Subscribe to our Shawngrām Classes google calendar to know exactly when we are taking breaks and restarting classes.

Water Dances

Wednesdays 9:45-11:00 am CT (in-person only)

A weekly dedication to the vitality and life force of Water. In class, we will offer breath, dance, meditation, story, song, and reflection. Each class will take shape a little differently, staying responsive to the ongoing movements protecting the sacredness and longevity of water worldwide. Water Dances will begin with grounding movement, flow into dedicated time for personal practice/research/reflection, and close with collective sharing. All who are committed to deepening their relationship with water are welcome to participate.

Yorchhā Elements

Fridays 5:00-6:00pm (virtual only*)
Class will begin on March 21, 2025.

Yorchhā Elements offers the foundations of a Yorchhā movement vocabulary. Yorchhā is Ananya Dance Theatre’s trade-marked contemporary technique that intersects principles of vinyasa yoga, classical Indian dance form Odishi (from the eastern Indian state of Odisha), and martial art form Chhau (also from Odisha). These traditional aesthetics are refracted and reimagined through transnational-feminist practices of solidarity and resistance to create a contemporary vocabulary of movement that dances forward our dreams for a just world.

This is an entry-level class. No previous dance experience is required.

youth yorchhā: A spring break storytelling series

March 31–April 4, 2025, 9:00–11:30am daily (in-person only)

Leap like tigers, swing like elephants, sneak like lizards, play in rhythm streams in the Yorchhā Youth Series! Participants will have the opportunity to learn the principles, elements, and basics of Yorchhā technique through a creative storytelling lens. Playing in embodied expressions of rhythm, we will build connections with one another and the lands we stand on. We will culminate in a collectively created choreography based on the stories we choose to share, the languages we learn in, and the lineages we come from. 

This series is intended for young people ages 7–12. All levels of movement experience are welcome in the space! No dance background is necessary.

$150.00 tuition. No one turned away for lack of funds!

Yoga: Aligning With Land

Sundays 9:00-10:00 am CT  (hybrid participation*)

From Tadasana (mountain pose), the first asana in Surya Namaskar sequence, we connect our feet to the ground and attune our internal landscape to find equity on the ground under our feet. Our practices of relationality and reciprocity are also building blocks for sustainable and regenerative body practices. This Vinyasa class breaks down the fundamentals of structural and energetic alignment in Yoga while moving towards right-relationship with place and community. All are welcome to participate. Variations and modifications will be provided for multiple access points in each class. Mats and blocks are encouraged with limited supplies available at the Institute.

Shared rhythms: a footwork series

Mondays 6:30-8:00 pm CT (in-person only)
SESSION 1: February 24–March 10, 2025
SESSION 2: March 24–April 7, 2025

Explore personal and collective connections to rhythm! Embody the sounds, vibrations and polyrhythms of your own body in this 3-class series from instructor Parisha Rajbhandari.

This class offers footwork (both sounding and internal) and spinal articulation as portals of entry into rhythm exploration. Parisha, a member of Ananya Dance Theatre's core ensemble, will interweave rhythms from her practice in Yorchhā contemporary dance with rhythms from house dance, salsa, bachata, and the jazz dance continuum.

Participants should arrive with the goal of expanding their relationship to rhythm generation in a solo and ensemble setting. Movers at any level of their training are welcome and encouraged to participate!

weaving: collaboration across disciplines

Mondays 6:30–8:00pm, April 28–June 2 (in-person only)

An expansion of the Shared Rhythms footwork series, this 6-week class series invites artists and creatives of various rhythmic, vibrational, and sound-based disciplines to come together. Grounding activities, resources, and prompts will be provided in each session as the group collaborates on a shared creative vision. The goal is to weave together disparate disciplines and creative processes into a rich fabric of collective imagination, culminating in a community sharing event at the beginning of June.

Movers, dancers, music-makers, and rhythm-workers of all disciplines are welcome. Participation in the Shared Rhythms class series is encouraged but not required.

Please ensure you are available for all 6 class sessions before registering. If you would like to participate but have a known conflict, please reach out to admin@ananyadancetheatre.org.

Classes are operated on a pay-what-you-can basis. 

We suggest that participants pay $15.00 per class, but please donʻt let financial limitations stop you from participating. Another way to contribute is by sharing information about the classes on your social media or inviting people in your orbit to take classes with you.

REGISTration is open for all classes!

Moving with us for the first time? Please fill out our liability release and photo waiver before you arrive. And don’t hesitate to ask questions or request variations on our movement in class! Our priority is to dance together joyfully, safely, and to the fullest of everybody’s abilities that day.