Harlequin Source School is a unique movement studio that unifies dance, circus, martial arts, and yoga into one incredibly cool space inside SPACE: A Design Build Collective at 7601 Greenwood Ave. N., Suite 103. Harlequin is now introducing classes for the community.
The Harlequin Source School began with a fighter turned tango dancer and art representative from Boulder, CO. She met a San Francisco native theater artist and choreographer in a Seattle blues dance venue. Over a month, they discovered a shared passion for education, community and of all things, the Circus. A desire to blend all of these interests into something entirely new was born, and within another month the desire had a name.
The first to rehearse at HSS were the Harlequin Hipsters, a dancing troupe of acrobatic jesters under the direction of Ryan Barret. Now, members of the troupe contribute their knowledge from disciplines as varied as ballet and clowning or partner acrobatics and tango.
Harlequin has classes for capoeira, yoga, poi (firedancing), Argentine tango, hip-hop, aerial dance, fusion dance, modern dance and hula-hooping. There’s even a Kid’s Circus class for ages 7-13. Check out the full schedule.
Inside the 2,000 square foot space they’ve got a 500-square-foot sprung dance floor, 20-foot tall ceilings, lounge areas, mirrored wall, counter and table space, and bathrooms. Here’s the crowd after a recent performance by the Harlequin Hipsters:
And in case you were wondering what that shiny metal box is on top of the building…
That’s the space for another innovative group, Versatile Arts, which offers aerial performance classes in what they call The Cathedral.
17 responses so far ↓
1 ckine // Aug 30, 2009 at 6:02 am
That’s great, but not so thrilled about the loud rowdy noises last night. Hootin’, screaming, yelling, slamming car doors, car alarm going off. We have lots of kids (many under the age of 5) sleeping in that neighborhood, not to mention the tired parents trying to get some rest…
2 Neighbor // Aug 30, 2009 at 7:28 am
I’m not so sure that crowd was from this place. And if it was, something needs to be done. I, too, was disturbed by it. I actually called the cops twice, once earlier in the evening when the crowd first started on that corner, and then later on when they came back. Both times I was told they had numerous calls in on it and were responding. Does anyone know what was going on?
3 Another neighbor // Aug 30, 2009 at 11:09 am
I don’t mind the dance classes, I can even take the Tuesday night drumming thing as they wrap up at 9ish, but the Sun and Mon night “clubs” that are being run from this venue have to stop. Last night was a leased event, but also completely inappropriate. This is the second time the police have been called in. A complaint has been filed with the DPD http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Compliance/default.asp Per the clerk I spoke to, as far as the City is concerned, this location is an antique store, and not a dance venue.
4 petsfriend // Aug 30, 2009 at 2:33 pm
There was a group of young men milling around last night at around 8:45. Then at 12:30 a.m. there were two patrol cars parked at the corner. What happened?
5 robert o // Aug 30, 2009 at 4:04 pm
i can hear the noise from that place a block away. can’t understand why the city allows that in a residential neighborhood. thump thump thump. i pity the people who live right next door.
6 ckine // Aug 30, 2009 at 5:07 pm
Just received a note on our door from the director of Harlequin apologizing for last night’s disturbance. She says it was the first time they worked with that particular group and won’t be working with them again. I am still a bit wary about these “social dances” and other things they host, but she seems sincere and left her phone number (303) 717-1050 and email address: seelilly@gmail.com, if we have any questions or concerns.
7 Fed Up // Aug 30, 2009 at 6:58 pm
I agree with you Another Neighbor — having those Sunday and Monday night events going until 1:30 am have to stop. What can we do about it?
8 robert o // Aug 30, 2009 at 7:59 pm
you can tell the lady that you’re fed up and she needs to stop. simple enough. then call the cops if it continues. sleep is good on work nights. total disrespect of the neighbors is what it is.
9 Carol @ dance schools // Aug 31, 2009 at 10:43 pm
I hope the community leaders will not be allowing them to perform or setup a venue again near or in a neighborhood, it is just totally inconsiderate.
10 etta // Sep 1, 2009 at 8:35 am
If they keep the noise down when people are trying to sleep, I don’t see a problem with having a performance venue “in a neighborhood.” Whether than can happen remains to be seen, however.
11 Nelle // Sep 1, 2009 at 8:52 pm
Last Saturday night there was total chaos in front of our house at 11:30 pm when the party let out at Harlequin. There were about 40 kids in the road, yelling, screaming at each other, boys with their shirts off, looking like they were about to fight. i heard kids talking to each other, asking, “are you ok enough to drive? can you stand?” if i wanted this kind of late-night action, i would live in Pioneer Square. when i yelled that i called the police, kids starting running, getting into their cars, taking off.
i went to speak with someone who worked at SPACE on Sunday and she was appalled to hear about what happened. I called the owner of SPACE, Emily, on Sunday, but have yet to hear back from her. Will call her again now. i think Pelayo is leasing to SPACE [ i believe he still owns the building], and SPACE leased to Harlequin, and i think Harlequin rented out their tiny little dance floor space for someone’s birthday party.
12 robert o // Sep 2, 2009 at 5:25 am
i wonder if that’s the same crowd that rioted and fired shots at the masonic hall, 79 & greenwood, earlier this year. probably found a fresh venue. emily doesn’t seem to care what goes on in there. call pelayo about it. he’s listed in the phone book.
13 L. Smith // Sep 2, 2009 at 9:39 am
I saw Pedro Pelayo this morning as we were leaving for work and got his
email address so I could alert him to this page
of comments…of which he was totally unaware,
as well as not having heard anything about ANY
of the recent incidents of neighbors being inconvenienced by his noisy tenants.
Now he knows.
14 Isaac // Oct 15, 2009 at 9:06 pm
Since these events at SPACE a lot of things have changed. I wanted to give an update to the process and explain what SPACE’s future intentions are.
First of, my name is Isaac Marcum and I have just recently started to help SPACE by managing it’s rental as a Venue and Education Center. I have been working with Emily for some time with different projects including local craft bazaars there. On many occasions she has confided with me the details of what has happened.
It was never the intention of SPACE to hold such gatherings as the private party ran by Harlequin Source School. That event happened without discussion and was completely inappropriate. We are sorry for our lack of oversight and will make sure it does not happen again.
Harlequin Source School has also vacated the building due to these concerns and others. Now that they have left I am coming on to help space facilitate the space.
My intention is not to have those types of events, but to cultivate community and be a creative hub for the local Phinney Ridge community, and the larger Seattle community as well. We will try our hardest to create clear boundaries with everyone we work with to try insure the needs of our neighbors. I have been in discussion with a few of our neighbors and would love to continue to keep clear conversations with everyone so that we can best serve the community.
Some of the things we are doing is enforcing a preset “db” rating for the space. What that means is we are investing in a db tester that rates the volume of sound. We will then test to find what the max setting is that does not disrupt our neighbors. After we find that rating we will place a strict rule about it for all gatherings, night or day.
I have heard that the last Art Walk was a little loud as well, and we are working to insure that event is kept within a reasonable volume.
That being said, we also are not planning on having any more of this long night parties. That was never our intentions. Our intention is to use the space as a creative hub as well as host small intimate private events such as baby showers, birthday parties, biznik events, workshops, and so on.
As I am coming on to help manage the space I hope to hear any concerns the community has and would love to keep a communication open about how we can both respect our local community as well as be a resource.
Thank you everyone who has shared your opinion on this forum. I will take all these concerns to heart and hopefully move forward to a positive place with SPACE.
Thank you,
Isaac
15 petsfriend // Oct 16, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Isaac, you’re cool. Nice post.
16 Another neighbor // Oct 21, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Thank you for following-up here, Isaac, and addressing some concerns. I have noticed that SPACE has been a very considerate neighbor of late, and checked back to see if there was anything.
17 Another // Oct 29, 2009 at 2:25 pm
This sounds great… very proactive.
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