Our Classes and Workshops
Through classes and performances, Purple Moon Dance Project hopes to become a vehicle for positive social change, promoting acceptance and understandingof diverse heritages, bringing peace and healing and to our communities.
Purple Moon Dance Project is...
"diversity made physical"
Artistic Director Jill Togawa's background includes many years of formal dance training in hula, modern dance and ballet, and additional study of Balinese, Japanese, and African folk dance traditions.
Both Jill and her artistic collaborators share a common vision of creating art in movement built on indigenous spiritual traditions, enabling women to achieve greater intimacy with themselves and with each other.
Purple Moon Dance Project has provided workshops and classes for the lesbian and women's multi-cultural communities it serves, as well as benefit performances for non-profit organizations such as:
- San Francisco Women Against Rape
- San Francisco Women's Building
- All Our Families Coalition
- Asian Pacific Islander Lesbian and Bisexual Network
- University of San Francisco's Center for Gender Equity
- Los Angeles Asian Pacific Islander Sisters
- ULLOAH (Lesbians of African Heritage)
- VIVA (Latina/Latino Lesbian Artists)
- Asian Lesbian Network
Participants in the Healing Body Movement Program for women living with life threatening illness
Each of our educational programs is individually adapted to the needs of the group we serve, whether they be seniors, women in recovery from substance abuse, pregnant women, or other groups. Purple Moon Dance Project uses non-western dance and spiritual traditions to honorthe importance of ritual in other cultures and to allow the expression ofsensuality between women.
A typical program may include the following:
- physical warm-up
- meditation
- improvised and structured movement, in partners and as a group
- percussion, music and spoken word
- performance by class members to acknowledge the efforts of the participant
Students performing from the Women's Alcoholism Center, Cultures Crossing, Somarts Program
Let us know if we can create a program for your group!