Spring Into Creativity With These Unique Adult Courses

Spring is the season of renewal, for nature and Hudson Valley locals who weathered the most ruthless winter in recent memory.

As the trees and flowers bloom anew, many of us will begin exploring fascinating new skills through the seemingly endless harvest of adult education classes available in our area. From stained-glass design to circus arts, from improv comedy to pole dancing, it’s all available here in the Hudson Valley.

The following is our curated selection of excellent courses to help get you started on mastering a new passion.

Later Stage Rockers: If you still regret not picking up a guitar, drums, or keys, or raising your voice to rock out in your teenage years, Rock Academy in Saugerties has the answer. Through its Adult Program, even the newest beginners are welcome to join in, find their groove, and hone their skills. Each twice-yearly Adult season culminates in a weekend of performances at a local venue; tuition gives participants ten full-band rehearsals with fellow rockers, some of whom are newbies, some of whom are seasoned performers, all of them working together to put on a great show and cheer on each other’s progress. Originally an offshoot of the kids’ programming after parents requested it for themselves, the Adult Program is populated by folks with students in the school as well as community members looking to join a band and live out their music fantasies on stage — it’s nothing short of inspirational to watch a new member pick up a drumstick (or similar) for the first time at the initial rehearsal and ultimately jam with the band on show night to thunderous applause. 

Pole Dancing & Fitness: It’s a great workout that’s also pretty dang sexy. Kingston’s Hudson Valley Pole offers four levels of courses that can take you from a fun and fitness-minded beginner to an expert-level practitioner. Whether you want to learn basic pole moves like spins and leg hangs or master advanced motions like the Reiko Meathook, the Jade Split, and the Russian Layback, this is the place for you. Hudson Valley Pole also hosts birthday and bachelorette parties. 

Going Medieval, Stained Glass: It’s an art that dates back to the 12th Century, when beautiful and intricate stained-glass windows became a staple of churches and cathedrals. Today, this art form is being kept alive locally by Willow Deep Studio. In addition to creating original works for homes, businesses, and retail sale and overseeing painstaking restorations and repairs, the artisan and owner, Brenna, offers hands-on instructional stained-glass workshops, where you can create copper-foil suncatchers and traditional leaded windows at all skill levels. These workshops all take place on-site at Willow Deep Studio, just outside Rosendale, with all tools and materials provided. 

For the Cirque Du Soleil Wannabe: If you’ve ever marveled at the graceful aerial artistry of Cirque Du Soleil performers, you have a place to learn this distinctive form of movement right here in our region. Hudson Valley Circus Arts offers both weekly classes and private lessons for adults to learn to soar on silks, hammocks, and Lyra (or hoop trapeze). And if you are looking for novel entertainment for an event, Hudson Valley Circus Arts is the place to contact for professional aerialists, master hula hoopers, and fire dancers. The Wild Arts Collective in New Paltz also offers the aerial arts above, along with something even more daring, the chance to try your hand at the Flying Trapeze.  This collective offers an Open Level course perfect for newcomers and an Intermediate “Catch Me If You Can Class,” focused on both advanced flying and the all-important catching of the flyers.

A Fast-Track to Funny: Wannabe sketch comics in the Hudson Valley have two great places to get their feet wet in the highest-wire, most risk-taking branch of comedy. Kington’s Hudson Valley Improv offers five levels of courses in its “Improv Empowerment” method. In Level One, students learn core techniques and improv games that teach them how to start a scene and be strong team players. By Level Two, they are applying these skills and more in front of a live audience and can then continue through what the school calls its “Wild West,” Level Five: Mastery Course. For those further south, there’s Peekskill’s Blind Tiger Improv, which offers introductory Drop-In and Intermediate Classes, along with periodic Class Shows. 

Good Vibrations: Learn the Theremin: Not offered often, but definitely one to watch for when it comes our way. The Theremin is a hands-free electronic instrument, a sort of proto-synthesizer, that generates the wild, outer-space sounds featured in many ‘50s sci-fi movies and songs like “Whole Lotta Love” and “Good Vibrations.” The New York Theremin Society offers workshops that periodically come our way, held at sites like Caramoor, where music lovers can try their hand at this unique instrument. NYTS also offers online courses and private lessons for those who don’t want to wait for this novel workshop to come to town.

Belly Dance the Winter Blues Away: Sarah Bell has been called the “Teacher of Teachers,” a woman who has shared her knowledge of Middle Eastern Belly Dance in the Hudson Valley since 1989. Sarah offers courses in Newburgh, Fishkill, and Cortlandt Manor. After they complete the course, some of her graduates are invited to join her Dance Troupe, which performs at public events. Another great source is Belly Dance Fusion with Ayleeza, led by another renowned dance teacher and performer headquartered in Poughkeepsie, with additional classes in Red Hook. Ayleeza teaches her students not only to dance to Middle Eastern classics but to contemporary pop as well as country music! 

Brew, Baby, Brew: Nothing can slay a summer heat wave like an ice-cold beer, and thanks to Dr. Mike Tibbets, the co-owner of Clover Brooke Farm and Hyde Park Hops, that beer can be one you brew yourself! Tibbetts is a college professor and yeast geneticist with over 25 years of experience teaching and brewing beer, mead, and cider. His Home Brew Beer class covers the biochemistry of brewing, the full spectrum of beer you would find at a craft brewery, and a hands-on introduction to the techniques and equipment you need to start brewing at home. Your reward is two 12-oz bottles of homebrew to give you a taste of what you can make yourself. The farm also offers a variety of other on-site classes, including soap making and eco-dyeing.

Dancing with a Latin Flavor: Argentina and Puerto Rico gave the world two of its most romantic and exciting dances, Tango and Salsa. For those in the Hudson Valley who want to add a sensual spice to their dance, several fine sources are available. Classes at the Dojo Dance Company are led by its founders, Argentines Maia Martinez and David Salvatierra, who teach both their native Tango and Salsa and are the brains behind the Hudson Valley Tango Festival. Founded by Nina Jirka and Ellen Chrystal, New Paltz Dance Coop offers regular classes in both forms and milongas (social dances), as well as instruction in ballet, swing, folk dance, and more. The Tango Fusion Dance also offers in-person instruction in these two popular styles, along with West Coast Swing and Waltz, in Saratoga Springs and Glens Falls. 

Pot Heads Unite: Ceramics, the most utilitarian of the arts, spans both ancient and modern traditions. And the Hudson Valley offers a variety of resources where everyone, from beginners to masters, can indulge their passion for turning clay into something both artistic and useful. Hudson Valley Pottery is a woman-owned and run community studio in Rhinebeck that offers everything from one-day exploratory classes to six-week intensive sessions to private wheel lessons. Kingston Ceramics Studio offers weekly classes for adults, ranging from Basic Intro to Clay & the Studio (for first-timers) to Beyond Basics (where students learn to make and fire bowls, plates, vases, and the like). Catskills’ Cone Zero Ceramics is another resource for classes and workshops that can take you from beginner to master level. 

World Classic Cuisine: The Hudson Valley offers a bounty of workshops and classes for the budding home cook, but none more prestigious than those at the CIA, the Culinary Institute of America. Celebrity chefs such as Anthony Bourdain, Larry Forgione, Maneet Chauhan, Amanda Freitag, and Kwame Onwuachi honed their skills at its Hyde Park campus, where novices can take classes. This spring and summer, the CIA will offer a wide array of one-day classes and 2–5-day intensive bootcamps covering everything from artisan bread baking and cake decorating to creative plant-forward and vegetarian cooking, as well as global cuisines such as Italian and Spanish. HGS Home Chef in Hillsdale is another great resource. Course highlights here include Chinese Dumpling Workshop, Biryani Bliss – Indian Cooking, South of France Cuisine, Summer Cooking, and Hands-on Korean Gimbap.  

Hooked on Knitting: It’s calming, utilitarian, and these days, more social than ever. It’s knitting, a quaint old pastime given new life in recent years by hipsters – women and men alike. We could think of no better place to get hooked on knitting than Yard Farm Kingston. It offers thrice-weekly Knitting Clinics from Wednesday through Friday, as well as classes such as Knitting Newbies. It’s also one of Kingston’s most popular wine bars, with a killer charcuterie board. Across the Hudson, in quaint Tivoli, is another great option: Fabulous Yarn. This site offers intimate classes (3–6 people), including Learn to Knit and Knitting 102, that cover topics such as knitting in the round, pattern reading, and gauge. If you live further north, check out the workshops offered by The Knitting Room in Tannersville. 

Pony Up for Summer Fun: Role Play can mean many things to many people – but at Hudson Valley HorsePlay, they’re talking about good, clean, fun, with one of our most beloved and beautiful animal companions. “Interacting with a horse can be a powerful experience,” says Cori Nichols, founder and lead facilitator at this Kerhonksen-based farm and riding facility. While the facility focuses on riding lessons, it offers experiences for individuals (hourly, date-based rates, or multi-day boot camps), a novel couple’s communication program, “Hitched,” and team-building workshops for groups. From time to time, Hudson Valley HorsePlay offers some truly special programs, from a novel meditation workshop, Meadow-Tation, Peace Out with the Horses, to The Artist’s Way, Creativity Among the Horses. 

 

Featured photo by The Knitting Room

Contributing writer Sal Cataldi is a musician, writer and former publicist living in Hudson Valley NY.

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