Abagail Fritz

Abagail is a performer, choreographer, and instructor/educator of African based traditional and street dance. Since 2004, she has traveled extensively throughout Guinea, Senegal, Ghana, and the Ivory Coast to study with renowned artists and ballet companies. She’s been training in traditional and popular dances of the African diaspora since 1999. She also studies House Dance, Dancehall, Capoeira, and various other genres of movement. Abagail is an international artist, performing in 2017 as a featured soloist dancer for Youssou N’Dour at Bercy Arena in Paris, France. She’s performed solo and ensemble work in renowned U.S. theaters such as the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, the Redcat/Disney Cal Arts Theater in Los Angeles, the San Francisco Yerba Buena Center, the Ford Theater in Los Angeles, and UCLA’s Fowler Museum. As an educator and instructor, Abagail has taught master classes and residencies at the New York Film Academy in New York City, Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA, the University of California Los Angeles, and the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. She currently teaches in Los Angeles at Brasil Brasil Cultural Center, and academic institutions around Southern California.

Workshops & Presentations

  • Festival Freestyle Dance: How to Move with Community

    90 min | Imaginarium

    This dance workshop is about some of the basic principals of freestyle dance in a large group or festival setting. The class offers participants some base movements that they may use to express themselves, but it also breaks down foundational freestyle components into basic use to enhance everyones festival dance experience. The workshop is an 1 hour and half, it includes a warm up, a segment of follow along dance steps, then a partial lecture of ways to move in freestyle dance in a festival or group setting. We will run some fun exercises to practice our festival freestyle principals, and will deepen our understanding of dancing in and with community for the elevation of the whole. Many of these principals are developed from Abagail's 15+ years of experience studying traditional dances and music of Western Africa.

  • Warrior Within Fashion & Dance: How What You Wear Becomes a Part of Your Dance

    90 min | Movement Lab

    This is a special Warrior Within Designs workshop that explores how to use the things we wear and adorn ourselves with as part of our dance. The class will include a warm up, a follow along dance section, then we'll go piece by piece talking about how anything from a baggy pant leg, to a long sleeve or fringe belt can be utilized as an extension of our dance and movement story telling. Fashion and dance are exciting ways to express ourselves, in this workshop we combine Warrior Within Designs with dance so participants can better rock their fashions on the dance floor!

Media

Check Schedule for all event times.