freeskewl —> skewl

freeskewl was initiated in March 2020 in response to pandemic closures and structural fractures in the dance community. Since its conception, freeskewl hosted over 1000 classes taught by more than 150 teachers, as well as performances, talks, jams, festivals, and parties. All of its programming worked to address financial inaccessibility and racial inequities in the dance field and beyond in an experimental and improvisational manner. freekewl’s Reparations Initiative was therefore central to the platform’s mission, facilitating the opportunity for artists to redistribute income amongst themselves based on self-reported racial and economic privilege. To support programming in 2022, freeskewl created a Kickstarter campaign and raised over $9,000 from over 157 backers; all funds were used to cover artist fees for classes co-hosted by Triskelion Arts and Dancewave and performances in Prospect Park. As the world continued the shift into the third year of the pandemic, the needs of the community shifted, virtual and outdoor classes became less vital so freeskewl entered a period of hiatus. Now, although the field is largely face-to-face and indoors, again there is still a great need for affordable, reliable and high-quality professional class offerings; so freeskewl, again in the spirit of experimentation and improvisation, is back with a new (and more accurate) name: skewl.

founders

  • SOFIA ENGELMAN

    founder + director

    BIO

  • EM PAPINEAU

    founder

    BIO

  • ANNA MAYNARD

    founder

    BIO

programming + admin

  • Ogemdi Ude

    Reparations Initiative facilitator

  • Jennifer Nugent

    steering committee member + Pedagogy/Poetic Entry initiator +
    Big Pedagogy Festival curator

  • Nattie Trogdon

    steering committee member +
    POP-UP Practice initiator +
    Big Pedagogy Festival curator

  • Hollis Bartlett

    steering committee member +
    POP-UP Practice initiator +
    Big Pedagogy Festival curator

  • Kyle Marshall

    steering committee member

  • Adriane Fang

    steering committee member + freeskewl outside initiator

  • Nadia Isa

    steering committee member

  • Lindsey Jennings

    class monitor + graphic designer

  • Claire Lane

    social media + production

  • Nisani Lopez

    social media

  • Angelina Annino

    class monitor

  • Leah Fournier

    bookkeeper

artists

Chris Aiken. Ronya-Lee Anderson. Angelina Annino. The Architects. Dare Ayorinde. Janoah Bailin. Esther Baker-Tarpaga. Kimberly Bartosik. Maria Bauman. Baye + Asa. Bita Bell, Sidra Bell. Jimena Bermejo. Malcolm X Betts. Nicole Bindler. Ilona Bito. Deborah Black. J. Bouey. Janis Brenner. Mary Beth Brooker. mayfield brooks. jahrea brown + courtney lewis. Hilary Bryan. Daniel Burkholder. Daniel Burkholder. Xan Burley + Alex Springer. dee bustos. Rena Butler. Shaina Caintino. Gabriella Carmichael. Ana Baer Carrillo. Gerald Casel. Yanira Castro. Gabriel Christian. Anya Cloud. Cain Coleman + Issa Perez. Krystal Collins. Jesi Cook. Balinda Craig-Quijada. Camellia Dao-Ling. Adelaide Dicken. David Dorfman. Brendan Drake. Joshua Elbaum. Ayano Elson. Brit Falcon. Adriane Fang. Kayla Farrish. ayan felix. Katherine Ferrier. Makenna Finch + Eleanor Crawford. Mary Fitzgerald + Eileen Standley. Ori Flomin. Marjani Forté-Saunders. Kaitlin Fox. Boogie Frantick. Meghan Frederick + Kate Seethaler. Christy Funsch. Margit Galanter. Marielis Garcia. Amy Gernux. Beth Gill. Doug Gillespie. Julia Gladstone. Mira Göksel. Kelly Goldin. Alice Gosti. Ellie Goudie-Averill. Ann-Marie Gove., Wendell Gray II. d. Sabela Grimes. Christopher Grohs. Tamisha Guy. Dorchel Haqq. Remi Harris + Mark Schmidt. Cookie Harrist. Angie Hauser. Jasmine Hearn. Amelia Heintzelman + Leah Fournier. Daniel Hernandez. Octavia Rose Hingle. K.J. Holmes. Sara Hook. Ishmael Houston-Jones. Shawn Hove. Irene Hsi. Hyp-ACCESS (Audre Wirtanen & Laura Tuthall). Nadia Issa. Lindsey Jennings. Symara Johnson. Babtunji Johnson. Lindsey Jones. Emily Jones + Hannah Krafcik. Emma Judkins. Kaitlin June. Kathleen Kelley. Catherine Kirk. Tristan Koepke. Susan Koper. Cori Kresge. Kukily Collective. Claire Lane. Sydney Lemelin. Anabella Lenzu. Daniel Lepkoff. DeQuan Lewis. Stephanie Liapis. Jordan Lloyd. Nisani Lopez. Jennifer Mabus. Alice MacDonald. Barbara Mahler. Sara Shelton Mann. Trina Mannino. Kyle Marshall. Kate Martel. Mia Martelli. Anna Brown Massey. Julie Mayo. Delaney McDonough. rebeca medina. Marcel Mejia. Johnnie Cruise Mercer. Bebe Miller. Celeste Miller. Marissa Molinar. Sydney Mosley. Shannon Murphy. Colleen Ndemeh. Anthony Otto Nelson. Lisa Nelson. Lam Son Nguyen. Amy Novinsky. Jenn Nugent. olaiya olayemi. Cynthia Oliver. Grace Osborne. Maybel Ovalles. Nik Owens. Onye Ozuzu. Taso Papadakis + alexx shilling. Nicole Pierce. Pamela Pietro. Angie Pittman. Jen Polins. Kendra Portier. Kathryn Posin. jess pretty. Lisa Race. Tyler Rai. Ambika Raina. Gabrielle Revlock. randy reyes. Rowena Richie. Jenna Riegel. Jennifer Roberts. Amal Rogers. Jessica Roseman. Robert Rubama. Kristianne Salcines. Sarah Skaggs Dance. The School of Hard Knocks. Kate Seethaler. SHA Creative Outlet. Molly Shanahan + Jeff Hancock. Motasem Siam + Carlo Antonio Ortega Villanueva. Kirstie Simson. Paul Singh. EmmaGrace Skove-Epes. Kadie Smiles. Laurel Snyder. Ariana Speight. Marion Spencer. Anna Sperber. Rebecca Steinberg. Adrienne Swan. Colleen Thomas. Curtis Thomas. Joy-Marie Thompson. Ogemdi Ude. Amelia Uzategui. Hanna Van Der Kolk. Larissa Velez-Jackson. Anh Vo. Lailye Weidman. Taja Will. Aya Wilson. x. Eva Yaa Asantewaa. Ryan Yamauchi. Netta Yerushalmy. Jessie Young. Jesse Zaritt. Svitlana Zavialova. Abby Zbikowski.