Tag: Family Support

This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing carla@smithcenter.org.

You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.

with Johnnette Armstrong

Body Groove

Groove Method is a delicious and fun group dance experience with simple steps and movement that nurtures the body, mind, heart and soul.
We invite you for one hour to move and connect with your body in a unique, authentic and cool way. Letting go of whatever is going on in your world, allowing yourself to be free and have fun moving your body.
Let’s get Grooving!

Body Groove will be offered Weekly on Saturdays from 10:00-11:00am ET. 

Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/month

In addition, our yoga classes are listed with the National MS Society and we welcome patients and caregivers of those with multiple sclerosis to our gentle yoga classes.

Our programs are also open to the community, and tailored to meet the needs of people affected by cancer. Classes and workshops are free or low cost on a pay-as-you-can basis, ensuring that our programs are accessible to everyone.

About Johnnette Armstrong

Johnnette Armstrong

Certified Personal Trainer, Herbalist, Pink Pilates instructor, Health Coach and a Groove Method Provider. I call myself a Wellness Advocate. I have worked in the fitness field for over 15 years and I currently offer classes at Hope Connections in MD, work with seniors, and offer one-on-one personal training.

After my own struggle with body image and self-esteem, I went on a journey to find out the healthy way to lose weight and feel better about myself. I discovered that there is no right way to wellness. We are all beautiful and unique individuals and over the years I have learned three important things for teaching and working with people:

  1. How to create a space where people feel good about themselves.
  2. The importance of accurate knowledge to take care of our bodies.
  3. And how to consistently move our bodies so that we feel good. 

After 15 years of working in this industry, I have found that there is more than one way to move our bodies. The most important thing is to find one that you enjoy. I am super excited to bring Groove Method to you. It’s a fun and simple way to move our bodies. The cool thing is, anyone can do it! 

My passion is helping people to create a wellness toolbox that works for the whole person. Thank you in advance for allowing me to share my passion with you!

Let’s get Grooving!

This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing carla@smithcenter.org.

You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.

with Johnnette Armstrong

Body Groove

Groove Method is a delicious and fun group dance experience with simple steps and movement that nurtures the body, mind, heart and soul.
We invite you for one hour to move and connect with your body in a unique, authentic and cool way. Letting go of whatever is going on in your world, allowing yourself to be free and have fun moving your body.
Let’s get Grooving!

Body Groove will be offered Weekly on Wednesdays from 12:30-1:30pm ET. 

Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/month

In addition, our yoga classes are listed with the National MS Society and we welcome patients and caregivers of those with multiple sclerosis to our gentle yoga classes.

Our programs are also open to the community, and tailored to meet the needs of people affected by cancer. Classes and workshops are free or low cost on a pay-as-you-can basis, ensuring that our programs are accessible to everyone.

About Johnnette Armstrong

Johnnette Armstrong

Certified Personal Trainer, Herbalist, Pink Pilates instructor, Health Coach and a Groove Method Provider. I call myself a Wellness Advocate. I have worked in the fitness field for over 15 years and I currently offer classes at Hope Connections in MD, work with seniors, and offer one-on-one personal training.

After my own struggle with body image and self-esteem, I went on a journey to find out the healthy way to lose weight and feel better about myself. I discovered that there is no right way to wellness. We are all beautiful and unique individuals and over the years I have learned three important things for teaching and working with people:

  1. How to create a space where people feel good about themselves.
  2. The importance of accurate knowledge to take care of our bodies.
  3. And how to consistently move our bodies so that we feel good. 

After 15 years of working in this industry, I have found that there is more than one way to move our bodies. The most important thing is to find one that you enjoy. I am super excited to bring Groove Method to you. It’s a fun and simple way to move our bodies. The cool thing is, anyone can do it! 

My passion is helping people to create a wellness toolbox that works for the whole person. Thank you in advance for allowing me to share my passion with you!

Let’s get Grooving!

This week’s session has been cancelled due to a family matter. We hope you will join us next week.

with Johnnette Armstrong

Body Groove

Groove Method is a delicious and fun group dance experience with simple steps and movement that nurtures the body, mind, heart and soul.
We invite you for one hour to move and connect with your body in a unique, authentic and cool way. Letting go of whatever is going on in your world, allowing yourself to be free and have fun moving your body.
Let’s get Grooving!

Body Groove will be offered Weekly on Wednesdays from 12:30-1:30pm ET. 

Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/month

In addition, our yoga classes are listed with the National MS Society and we welcome patients and caregivers of those with multiple sclerosis to our gentle yoga classes.

Our programs are also open to the community, and tailored to meet the needs of people affected by cancer. Classes and workshops are free or low cost on a pay-as-you-can basis, ensuring that our programs are accessible to everyone.

About Johnnette Armstrong

Johnnette Armstrong

Certified Personal Trainer, Herbalist, Pink Pilates instructor, Health Coach and a Groove Method Provider. I call myself a Wellness Advocate. I have worked in the fitness field for over 15 years and I currently offer classes at Hope Connections in MD, work with seniors, and offer one-on-one personal training.

After my own struggle with body image and self-esteem, I went on a journey to find out the healthy way to lose weight and feel better about myself. I discovered that there is no right way to wellness. We are all beautiful and unique individuals and over the years I have learned three important things for teaching and working with people:

  1. How to create a space where people feel good about themselves.
  2. The importance of accurate knowledge to take care of our bodies.
  3. And how to consistently move our bodies so that we feel good. 

After 15 years of working in this industry, I have found that there is more than one way to move our bodies. The most important thing is to find one that you enjoy. I am super excited to bring Groove Method to you. It’s a fun and simple way to move our bodies. The cool thing is, anyone can do it! 

My passion is helping people to create a wellness toolbox that works for the whole person. Thank you in advance for allowing me to share my passion with you!

Let’s get Grooving!

This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing carla@smithcenter.org.

You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.

with Jodi Kanter

Exploring Improvisation through Theater Games
PC: https://spolingamesonline.org/

“Improvising is openness to contact with the environment and each other and willingness to play.”

— Viola Spolin

 

Take a break from your Monday and get in touch with your sense of play through theater games. Very different from “improv” shows designed for entertainment, these simple, structured improvisation sessions will lead us through building environments, creating characters, making images, moving and inventing new languages using nothing but our bodies and our virtually shared space.

 

The foundation of this workshop will be the theater games and explorations of Viola Spolin, author of the classic Improvisation for the Theatre. These games focus on a wide range of core acting skills including nonverbal communication, concentration, listening, observation, character, relationship, and sensory awareness.

 

Actor and filmmaker Rob Reiner attested that the principles behind Spolin’s games “have formed the basis of all the work I’ve done.” Elsewhere, another writer described them as “structures designed to almost fool spontaneity into being.” Spolin’s work is taught all over the world to children and adults, professional actors, educators, and community members.

 

We will apply these skills to storytelling and our individual healing journeys. No previous theater experience required.

Theater Games Workshop will be hosted Weekly on Mondays from 2:00-3:15pm ET. 

Registration is required for each session of this program. The program must have at least 4 registered participants to be held. You will be notified in advance whether each particular session will occur. Please register as early as possible.

Suggested Donation: $10

About Jodi Kanter

Jodi Kanter

Jodi has been involved in theater since she was ten years old. She grew up acting and studying performance in American theater’s “Second City,” Chicago Illinois.  She is currently a professor of theatre in the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University, where she has been on faculty for nearly fifteen years. Her academic work in theater includes her book, Performing Loss: Strengthening Communities Through Theatre and Writing (2007). Jodi’s focus on performance as a tool for individual and social healing and change has led her to create workshops, events and productions in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, schools, and prisons. Most recently, she co-created a four-month diversity and inclusion program for members of DC’s fourteen Neighborhood Village associations using the methodology of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. Jodi holds a PhD. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in dramatherapy at Lesley University.

This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing carla@smithcenter.org.

You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.

with Jodi Kanter

Theater Games
PC: https://spolingamesonline.org/

“Improvising is openness to contact with the environment and each other and willingness to play.”

— Viola Spolin

 

Take a break from your Monday and get in touch with your sense of play through theater games. Very different from “improv” shows designed for entertainment, these simple, structured improvisation sessions will lead us through building environments, creating characters, making images, moving and inventing new languages using nothing but our bodies and our virtually shared space.

The foundation of this workshop will be the theater games and explorations of Viola Spolin, author of the classic Improvisation for the Theatre. These games focus on a wide range of core acting skills including nonverbal communication, concentration, listening, observation, character, relationship, and sensory awareness.

Actor and filmmaker Rob Reiner attested that the principles behind Spolin’s games “have formed the basis of all the work I’ve done.” Elsewhere, another writer described them as “structures designed to almost fool spontaneity into being.” Spolin’s work is taught all over the world to children and adults, professional actors, educators, and community members.

We will apply these skills to storytelling and our individual healing journeys. No previous theater experience required.

Theater Games Workshop will be hosted on the 1st & 3rd Mondays from 2:30-3:45pm ET. 

Upcoming Dates:

  • October 4 & 18
  • November 1 & 15
  • December 6 & 20

Suggested Donation: $10

About Jodi Kanter

Jodi Kanter

Jodi has been involved in theater since she was ten years old. She grew up acting and studying performance in American theater’s “Second City,” Chicago Illinois.  She is currently a professor of theatre in the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University, where she has been on faculty for nearly fifteen years. Her academic work in theater includes her book, Performing Loss: Strengthening Communities Through Theatre and Writing (2007). Jodi’s focus on performance as a tool for individual and social healing and change has led her to create workshops, events and productions in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, schools, and prisons. Most recently, she co-created a four-month diversity and inclusion program for members of DC’s fourteen Neighborhood Village associations using the methodology of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. Jodi holds a PhD. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in dramatherapy at Lesley University.

This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing carla@smithcenter.org.

You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.

with Jodi Kanter

PC: https://spolingamesonline.org/

“Improvising is openness to contact with the environment and each other and willingness to play.”

— Viola Spolin

 

Take a break from your Monday and get in touch with your sense of play through theater games. Very different from “improv” shows designed for entertainment, these simple, structured improvisation sessions will lead us through building environments, creating characters, making images, moving and inventing new languages using nothing but our bodies and our virtually shared space.

The foundation of this workshop will be the theater games and explorations of Viola Spolin, author of the classic Improvisation for the Theatre. These games focus on a wide range of core acting skills including nonverbal communication, concentration, listening, observation, character, relationship, and sensory awareness.

Actor and filmmaker Rob Reiner attested that the principles behind Spolin’s games “have formed the basis of all the work I’ve done.” Elsewhere, another writer described them as “structures designed to almost fool spontaneity into being.” Spolin’s work is taught all over the world to children and adults, professional actors, educators, and community members.

We will apply these skills to storytelling and our individual healing journeys. No previous theater experience required.

Theater Games Workshop will be hosted on the 1st & 3rd Mondays from 2:30-3:45pm ET. 

Upcoming Dates:

  • October 4 & 18
  • November 1 & 15
  • December 6 & 20

Suggested Donation: $10

About Jodi Kanter

Jodi Kanter

Jodi has been involved in theater since she was ten years old. She grew up acting and studying performance in American theater’s “Second City,” Chicago Illinois.  She is currently a professor of theatre in the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University, where she has been on faculty for nearly fifteen years. Her academic work in theater includes her book, Performing Loss: Strengthening Communities Through Theatre and Writing (2007). Jodi’s focus on performance as a tool for individual and social healing and change has led her to create workshops, events and productions in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, schools, and prisons. Most recently, she co-created a four-month diversity and inclusion program for members of DC’s fourteen Neighborhood Village associations using the methodology of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. Jodi holds a PhD. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in dramatherapy at Lesley University.

Please email Carla at carla@smithcenter.org for further information about the program.

with Jodi Kanter

Individual Dramatherapy Work

Individual Dramatherapy

Come explore a new Smith Center one-on-one offering where drama and a therapeutic approach to healing come together.

 

Drama therapy is the art of the possible. It can help us to rewrite old scripts for interacting with the people around us. It can allow us to take less developed parts of ourselves and transform them into robust roles in our own life-dramas. And it can provide concrete ways of imagining—and rehearsing—the future we want to make happen for ourselves.

 

In your initial session with Jodi, you will explore the roles you already play comfortably and identify those you’d most like to develop.

If after our initial session you would like to continue, sessions 2, 3, and 4 will consist of exercises that allow you to better understand and embody these less familiar parts of yourself.

 

Additionally, Jodi is available to offer a second set of four sessions, focused on working with more specific content from your own life story.

About Jodi Kanter

Jodi Kanter

Jodi has been involved in theater since she was ten years old. She grew up acting and studying performance in American theater’s “Second City,” Chicago Illinois.  She is currently a professor of theatre in the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University, where she has been on faculty for nearly fifteen years. Her academic work in theater includes her book, Performing Loss: Strengthening Communities Through Theatre and Writing (2007). Jodi’s focus on performance as a tool for individual and social healing and change has led her to create workshops, events and productions in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, schools, and prisons. Most recently, she co-created a four-month diversity and inclusion program for members of DC’s fourteen Neighborhood Village associations using the methodology of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. Jodi holds a PhD. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in dramatherapy at Lesley University. 

Please email Carla at carla@smithcenter.org for further information about the program.

with Jodi Kanter

Individual Dramatherapy Work

Individual Dramatherapy

Come explore a new Smith Center one-on-one offering where drama and a therapeutic approach to healing come together.

 

Drama therapy is the art of the possible. It can help us to rewrite old scripts for interacting with the people around us. It can allow us to take less developed parts of ourselves and transform them into robust roles in our own life-dramas. And it can provide concrete ways of imagining—and rehearsing—the future we want to make happen for ourselves.

 

In your initial session with Jodi, you will explore the roles you already play comfortably and identify those you’d most like to develop.

If after our initial session you would like to continue, sessions 2, 3, and 4 will consist of exercises that allow you to better understand and embody these less familiar parts of yourself.

 

Additionally, Jodi is available to offer a second set of four sessions, focused on working with more specific content from your own life story.

About Jodi Kanter

Jodi Kanter

Jodi has been involved in theater since she was ten years old. She grew up acting and studying performance in American theater’s “Second City,” Chicago Illinois.  She is currently a professor of theatre in the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University, where she has been on faculty for nearly fifteen years. Her academic work in theater includes her book, Performing Loss: Strengthening Communities Through Theatre and Writing (2007). Jodi’s focus on performance as a tool for individual and social healing and change has led her to create workshops, events and productions in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, schools, and prisons. Most recently, she co-created a four-month diversity and inclusion program for members of DC’s fourteen Neighborhood Village associations using the methodology of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. Jodi holds a PhD. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in dramatherapy at Lesley University. 

Please email Carla at carla@smithcenter.org for further information about the program.

with Jodi Kanter

Individual Dramatherapy Work

Individual Dramatherapy

Come explore a new Smith Center one-on-one offering where drama and a therapeutic approach to healing come together.

 

Drama therapy is the art of the possible. It can help us to rewrite old scripts for interacting with the people around us. It can allow us to take less developed parts of ourselves and transform them into robust roles in our own life-dramas. And it can provide concrete ways of imagining—and rehearsing—the future we want to make happen for ourselves.

 

In your initial session with Jodi, you will explore the roles you already play comfortably and identify those you’d most like to develop.

If after our initial session you would like to continue, sessions 2, 3, and 4 will consist of exercises that allow you to better understand and embody these less familiar parts of yourself.

 

Additionally, Jodi is available to offer a second set of four sessions, focused on working with more specific content from your own life story.

About Jodi Kanter

Jodi Kanter

Jodi has been involved in theater since she was ten years old. She grew up acting and studying performance in American theater’s “Second City,” Chicago Illinois.  She is currently a professor of theatre in the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design at George Washington University, where she has been on faculty for nearly fifteen years. Her academic work in theater includes her book, Performing Loss: Strengthening Communities Through Theatre and Writing (2007). Jodi’s focus on performance as a tool for individual and social healing and change has led her to create workshops, events and productions in a wide variety of settings including hospitals, schools, and prisons. Most recently, she co-created a four-month diversity and inclusion program for members of DC’s fourteen Neighborhood Village associations using the methodology of Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed. Jodi holds a PhD. in Performance Studies from Northwestern University and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in dramatherapy at Lesley University. 

This program is being offered virtually through Zoom. In order to participate and receive the Zoom link, register by clicking the RSVP button above or by emailing carla@smithcenter.org.

You will receive the Zoom information no later than the morning of your program.

with Alexis Reale

Therapeutic Creative Dance

Therapeutic Creative Dance

Dance/movement therapy offers individuals the opportunity to strengthen the mind/body connection, engage in nonverbal communication, and to improve our overall health and wellbeing.

 

Defined by the American Dance Therapy Association as the “psychotherapeutic use of movement to promote emotional, social, cognitive and physical integration of the individual,” dance/movement therapy recognizes that we can create changes in the body to reflect lasting changes in the mind.

 

Join us for collective creative expression through dance, writing, art-making and verbal integration. Class includes both individual exploration as well as partner exercises to foster meaning-making through self-exploration and connection with others. Class typically involves a check in, an individual improvisation warm up, individual movement exploration around a theme, partner work, journaling/art making, and a final discussion.

 

The class is open to individuals with all levels of experience and ability around movement. You do not need to have dance experience, only a willingness to move, and class can be done standing, seated, lying down or wherever is best for your comfort.

Therapeutic Creative Dance will be hosted Weekly on Fridays from 12:30-1:30pm ET.

No dance experience is required! Class can be done standing, seated, lying down or wherever is best for your comfort.

Suggested Donation: $10/session or $25/month

About Alexis Reale

Alexis Reale

Alexis is entering her third and final year of her Master’s degree program in Dance/Movement Therapy and Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Lesley University. Alexis is currently an intern at the Cancer Support Community of the Greater Lehigh Valley where she leads dance/movement therapy groups and 1:1 sessions with clients. Alexis previously interned at Dominion Hospital in Falls Church, Virginia, and continues to be under the supervision of dance/movement therapist Jody Wager. Alexis leads dance/movement therapy groups for adults, individuals living with chronic pain, and for older adults in assisted living communities. A lifelong dancer, Alexis believes that anyone can dance, and is delighted to be able to bring the healing power of movement to the Smith Center.