Adult Half-Day Intensive
Saturday, May 30, 2026
10:30 a.m.–3:40 p.m.
Grey Studio, Halsey Hall
$75
The UI Community Dance School is offering a half-day intensive for adult dancers on Saturday, May 30. The day brings together focused footwork, somatically informed ballet technique, absolute beginner modern dance, and RelaXercise.
This intensive gives adult students time for detailed work that weekly classes sometimes require us to move through more quickly than the material deserves. We will slow down with the feet, move through ballet technique from the inside out, try modern dance in an absolute beginner setting, and close the day with breath, relaxation, and body-mind integration.
The intensive will be taught by Jason Schadt, MFA, Administrator of the UI Youth Ballet and Community Dance School; Douglas Baker, Senior Accompanist, Team Leader, and Instructor; and Joan Gonwa, MA, CMA, RelaXercise Instructor.
Registration is for the full half-day intensive. The classes are planned as a sequence, and students should plan to attend from 10:30 a.m. to 3:40 p.m. while working at a sustainable pace throughout the day.
At $75, the intensive offers four classes for a price close to the cost of a single specialized class or workshop. Space is limited, and registration is available on a first-come, first-served basis until Friday, May 22, or until the intensive fills.
Register here using the Interim Session 2026 form.
“Jason's class is an accelerated crash course in the body and its mechanics... His commitment to teaching students from the ground up is an exceptional approach.”
Greta S., Iowa City student
Footwork
10:30–11:10 a.m.
with Jason Schadt, MFA, Administrator of the UI Youth Ballet and Community Dance School
Footwork means working on the feet to help students notice what is happening there and access the best available mechanics of their feet, both as a practice on its own and as preparation for the day ahead.
In this session, we will use the Elgin Arch Exerciser, courtesy of Jason Schadt Movement Arts. The device works a little like a grip-strengthener for the hands, giving students a specific way to access the deeper muscles of the foot.
The goal is to wake up the feet, refine their organization, and prepare the body for the classes that follow. When the foot works more clearly, the benefits often travel upstream.
Continuing Beginner Ballet
11:15 a.m.–12:45 p.m.
with Jason Schadt, MFA, Administrator of the UI Youth Ballet and Community Dance School
Continuing Beginner Ballet is a somatically informed ballet technique practice for adults with some recent ballet experience. We begin on the floor to wake up the muscles close to the midline and explore how ballet movement can organize from the inside out.
For example, port de bras can begin with the spine, travel through the shoulder blade, continue through the humerus, and arrive through the wrist. In this approach, students learn the internal relationships that create ballet movement, rather than beginning with an external picture and asking the body to imitate it.
From the floor, we move to standing work at the ballet barre. We finish with center work that applies the same principles to ballet vocabulary and musical dancing.
Absolute Beginner Modern Dance
1:30–2:30 p.m.
with Douglas Baker, Senior Accompanist, Team Leader, and Instructor
Absolute Beginner Modern Dance is one of our most popular adult classes. This session will be taught by Douglas Baker, whom many students already know from his playing for ballet, Wee Dance, and creative movement classes.
Douglas brings long familiarity with the daily life of our school into his teaching. For adults who are curious about modern dance, this class offers an approachable way to begin with a teacher many students already know through music, class, and performance.
No prior modern dance experience is needed.
RelaXercise
2:40–3:40 p.m.
with Joan Gonwa, MA, CMA, RelaXercise Instructor
RelaXercise will close the day. This class offers thorough, somatic-based exercise for strength and flexibility, coordinated with full-body breathing techniques and relaxation methods.
The class supports efficient movement, stress reduction, renewed energy, and body-mind integration. A period of guided imagery relaxation will end the class.
Questions?
Please contact DNC-CommunityDance@uiowa.edu.