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We're back with another Floor Fundraiser! Come through to see performances by UMA staff, community members, and our youth performance team while supporting out efforts to replace the floors @ 2100 Chestnut! This upgrade is essential to ensure the long-term health and success of our dancers, the continued vibrancy of our events, and the overall improvement of the space that so many have come to rely on. Together, we can build the foundation for the next decade of dance, growth, and creative expression. The Floor is Yours: Volume 2 UMA Community Showcase & Floor Fundraiser Friday, March 27th 8-11pm @ First Unitarian Church  Why a New Floor Matters
A professional dance floor is not just a cosmetic improvement—it is a necessary investment in dancer safety and the quality of the studio experience. Our current flooring has seen ten years of use and hundreds of thousands of footsteps. It’s time to renew our foundation so we can continue to grow.
Our Broader Mission Urban Movement Arts is more than a dance studio. It is a cultural space rooted in inclusivity, artistry, and social connection. We are proud to:
How You Can Help We are raising funds to cover the cost of installing a professional-grade dance floor. Every contribution helps us reach our goal and ensures that our space remains safe, vibrant, and welcoming for years to come. Here’s how you can support:
Student focused battles, open to all House Battle March 1st, 5-9pm First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut REGISTRATION FEE: $25 per person *(free for Battle Workshop participants) Judges: Ricky 'Glytch' Evans, Jazmin Gilbert, + TBD We invite all UMA students and beyond to battle or to join as spectators and of course for the party. Let's bring the hype to close out UMA's Battle Crew House series!  Audition Dates Friday, February 27th: 6:30-9pm Saturday, February 28th: 6:30-9pm Location: Range of Motion, 812 Chestnut Street ***best if available for both dates Registration deadline is Tuesday, February 24th Looking for versatile dancers for a project running March - June 2026 I am composing music and dance for a proscenium stage show set to be presented in June 2026. The dance and movement of this work draws upon my foundations in street dance and martial arts, while engaging certain modalities from various institutional forms. The movement will be intricate, idiosyncratic, rhythmic, athletic and at times raw. Although drawing upon common foundations, the movement will often deviate from common aesthetics and rule sets. My most recent works have leaned more in the direction of performance art. Although this work will draw upon devices used previously, it will focus more heavily on more conventional dancerliness, i.e. movement centered choreography, formation, stage direction etc. However, the work will deviate from common aesthetics, tropes and even foundational techniques. The aim is to generate movement language that belongs to the contexts of this piece. The themes of the piece, although subject to change, are fictitious folklores and vernaculars for now and the future. Pop culture, technology, dogma, hierarchies and biology are themes of interest. The project seeks experienced dancers and performers with tonal range and athleticism. It seeks adventurous and expressively daring dancers that can manage intricate choreography, improvise and play characters. Dancers should also have a strong sense of rhythm and musicality. The project seeks dancers who are process driven, dedicated to trial and error, learning and excavation. Dancers that attend the audition should be prepared for the following: Learning choreography Improvising freely Improvising with prompts Technical learning for performance application (i.e. improvising with a prompt that uses a technique and/or system) Character exploration Read more details about logistics and guidelines/expectations below. The deadline to register is Tuesday, February 24th. There is limited space available for the audition. Currently the audition is a two day process. However, it might be reduced to a single day and dancers will be assigned a specific day to attend. Dancers should be available for both days listed. If we receive full registration, the form will be shut down. Interested candidates should then email [email protected] to be put on the waitlists. This audition is a competitive process, seeking dancers with skills and attributes that are best suited for this particular project. The registration form contains a written portion that must be completed in order to be eligible to audition. Your answers on the form will be taken into consideration in the selection process along with your performance at the audition. All registrants must also complete a waiver. If you register, but determine that you can’t make the audition, please contact [email protected] ASAP so individuals on the waitlist can be let in. Project Logistics (all details are subject to change) Timeline These details are subject to change. The project timeline is March -June 2026 1-2 performances in Philadelphia will culminate the project. Tentatively performances will be held between June 11 and June 13th. Schedule There are a minimum of 3 hrs of rehearsal per week, starting the week of March 9th. More hours may be added. In order to be eligible for a position, dancers must have the following available: Mondays 9am- 1pm Tuesdays 10am-1pm Thursday 10am -1pm Location: Range of Motion, 812 Chestnut Street Set days and times will be scheduled on either of the days and times shared. The hope is to identify a set day to apply the full 3hr minimum allotment, weekly throughout the project timeline. In this case, additional hours, if needed, would be applied to the other remaining days that haven’t been selected as primary. Final Event There will be 1 or 2 performances for the final event. Tech and Dress rehearsals will likely happen a few days, within the same week, prior to the event day. So if the first performance is Friday, June 11, dancers should plan to have availability for 2 days Monday-Thursday of the same week. Dancers should have a flexible schedule on the performance day. Final tech and performance dates are TBD Pay Rehearsals are paid $20 per hr Performance Fee is TBD (The performance fee will be a flat rate per showing. This rate will include tech/dress responsibilities + performance) Guidelines and Expectations Quality of Participation This project seeks dancers that are professional and able to commit to this project’s process. Dancers are expected to be punctual, organized and good communicators. Dancers should be committed to the process, taking responsibility and ownership over learning and performing the material at their best level. Creative sessions and rehearsals will be diligent, prioritizing physicality and action, so dancers should be interested in such a work flow. Along with learning choreography and composed parts, dancers will be asked to improvise and create within tasks and frameworks given. Dancers should be strong team players that are effective communicators. Dancers should be adaptable and resilient, responding well to constructive criticism and direction. Creative Adventurousness This project seeks dancers that have a strong movement foundation while being open to a wide palette of physical expression and creativity. This project seeks risk takers that embrace failure on the path of learning and development. This project seeks dancers that are open to dynamically and fearlessly exploring a variety of topics ranging between superficial and heavy, along with light and dark. The project will likely feature satire, so dancers that participate should be open to satire and also absurdity. This project seeks dancers that can stretch beyond physical expression, extending into character, narrative, poetics, music, abstraction and more. Technique and Capacities This project seeks dancers that have versatile capacity for movement expression. Dancers should be able to improvise via a personal style that is clear, flowing and compelling. Additionally, dancers should be able to adapt improvisation well to tasks whether narrative or musical. The choreography will be rhythmic and intricate. The choreography will also require athleticism, featuring jumps, rolls, level changes and inversions. The project seeks dancers that have endurance for long durations of uptempo movement and plyometric type movement. Choreography and prompts will reference modalities of street dance while drawing upon martial arts, sports and various aesthetics from institutional dance codification. Dancers should have the capacity to groove and be atmospheric. At the same time, dancers should have the capacity to learn non-genre specific and sometimes idiosyncratic choreography that is detail oriented. Tasks and choreography featured in the project will present pathways that extend beyond the comforts of base, foundation and aesthetic tropes. Dancers that are open to such departures will thrive in this process.  Why We Strut | 3 Hour Workshop Rashaad Hasani Saturday, March 14th 5:30-8:30pm @ 2100 Chestnut St $40 This workshop centers Strutting as a traditional Black American artform form developed in 1970s San Francisco. Participants explore movement through solo expression, group stepping, historical context, and musical empathy. Dancers will:
What we build: Mechanics • Tradition • Form • Story • Voice A return to funk and soul. Honor the legacy. Make it your own.  Come to UMA's annual Valentine's Day event and catch UMA students performing in choreography by UMA instructors Lady Perez, Jae London and Chloe Marie, as well as in solos developed with coaching from Lady Perez. This year, the production's central theme delves into the eight Greek categories of love: Eros (romantic love), Philia (deep friendship), Storge (family love), Ludus (playful love), Pragma (enduring love), Philautia (self-love), Agape (unconditional love), and Mania (obsessive love). Dancers will be guided through an exploration of these concepts and the many facets and tropes of love found within their subcategories. At LoveScope, you're in for a sultry night of dance and performance & support your fellow students! LoveScope SATURDAY, Feb 21st 6-9pm @ First Unitarian Church Tickets $20  |
ContributorsKayla Bobalek Archives
March 2026
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Locations
812 Chestnut StSearch 'Urban Movement Arts @ 812 Chestnut' on Google Maps
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2100 Chestnut St. 2nd Flr
*entrance is on 21st! between Rione Pizza & Monde Market*
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