Join us for this year’s M.A.P. Live workshop (formerly known as Architecture Through the Body), taking place from November 30th to December 3rd, 2025, at the historic Bendix Building.

Heidi Duckler Dance’s annual workshop invites participants into four immersive days of movement, art, and performance. Led by professionals in dance, storytelling, and architecture, the program explores new ways of defining and experiencing space through creative collaboration.

Through guided workshops, participants will create original work informed by these interdisciplinary practices. Teaching artists provide feedback throughout the process, and the workshop culminates in a public performance showcasing participants’ creations.

With only 20 spots available, M.A.P. Live offers an intimate environment where artists of all backgrounds and experience levels can engage one-on-one with instructors. Work-study discounts are available for eligible participants.

Class Descriptions

Movement with Alejandro Perez
This session invites participants to create movement inspired by the world around us, drawing from architecture, sound, and objects as creative partners. We will start with a heart-centered warm-up to awaken the senses and open pathways for exploration and vulnerability. Through improvisation and guided creation, we will discover how movement shapes our perception of space and self, reconnecting us with the art of connection and expanding the possibilities of dance.

Architecture and the Body Through Folding Paper with Jeff Morrical
Explore the relationship between the body, structure, and the built environment through the art of paper folding. Participants will learn folding techniques inspired by traditional origami to create large-scale, flexible sculptures. Each fold embeds a structural memory into the piece, transforming a flat sheet into a responsive, fluid, and living form in space. This hands-on process reveals the connections between our bodies, objects, and surroundings.

Voice with Joanna Lynn- Jacobs
Discover the voice as a living, expressive instrument. We will begin with vocal and physical warm-ups that connect breath, body, and sound, encouraging curiosity over self-judgment. Through improvisation, accessible melodies, harmonies, and collaborative exercises, participants will expand their vocal range and creative expression, gaining tools and inspiration to carry into their own artistic practice and everyday life.

Workshop Schedule

DAY ONE – Sunday, November 30th, 2025 | 12:00 PM – 8:00 PM

*Drop-in fee available for individual workshops.

Schedule

• 12:00 – 2:00 PM Movement Workshop #1 (LEAD ARTIST: Alejandro Perez)
• 2:00 – 2:10 BREAK
• 2:10 – 4:10 PM ARCHITECTURE Workshop # 2 (LEAD ARTIST: Jeff Morrical)
• 4:10 – 4:40 DINNER BREAK
• 4:40 – 6:40 PM Voice Workshop #3 (LEAD ARTIST: Joanna Lynn Jacobs)
• 6:40 – 7:40 PM Creation Prep/Discussion
• 7:40 – 8:00 PM STRIKE

DAY TWO – Monday, December 1st, 2025 |  5:00 PM – 9:00PM

Schedule

• 5:00 – 6:00 PM  Creation / Prep – Planning Session  
• 6:00 – 6:10  BREAK 
• 6:10 – 8:10 PM  Creation 
• 8:10 – 8:20 Break 
• 8:20 – 8:50 PM Showing and feedback from lead artists
• 8:50 – 9:00 PM Strike 
• 9:00 pm OUT

DAY THREE – Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025   | 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Schedule

• 5:00 – 5:15 PM WARM UP
• 5:15 – 7:15 PM Creation w/ assistance from lead artists
• 7:15 – 7:25 PM BREAK
• 7:25 – 8:25 PM Creation
• 8:25 – 8:55 PM WORK IN PROGRESS SHOWING / FEEDBACK WITH LEAD ARTISTS
• 8:55 – 9:00 PM Strike
• 9:00 pm OUT

DAY FOUR – Wednesday, December 3rd, 2025    | 2:00 PM – 8:00 PM

Schedule

• 2:00 – 3:30 PM  OPTIONAL OPEN SPACE REHEARSAL  
• 3:30 – 5:30 PM  Rehearsal 
• 5:30 – 6:00 PM Notes / Reset for top of show 
• 6:00 – 6:30 PM  BREAK 
• 6:30 – 7:00 PM  Doors Open  / Public Open / Reception  
• 7:00 – 8:00 PM  FINAL SHOWING + RECEPTION 

2025 MAP Live Teaching Artists

Movement Artist | Alejandro Perez

Alejandro Perez is a first-generation Mexican-American from Los Angeles, California, wherein he has been a tangible presence in the dance community and beyond, first seen performing internationally in a street dancing crew. He has been a dancer and a collaborator with Sidra Bell NYC, ISHIDA Dance, Dawsondancesf, Heidi Duckler Dance, Mike Tyus & Co, in addition to other companies throughout the United States. In recent years Alejandro has focused primarily on teaching opportunities. He has created and set works on California School for the Arts, LINES Ballet Training/Summer Program, for Youth America Grand Prix, and Joffrey Ballet Academy Training Program/Studio Company for winning Works 2025.

Voice Artist | Joanna Lynn-Jacobs
Joanna Lynn-Jacobs is a Los Angeles-based, classically trained vocalist, mover, and performer whose strong foundation in opera blends with folk, jazz, pop, and musical theater. She has performed in groundbreaking works such as The Comet/Poppea (as Poppea) at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA, Rhiannon Giddens and Michael Abels’ Omar at San Francisco Opera, and the U.S. premiere and tour of …(Iphigenia) by Wayne Shorter and Esperanza Spalding. Joanna also starred in the LA Philharmonic’s production of Meredith Monk’s ATLAS, and later toured the U.S. and Europe with Monk’s Cellular Songs.

Joanna is drawn to socially and environmentally conscious work, collaborating with Los Angeles-based groups like Street Symphony and Heidi Duckler Dance. Her performance practice is deeply informed by her lifelong love of movement, rooted in years of social partner dance including swing, salsa, and Argentine tango. She thrives in boundary-pushing productions that fuse music, movement, and multidisciplinary storytelling

Architecture | Jeff Morrical

Jeff Morrical is a Los Angeles based installation artist specializing in paper sculptures. With a background in architecture, and a masters from SCI-Arc, finding form, structure and pattern in everyday materials has always been a driving force in Jeff’s work. He uses drafting software to design 2-dimensional patterns and graphics on large custom sheets of paper that correspond with the 3-dimensional forms created through the folding process.

Raymond Ejiofor | Artistic Director

Raymond Ejiofor is a Gates Millennium Fellow and earned a Master of Public Health Policy from USC and his B.S. in Decision Science from Carnegie Mellon University. Raymond began his training under Judith Rhodes Calgaro in Arlington, VA, and at the Dance Theater of Harlem. Under the direction of Greer Reed, Ejiofor was a founding member of the August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble (AWCDE), which was named “25 to Watch” in 2012 by Dance Magazine. Ejiofor has danced and created works with Daniel Ezralow, Ryan Heffington, Chole Arnold, Aszure Barton, Lula Washington, Bryan Arias, Danielle Agami, Sidra Bell, Kyle Abraham, and Robert Battle. Ejiofor currently collaborates with various companies, including Ezralow Dance, LA Opera, Post: Ballet, and David Roussève/REALITY. Some of his credits include the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, MTV VMAs, American Music Awards, Audi, Hermès, Samsung, Apple, Beijing Dance Festival, and Lincoln Center: David H. Koch Theater. He has performed with artists such as P!NK, Sia, Katy Perry, Pharrell, Dua Lipa, The Weekend, 30 Seconds to Mars, and Daft Punk. He has worked on various major motion pictures, including Spirited, Bad Hair, and 80 For Brady, as well as TV shows like the Late Late Show with/ James Corden, Physical, and the Emmy-winning episode of Love Death + Robots. 

Choreography commissions include Heidi Ducker Dance, August Wilson Center Dance Ensemble, Berkeley Ballet Theater, and the Glorya Kaufman Performing Arts Center at Vista Del Mar.  His choreography can be seen in film and music videos for artists such as Little Boots, Robot Koch, GirlvBoy, and Oddnesse. Ejiofor also served as a choreography consultant for the Paper Doll Militia, touring aerial production “Warped”. Ejiofor was the 2023 Artist in Residence with Heidi Duckler Dance serving as a choreographer, curator, and collaborating creative producer for the organization. Currently, Ejiofor is the Artistic Director of Heidi Duckler Dance.