As part of Palaver Strings and Noisefloor Incubation Residency at Mechanics’ Hall join teacher, Alyx Henigman and Palaver Strings for a yoga and music class. Rooted in learning about the body and how it moves, the focus of my classes will be based on using yoga as an exploration to lead practitioners into a deeper awareness of their own bodies, and thus a greater sense of embodiment and Self.

Beginning slowly in order to ground ourselves, we will then use that foundation to bring us into standing postures and flow, opening the body and engaging and clearing the mind. Moving between moments of stillness and silky moments of flow, we will take time for ourselves, to move for ourselves, and find the fun in effort. This class offers an unique experience in the grandeur of historic the Mechanics’ Hall ballroom.

Tickets for this experience are offered on a pay-what-you-can basis, with a suggested amount of $10-30. Your generous of our artists and programming above and beyond this amount is welcomed and deeply appreciated.

little house dance incubation residency for Noisefloor with Palaver Strings & Mechanics’ Hall

Noisefloor plays with the subjectivity of human experience, including visual and auditory perception and the logic of dreams. Musicians and dancers will move throughout the stage and surrounding areas, expanding the audience’s audiovisual field and guiding their attention through the use of mobile light sources attached to their bodies. Noisefloor is an immersive physical, visual, and musical experience. After the incubation residency at Mechanics’ Hall, Noisefloor will premiere at the State Theatre December 6 + 7.

Palaver Strings is a musician-led string ensemble and nonprofit organization based in Portland, ME. For ten years, our mission has been to strengthen and inspire community through music. In our musician-led model, Palaver’s musicians share artistic and administrative leadership, guided by a passion for engaging new audiences, addressing social justice issues, and amplifying underrepresented voices.

little house dance is an artist-led contemporary dance company based in Portland, Maine on traditional Wabnaki land. Founded by Heather Stewart in 2020, little house dance’s current mission is to build an artistic platform based in practices of partnership, equity, good working conditions, ideation and collaboration, and mindfulness of craft. As dance is inherently a social art, our company’s work forges new community connections and partnerships in dance programming and production in regional and national spheres. We seek to build mindful working partnerships with venues, presenters, audiences, patrons, and production, particularly in Maine. Our aim is to create meaningful and deeply physical dance experiences with the people around us.

Mechanics’ Hall was founded in 1815 by the Maine Charitable Mechanic Association to support Maine’s creative community: blacksmiths, coopers, artists, innovators, and creators. Between 1857 and 1859, they built Mechanics’ Hall in Portland – a communal gathering space with a lending library at its center. Today, our organization celebrates that rich history through literary arts programs, music, performance, and more while working to restore our landmark building as a rich cultural resource.