About Gaga Movement Session

Gaga/people classes offer a framework for users to connect to their bodies and imaginations, experience physical sensations, improve their flexibility and stamina, exercise their agility and explosive power, and enjoy the pleasure of movement in a welcoming, accepting atmosphere.

Gaga/people classes are open to all, regardless of their background in dance or movement. Classes last approximately one hour.

RSVP HERE (opens in a new tab)

Participants should wear comfortable clothes and be prepared to dance barefoot or in socks. It is advisable to bring a bottle of water and a towel for use after class.

Gaga Movement Session with Shamel Pitts is co-presented by Theater, Dance & Media and the Harvard Dance Center.

Face Coverings

In accordance with Harvard University’s policies, face coverings are optional. The Dance Center has disposable medical-grade face coverings on-hand for anyone who would like one.

Accessibility

The Dance Center’s main floor, housing Studio 1 and two all-gender restrooms, is wheelchair accessible. Please list accessibilty needs on the RSVP form, or email tdm[at]fas.harvard.edu.

About Shamel Pitts

2020 Guggenheim Fellow Shamel Pitts is a performance artist, choreographer, conceptual artist, dancer, spoken word artist, and teacher. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Shamel began his dance training at LaGuardia High School for Music & Art and the Performing Arts and, simultaneously, at The Ailey School. He is 2003 YoungArts Finalist and a first prize (level 1) winner of the YoungArts competition. Shamel then went on to receive his BFA in Dance from The Juilliard School and was awarded the Martha Hill Award for excellence in dance. He began his dance career in Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Hell’s Kitchen Dance and BJM_Danse Montreal. Shamel danced with Batsheva Dance Company for 7 years, under the artistic direction of Ohad Naharin and is a certified teacher of Gaga movement language. He is an adjunct faculty professor at The Juilliard School and has been an artist in residence at Harvard University. He is the recipient of a 2018 Princess Grace Award in Choreography, a 2019 NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship Award winner in Choreography, a 2020 Jacob’s Pillow artist in residence and a 2021 New York Dance Award winner (The Bessies). Shamel is the Founding Artistic Director of TRIBE, a New York based multidisciplinary arts collective. TRIBE is a 92Y Harkness Dance Center’s Artist In Residence for the 2020-2021 season. Shamel Pitts | TRIBE is also a New York Live Arts Live Feed artist in residence.

Photo credit:  Scott Shaw Photography