Approach
I don’t use one specific somatic approach. In an individual session I am coming into the work with curiosity and am flexible/open to follow what may come up. I may create a loom or a map for our work together, but it is important that it acts as a container for us to explore within.
My current 1:1 work (Individual Movement Education Sessions) is/are informed by my studies in Body-Mind Centering®, Improvisation, Somatic Trauma Therapy, Embodied Anatomy, Developmental Movement, Authentic Movement, and Restorative Practices. If you are interested in working with me 1:1 specifically for Pilates or Yoga, I can also support you with those modalities.
I also teach and guide classes and small groups in various somatic movement modalities including Restorative, Therapeutic, and Vinyasa Yoga, Pilates, Contact Improvisation, Post Modern Dance, Embodied Anatomy, Developmental Movement, and other Somatic Practices.
Lineage
The work I practice does not exist on its own.
It is part of a long history of many others before me and I gratefully acknowledge the work, wisdom, practice, and culture(s) of my teachers and mentors.
In understanding and honouring my lineage, I am continuing to learn and build reciprocity with myself, my body, my teachers/mentors and remember where I have come from.
I am a somatic movement educator, dance artist, improviser, place based/environmental educator. Although originally trained in and shaped by modern dance, I was drawn to post modern dance, contact dance and improvisational movement, and somatic practices. I practice and teach work that engage sensations, perceptions, attention, relations, and deep listening, and supporting embodiment and creativity in a more-than-human world. I am continuously drawn to work that allows for feeling, sensing, listening, supporting, moving, questioning, and transforming, rather than work/practices that manage, control, and overly structure. I am always learning and changing.
Many of the influential teachers I have directly studied with are listed here:
Body-Mind Centering (Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen)
My teachers: Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Amy Matthews, Sarah Barnaby, Tarina Quelho de Castro, Wendy Hambridge, Olive Bieringa, Otto Ramstad, K.J. Holmes, Naomi Sparrow, Lee Saunders, Diane Moore, Mariko Tanabe, Mark Taylor.
Contact Improvisation (Steve Paxton)
My teachers: Nancy Stark Smith, Martin Keogh, Scott Wells, Danny Lepkoff, K.J. Holmes, Peter Bingham, Andrew Harwood, The Body Cartography Project (Olive Bieringa/Otto Ramstad), Karen Kaeja, Allen Kaeja.
Post Modern Dance and Improvisation
My teachers: Simone Forti, Andrew Harwood, Nancy Stark Smith, Elizabeth Chitty, Marc Boivin, Lisa Nelson, The Body Cartography Project (Olive Bieringa/Otto Ramstad), K.J. Holmes, Eva Karczag, Holly Small.
Butoh based Dance Practices
My teachers: Denise Fujiwara, Vangeline France, Eiko and Koma.
Authentic Movement (Mary Starks Whitehouse, Janet Adler)
My teachers: Olive Bieringa, Tedi Tafel.
Open Source Forms (Stephanie Skura)
My teacher: Susanna Hood.
Material for the Spine (Steve Paxton)
My teacher: Otto Ramstad.
Alexander Technique (Frederick Matthias Alexander)
My teachers: Jennifer Scanlon, Susan Sinclair, Suzanne Liska.
Axis Syllabus (Frey Faust)
My teachers: Ruth Douthwright, Daniel Bear Davis.
Yoga (Vinyasa, Hatha, Iyengar, Restorative)
My teachers: Patricia White, Katherine Beet, Michael Siddall, Michael Stone, Ante Pavlovic, Kaustaub Desikachar, Cyndi Lee, Pat Harada Linfoot.
Pilates (Mat and Reformer)
My teachers: Margot McKinnon, Nancy McKinnon, Kim Krausher, Sagrario Castillo.
Modern Dance (Graham, Limon, Contemporary Barre)
My teachers: Patricia Beatty, Peter Randazzo, David Earle, Suzette Sherman, Pat Miner, Pat Fraser, Rosemary James, Kim Puil, Michael Trent, Coralee McLaren, Bill Coleman, Laurence Lemieux, Sharon Moore, Wendy Chiles, Sarah Stackhouse, Risa Steinburg, Holly Small, Jennifer Swan, Karen Hypes.
Trauma Studies
My teachers: Dr. Arielle Schwartz, Nkem Ndefo, Dr. Scott Lyons, Dr. Peter Levine, Deb Dana, Sherri Mitchell, Farzana Khan, Fresh Lev White, Kekuni Minton, Lisa Dian, Dr. Pat Ogden, Staci Haines, Dr. Albert Wong, Manuela Mischke-Reeds, Ruella Frank, Karine Bell, Susan McConnell, Dr. Sara King, Dr. Stephen Porges, Mark Taylor, Jane Okondo, Debra Clydesdale, Richard Sims, Bessel Van der Kolk.
Performance Studies, Site Specific Practices, Movement + Memoir, Writing
My teachers: Thomas DeFrantz, Alberto Guevara, The Bodycartography Project, Tina Madsen, Laura Levin, Laura Larson, Sara Porter, Petra Kuppers.
Voice
My teachers: Katherine Duncanson , Rachael Delano.
(Side note: I am also trained in the fields of Environmental Studies/Humanities, Environmental/Place-Based and Sustainability Education, Ecosomatics, Site Specific and Responsive Performance, Performance and Ecology, and Community Art Practice. Watch for an elaboration on my performance and academic work soon.)