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Merrymeeting Community & Adult Education



Music & Dance

Middle Eastern Belly Dance Mixed Level Drills & Thrills

$150

with Josephina Gasca

Calendar Current session started Sep 11, 2024 at 6 pm, runs for 10 weeks

Authentic Belly Dance, or raks sharqi, is an ancient form of dance. Raks sharqi means “dance of the east” in Arabic. Belly dance celebrates every body type and every stage of life. The dance is proud and powerful and soft and sinewy with elegant and isolating movements emanating from the core. It’s the Pilates of dance. And so much fun! This is a great refresher class for experienced dancers and suitable for dancers new to belly dance. Please wear comfortable clothing, similar to what you might wear to a yoga class that will allow for free movement and the ability to see your movement. Hip scarves make it even more fun. You can dance barefoot or in a pair of comfortable dance shoes in the studio. Zills (finger cymbals) will be used in class. Check in with the instructor before you purchase any. As an added bonus, you will also have access to a video library with instruction, drills, and ongoing choreography during the length of the session. The class fee is per person and for 10 sessions. Class meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays of every month: 9/11, 9/25, 10/9, 10/23, 11/13, 12/11, 1/8, 1/22, 2/12, 2/26. *No Class: 11/27 & 12/25.

Full Course

Play the Ukulele, Your Journey Begins Here!

$79

with Duncan Perry

Calendar Next available session starts Feb 4, 2025 at 6 pm, runs for 5 weeks
2 additional sessions through Mar 4, 2025

Learn to play the ukulele! It has never been more popular and you don't even have to know how to read music! On the uke you can knock out folk music, rock, blues, jazz, pop, country, tunes old and new -- even classical music. Duncan Perry, who has taught more than 700 students of all ages, will introduce you to essential chords and playing techniques using commonly known songs. Oh, and there are lots of laughs along the way. And, learning to play an instrument is good for your brain! You will need a playable ukulele and an electronic tuner or a tuner app. And when folks hear you play this happy instrument, well, they just have to smile! If you don’t own a ukulele, please contact Duncan at uketime24@gmail.com for information. What are you waiting for? Grab a uke and get ready for a musical adventure, then spread the joy!

Instant Piano for Hopelessly Busy People

$65

with Craig Coffman

Calendar Next available session starts Feb 17, 2025 at 6:30 pm, runs for 1 week

In just a few hours, you can learn enough secrets of the trade to give you years of musical enjoyment. Learn to play piano the way professionals do-using chords. The chord method is LOTS of fun and dramatically easier to learn than reading notes. Fee includes the online book, online follow up lessons, a recording of the class and also an optional periodic question and answer session. Class is held online using zoom and is partly hands-on instruction and partly lecture demonstration. *This course includes ONE live online session, and students follow up on their own with provided video lessons.

Instant Guitar for Hopelessly Busy People

$65

with Craig Coffman

Calendar Next available session starts Feb 18, 2025 at 6:30 pm, runs for 1 week

In just a few hours you can learn enough about playing the guitar to give you years of musical enjoyment, and you won’t have to take private lessons to do it. This crash course will teach you some basic chords and get you playing along with your favorite songs right away. Fee includes the online book, online follow up lessons, a recording of the class and also an optional periodic question and answer session. Class is held online using zoom and is partly hands on instruction and partly lecture/demonstration. For ages 13+. *This course includes ONE live online session, and students follow up on their own with provided video lessons.

Modern Line Dancing for Beginners

$40

with George Oliver

Calendar Next available session starts Mar 3, 2025 at 6 pm, runs for 7 weeks

We'll learn some easy line dances that use a variety of steps, including pop, Latin, hiphop, soul, and country/western. Be prepared for wicked, synchronized dancing fun, and get great exercise for the body and mind. All ages welcome; no experience necessary, but some ability to count musical beats is helpful.

Modern Line Dancing for High Beginners/Improvers

$40

with George Oliver

Calendar Next available session starts Mar 3, 2025 at 7 pm, runs for 7 weeks

This second level of line dancing assumes that participants have taken Line Dancing 1 or have had some basic beginner experience with line dancing. A knowledge of basic line dance steps is helpful, but some dancing proficiency and sense of rhythm should be sufficient. We’ll finish learning the list of beginner and improver line dance steps and patterns, and practice some of the current popular high-beginner and improver-level dances.

Play the Ukulele, Your Journey Begins Here

$79

with Duncan Perry

Calendar Next available session starts Mar 4, 2025 at 6 pm, runs for 4 weeks
2 additional sessions through May 13, 2025

Learn to play the ukulele! It has never been more popular and you don't even have to know how to read music! On the uke you can knock out folk music, rock, blues, jazz, pop, country, tunes old and new -- even classical music. Duncan Perry, who has taught more than 700 students of all ages, will introduce you to essential chords and playing techniques using commonly known songs. Oh, and there are lots of laughs along the way. And, learning to play an instrument is good for your brain! You will need a playable ukulele and an electronic tuner or a tuner app. And when folks hear you play this happy instrument, well, they just have to smile! If you don’t own a ukulele, please contact Duncan at uketime24@gmail.com for information. What are you waiting for? Grab a uke and get ready for a musical adventure, then spread the joy!

Middle Eastern Belly Dance Mixed Level Drills & Thrills: Choreography

$75

with Josephina Gasca

Calendar Next available session starts Mar 12, 2025 at 6 pm, runs for 5 weeks

Authentic Belly Dance, or raks sharqi, is an ancient form of dance. Raks sharqi means “dance of the east” in Arabic. Belly dance celebrates every body type and every stage of life. The dance is proud and powerful and soft and sinewy with elegant and isolating movements emanating from the core. It’s the Pilates of dance. And so much fun! This is a great refresher class for experienced dancers and suitable for dancers new to belly dance. Please wear comfortable clothing, similar to what you might wear to a yoga class that will allow for free movement and the ability to see your movement. Hip scarves make it even more fun. You can dance barefoot or in a pair of comfortable dance shoes in the studio. Zills (finger cymbals) will be used in class. Check in with the instructor before you purchase any. As an added bonus, you will also have access to a video library with instruction, drills, and ongoing choreography during the length of the session. This five-week insert of classes will be for those who’ve taken at least one session of belly dance. The emphasis will be to create a group choreography. There will be an opportunity to perform the piece in the 13th Annual It Takes a Village Studio show in mid-May. However, the performance is optional. This class is 5 sessions: 3/12, 3/26, 4/9, 4/23, 5/14.





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