🌐 July Dance Web 🕸️
to dive in, take a break, or both; choose your summer adventure
How you want to dance this summer
Last month we took a poll about what kind of dance offerings you’d show up for this summer. The results are:
55% want to dance outside
32% want to take drop-in classes
12% were interested in weekend intensives
and no one was most interested in weekly class series
I hope this might be helpful for facilitators trying to make ends meet over the summer!
What I heard from dance facilitators about the support they need right now isn’t any kind of new revelation—the biggest thing they need is for people to show up for what they’re offering.
I don’t know what kind of media you’re consuming to cope with the world right now, but the messages I’m receiving all lead back to the importance of community and having spaces to move and process through our bodies with others. I’ll be a broken record about this forever, but I know I need to keep hearing it because it takes a lot to break the patterns of socially isolating when feeling stressed and overwhelmed.
The resources are here. I’ll also say repeatedly that the dance community in Bellingham is what we make of it. How you participate shapes the community. There is such talent among us, sensitivity and breadth of knowledge, and a shared understanding that dance goes beyond virtuosic movement—it permeates how we are in ourselves and with each other. But our town does not have some of the privileges that come with big city dance communities—namely the volume of participants and audiences to keep things going year round. The way that each of us chooses to participate has a noticeable impact on the community as a whole. Hence the dance web! 🕸️
But there are two hands in this word dance I’m sharing with you now (imagine me gesticulating). On the other hand, everyone needs to take breaks, rest, and this gorgeous summer we have is cruelly short. I’ve decided to take a break to replenish my creative energy, so I won’t be offering any dance classes in July and instead will be focusing on my bodywork practice. I should have one or two special dance treats coming in August.
You’ll see a lot of the weekly classes are on hiatus this month. Worry not, most, if not all of them will be coming back by fall! For the weekly classes still listed, I encourage you to double check their websites and social media to confirm they are running. It’s also a great time to check out the offerings in the extended web! Maybe it’s time to try an aerial class? And for those who voted to dance outside—see you at Sunset Silent Disco? And you definitely don’t want to miss the performance, Sit With Us, which you can check out below!
Dance at Whatcom Update
Hey! I also have some good news to share. Thanks to you—everyone who spoke up against Whatcom Community College’s decision to cut dance—we got dance back!
To catch folks up, in late April, I was informed that WCC would be cutting dance from their course offerings because of the state budget shortfall that we’ve seen brutally affect our local institutions like WCC and WWU. I’ve been at the helm of dance at WCC for the last two years, following a string of dedicated dance educators who cultivated this excellent introduction to modern dance for community college students. So, when I received the news that dance would be cut next year, I said no, and asked dance educators, WCC faculty, students, and all of you to say no with me. The persistent emails to the administration got through, alongside amazing advocacy from the department chair, Melanie Sehman, who found ways to cut spending that did not remove other classes or employees.
In June I received the news that dance is back on the calendar for the next academic year! Again, thank you so much everyone who has been in my corner for the sake of this important community offering.
There is one caveat. The class is confirmed for Fall and Spring terms, but in order for it to run Winter term, I need over 20 students signed up in Fall. If you or anyone you know is enrolled at Whatcom Community College, please consider taking Modern Dance 101 this fall! This includes any high school students you know who qualify for Running Start—they can get PE credits!
All in all, I’m taking the win, even if it’s a 2/3 win.
~ Soleil
Events
Sit With Us - ANJ Dance Project
“Sit with us” is a contemporary dance piece that will be performed at the Aikido Peace Education Center, 1101 N State St. in Bellingham, on July 26, 2025, 6 pm.
The process of this dance project begins with exploring personal struggles from unhealthy and controlling environments. This piece aims to tackle, emphasize, and reiterate how bodies socialized as feminine are seen as a threat, are damaged, and can be controlled or instructed. The dancers explore their body's knowledge of the corrupt performance of "goodness" or "correctness" instructed by cultural norms of femininity. We also explore our body’s genuine feelings of sensuality, rage, and strength and experience how these feelings appear differently under the audience’s gaze. By literally sitting with our bodies and their many diverse qualities of knowledge formed by our lived experiences, "Sit with us" proposes an alternative way of engaging with each other.
The cast consists of six dancers who represent different phases of life: Bodies navigating experiences of girlhood, womanhood, and gender-expansive identities, bodies socialized within female gender roles and shaped by cultural norms of femininity.
Choreographed by Angela Sebastian with collaboration and performance by Kaia Gilje, Abby Rossi, Sarah Schermer, Paige Pimmel, and Marissa Moeri.
*Please note the venue is only accessible by stairs. Please contact us if you need any assistance.
Dance Together
Independent artists and collectives offering adult classes, workshops, and community dances. Follow the links to find class descriptions, more information, and contacts to answer your questions.
Symbols Key
🌱 - Beginners Welcome
👣 - Includes Choreography
🌀 - Includes Improvisation
👐 - Includes Physical Contact
( ) - May include/Optionally includes
Workshops
B’ham Hop 4th Anniversary Celebration
Tuesday, July 15th | 7pm - intro lesson, 8pm - dance | Hotel Leo Crystal Ballroom 🌱 👣 🌀 👐
SUMMER HEAT: Deepening Connection on the Dance Floor | Kelsey Maloney & Taber Darland
Thursdays July 17–August 14 | 6:30-8pm | Presence Studio | $15-25 | drop-in 🌱 🌀
REHARMONIZE | Paul Millage and Amanda West
July 30-August 3rd
A unique Contact Improvisation & Singing Retreat on Lummi Island, Gently facilitated by Paul Millage and Amanda West, this special weekend weaves movement, vocal improvisation, and community connection, fostering the “village spirit” we all crave. 🌀 👐
Weekly Classes
Sundays
Open Ballet | Amy Guerra
10-11:30am | Opus Performing Arts | drop-in $15 👣
Open Floor Dance | Jenny Macke
10:30am-12pm | Presence Studio | drop-in $15 🌱 🌀
Advanced Contemporary Dance | Bellingham Repertory Dance
12-1:30pm | Firehouse Arts & Events Center | drop-in $10-25 👣 🌀 (👐)
Mondays
Beginning Ballet | Emmy Gockel
10:45am-12pm | Firehouse Arts & Events Center drop-in $15 🌱 👣
Monday Night Dance | Bellingham Embodiment Collective
6:30-8pm | The Majestic Ballroom | drop-in | $15-25 🌱 🌀
Tuesdays
Taster Tuesdays hip hop/house | Ranae
6-6:50p | Lost Giants Cider Co | pre-register (drop-in; space limited) $10-$15 | Ages 21+ 🌱 👣
Wednesdays
Open Intermediate Ballet | Cher Carnell
9:30-11am | July 2,9,16 at Opus, July 23,30 at the Firehouse | drop-in $10 👣
Groov3 cardio funk | Christine Engelfried
7:15-8:05pm | Focal Point Pilates & Movement | register online $18 🌱 👣
Thursdays
Dance for people with Parkinson’s Disease and other neurological disorders | Ingrid Hurlen accompanied by Eric Chappelle
11:30am-12:30pm | July 10-31 | Firehouse Arts & Events Center | FREE 🌱 👣 (🌀)
Saturdays
Open Intermediate Ballet | Cher Carnell
9:30-11am | July 5,12,19 at Opus, July 26 at Firehouse Arts & Events Center | drop-in $10 👣
Sunset Silent Disco | Dana Carr
Sunset | Zuanich Point Park | drop-in FREE 🌱 🌀
Extended Web
dance studios offering adult dance classes + additional resources
Bellingham Aerial and Dance - aerial dance classes and more
Bellingham Circus Guild - circus private coaching
Cabaret Atelier - cabaret dance classes and more
Opus Performing Arts - drop-in ballet & tap
Unique Technique - pop, jazz & hip hop based classes
Social Dance - subscribe to The Hamster Wheel to find many social dance offerings under “Participatory Dance”
Calls for Connection
Bellingham Aerial and Dance Hot Summer Nights Showcase
August 30, 7 PM
Come join us for our summer student showcase - Hot Summer Nights! Our B.A.D. showcase is full of local dance performers of all levels. Aerial, floor, flow, clown, even acro! A chance for students and performers to share their awesome talents with the community!
Want to perform? Submit your act - by July 31st
Coming Soon
Dance Research Practices for Somatic Communication with Nita Little
August 29 - September 1 | Aikido Peace Education Center | Sliding scale: $340 - $550
This Training Workshop is meant for dancers to extend their research beyond choreographic choice-making to find that Somatic Communication offers emergent relations of immediate coordination and surprise. 🌀 👐
August Submissions
Submission deadline is Monday, July 21 for the August Dance Web.
For classes and workshops, be sure to include:
Class Name (including style and level) | Teacher
which symbols to include: 🌱-beginners welcome, 👣-choreography, 🌀-improvisation, 👐-physical contact, (in parenthesis for may include/optionally includes)
Time | Location | how to register and price | link or contact
Each month will include community highlights while there is space. If you would like to feature your offering, submit a photo with one or two short paragraphs. The workshops and weekly classes section is reserved for independent artists and collectives offering classes unaffiliated with the studio where it is taught. Any dance related announcements or inquiries are welcome under Calls for Connection!
Email bodyswells@gmail.com to submit.
See you next time!
Bellingham Dance Web is woven by Soleil Chappelle, you can learn more about their work at bodyswells.com. You can also read their personal Substack here.
Sharing is how the web keeps weaving! Thanks for spreading the threads!