Living Arts Collective

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Durham, NC
Living Arts Collective

An intersection for artistically embodied movement

https://linktr.ee/livingartscollective

09/10/2026

✨ FRIDAY NIGHT DANCEWAVE IS BACK! ✨

Come as you are, and move as you are.

Imagine a space where you can follow the music, find your groove, and express yourself without words — dancing big or swaying gently,bdrawing, or simply taking it all in.

The music moves through a wave: beginning gently, building in rhythm and energy, and gradually returning to stillness. There are no steps to follow and no experience needed. Let the music meet you where you are.

🌿 This floor welcomes people of different ages, backgrounds, identities, bodies, abilities, and movement experiences.

To help create a present and connected space:
• The dance floor stays free from conversation, phones, photography + video
• Please seek consent before entering someone else’s movement or personal space
• Conversation is welcome in our designated gathering areas

📍 Upper Level Ballroom @ Living Arts Center
410 W. Geer St., Durham

FRIDAY NIGHT FLOW
7:00 pm ~ Doors open + arrival
7:30 pm ~ Welcome + shared dance floor agreements
7:30–9:00 pm ~ Loving Arts Dancewave
9:00–9:30 pm ~ Optional closing circle

💛 Sliding-scale registration
$20 suggested baseline contribution, helping cover the space, artists + production. Options to contribute more or choose subsidized pricing are available at checkout.

Advance registration is encouraged, and you can also register from your phone at the door.

🎨 Interested in live painting or supporting lighting, projections, or other visual elements on a future Friday?
[email protected]

This gathering runs on care, creative labor + community support. Consider becoming a Living Arts Collective Sustainer to help keep the dance moving.

✨ Come move. Come rest. Come draw. Come listen.
Come as you are

09/09/2026

Our Fall/Winter season of CI + Somatics Series starts next week! Each series has a few spots left, and we encourage you to think about if one might be a fit for you ~

If you're newer to the form or want to revisit key themes, we invite you to consider Spirit and Technique of Contact Improvisation with Len Foyle.

This 6-week series is an opportunity to learn and practice some fundamental skills, concepts, and techniques of Contact Improvisation, creating a solid foundation from which to navigate the nuances of the form. You’ll learn to navigate physical and emotional boundaries and gain familiarity with concepts like tonality, weight sharing, and more. (Tuesdays, 7-9pm, September 15th - October 20th).

If you have some improvisational experience, check out Explorations in Mutuality: Movement Research with Anna M. Maynard + emily liptow.

This 6-week movement research series will explore attention, relationality, and collective improvisation practices. We will investigate movement within and outside our body-minds, between self and other, and between individual experience and shared space. Practices may also draw from Emergent Improvisation, Contact Improvisation, Authentic Relating, Focusing, Somatic Stress Release, the Wheel of Consent, and other improvisational and somatic research. (Wednesdays, 7-9pm, September 16th - October 21st).

Register online | $120/180/240 sliding scale

both series take place at Shared Visions Retreat Center (Old Murphy School)

If you have concerns about the level of a series, please email us to ask if it is a good fit before signing up~ [email protected]

More information on this season’s offerings and registration is here~ https://www.livingartscollective.com/contact-improvisation

09/09/2026

Durham came alive with rhythm. 🎶

Thank you to Baba Khalid Saleem, Teli Shabu, Beverly Botsford, and everyone who joined Living Arts Collective for an memorable evening of community drumming and Double Dutch at Durham Central Park.

Africa Unplugged was 🔥, and the whole PLAYlist evening brought music, movement, and community together.

Presented by Durham Central Park, Living Arts Collective, and WNCU 90.7FM, with support from Carolina Theatre.

Next PLAYlist October 2nd, with Teli Shabu leading the community drumming experience alongside more talented drummers!

09/05/2026

Tomorrow: Living Arts Song Circle 🌬️

Sunday, July 5th | 10:10 - 11:11am | donation-based
📍Living Arts Center (410 West Geer St Durham)

Join us on the first Sunday of each month before the Living Arts Dancewave for a Song Circle open to all! We come together to breathe, to listen, to sound.

As we connect through shared voices, we remember courage, connection, and the resilience we carry together.

Songs are shared and learned by ear, unfolding in the moment.

No performance. No expectation. Just your presence and your voice.

09/04/2026

✨ TEACHER HIGHLIGHT: BABA KHALID SALEEM ✨

We are deeply honored to have Baba Khalid Saleem leading tonight’s Community Drumming Experience, with support from Teli Shabu, Beverly Botsford + community drummers.

A percussionist, musician, educator, and longtime cultural bearer, Khalid has spent decades sharing the music and rhythmic traditions of Africa and the African Diaspora through performance, teaching, study, and cultural exchange.

His journey has taken him from living and studying in the Ivory Coast to working with renowned artists and cultural leaders including Rose Marie Guiraud, Babatunde Olatunji, Ladji Camara, Titos Sampa, Les Ballets Africains + the National Dance Company of Guinea.

Khalid served as musical director for the African American Dance Ensemble and taught for more than 25 years at SUNY Brockport, where he was deeply involved with the SANKOFA African Dance and Drum Ensemble.

And for more than four decades, Khalid has been connected to dance right here in Durham through the American Dance Festival, where he has been on faculty since 1985.

His many honors include the Living Legend, Pioneer Award at Durham’s Hayti Heritage Center (2023), the Kariamu Welsh Award at Duke University’s Collegium for African Diaspora Dance (2024), and recognition from the Rochester Kwanzaa Coalition (2025) for his dedication to Imani — Faith.

Tonight, we have the beautiful opportunity to learn, listen, play + build rhythm together with Baba Khalid.

Whether you’ve been drumming for years or are picking up a drum for the first time, come be part of the circle.

FREE + OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY ❤️

The Carolina Theatre of Durham Durham Central Park Khalid Saleem

09/01/2026

Less than one week away: join Len Foyle for a Contact Improvisation Fundamentals Workshop on Sunday, September 6th, 3:30–6pm at the Living Arts Center.

This 2.5-hour workshop is an invitation to slow down and explore the foundations of CI, whether you're brand new to the form, looking for a refresher, or preparing for a longer series this season. Len will guide themes of accessibility and consent, moving with care as you build awareness of your own body, gravity, and proximity to others, easing toward duets and weight sharing.

Len is a dance maker, improviser, and farmer, shaped by their studies at London Contemporary Dance School and Virginia Commonwealth University, residencies around the world, Aikido, and years spent growing food and tending soil.

"Len was great at making the exercises and movements very accessible... their manner was very open, gentle and accepting." — CI Fundamentals Student

📍 Living Arts Center, 410 W Geer St
🗓️ Sunday, Sept 6, 3:30–6pm
🔗 Registration in bio

Curious about Len's upcoming Tuesday series and other offerings this season? Full descriptions are on our website.

08/28/2026

WE’RE COMING HOME! 🎨🫧

A little recap from our first two volunteer workdays at the Living Arts Center. So many hands helping clean, paint, repair floors, and bring these spaces back to life.

We’re still very much in process, but it’s exciting to see it taking shape. Huge gratitude to everyone who came out and put some love and labor into the space with us.

More to come as we keep getting ready to open the doors — and more ways to jump in and be part of it!

08/17/2026

Yesterday’s Afro-Cuban Dance + Shekeré classes were excellent! Grateful for everyone who came to dance, play, learn, and share together. See you next month — September 20!

¡Las clases de danza afrocubana y shekeré de ayer estuvieron excelentes! Gracias a todas las personas que vinieron a bailar, tocar, aprender y compartir. Nos vemos el próximo mes — 20 de septiembre!

08/14/2026

Third Sunday is here!

You’re invited to this Sunday afternoon’s Rhythm & Roots, featuring shekeré (gourd-and-bead percussion) and Afro-Cuban dance. This month, we’ll be in the rhythms, movements, and embodied qualities associated with Yemayá and Changó.

For eight years, we’ve had the joy of producing this monthly gathering alongside dedicated instructors, dancers, and the community drummers and musicians who show up and bring it to life. We’re deeply grateful for everyone who helps sustain this opportunity to learn and be together.

3:30–4:30 — Shekeré with Atiba Rorie
4:45–6:15 — Afro-Cuban Dance with Vilmedis Cobas Silot (Cuba)
$20 one class | $30 both
Living Arts Center, 410 W Geer St, Durham

Register through the link in bio.

—

¡Ya llegó el tercer domingo!

Te invitamos este domingo por la tarde a Rhythm & Roots, con shekeré (percusión de calabaza y cuentas) y danza afrocubana. Este mes estaremos explorando los ritmos, movimientos y cualidades corporales asociados con Yemayá y Changó.

Durante ocho años, hemos tenido la alegría de producir este encuentro mensual junto a nuestros instructores, bailarines y los percusionistas y músicos de la comunidad que lo hacen posible. Agradecemos profundamente a todas las personas que ayudan a sostener esta oportunidad de aprender y estar en comunidad.

3:30–4:30 — Shekeré con Atiba Rorie
4:45–6:15 — Danza afrocubana con Vilmedis Cobas Silot (Cuba)
$20 una clase | $30 ambas
Living Arts Center, 410 W Geer St, Durham

Inscríbete a través del enlace en nuestra bio.

CommunityDrumming DurhamDance DurhamArts DurhamNC LivingArtsCollective

Address

410 W Geer Street
Durham, NC
27701

Website

http://www.livingartscollective.com/

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