Amy O will be in Seattle teaching Yes And…a workshop series exploring the creative similarities and differences between Improvisation (the terminology and practice associated with Modern, Contemporary, Contemporary Ballet, Theaater making, experimental performance art) and Freestyle ( the terminology, practice, and technique of street and club dance aka Black social dance aka popping, locking, breaking, house, waacking and many other forms that emerge from Black and Brown communities through decades and decades of US history)Info and Registration

Amy produced her curatorial platform The Hybrid Lab: Conversations in Merging Dance Cultures at Stomping Ground LA June 10 2023

Invited artists: d Sabela Grimes, Adryn Flynt, Satori Folkes-Stone, Stephen & Aisha, G’Bari Gilliam, and Amy O’s work “A Trio” performed by Amy O, Ardyn Flynt, Satori Folkes-Stone, and Amaria Stern.

Lighing design by Chu Hsin Chang and Sound Op by Darby Eperson.

Underwritten by Joh Robinson.

Amy O was invited by former Dance Place Artistic Director, dani tirrell, to teach a Hip Hop Party dance class for the Dance Place community that was open to folks in the neighborhood during a monthly event.

Amy O will be teaching a drop in class for the Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation. The Rhythm Assembly is an improvisation techniques class merging hip hop and contemporary dance to explore various perceptions of rhythm. Amy is a dancer, choreographer, curator, and educator merging the social and exploratory natures of hip hop and contemporary dance since 2000 to challenge notions of race, gender, and the sampling nature of creativity. She brings 20 plus years of experience in contemporary dance forms, contact improvisation, hip hop party dances, house dance, and multiple approaches to improvisation from the studio, the club, the battle, the screen, and the stage.

Amy O will be facilitating the opening improvisation jam for the Seattle Festival of Dance + Improvisation produced by Velocity Dance Center. Amy is a dancer, choreographer, curator, and educator merging the social and exploratory natures of hip hop and contemporary dance since 2000 to challenge notions of race, gender, and the sampling nature of creativity. She brings 20 plus years of experience in contemporary dance forms, contact improvisation, hip hop party dances, house dance, and multiple approaches to improvisation from the studio, the club, the battle, the screen, and the stage.

Born in the Black and Brown queer night clubs of Detroit, Chicago, and New York City, in the early 1970’s, House dance has become a global phenomenon connecting people of all identities and cultures.  This two-day workshop explores historical context, practices, foundational drills, cypher/improvisation psychology, and the hybridization of forms that make House dance what it is. Amy and Moncell will merge and exchange their combined experiences in multiple dance forms and practices to facilitate this exploration. Open to all levels of practitioner and all dance styles/forms. Bring some water and a towel. The floor at Stomping Ground is marley, so bring some kicks with clean slick soles or some socks you like to dance in. BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ affirming.

Proof of vaccination or negative covid test is required. Masks are optional but highly recommended. The space is open and breezy with space to distance if needed. 

Amy and Moncell are both on faculty at the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and are in regular conversation and collaboration in their teaching practices. They bring multiple perspectives to the practice of House and honor the history and lineage of the form while encouraging the evolution of the culture.

MONCELL DURDEN is a dance educator, choreographer, ethnographer, embodied historian, author and associate professor of practice at University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman International School of Dance. Moncell specializes in pedagogical practices that prove cultural and historical context in what he calls the morphology of Afro-kinetic memory. Moncell teaches practical and theoretical classes in the U.S. and abroad; an expert in locking, house, hip-hop, authentic jazz, and party dances from 1900 to the present. He has published articles in Jazz Dance: A History of the Roots and Branches and the Encyclopedia of African Cultural Heritage in North America, Rooted Jazz Dance, and the Oxford Handbook of Hip Hop Dance. 

 AMY O’NEAL is a dancer, choreographer, curator, and educator merging the social and exploratory natures of hip hop culture and contemporary dance since 2000 to challenge notions of race, gender, and the sampling nature of creativity. She has toured her experimental concert dance work nationally and internationally and works in music videos, film, and virtual reality. She is the founder of The Hybrid Lab: Conversations in Merging Dance Cultures, a new production hub for creation, curation, and education. Amy is on faculty at the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance where she teaches technique classes in hip hop, house, contemporary, improvisation, composition, bodyweight fitness, and lectures on Black social dance history, culture, and media literacy. She continues to work to acknowledge her positionality to Black social dance culture as a guest practitioner, educator, and advocate.

Born in the Black and Brown queer night clubs of Detroit, Chicago, and New York City, in the early 1970’s, House dance has become a global phenomenon connecting people of all identities and cultures.  This two-day workshop explores historical context, practices, foundational drills, cypher/improvisation psychology, and the hybridization of forms that make House dance what it is. Amy and Moncell will merge and exchange their combined experiences in multiple dance forms and practices to facilitate this exploration. Open to all levels of practitioner and all dance styles/forms. Bring some water and a towel. The floor at Stomping Ground is marley, so bring some kicks with clean slick soles or some socks you like to dance in. BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ affirming.

Proof of vaccination or negative covid test is required. Masks are optional but highly recommended. The space is open and breezy with space to distance if needed. 

Amy and Moncell are both on faculty at the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance and are in regular conversation and collaboration in their teaching practices. They bring multiple perspectives to the practice of House and honor the history and lineage of the form while encouraging the evolution of the culture.

MONCELL DURDEN is a dance educator, choreographer, ethnographer, embodied historian, author and associate professor of practice at University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman International School of Dance. Moncell specializes in pedagogical practices that prove cultural and historical context in what he calls the morphology of Afro-kinetic memory. Moncell teaches practical and theoretical classes in the U.S. and abroad; an expert in locking, house, hip-hop, authentic jazz, and party dances from 1900 to the present. He has published articles in Jazz Dance: A History of the Roots and Branches and the Encyclopedia of African Cultural Heritage in North America, Rooted Jazz Dance, and the Oxford Handbook of Hip Hop Dance. 

 AMY O’NEAL is a dancer, choreographer, curator, and educator merging the social and exploratory natures of hip hop culture and contemporary dance since 2000 to challenge notions of race, gender, and the sampling nature of creativity. She has toured her experimental concert dance work nationally and internationally and works in music videos, film, and virtual reality. She is the founder of The Hybrid Lab: Conversations in Merging Dance Cultures, a new production hub for creation, curation, and education. Amy is on faculty at the University of Southern California Glorya Kaufman School of Dance where she teaches technique classes in hip hop, house, contemporary, improvisation, composition, bodyweight fitness, and lectures on Black social dance history, culture, and media literacy. She continues to work to acknowledge her positionality to Black social dance culture as a guest practitioner, educator, and advocate.

Amy O’s latest dance film A Trio, is an official selection for MashUp Dance Company’s International Women’s Day Festival “Choose to Challenge” Choreographer’s Showcase. The film will screen virtually on

Amy O’s latest dance film A Trio, is an official selection and virtually screening as part of this years Fuselage Dance Film Festival in Seattle WA.

Rhythm focused freestyle techniques class fusing hip hop and contemporary dance philosophies and practices lead by Amy O’Neal. For intermediate and advanced level movers. All styles of movement practice welcome.

Rhythm focused freestyle techniques class fusing hip hop and contemporary dance philosophies and practices lead by Amy O’Neal. For intermediate and advanced level movers. All styles of movement practice welcome.

Rhythm focused freestyle techniques class fusing hip hop and contemporary dance philosophies and practices lead by Amy O’Neal. For intermediate and advanced level movers. All styles of movement practice welcome.

Rhythm focused freestyle techniques class fusing hip hop and contemporary dance philosophies and practices lead by Amy O’Neal. For intermediate and advanced level movers. All styles of movement practice welcome.

Amy O’s latest dance film A Trio, is an official selection and is premiering at Utah Dance Film Festival 2020 in Orem UT Friday Feb 21.

Rhythm focused freestyle techniques class fusing hip hop and contemporary dance philosophies and practices lead by Amy O’Neal. For intermediate and advanced level movers. All styles of movement practice welcome.

Rhythm focused freestyle techniques class fusing hip hop and contemporary dance philosophies and practices lead by Amy O’Neal. For intermediate and advanced level movers. All styles of movement practice welcome.

How it Feels will screen at the Boulder Public Library for a special Black History Month event produced by the San Souci Festival of Dance Cinema where How it Feels won and Audience Choice Award in 2019.

Event LINK

How it Feels is the second documentary about Amy O’Neal’s 8th evening length work, Opposing Forces, which explores fears of feminine qualities in our culture through the masculine form of Breaking with 5 Bboys from Seattle.

The first film, Opposing Forces Doc Part One, screened at the San Souci Festival in 2017.

Rhythm focused freestyle techniques class fusing hip hop and contemporary dance philosophies and practices lead by Amy O’Neal. For intermediate and advanced level movers. All styles of movement practice welcome.

Rhythm focused freestyle techniques class fusing hip hop and contemporary dance philosophies and practices lead by Amy O’Neal. For intermediate and advanced level movers. All styles of movement practice welcome.