Physical Storytelling with Mindy

Description

A beginner-friendly movement workshop focused on storytelling and developing personal freestyle.

During the workshop, participants explored how intentional choices in movement qualities—such as space, timing, weight, speed, tension, focus, shape, and texture—affected how movement was communicated and received.

Individually, participants expanded their personal movement vocabulary and reflected on the emotional and experiential impulses that drove their choices. They then worked with partners to explore how stories could be created through physical exchange, connection, and shared decision-making.

The workshop was led by Mindy Chen, a dancer, educator, and data visualization artist from Berkeley, California. She was first introduced to dance in high school through competition choreography. While living in London after college, she began training in freestyle within various street dance forms, focusing on house and hip hop. After returning to the San Francisco Bay Area, she performed with the street dance theater company Embodiment Project, Bay Area Independent Chinese Dancers, and Be Movement Collective, while also co-hosting the hip-hop freestyle session Bounce Back. Her practice uses movement to explore themes of grief and intergenerational healing, emphasizing social transformation through community building and visual storytelling.

Participants were encouraged to wear comfortable clothes they could move in. Snacks were optional, and the workshop followed a NOTAFLOF (No One Turned Away For Lack Of Funds) model.