Playtime: Mindfulness in Motion, Coached by AD and Jules

Take the time to align your brain and body. Be in the moment. Feel, listen, and respond.

Say yes to impulses and experience yourself in new ways. Become less stressed, tired, and anxious and become more focused, authentic, and empathetic. Explore memory, perception, space, and time in a PlayTime workshop.

During PlayTime we will listen, notice (and challenge) our attention, make choices, and act with intention. There will be solo self-explorations that develop into ensemble work, where we take what we learn about ourselves and entangle it with other systems and energies.

PlayTime is therapeutic; it is a way to keep the body and mind flexible as we create new neural and physical pathways. PlayTime physically energizes us while arming us with a healthy mindset with which to navigate our day-to-day lives. Enhance your self-awareness, self-confidence, collaboration skills, problem-solving skills, and imagination and creativity all while having fun and dancing.

Adriana Durant and JulieAnn Graham have each individually and collectively spent decades learning, teaching, and performing in the art of improvisation. Their years-long research into the myriad benefits of play has led them deeper and deeper into the understanding that the somatics of play ie: the physicality of play and impulse in the body and in the present experience directly lead to a healthier and more nimble mind, body and presence in the person overall. They have each spent years creating their own curriculums to better share their deep knowledge of improvisation, creative expression, presence, attention, and memory. These practices have led their students to a place of well-being and a less reactive and calmer mental state. Their shared teaching and performing practices are truly for anyone, anywhere and they are passionate about sharing the benefits of play with diverse communities.

Adriana Durant is a dance educator, choreographer, and performer. She has spent the last 8 years establishing her curriculum at the Latin School of Chicago. In her 25 years of teaching a wide range of students (both in age and ability), she has witnessed students' mental health benefits when engaging in authentic, intentional, creative movement. Adriana wants to share the power of play with differing communities who could benefit from this work.

JulieAnn Graham has been teaching at Columbia College Chicago for 15 years, helping to guide young actors into their true moving selves with a calm mind, brave creative expressions, and a deep connection to play. She is also a massage therapist of 25 years, and a yoga and meditation teacher. She is creating curricula in wellness and authentic creativity for classrooms in the Columbia College Chicago community and at GCE a charter high school in downtown Chicago. She is an active performer of improvisation.