Improve Your Improv

Led by: Kyle Tasch

Tuesdays: February 20, 27; March 5, 12, 19, 26; April 2, 9

6:30-8:00pm

TBD

Registration Deadline: February 16 & 3 days prior to each subsequent class

Skill level: All Levels

Registration fee: $25/class OR $120/series

Course Description:

The “Improve Your Improv” class teaches participants of all experience levels the mechanics and tools used to create improvisational theater.   This class will be jam-packed with improvisational fun. The class centers around long-form improv - scene creation, learning the essentials, and team dynamics.  However, short-form improv games will also be used to learn the craft. 

The games and practices used will help all levels of improvisers develop a skillset and become familiar with the world of Improv! This will not be a class to sit down, hear lectures, and take notes.  Students will be performing as much as possible! It will be a get up and perform kind of class. The class will emphasize the mechanics needed to act out an entertaining and meaningful scene on the spot with no lines. While improv is often a natural skill, there are many elements of the craft that can be taught to everybody.  These skills are useful on stage but also in everyday life, wherever you might be put on the spot!

Participants who have already completed this class are welcome to join again.  Complete beginners and those experienced in improv are all encouraged to join! 

About the Instructor:

Kyle is an improvisor, improv teacher, filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian and musician from the Chicago suburbs. He started performing improv in 2004 and has been improvising in front of audiences regularly since 2015. He has also taught classes both in-person and remote at Westside Improv in Wheaton, Illinois. He performs live across the state in various comedy and music acts and has produced hundreds of videos and songs.

Wines of the World

Led by: Mike Lee

Wednesdays: March 20, 27; April 3, 10

6:00-8:00pm

Solarium

Registration Deadline: March 13, 2024, and one week prior to each subsequent class

Skill level: Beginner

Registration fee: $60/class OR $200/series

Course Description:

Renowned wine educator and television personality Mike Lee offers a delightful and delectable wine class, where he takes students on an enchanting journey through the vineyards of France, Italy, and Spain. With a wealth of knowledge and passion for introducing students to tasting, talking, and understanding wine, Mike's engaging style immerses students in the Old World. Mike's class is for beginners and wine lovers alike, from the refined elegance of Bordeaux to the inspiring hills of Tuscany and the bold flavors of Rioja.

Class 1. Intro to Wine: Tasting and Talking about Wine

Class 2. France: Discovering Bordeaux

Class 3. Italy: Journey to Tuscany

Class 4. Spain: Ride into Rioja

Each class will include tastings of 5-6 wines. Must be 21+ to participate.

About the Instructor:

Mike Lee is an accomplished wine, spirits, and beer educator with over 8+ years in the alcohol industry. Having achieved the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (London) Certified Educator achievement in Wine, Lee is certified to teach levels 1 and 2 internationally. With experience with class sizes large and small, he is known for his ability to adapt to any learning environment with excellent facilitation skills.

Traveling Time Machine: Dancing in Illinois from Statehood to the 60s

Led by: Jeanette Watts

Thursdays: March 14, 21, 28; April 4, 11, 18

5:30-7:30pm

Music Barn

Registration Deadline: March 13, 2024; 1 day prior to each subsequent class

Skill level: All Levels

Registration fee: $75/full course OR $25/class

Course Description:

Each week, we will tackle the popular dances of Illinois starting with the fashionable dances of 1818. (Think Jane Austen and Bridgerton.) Each class will teach the basic skills, and some popular variations of the time so that attendees get a real feeling of what it was like to live/dance back then. Each class will be an hour of technique, and a second hour of less intensive play time, when we will apply the learned skills in the context of set dances of the time and have a chance to do at least one dance to review the material of the week before. Registration for the entire series is not required, but highly recommended for maximum comfort. Not every week builds on the skills of the week before, depending upon the era being covered. The final class of this series will be a mid-century dance to showcase all the new steps you learned throughout the course.

About the Instructor:

Jeanette Watts has been teaching historical dances for over 20 years. She is the founder of the Terpsichorean Delights Dance Assembly in Dayton, OH, Queen City Vintage Dance in Charlotte, NC, and spent Covid writing an 8-volume series of instructional dance manuals for historical museums.

Improve Your Improv

Led by: Kyle Tasch

Tuesdays: February 20, 27; March 5, 12, 19, 26; April 2, 9

6:30-8:00pm

TBD

Registration Deadline: February 16 & 3 days prior to each subsequent class

Skill level: All Levels

Registration fee: $25/class OR $120/series

Course Description:

The “Improve Your Improv” class teaches participants of all experience levels the mechanics and tools used to create improvisational theater.   This class will be jam-packed with improvisational fun. The class centers around long-form improv - scene creation, learning the essentials, and team dynamics.  However, short-form improv games will also be used to learn the craft. 

The games and practices used will help all levels of improvisers develop a skillset and become familiar with the world of Improv! This will not be a class to sit down, hear lectures, and take notes.  Students will be performing as much as possible! It will be a get up and perform kind of class. The class will emphasize the mechanics needed to act out an entertaining and meaningful scene on the spot with no lines. While improv is often a natural skill, there are many elements of the craft that can be taught to everybody.  These skills are useful on stage but also in everyday life, wherever you might be put on the spot!

Participants who have already completed this class are welcome to join again.  Complete beginners and those experienced in improv are all encouraged to join! 

About the Instructor:

Kyle is an improvisor, improv teacher, filmmaker, writer, actor, comedian and musician from the Chicago suburbs. He started performing improv in 2004 and has been improvising in front of audiences regularly since 2015. He has also taught classes both in-person and remote at Westside Improv in Wheaton, Illinois. He performs live across the state in various comedy and music acts and has produced hundreds of videos and songs.

Wines of the World

Led by: Mike Lee

Wednesdays: March 20, 27; April 3, 10

6:00-8:00pm

Solarium

Registration Deadline: March 13, 2024, and one week prior to each subsequent class

Skill level: Beginner

Registration fee: $60/class OR $200/series

Course Description:

Renowned wine educator and television personality Mike Lee offers a delightful and delectable wine class, where he takes students on an enchanting journey through the vineyards of France, Italy, and Spain. With a wealth of knowledge and passion for introducing students to tasting, talking, and understanding wine, Mike's engaging style immerses students in the Old World. Mike's class is for beginners and wine lovers alike, from the refined elegance of Bordeaux to the inspiring hills of Tuscany and the bold flavors of Rioja.

Class 1. Intro to Wine: Tasting and Talking about Wine

Class 2. France: Discovering Bordeaux

Class 3. Italy: Journey to Tuscany

Class 4. Spain: Ride into Rioja

Each class will include tastings of 5-6 wines. Must be 21+ to participate.

About the Instructor:

Mike Lee is an accomplished wine, spirits, and beer educator with over 8+ years in the alcohol industry. Having achieved the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (London) Certified Educator achievement in Wine, Lee is certified to teach levels 1 and 2 internationally. With experience with class sizes large and small, he is known for his ability to adapt to any learning environment with excellent facilitation skills.

Traveling Time Machine: Dancing in Illinois from Statehood to the 60s

Led by: Jeanette Watts

Thursdays: March 14, 21, 28; April 4, 11, 18

5:30-7:30pm

Music Barn

Registration Deadline: March 13, 2024; 1 day prior to each subsequent class

Skill level: All Levels

Registration fee: $75/full course OR $25/class

Course Description:

Each week, we will tackle the popular dances of Illinois starting with the fashionable dances of 1818. (Think Jane Austen and Bridgerton.) Each class will teach the basic skills, and some popular variations of the time so that attendees get a real feeling of what it was like to live/dance back then. Each class will be an hour of technique, and a second hour of less intensive play time, when we will apply the learned skills in the context of set dances of the time and have a chance to do at least one dance to review the material of the week before. Registration for the entire series is not required, but highly recommended for maximum comfort. Not every week builds on the skills of the week before, depending upon the era being covered. The final class of this series will be a mid-century dance to showcase all the new steps you learned throughout the course.

About the Instructor:

Jeanette Watts has been teaching historical dances for over 20 years. She is the founder of the Terpsichorean Delights Dance Assembly in Dayton, OH, Queen City Vintage Dance in Charlotte, NC, and spent Covid writing an 8-volume series of instructional dance manuals for historical museums.

Discovering Earth Magic

Led by: Candy Reeder

Sundays: March 24; April 7, 14, 21

2:00-4:00pm

Studio

Registration Deadline: March 22, 2024 and each subsequent Friday

Skill level: Beginner

Registration fee: $80/series OR $25/class

Course Description:

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed and burned out by the hustle and bustle of life, but once you tune in, you’ll realize that Earth magic is surrounding us and ready to rejuvenate and restore feelings of peace. In this class we’ll cover a different topic each time, from the physical and emotional healing properties of herbs and using them with intention, to making cordage and fabric dye from backyard plants, to easy secrets to nourish Earth through your garden, to the power of meditating with the trees, the moon, the wind, or even the soil! Let’s heal our hearts by connecting and collaborating with Earth.

Class 2: Foraging Fun
This week we’ll open our eyes to what’s around us when we step outside, and how it might be useful in ways you might never have suspected, along with sustainable foraging practices and other “wild school” activities. Participants will be able to dye some fabric with plants and do some fiber weaving.

About the Instructor:

In 2018 Candy moved from a busy city to Champaign, where she truly met Nature. She began gardening and wild schooling with her 6 kids, learning about native plants and wildlife, how to both give to and receive from Earth, creating natural remedies from “weeds”, and the power of connecting with Nature to balance stress and sadness. Candy’s business is called Joyfully Blooming because she loves helping people find joy in discovering their authentic, natural self, hidden under the facade of social demands.

Have you ever wandered around Allerton Park and wondered what the inside of the historic mansion looks like?  Would you like to hear more about the unique history of Robert Allerton and the creation of his estate?  Register for one of our Public Mansion Tours held each month!

Mansion tours start at 2pm and begin in the Gallery of the Mansion.  Tours typically last between 45 and 60 minutes.

$10/person, ages 5 and under are free

Space is limited and tours typically sell out.

(NOTE: If tickets are sold out and you need additional children’s tickets, email Sarah Putman at sputman2@illinois.edu.)

If you will need disability-related accommodations in order to participate, please email Sarah Putman at sputman2@illinois.edu.