Dance Lab
Creative Dance Center’s Dance Lab
Join an amazing line-up of teaching artists and explore dance styles this summer in Creative Dance Center’s newest offering: Dance Lab!
Students ages 10-13 are invited to dive deeper into dance this summer with passionate, unique, and gifted dance educators. This year’s guest faculty includes Bri Wilson (Tuesday), Otoquí Reyes (Wednesday), and Chloe Albin (Thursday). Read full workshop descriptions below.
Each day includes a technique or movement class, a facilitated Talk Back discussion, and a second session that expands on the day’s theme through improvisation, choreography, cultural exploration, technique, storytelling, collaboration, and creative process. From contemporary partnering and Puerto Rican Bomba traditions to theatre jazz and musical theatre, Dance Lab encourages curiosity, creativity, connection, and self-expression in a welcoming and supportive environment.
Don’t miss out on this exciting opportunity – register now!
Three years dance experience is recommended.
Email terry@creativedance.org with questions about eligibility.
When: August 4-6, 2026. Tuesday – Thursday, 4:30pm to 7:15pm
Tuition: $215 for 3 days – Attendance is required for all 3 days.
Ages: 10-13 (must be entering 5th grade in the fall); 2 years dance experience is recommended.
2026 Faculty: Bri Wilson, Otoquí Reyes, and Chloe Albin. See below for bios.
Financial aid available. Click here to complete our online financial aid application. Please wait until you hear from CDC staff about your financial aid application before registering. Email questions to darrah@creativedance.org
Check out our summer Teen Intensive for ages 14-19 here.
Dance Lab 2026 Faculty + Schedule
Bri Wilson
Bri Wilson (she/her) is a dancer, choreographer, and educator based in Seattle. Originally from northwest Michigan, her creative work braids the elements of writing, movement, and nature into compelling, curious, and narrative-driven performances. As a performer in Seattle, Bri has worked with The Three Yells, Elia Mrak, and Marlo Martin + badmarmarDANCE, among others. She has presented her own work at 12 Minutes Max, Full Tilt Dance Festival, LAUNCH, Seattle International Dance Festival, and Fuselage Dance Film Festival. As an educator Bri teaches holistic modern and contemporary dance technique with a focus on rigorous exploration and play. She holds a BFA from the Alonzo King LINES Ballet BFA Program at Dominican University of California, has received training in brain-compatible dance education from Anne Green Gilbert and Dionne Kamara at Creative Dance Center in north Seattle, and completed the Teaching Artist Training Lab from ArtsWA in 2022. Bri is currently earning her MFA in Dance from Hollins University.
Tues August 4 Schedule with Bri
Partnering for Performance (4:30-5:45pm)
Learn the basics of partnering in contemporary dance—push, pull, and stack—and put those skills into action in a dynamic and challenging phrase. Class will begin with a partnered BrainDance, then move into skills-building before diving into choreography. No partnering experience necessary!
Talk Back (5:45-6:00pm)
Where does choreography inspiration come from? Inspiration is all around us, if we know where to look! This dialogue will focus on fostering innate creativity and trusting intuitive decision making in the choreographic process. Not interested in choreography? We’ll also discuss how creativity and intuition build dance improvisation skills.
Listen and Move: Partnering and Improvisation Skills (6:00-7:15pm)
Building on the skills learned in the first session, and the ideas discussed in the talk back, this class will offer creative process time for students to improvise and create their own choreography. We’ll begin with structured improvisation scores, then move into open exploration as a whole group, centering the practice of listening and responding to each other’s movement choices. Class will finish with students creating their own partnering phrasework and sharing with the group.
Otoquí Reyes
Otoquí Reyes was born in Rio Piedras Puerto Rico and has over 30 years experience in the Bomba genre, raised between two of the most important Afro-Puerto Rican family members, Cepeda and Ayala. He has over 25 years experience as an educator and multidisciplinary artist in Puerto Rico and internationally. The past 15 years his focus has been as an Artist in Resident teaching different educational levels. Otoquí’s current focus centers art and music as a vehicle of liberation and expression.
Wed August 5 Schedule with Otoqui
Bomba (4:30-5:45pm)
Bomba is a traditional music style of Puerto Rican and African origin that features dance and percussion. It is described as a dialogue between dancer and drummer – as if the drummer were challenging the dancer to a rhythmic duel. La Bomba is much more than dance – it is a musical ritual which acts like the loom in a fine weaving. It brings communities together and inspires young people to gain knowledge of not only the fundamentals of dance and music, but also the history of the people within their community.
Talk Back (5:45-6:00pm)
Otoqui Reyes will share his story of how he was introduced to the Bomb at an early age. The Bomb was and continues to be part of his daily life. At an early age, part of his life routine was to practice dance and percussion because one is part of the other, it is a circle. Otoquí invites everyone to learn about his culture, rhythm, and tradition in order to connect through the most universal language that is music.
Afro-Boricua Expression (6:00-7:15pm)
Students will explore the history and context of identity through the different elements of the musical genre of la Bomba. They will relate with the vocabulary: Batey, Basic Step, Paseo, Maraca, Cuás, Buleador, Primo/Subidor, Call/Response, and Cuembé.
Chloe Albin
Chloe Albin (she/her) is a multifaceted dancer, choreographer, and educator. She grew up dancing in the Seattle-area, and furthered her dance education at Chapman University; she currently splits her time between New York and Seattle. Chloe has performed on regional, national, and international stages, including London’s West End and LA’s iconic Dolby Theatre. Most recently, she choreographed & performed on the US/Canada tour of “The Jinkx and DeLa Holiday Show”, now entering its ninth year. Other performance highlights include works by Cafe Nordo, Cameo Lethem, and Wade Madsen. With over a decade of experience teaching dancers across all levels, Chloe finds great joy in sharing movement with others. Through her teaching, Chloe strives to create a positive environment in which dancers feel motivated to take risks and expand their relationship with dance (and themselves!).
Thurs August 6 Schedule with Chloe
Theatre Jazz (4:30-5:45pm)
Dancers will be led through a comprehensive jazz warmup, including but not limited to dynamic movement, isolations, and activation of core through Pilates-based principles. Through the lens of Jack Cole, Luigi, & Matt Mattox, dancers will then explore across-the-floor combinations to activate rhythm and locomotion through space. Class will culminate with learning a piece of choreography.
Talk Back (5:45-6:00pm)
Chloe will share her career journey as a dancer/choreographer, and will highlight key factors that have helped guide her. We will open up this conversation to the group for questions and have discussion around (but not limited to): stereotypes about a career in dance/the arts, how we follow our unique path with curiosity and strength, and how we can center community and care in our work.
Musical Theatre: Prop Study (6:00-7:15pm)
This class will build on the skills from our Theatre Jazz class to focus on storytelling with the use of a prop. Dancers will learn a piece of choreography that incorporates a prop, with opportunities to use their unique creative voice in the building of the choreography.