Dance Artist Anna Conner (she/her) is a Puerto Rican multidisciplinary artist full of energy, passion, love and laughter. Like all Dance Church Teachers, Anna is a professional mover: she started dancing as a kid and just hasn’t stopped. For Anna, the human body is a wondrous thing, vaulting us between hugs, laughter, stillness, freedom, movement, the beach, collaborative creation, travel and aliveness. Anna is wildly ready to unleash Dance Church in her current home: Las Vegas Nevada.  

→ At Dance Church, we hold dear the fact that all our teachers are professional dance artists and creatives. Tell us about your journey with dance, and what it means to you now?

⭐️ Anna: I was a dancer as a little kid with no money, no dance training and no degree. I used to learn dances from movies and teach them to my sisters, then started creating dances on my own just for fun. My parents were able to finally put me in a dance class at 9 for a few months. My love for dance exploded in those few months and when I finally could, I started paying for my own classes dancing from morning ‘til night, literally. I’d found my community. I’ve danced and trained and connected with other artists in NY, Seattle, Fraine (Italy), and now Las Vegas. Everywhere I dance, I am expanding the community that I love.

→ Italy sounds like a dream! I’ll bet we have some online Dance Church members who have done a little of their own grooving while overseas. Tell us about your community over there? 

⭐️ Anna: In 2015 I opened up La Figlia ART HOUSE in Fraine, Italy, which gave artists the opportunity to live and create work in a beautiful medieval town with 300 residents up in the hills of Abruzzo. I wanted to offer artists a space to be inspired, to make new and different choices, to step away from chaos and relax in a serene environment.

→ Incredible. It seems like you have ample experience creating intentional community, and that movement and embodiment are important tools in your way of being with others.

⭐️ Anna: Absolutely. I love being present in a room full of like-minded curious learners, coming together through shared experience. There is so much to learn about life and our bodies. Sharing movement practices invites a curiosity that allows us to grow and find new ideas together. I love just sharing space with people and exchanging energy.

→ Who do you hope will show up to join you in that amazing collective energy in Vegas?

⭐️ Anna: My dream classes would be filled with people who are ready to let go of everything the outside world offers. I want them to walk into the space and feel completely free. I want everyone to feel completely safe to be who they are and move how they want to. I want all body types, all skill levels, all races and all mindsets to show up and experience the high that Dance Church offers.

→ Amazing. When’s your first class? 

⭐️ Anna: November 13th at Raiderettes The Studio. Sign up for class to come dance with me!

→ Last question: help us get (even more) excited for your class. We know the Dance Church community loves the music we play. Give us a taste of stuff you’re loving to move to, these days?

⭐️ Anna: 

Hrs & Hrs - Muni Long

Emorio - Trinix, Fafá de Belém

Right On, Right On - Silicone Soul