Emylice Landestoy began her dance career at age 8 in the Dominican Republic. She has explored many different styles of dance, including ballet, jazz, hip-hop, modern, Afro-Caribbean and contemporary.
On Nov. 23, Landestoy is teaching a contemporary dance workshop from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Ninth Street Dance in Durham.
“Contemporary dance is a mix of styles that you can mash up together to show what is going on in the world,” Landestoy said. “The way I look at contemporary is it is like a mix of styles that help me send a message.”
Landestoy hosts many workshops throughout the week, including a Broadway class and an Afro-Caribbean class. During her classes, she said she likes to create a fun environment for students.
“Most of the time I want them to feel confident and free to move," Landestoy said. "I don’t want them to look like me or look perfect. I just want them to try their best."
During her workshop, students can expect to move to songs and exercises geared toward relieving the muscles in forms similar to water. The movements will imitate the motions of how water flows. Landestoy said her contemporary dance is flown, but also more grounded than lyrical dance.
“The studio is open to all levels of dance — beginners are welcome," Landestoy said. “I want them to be free and connected to the movement, not much as looking perfect with the movement.”
Ninth Street Dance is open to all ages from as early as 1 year old. They offer many classes and workshops for youth and adults.
Abby Williamson, an administrator at Ninth Street Dance, said the studio tries to refute the stereotypical norms of who dancers can be, and instead create a welcoming and tolerant environment for all people to learn dance.
