NEW Raqs Sharqi program in Long Beach

NEW Raqs Sharqi program in Long Beach

Aubre is thrilled to now be offering a FULL Raqs Sharqi training program in-person in Long Beach, CA. Beginning to advanced with a decolonized approach, cultural embedded learning, safe technique to nurture a healthy & loving relationship with our own bodies, rich musicality, artistic development, and performance opportunities. Easy drop-in and package options to keep training accessible for all. We begin June 1st!!! Registration will open Monday!

MONDAYS
6:30-7:30pm Beginning (entrances) suite 190
7:30-8:30pm Intermediate (rhythm & drum solos) suite 190

WEDNESDAYS
6:30-7:30pm Beginning (entrances) suite 190
7:30-8:30pm Intermediate (rhythm & drum solos) suite 190
8:30-9:30pm Advanced (layering & musicality) suite E

Drop-ins $25
8 class package $180 (valid for three months)

Classes are held at 4195 N Viking Way, Long Beach, CA. Easy, free parking on street and in parking lot behind building. Email questions to aubre@aubrehill.com

REGISTER BY COMPLETING THE FOLLOWING FORM

Moving grief & rage through art

Moving grief & rage through art

Grief and rage are not emotions we are encouraged to express, but to be a human on this planet at this time means dealing with a pretty consistent wave of these emotions. That is unless you have completely unplugged from the news and social media, which would be understandable but also we need you. So how do we process the multitude of events with new things happening the next day? How do we do this and still show up for work, make sure to eat a meal, connect to others, breathe? This is not a sprint. Our nervous systems are overwhelmed. Our collective health is suffering. We have to find a way to sustain and take care during this global shift. Sooo, what are you doing for you? What are you doing to nurture your heart and humanity? ….

Nightclub nostalgia

Nightclub nostalgia

Yesterday, I returned to Moun of Tunis, a long time staple of the Hollywood “bellydance” scene for a showcase produced by Jamilla Soul. It’s a beautiful space full of rugs, lanterns, brass tables, lounge seating, and delicious Moroccan & Tunisian food that has had bellydance shows weekly for nearly 50 years! I use to dance here on and off in my early days. I lived in a studio apartment just down the way, figuring out who I was as a young artist, adult, and being. As I drove down Sunset Blvd squinting into the sun in full performance makeup and on my way to dance yesterday, it was a beautiful trip down memory lane…

NEW classes, platforms & spaces~ OH MY!

NEW classes, platforms & spaces~ OH MY!

The past few months have been a whirlwind of changes, reflections, and new beginnings. I have shifted away from a heavily pilates studio focus and into creating more accessible movement practices for our community in Long Beach, CA as well as online through my new online school~ Little Breeze Studio. Sooo that means different options depending on what works best into your life.

For those in Long Beach, I have open level pilates mat classes Tuesdays & Thursdays 6-7pm at the beautiful space of Ashtanga Yoga, 3700 E Anaheim. You simply need a mat; I have a variety of auxiliary equipment for us to expand our strength, length, support, and ease. Drop in for $25 or purchase a class card $180 for 8 classes (valid for up to 3 months). Email to reserve your spot~ aubre@aubrehill.com

OR study Egyptian Raqs Sharqi with me by attending my beginning class Mondays & Wednesdays 6:15-7:15pm or my intermediate/advanced class Thursdays 8:30-9:30pm. Both at Esencia Flamenca, 1495 N Viking Way. There are different payment options available for these classes depending on which one and quantity. Email for more details and to sign up~ aubre@aubrehill.com

For those elsewhere or looking for more flexibility with attendance, check out my Little Breeze Studio ONLINE including dance, pilates, and somatic practices! For only $30/month you can access four live classes a week, a growing library of on-demand classes, and community space for us to grow, share, and connect. If you are interested, simply click on “SIGN UP” at the top of this screen. You’ll create a sign in to access the member only space which includes zoom links for live classes, videos for on-demand, and more. I have so many ideas for this space and excited to dive into movement practices to heal, support of our health and vitality, and nurture our inspiration and creativity. Email me if you have any questions and hope to see you in a class sometime soon!

And of course I offer private training online or in-person in Long Beach to nurture your unique training. This includes recovering from an injury or time away from your practice, developing a piece for performance, or healing through somatic work. What is inspiring you? Where are you getting stuck? Let’s opening up your movement practice to live fully, vibrantly, and delightfully.

NEW Pilates mat classes in LBC!

NEW Pilates mat classes in LBC!

I am thrilled to be offering in-person pilates mat classes again. Inclusive training for all bodies at accessible prices! STARTING NOVEMBER 4TH!!!

Tuesdays & Thursdays 6-7pm
at 1742 Clark Ave, Long Beach, CA
Bring your own mat. Auxiliary equipment will be available during class. We will be focusing on full body, supporting joints, building strength, opening breath, elongating posture, and feeling good in our bodies.

Single class $25
8 class card $180
Passes are good for three months. Non-refundable although transferable. So if you want to bring a guest, you can utilize your pass.

NO classes 11/27, 12/23, 12/25, 12/30, 1/1
Otherwise, we are set and ready to commit to our training! Email to register or if you have any questions~ aubre@aubrehill.com

Reflections from the redwoods

Reflections from the redwoods

It’s been a full week since I left the Mendocino woodlands after an epically beautiful Middle East Camp. I’m still processing the experience in awe. This camp is always special with it’s wide range of classes to try, incredible live music concerts, late night cabarets, and amazing community. There is a reason so many of us go every year, and why we affectionately call it home. But this year was extra. Extra heart, extra inspiration, extra love, extra talent, extra brilliance.
There was an air from the whole community of needing a break from the news, from the hardships of life, and desperately needing to refill our inspiration, to connect, and to heal. These feelings were amplified for me personally as I wasn’t sure if my health was going to let me return to this beautiful camp and my amazing community here…but it did. And every moment felt like a gift, a much needed gift of life, celebration, and so much heart.

Gratitude & change

Happy Friday all! Thank you for being part of this space with me. I started my Patreon in March 2020 as a way to continue my studio classes during lockdown. Over the last four years, we have explored a whole array of techniques, styles, history, cultural studies, complex topics, choreographies, and movements. Even through cancer and moves and the craziness of life, we kept moving and supporting each other. Thank you truly!

As with many things, there are times for change. After much thinking I have come to the difficult decision to close my Patreon after this month. It is time for us all to venture into our new neighborhoods & spaces and create new things. I am actually planning a bit of a teaching sabbatical to give myself some time to focus on my own dancing and some performances I want to create. Soooo, that means April will be full and fun. I will be adding some pop up classes for everyone to join in too! So if there is something you want to learn or ask, please send me a message. I’d love to hear from you. Let’s make the most of this beautiful month.

Much love always,

Aubre

Happy Spring!

Happy Spring!

Happy Ostara! Happy Nowruz! Happy Spring Equinox!

I am sitting in my studio looking out at my fantastically blooming orange tree. Her blossoms smell amazing and are a poetic reminder of the vibrancy of spring, of new growth after a harsh winter, of our ability to rejuvenate and blossom forth. Celebrating anything the past six months has felt complicated. Each holiday a reason to acknowledge the cycles of life, and every day a new reason to mourn and advocate for Falastinian freedom. Our lives are intertwined. Our liberation woven together. Our happiness dances as one. May this spring bring you delicious bounty, vibrant health, exhales of safety, and renewed hope & conviction in our humanity and connection. ~Aubre

March online offerings

We are moving towards spring as we begin March. With the seeds planted of our body as a safe home for ourselves to be, we now explore strength, rebuilding, finding our power not out of resistance but instead from being rooted in our own knowing. This month's practices will bring in heat, sweat, and the liveliness that is spring all in a sense of honoring where your body would like to go and move. Ready? Let's dive in. JOIN HERE!

*Please note on the schedule, all times are pst.

TIERS
This platform is set up with four tier options to help support a vastness of goals and budgets. You can change tiers anytime.
*Enthusiasts $5/month access weekly inspirations, book club, and my gratitude for your support.
*Students $25/month access class recordings, book club, and inspirations plus the library of past classes with more to come.
*Cultural Studies $40/month access monthly workshop, special access to past lecture series with new edited material to come, book club, and inspirations.
*Trainees $100/month access all classes, workshops, and recordings plus inspirations and check ins.

CLASSES
We have two weekly classes this month with a focus on building strength and grounded power.
*Pilates: building strength will be a practice focusing on core, breath, and how we support our joints and movement with heat. Get ready to sweat and also to explore what strength feels like your body today.
*Raqs Sharqi: Percussive Power will be a dance practice focusing on percussive technique and where we can initiate our movements for ease, strength, and power. Plus drum solo fun!


WORKSHOP
Our March workshop is on somatic healing. This workshop will be a movement and exploration of waking up body sensations, shifting for self regulation, and building healing through our own bodies. This will be available for all bodies and will be deliciously fun. Because joy is resilient
Thursday 3/21 7:45-9pm pst

BOOKCLUB
This month's bookclub is "Deconstructing the Fitness Industrial Complex" edited by Justice Roe Williams, Roc  Rochon and Lawrence Koval. A little bit about this amazing book: "Perspectives from QTBIPOC, fat, and disabled trainers, bodyworkers, and coaches on reimagining fitness for all bodies. Fit is subjective. Who our society designates as fit–and who gets to be fit in our society–is predefined by the coaches, gyms, and systems at  large that uphold and reproduce the Fitness Industrial Complex for their  own structural and material gain.

The Fitness Industrial Complex  uplifts some bodies while denigrating others. Bodies that are Black,  Brown, queer, trans, poor, fat, and disabled–bodies that don’t conform,  that resist and disrupt–are excluded from being “fit.” Through the  stories and experiences of activist trainers, coaches, and bodyworkers  of diverse identities and experiences, this anthology interrogates:

  • The ideas and beliefs we’ve internalized about health, fitness, and our own and others’ bodies

  • How to deconstruct and re-envision fitness as a practice for all bodies

  • The fitness industry’s role in upholding and reinforcing oppression

  • Exclusivity, unsafety, and harm in mainstream fitness spaces

  • How to empower ourselves and our communities to push back against the FIC

Thursday 3/28 7:45-9pm pst. Our bookclub is open to all subscribers. I hope you will join me in reading and discussing this revolutionary and much needed book.         

Join my online studio HERE