CD Magazine #10

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MOVEMENT MENU: Discover your journey from somatic to ecstatic

conscious DANCER spring 2010 issue #10

movement for a better world

“ Yoga is the riverbank, dance is the flow.” –Micheline Berry at Exhale Spa

Yoga+Dance Facilitators give your practice room to move Convergence Biodanza

Embracing the intensity

Fresh Ganesh Shake your asanas with MC Yogi

PLUS: College credit to AXIS Amazing grazing Gyrotonics gets results

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conscious dancer | spring 2010

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Seane Corn and Michael Franti move the crowd on Earth Day in Los Angeles.

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Rolando Toro embraces his protégé Belisa Amaro.

FEATURES 14 Rolando Toro's Biodanza

We spoke with the poet of human encounter and learned about his vision for an embodied humanity, the meaning of "vivencias," and how the seven powers of Biodanza could transform healthcare as we know it. PHOTOS: clockwise From top: Barbara Bruckman / Courtesy of Biodanza / Trib LaPrade / www.flickr.com/photos/kendiala

article by karen mireau, interview by belisa amaro

20 Yoga Gets its Groove On

Teachers and facilitators get in the spirit as the yoga-dance fusion gains momentum. Music and laughter is what people are after as today's yoga studios become the movement centers of tomorrow. Hear what Shiva Rea, Dan Leven, Michael Franti, and Micheline Berry are discussing.

Departments

Dancers Rodney Bell and Sonsheree Giles from the AXIS Dance Company.

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9 Inspiration: Moving Art AXIS Dance Company pushes beyond physical boundaries to create performance magic. 11 WARMUPS • Letters to the Editor: Shareback • Baby Wearing: Bundle of Bounce • The Pulse with Aspen Madrone • Physical Integration on Campus • Debbie Rosas Stewart: The Body’s Business 26 VITALITY: Amazing Grazing Laura Cirolia thinks outside the lunchbox to pair up the best in portable snacktime munchies. 29 SOUNDS: MC Yogi Martin Tickle meets the rapping sensation who is making waves in the yoga world and beyond. 31 MOVEMENT MENU • Spring Highlights: Events worth traveling for • Book reviews: Linden's Last Life, Bridge Between Worlds, Arthur Fink Photography • CDs: Baka Beyond and David Starfire • DVDs: Women of Monday Morning and Nia opal • MixMaster: DJ Dragonfly 42 RESULTS: The Peaceful Wave Amity Hotchkiss discovers the freedom of fluid motion brought forth by Gyrotonics.

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conscious dancer | spring 2010

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ConsciousDancer.com

Photo: HOWARD HAMBURG

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hat you are now reading is a bold experiment. When we rolled the dice a few years ago, we were gambling on the growth of a movement, so we created a media garden where the flowers of conscious movement could bloom. From day one we have approached this enterprise with the spirit of reciprocity, asking readers, "What is our unique value to you?" and asking ourselves, "How can we better serve our readers’ needs?" If you’re a subscriber, hats off to you for your individual vote of support. Someone may have passed along their copy to you, making you one of the three or four people who read each magazine. Or perhaps you picked up a complimentary copy somewhere special like a retreat center or a community dance venue. No matter where you got your copy, our goal is that you remember this magazine, and either hang on to it for future reference,

or pass it along to inspire a friend. We're confident that Conscious Dancer supports the growth of a movement. Longtime ambassador Steve Bollinger notes that "Over the long run these magazines go a long way in building dance community." Three years ago the Reno/Tahoe area had one community dance; now there are four. It's a simple equation— when our advertisers hear from our readers, the magazine and the movement grow. We have really exciting plans for 2010 and they include you! We're collecting the

STAFF

CO NT R IBUTO R S

founders & publishers Mark

Metz & Aspen Madrone Metz Creative Director Aspen Madrone Quantum Communications Laura Cirolia graphic Design Melissa White Senior Editor Rachel Trachten Associate Editor Mariana Thorn Editorial interns Fiona Ramus & Chaska Adams Staff writers Laura Cirolia, Efrain Correal, Mariana Thorn, Rachel Trachten, Aspen Madrone Staff photographers Laura Cirolia & Tyler Blank Sales and marketing Mark Metz Webmaster Steve Shaw IT angel Luis Echeverria Licensing Efrain Correal Printing American Web, Inc. Editor-in-Chief Mark

mark@consciousdancer.com Ad Sales ads@consciousdancer.com Circulation circulation@consciousdancer.com Subscribe www.consciousdancer.com Editorial

other Inquiries & submissions

info@consciousdancer.com PO Box 2330, Berkeley, CA 94702 (510) 778-9131 Conscious Dancer is a quarterly active lifestyle magazine that celebrates transformative dance, mind-body fitness, and energy movement arts. Conscious Dancer does not endorse any specific modality, practitioner, or product. Please consult a health professional before attempting any new movement activities or health regimens. Conscious Dancer disclaims any liability for loss or injury in connection with activities portrayed or advice given herein. Please send all editorial mail, manuscripts, letters to the editor, and address changes via email or to our Conscious Dancer address listed above. © 2010 Moving Arts International. Printed in the USA with post consumer-waste content using soy-based inks. Please reuse and recycle. All rights reserved.

Checking In

best-of-the-best journeys and events worth traveling for into a super Summer Travel Special. What's your destination? In September, we're tackling teacher trainings, the phenomenon that fuels the spread of conscious movement. Who was your mentor? And in December, we're covering fitness and sacred dance. How do you put the fun into fitness? What makes dance sacred to you? It takes thousands of conversations to create a magazine. We invite each of you to chime in; your inspiration, insights, and advice are the raw material from which our stories and profiles emerge. We owe each of you a huge helping of gratitude, so thanks for planting the seeds! In Movement

mark metz,

Editor-in-Chief

Daniel Leven, RSMT, is founder of Leven Institute of Movement Therapy, LIFE Movement. Daniel has developed two approaches to body-mind wellness, Shake Your Soul® and SomaSoul®. A former professional dancer and program director at Kripalu, where he cofounded Kripalu Danskinetics,™ Daniel leads workshops and professional trainings at Omega Institute, Kripalu Center, and Rhythms, his center in Massachusetts. He is faculty at the BodyCentered Gestalt Training Program in Hartford, CT. www.leveninstitute.com Karen Mireau’s film and television projects have aired internationally on NBC, PBS, and Cartoon Network. As a creative literary agent, Karen has assisted others in manifesting their dreams for more than 25 years. She specializes in media, publishing, and uncommonly good marketing. In 2008, she founded Bio.Graphia in response to the growing interest in memoir. Bio.Graphia combines sensitive interviewing with literary expression to create lasting family histories and life portraits. www.biographia2008.blogspot.com Belisa Amaro pioneered Biodanza in the U.S., and is founder and director of the San Francisco School of Biodanza. Her program is the only certified Biodanza school in the country. As a Biodanza facilitator and trainer, she has witnessed the growth and evolution of this system that combines music, dance, and chanting with community. Born in São Paulo, Belisa brings to her work her passionate Brazilian soul and her impulse for genuine connection. She interviewed Rolando Toro for the Biodanza feature. www.biodanza.us Amir Magal’s work as a director, photographer, illustrator, and designer has taken him on extraordinary assignments to distant corners of the world. He has explored the full range of human expression while attempting to capture and convey the ecstasy and inner turmoil that unites us all. In the merging of athletics, dance, culture, and fashion, Amir finds his niche. By pushing the envelope technically and vibrantly, he allows the images to pierce through pop culture clutter and nourish our chaotic minds. www.amirimage.com COVER > Micheline Berry with Domonic Dean Breaux of Shaman´s Dream World Music Ensemble. PHOTO > Taken by Amir Magal at Exhale Spa in Venice Beach, CA. conscious dancer | spring 2010

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SKIRTS TO THROW ON OVER YOUR PANTS • TO TAKE YOU FROM STUDIO TO STREET • TO COVER-UP OR ACCENTUATE

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conscious dancer | spring 2010

inspiration In that moment in time I am present for you, with my all, to celebrate the uniqueness of ability. I honor dance the only way I know how – Ko te hi, Ko te ha.* – Rodney Bell, AXIS dancer

Moving Art

Photo: Andrea Flores

AXIS Dance Company raises the bar with performances that integrate abilities on stage and in class.

Sonsheree Giles and Rodney Bell perform in Vessel, choreographed by Alex Ketley. Bell's name in his native Maori is Tawera, which means “the dawning.” He is a member of the Ngati Maniapoto tribe from Te Ika a Maui, the north island of Aotearoa (New Zealand). Giles is originally from New Orleans, LA. * Maori for "with each breath"

Shareback playful invitation

Thank you for your inspiring article “Gathering Potential.� It gives me valuable insights into healing my holiday gloom. Through Geneva’s eyes, I feel invited to awaken my own living-room memories and to share the simple joys of movement with those less likely to dance without a playful invitation. I particularly welcome the support offered to help shift perspective and work through triggers of anxiety associated with family gatherings. Again and again, you encourage readers to trust their gut response and reach out to connect. It reminds me of the shy little girl looking at her image in the mirror and waiting for the mirror to make the first move. In making the first move, I feel a young Geneva awakening in me too. Dance IS a great metaphor for the holiday season and a reminder that we are all indeed going HOME, so we might as well enjoy the dance and celebrate a bit of heaven here on earth. Joyfully, Ali Cayenne Miller

metaphysically linked

I found the whole magazine an inspiration—the quality of the articles and the beauty of the ads. I had no idea there was CSFFNB DPN this whole dance community out there that is so metaphysically linked! You are talking about all kinds of dance that I’ve never heard of and even I, who sometimes am not very coordinated, feel like dancing after reading through it.

Sacred JourneyDance & Shamanic Ritual March 28 - April 2, 2010 Esalen Institute, Big Sur, CA www.esalen.org or 831-667-3005 Join Toni & Sanjivani for the ultimate synergy of sacred fire and healing water, inviting transformation through shamanic journeying in dance and healing ceremonies.

Santa Cruz & San Francisco Saturday April 3rd, 7 - 9pm Pacific Cultural Ctr, Santa Cruz www.pacificcultural.org Sunday April 4th, 1 - 3pm Yoga Tree, San Francisco www.yogatreesf.com

JourneyDance Teacher Trainings April 22 - 26th: Boston July 18 - 23rd: Kripalu Sep 12 - 17: Esalen Institute www.journeydance.com

Rev. Sandra Gelinas

Fletcher, NC

conscious dancer | spring 2010

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much needed hub

Much appreciation to Conscious Dancer for providing a platform of resources through their magazine that celebrates and encourages everything that we are committed to at Turning the Wheel—connection, collaboration, and service—within and beyond the movement arts community. A long awaited and much needed hub! Elizabeth Yochim

Director, Turning the Wheel Los Angeles, CA

we love hearing from you! Find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, or send an old-fashioned email to mark@consciousdancer.com 10

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March Esalen Weeklong

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Bundle of Bounce

The ancient tradition of "baby wearing" returns with modern marvels of portable parenthood. It's never too early to share the joy of movement with your new arrival and stay connected with your community. Today's options are ergonomic, eco-friendly, and offer a fit for everyone. You can protect your baby's hearing, support baby's head, and enjoy your rhythm and motion too.

super snuggly > Moby Wrap Great for securing your baby, and for fitting different body types (shown above). This long, versatile piece of fabric allows your baby to go in five different positions. Worth the time to understand how to adjust. You can choose a variety of styles, such as the nifty UV protection wrap, to keep the sun from harming your cute and sensitive little one. (from $39.95) www.mobywrap.com

Photo: www.flickr.com/photos/madeline / Courtesy One Hundred Skies

cozy cruiser > New Native Organic Baby Carrier Made with 100% organic cotton, and is comfy, soft, and good for the environment. Sized to fit and works in different positions as the baby grows. Fun prints, colors, can match with your clothes and act as an accessory. Great for earth-conscious parents, and socially aware babies! (from $54) www.newnativeinc.com

Fitness favorite > ERGO Baby Carrier This is excellent for hands-free baby carrying. Adjustable straps allow for use as a backpack or front pack, with a great back strap to better support you. Provides great security for activities such as hiking, dancing, going to parties. Good for weight distribution, and “ergonomic” for different sizes. (from $105) www.ergobabycarriers.com

Fashionista's Delight > Rockin’ Baby Sling This is fashionable, fun, lightweight, and comfy. It is reversible, and features a variety of “diva” style fabrics that loop into two rings, with a handy pocket for keys/phone, baby toys etc. (from $65) www.rockinbabysling.com

precious cargo > Peltor Kids Ear Muffs These ear muffs provide excellent sound protection for your little one. Protects against harmful noises, and can be used with infants and toddlers. Easier than earplugs, as it is form fitting and stays on snug. It also eliminates the concern about choking associated with earplugs. (from $18.95) www.envirosafetyproducts.com

The music pulsates, my head folds to my knees, and swish, I am in Downward Dog as Janet Stone invites class members to move to their inner rhythm. At Yoga Tree in San Francisco, she leads a fluid yoga class, with moments of freeform dance taught to live music. This fusion gives me the freedom to express my creativity as a dancer, while the yoga provides comforting structure. For me, inversions symbolize the mind emptying and the release of the weight of being human by giving in to gravity. Yoga is a perfect balance to my dance practice and my work as an entrepreneur. During magazine production crunch time, I reach for Perelandra Essences to keep my energy grounded, and I drink Ola Loa vitamin packets to fortify my immune system. The best remedy is rest and relaxation, and Bella Luna Yoga is a wonderful choice. They offer facilitators an affordable vacation at resorts around the world in exchange for teaching. Or, teachers can create their own retreat with ease by allowing One Hundred Skies to deal with the logistics. Let’s share a bodily experience soon; perhaps at Rancho La Puerta for the perennial favorite Soul Motion or at an embodied festival like Wanderlust. It feels like six degrees of separation, as Conscious Dancer magazine rolls along the Cosmic Highway serendipitously arriving at ecstatic dances in Australia or with guests at Findhorn in Scotland. It’s gratifying to watch the movement gain momentum. Is this the tipping point? I am excited about the future of my dancing family and grateful for receiving external affirmations of sacred commerce and building a foundation of support. Each copy of the magazine gets passed hand-to-hand; how far will your copy fly? Dance, Share, Love! conscious dancer | spring 2010

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Mixed Abilities Dance Class at CSU East Bay, taught by Eric Kupers.

AXIS Inspires Acceptance on Campus Dancers, choreographers, and teachers are expanding the language of movement. The definition of dance is diversifying in education as abilities integrate into a new body language. Beginning Modern will never be the same. – By Rachel Trachten “It’s nearly impossible for a disabled dancer to get a degree in dance.” These are the words of Judith Smith, artistic director of the acclaimed AXIS Dance Company, in which professional dancers with and without disabilities take the stage together. AXIS is blazing a trail into the university system through workshops, master classes, and performances at schools across the country. But until universities offer a specific curriculum of physically integrated dance (inclusive of disabled and non-disabled dancers), entrée to the world of academic dance will continue to depend on having a friendly supporter within the department. Jackie Heinz, who has muscular dystrophy and uses a wheelchair, minored in dance at the University of Northern Iowa and now owns and teaches at a dance studio. Heinz credits supportive professors with bringing her into the program and adapting it to her needs. “They worked hard on modifying what needed to be modified,” she says, “and they were good at pushing me to do everything.” One accommodation, a “tap table,” allowed Heinz to dance with her hands, wear- “I’m interested in ing tap gloves rather than tap shoes. Yulia Arakelyan, also a challenging the rigid wheelchair user, was inspired after taking a summer course qualifications–about in integrated dance with University of Washington Assistant Professor Jürg Koch. With Koch’s support, she went ability, size, age, on to earn a dance degree from the university, and today race, and gender– teaches creative movement at an elementary school.

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conscious dancer | spring 2010

Photo: Diane Daniels

that dancers often

Other schools receptive to integrated dance include have to fit in order UCLA and Texas Woman’s University, where choreographer Alex Spitzer became the first wheelchair user in to be professionals.” the world to earn a four-year B.A. in dance. In Northern California, dance professor and choreographer Eric Kupers is collaborating with AXIS, and working to develop a program he calls Dance for All Bodies and Abilities. Kupers, who teaches at Cal State University East Bay and co-directs Dandelion Dancetheater, brings AXIS dancers to Cal State to teach classes, and hopes to be able to offer a bachelor’s degree in integrated dance. “I’ve been actively engaged in working with more body diversity in dance,” says Kupers. “I’m interested in challenging the rigid qualifications—about ability, size, age, race, and gender—that dancers often have to fit in order to be professionals.” Judith Smith sees some cause for optimism. “The definitions of what dance is and who a dancer is are still unfortunately narrow in most of the university systems,” she says, “but that is also changing slowly.” High marks to those dance departments leading the way in rethinking these definitions, and heads-up to those who haven’t yet opened their doors. “Hopefully,” says Arakelyan, “in the near future all dance departments will be open to dancers with many different body types.”

the body’s business

By Debbie Rosas Stewart

Sacred Livelihood What does it mean to be “sacred”? The definition of sacred is “Devoted to an exclusive use, purpose, or person.” The word sacred reminds me to “live bigger,” to recognize my life as something profound and valuable. When I relate to myself as sacred, I realize every choice and action I make is a divine act.

What does it mean to Create A Sacred Livelihood? Every aspect of your life—your work, your play, your dance—is a vehicle for sharing your personal gifts with the world. As a unique and sacred being, what you express is the product, or service, of the business of your life. In Nia, we call this “Creating a Sacred Livelihood.” Begin by identifying your purpose and recognizing that everything you do, every word you speak, is a direct extension of your purpose and a vehicle for your greatness. The returns for all you share include both financial and intangible rewards, such as inspiration, love, and a deep sense of fulfillment. Collectively, we call these returns your Cosmic Salary. When you align your choices and actions with your purpose, you are in the business of Creating a Sacred Livelihood.

How do you Create a Sacred Livelihood? Look inside and explore your purpose. What unique gifts do you bring to the world? Discover your purpose and use it as your guide, as your North Star, directing you to the greatness only you, a sacred being, can share.

Create Your Declaration of Purpose! In a journal, complete the sentence “I am sacred, and my life’s purpose is to…” Refine your purpose into a single sentence. Rewrite your sentence three different ways. Integrate your sentences and write it again. Tips: Choose words with clarity. Eliminate methodology, i.e., the “how” of what you do.

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How I do it: What is my purpose? My purpose is to help people feel to heal. To watch a video on Creating Your Sacred Livelihood and download a beautiful free Sacred Livelihood scroll, visit http://tinyurl.com/y8fks8y.

Beach Dance

Photo: Dr. Tony Macasaet MacaSTAT.com

where movement, music and nature merge

S p r i n g T i m e I n v i tat i o n Flowers emerge from seeds beneath the earth. Is the sun asking you to rise? Tendrils of new growth unfurl. Are you uncoiling into the warmth? Roots burrow deeper into the soil. How are you connecting to the ground? Ice thaws into running water. Where does your stream flow? Flowers bloom in a riot of color. Which shade is your mood today? The wind blows clouds into trails of mist. Can you rise as high as your dreams? Springtime is asking you to dance. Will you be her partner?

Ecstatic Dance Events May – September Move and be moved by the experience. Come dance this summer on the shores of Cannon Beach, Oregon. 503.860.7711 •

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conscious dancer | spring 2010

13

Meet the poet of human encounter. The beloved legend Rolando Toro on his signature practice, his hope for humanity, and the meaning of life.

biodanza!

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biodynamic

B

iodanza, or “dance of life,” embraces over 100,000 enthusiastic followers, but it is more than just an uplifting dance modality. Created by clinical psychologist, poet, and painter Rolando Toro Areneda, this visionary system integrates music, movement, and authentic human connection. Over the past 50 years, Biodanza has blossomed, and now boasts 150 schools in 54 countries with over 2500 certified facilitators. Why all the buzz? “The essence of Biodanza is universal,” says certified practitioner and facilitator Michelle Macek, who has firsthand experience of the cross-cultural appeal of Biodanza. Macek first experienced Biodanza in South Africa, later training with Rolando Toro in Brazil and Italy. “[Biodanza] provides a safe space for people to journey to a more joyful self through dance,” says Macek. “Your whole life is fused with peace and joy.” She began as a facilitator with hospice patients in Zambia and is now a certified practitioner and facilitator in the Washington, D.C., and New York City areas. Biodanza teaches people to live by putting life in the center and communicating this through the experience of what Toro called the vivencias. By integrating five core aspects of human potential—vitality, sensuality, affectivity, creativity, and transcendence—Biodanza allows the whole body to be restored to a state of unity. It is a healing method that connects us deeply and profoundly to life and its power. The concept behind Biodanza arose while Toro was chair of expressive arts at the Pointifical University of Chile in the 1960s. He then developed his methodology and a theoretical model while studying psychiatric patients at the University of Chile and the Psychiatric Hospital of Santiago. The

ARTICLE BY Karen Mireau INTERVIEW BY belisa amaro

Opposite: Belisa Amaro with her mentor; a teachers training workshop in Oakland, CA. Above: Grandson Alejandro Balbi Toro makes contact at the South Africa Encounter, 2008; scenes from the San Francisco School of Biodanza.

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conscious dancer | spring 2010

ONE on ONE with Chile’s poet of Insights and inspiration from the eternal optimist whose mission was to show us how to fall in love with life. What is the essence of Biodanza? TORO: Biodanza is the poetry of human

encounter. Biodanza is a system of integration of the human potential. At the core of Biodanza is a profound respect for all life. We are light, love, courage, beauty. When we are with other people we don’t generally look into their hearts. We don’t perceive the happiness, the sadness, the suffering—we seldom really look. When we do, we realize the most precious thing —that each of us is part of a totality. That realization changes the way we live our lives.

What inspired you to create Biodanza? TORO: It was through the profound darkness

that I witnessed during the Second World War. At the time, I was a professor of medicine at the Centre of Medical Anthropology in Chile, looking for educational ways by which the

human race could be helped to move forward. But I was also very aware that education was actually part of the problem and that schools and universities were in league with our individualistic, ego-based society. The film The Wall, with the Pink Floyd song “Another Brick in the Wall,” portrays this so well. Biodanza arose in my personal experience, and soon I discovered that its structure could be based in the life sciences and most particularly in biology. I believe that there were many forces manifested within me to finally create this coming together of art, science, and love. Everyone, for centuries, had heard about “love for our fellow man” as the purest truth of Christianity. The manifestation of human behavior, however, had become increasingly dissociated and violent. Music was the universal language, the only thing everyone could understand in the Tower of Babel of the world. Dance was the ideal form capable of integrating body and soul. The dance experience offered all participants

Photos: previous spread: clockwise from bottom left: Cesar Cortes / Courtesy san francisco school of biodanza / Loanna Hoffman / Cesar Cortes

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model grew with the introduction of new exercises and the description and measurement of the neuropsychological effects of the exercises on different clinical conditions. Toro found that by combining the mythological power of music and dance, he could awaken a consciousness for universal solidarity and help participants recover their joy and vitality. Belisa Amaro, executive director of the San Francisco School of Biodanza elaborates: “The beauty of this is that no dance experience is necessary,” she says. “Biodanza classes have a lot of rhythm in the beginning to ground you. They then evolve to trance-like states that allow deep connection with self, others, and the universe.” Although Toro based the structure of Biodanza in the life sciences, and particularly biology, it is much more than a science-based dance modality. Biodanza is an expressive arts system whose schools follow a rich curriculum. Facilitators undergo an intensive three-year training program. Students attend workshops for 26 weekends, read scientific papers, write a thesis and, after that, complete six months as a practitioner under the supervision of another teacher. Today, Biodanza is taught for adults, children, teenagers, and elders. The practice offers benefits for executives as well as populations at risk. Biodanza also has many clinical applications and is a valuable tool for stress management, and caring for those with Parkinson’s Disease, cardiac problems, and high blood pressure. The practice of Biodanza encompasses two-hour weekly classes as well as weekend workshops. The experience is primarily nonverbal, which fosters participants’ connection regardless of their socio-cultural background. Advanced classes can be intense; experienced facilitation is essential. But at the core of Biodanza is a profound respect for all life. “He was a human being in constant evolution,” says Amaro, speaking affectionately of Toro. Until his passing at age 85, Toro continued to paint, write, play piano and lute, and travel extensively, serving as a vibrant embodiment of the life-boosting benefits of Biodanza.

5 ways we are alive “What do you desire from life?” Rolando Toro asked this question to hundreds of Chilean university students and Biodanza groups in his extensive research to develop the vivencias. Here are his definitions of each of the aspects that provide experiences of the intense perception of being alive in the present moment.

“I want to feel healthy.”

Vitality First is vitality or the energy available to live. We are the result of our fragmented civilization, which obliges us to be hypocrites and live in a false way. We lose sight of our real identity. Biodanza provides a group of exercises geared to restoring our integration, which restores our vitality. This is pure health.

“I want to enjoy pleasure.”

Sensuality The second mode is sensuality, or our access to pleasure and our capacity for enjoyment. Generally speaking, we place an embargo on our erotic feelings and hide behind a code of “proper” behavior. This gives rise to serious conflict. Biodanza exercises awaken our sensuality.

“I want to create.”

Creativity The third group is creativity, the expression of our identity in art, to communicate with the language of the soul. Not just in the aesthetic

sense, but a deep creativity that transforms our lives. We need to place our creativity at the service of life! That’s when it really flows and you become the true protagonist of your life.

“I want to love and be loved.” Affectivity The fourth mode I call

affectivity, which is the capacity for love. Most of us find love so dangerous! Affectivity, though, is not only personal love. It is the ability to love all living things: plants, animals–even the universe.

“I want to connect with the essence of life.” Transcendence The fifth mode is transcendence, which is the ability to see and feel further than the immediate, to experience our personal relationship with the totality. It is the acknowledgment of our own sacredness. The set of exercises that relate to this mode result in ecstasy and an expansion of consciousness.

human encounter: ROLANDO TORO happiness, tenderness, and strength. I also wanted to communicate this experience to a large number of people. From both these experiences and sensations, my desire to form small groups of people to dance, sing, and meet within the music arose. Biodanza became a way to share what was marvelous, together with others.

What happens during a Biodanza class that is different from other modalities?

fond Farewell to our dear friend and mentor Rolando Toro, who passed away as we finalized this issue, on the evening of February 16, 2010. We are honored and grateful that we were able to speak with him one last time.

Photo: courtesy Rolando Toro

TORO: Biodanza has about 250 exercises and

dances whose purpose is to activate human movements in a harmonic and integrative way. In Biodanza, we integrate our motor dissociation, produced by a dissociated culture, to return the body to a state of unity. We integrate the three subsystems that operate our large system: nervous, endocrine, and immune. We start by listening to a song, responding with movement, awakening our perception, dancing with emotion. The movement gets organized and the neurologic pathways of our brains also become organized.

“ It is the ability to love all living things: plants, animals, even the universe.” – Rolando Toro (1924–2010)

conscious dancer | spring 2010

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I created a methodology that is being used in many schools in Europe. It’s Biocentric Education. The goal in these schools is “to prepare students for the challenges of the third millennium.” Biocentric Education is to teach to live. To put life in the center and teach this through experience, what we call vivencias. Biocentric education puts life in the center, gives it priority. We now know that environments can suppress or stimulate the expression of our natural genetic potentials. This is the epigenetic science that we teach in Biocentric Education. During a class an acceleration of integrative processes happens through vivencias with music and dance in a group context.

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conscious dancer | spring 2010

TORO: When one receives external stimuli

that can mobilize his body and his action, a “vivencial” integrative process is produced. Many of the body’s illnesses come from the toxic aspects of our existence, our lifestyles. What Biodanza does with its exercises and dances is stimulate vivencias.

You are a very optimistic person, but is humanity really waking up for ecological consciousness? TORO: Our civilization acts miserably. We

humans have a lot to evolve still. We kill for “spiritual” reasons. We value intelligence over affectivity… The world known only by intelligence is limited. Decartes says, “I think, therefore I am.” We need to say: “I love, therefore I am.” I know I exist

Tell us about the slogan “Biodanza, the pedagogy of love.” TORO: Biodanza is about feeling the inten-

sity of the moment. If we are in the here and now, then life becomes fantastic and every moment is full of enchantment. I believe each embrace, each genuine dance with the other, is capable of eliminating a gun, perhaps even a bomb. The only bomb we need is the atomic bomb of love. We are an organ of our planet; we are not to dispose of it, to give priority to our economic interests.

Is practicing Biodanza a political act? TORO: Not traditionally, but in the human-

ist sense. A political act for me is to walk holding hands with a friend in the streets, to embrace other fellow human beings, to exchange gazes with people in the streets. The generosity is a political act. The wars are the expression of an affective imbecility of our times. The only way to stop them is to teach people to feel, to love. It is essential to develop humanity’s affectivity. That is the action. To feel and dance.

THE 7 POWERS OF BIODANZA REVEALED

The Musical Power • The Integrating Dance Power • The Vivencial Methodology Power • The Caress Power • The Trance Power • The Consciousness Expansion Power • The Group Power •

The pedagogical and therapeutic success of Biodanza is given by its effects on the organism as a whole and by its existential rehabilitative power. Each one has a transformative effect, and if linked to each other, following a scientific theoretical model, they constitute eco-factors with extraordinary effects, able to influence our genetic programming lines.

Photo: Cesar Cortes

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Tell us more about your concept of vivencias.

when I love. We need an intelligence that is affective. Affectivity is a state of deep affinity toward other beings, capable of originating feelings of love, friendship, altruism, maternity, paternity, and companionship. However, opposing feelings such as anger, jealousy, insecurity, and envy can also be considered components of the complex phenomenon of affectivity.

You often refer to Biodanza as “the poetry of human encounter.” How so? TORO: The poetic interpretation is that Biodanza is a radical worldwide system that awakens our potential to live life fully. It is about falling in love with life. This means deepening our love for ourselves, our connections to others and to nature, and all that is through movement and music!

Can you explain the music? TORO: In Biodanza we select in accordance

with a system we call musical semantics. We look at the “theme,” the qualities of each song, if the song is sad, joyful, melancholic, enthusiast, if it awakens self-confidence. The musical semantics is a study of the emotional content of the music. It costs us a lot of technical work to select the songs that are appreciated for the dances we propose.

How many people practice Biodanza today? TORO: Biodanza is now in 54 countries. We have about 150 schools teaching this system, more then 2,500 certified teachers, and an incredible number of teachers in [the process] of certification. I would say that currently more then 100,000 people practice Biodanza with regularity in the world.

To what do you attribute Biodanza’s growth? TORO: Biodanza offers people what they most want and need: to love and feel loved, to create, to perceive the sacred in nature, to enjoy the pleasure of life, experiencing it as a wonderful miracle. Biodanza awakens our generosity, our empathy for others, our interest in social justice. The lack of social justice is an illness. Yet, social justice cannot be obtained through ideologies or through institutions. What we need is to develop deep feelings of love for others, feel them as equals (semellantes in Spanish), so we do not hurt them. Ethics can only be reached with love.

What else do you do these days besides Biodanza? TORO: I have my atelier where I paint. I am

taking photography classes as well as piano classes. And I love to play the lute. I have written six books of poetry and books about Biodanza. At 85 years old, I am busy. Biodanza continues to evolve and there is still much work to do! conscious dancer | spring 2010

19

“ The Hindus call it sahaja, a spontaneous realization of the divine flow.�

Yoga gets its shiva REA i visionary firekeeping yogini How do you see yoga and dance integrating now?

In some ways, what is happening now is what has always been. In the United States, dancers knew about yogasanas and Indian classical dance long before the American public did, going all the way back to Ruth St. Denis and Martha Graham to Indian dance choreographers like Chandralekha putting yoga on the stage. The most fertile grounds for the union of yoga and dance for me are in the freeform dance community that Conscious Dancer supports or even in communities like center camp in Burning Man. The American yoga world needs more connection to the REA:

elemental raw energy of nature in order to manifest the creative force of kundalini shakti. The Hindus call it sahaja, a spontaneous realization of the divine flow. How are you verbalizing the yin of yoga and the yang of dance nowadays?

I can orient anyone to this basic pulsation of life as the place in which the dance of the body emerges just using the language of expand and contract, inward and outward, coil and release. In yoga, yin is referred to as inward movement or langhana and outward movement or yang is called brahmana.

REA:

When people learn from you, where are they taking it?

The beauty of our school of flow arts is that we have people from diverse backgrounds. We have graduates of our teacher training who

REA:

Asanas are flowing off the mat, as the yin of yoga and the yang of dance form a perfect union. Is it time to give your practice some wiggle room?

f

acilitators are shaking up their practice, turning up the tunes, and letting their sahaja loose. The reciprocal flow between yoga and dance comes of age in a magical merging of bodies in motion. Around the globe, studios are recognizing the trend and supporting the convergence by adding sound systems, using circular mats, and inviting musicians—the goal is to create a welcoming container for expression and connection. “People want joy!” is how Dan Leven puts it, and we couldn’t agree more. We invited eight luminaries from the leading edge of movement to share some history, forecast the future, and tell their stories from the inside out. Welcome to the fertile ground where yoga and dance are blooming. Namast-Yay!

groove on are teaching yoga at the university level, as part of their own dance program, or who include yogatrancedance in their yoga studio or school. Both fields now recognize how important it is to dance if you are a human being on the path and how every movement can flow as yoga. How do you introduce people to the external flow of dance vs. the internal practice of yoga? REA: I just bypass people’s outer mind and talk directly to their cells. The core energy of the cells is not biased. The cells are born dancing and they need help. They want to be happy and literally have freedom to dance in the body. Coax the cells to dance. It works every time. When you grow up in the West you have to learn how to devour the root of your own

inhibitions and two thousand years’ worth of conditioning. We can all be translators or poets of the nonverbal world of movement, the one language everyone shares. Describe your personal journey.

My father gave me the godname Shiva—after Nataraja—the Cosmic Dancer of the Universe. I remember being delighted as I love-love-loved to move. Imagine that your name in Greek means “ecstatic dancer” or in Swahili “dancer of the sky.” When you are a little person, this thrills you and gives you permission to dance. For me, it meant dance all the time, in grocery stores, on tables at parties, and for hours and hours in my own lil’ dancing universe. Then I read that Shiva was also the Lord of Destruction. I got that spontaneous freedom

REA:

in my dance from the pulse of the streets of San Francisco as a little girl. It was raging. It was very Shiva—dancing not destruction but instead the dissolution of old structures that had to go. I am still finding out if the eccentric Granddaddy of Shakti James Brown is right when he says “you can solve any problem with dance.” A form called “yogatrancedance” gradually emerged from my body like a rising force of healing expression that has changed my life by simply opening to the sahaja or spontaneous flow. This is the understanding within yoga: consciousness, life, everything we see and don’t see is arising from the creative pulsation of life. Om Namah Shivaya!

DAN LEVEN i somatic innovator & founder of the leven institute

“In the spirit of fusion, Kripalu DansKinetics was born.”

F

rom 1979 to 1984, I was a resident of Kripalu Center, and fell in love with yoga and the yogic lifestyle we were living. In those days it actually was Kripalu Ashram. We woke at 5 a.m. for yoga, meditation, and chanting before we did our work or seva (the Sanskrit term for work as selfless service). Seva lasted till dinnertime and after dinner we had satsang, which included chanting, and if the guru (Amrit Desai at that time) was present he would give a talk. My favorite part of satsang was either dancing with total abandon to Sanskrit chanting or playing the drums as accompaniment. In the summer of 1980, Ken Scott, a dance teacher from Toronto, came with his family for a little

yogic vacation. He offered a Jazzercise-style aerobics class one evening, and many “ashramites” went nuts. From our idyllic, meditative, devotional community, hips started swirling and thrusting, arms swinging and punching, and sweat flowed from people’s pores! A very different movement expression than the mild to moderate style of yoga we did in those days. People were eager to jump out of their yogic baggy pants; women were putting on tights and leotards and leg warmers. A sort of yogic version of Flashdance. But since we were a monastic community, men had to dance on one side of the room and women on the other. We could only use music without sexual content, and soon there were dress codes enforced—nothing too tight, or too much skin exposed. Not exactly a Woodstock experience, but people’s spirit became unleashed, which was a perfect balance to the serious tone of the community.

Arriving at Kripalu in 1979 en route to work with a New York City dance company, I felt the need to let go of dance. I had a BFA in modern dance and believed that through competing and performing, I had lost the joy of dance. For a year the only dance I did was at satsang, just for myself, for the joy of it. In those days I experienced the yoga of dance, which occurred when my body felt spontaneously moved by the music. That process of being moved by music, by the rhythms and melodies, amplifies when you dance with a community that shares the same intent—to utilize the vehicle of dance as a means to deepen one’s connection to spirit or soul. This experience was a counterpoint to my years of performing in dance, which was about mastering the body versus connecting with the grace and power of the spirit. As a university dance student in the late’70s, my spiritual moment had come through the newly emerging modality of Contact Improvisation. One of my teachers introduced this new form in a modern dance class, and my reaction was a profound sense of energy flow within my body and a connectedness to others. The boundaries between members of the class dissolved, and the need to compare or compete with other students disappeared. The spread of Contact Improvisation was happening at just the same time that yoga and dance were merging in different ways around the world. At Kripalu, once Ken Scott broke the ice, I dove in and started teaching modern dance and improvisation. Kripalu DansKinetics eventually formed out of two very different paths: aerobic dance and modern dance/improvisation.

Michael Franti i Musician, activist, & yogi

“I always practice with music because it opens the heart.” In Swahili there aren’t separate words for music or dance; there’s just one word that means dance and music together. The two always have to go together. Yoga is a dance and a prayer. I first discovered this when my father passed away. There was a Krishna Das song that was on, and I just started crying and couldn’t stop, and I couldn’t stop listening to this song. Then I started listening to U2 while I was practicing one day, and I went through this whole period where I just listened to Krishna Das and U2 and I cried and grieved for my father, in fact for everything that was happening in my life at the time. It was a rough period. It totally transformed my life and my practice, the way I integrate it, my music, my spirituality, my reason, my yoga, my dance.

Backstage yoga with Michael Franti at the All Good Festival; Masontown, West Virginia, July 2005.

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conscious dancer | spring 2010

“It’s where the linear meets the circular and creates a really nice balance between the two energies.” Vinyasa flow celebrity Seane Corn.

Photo:

Seane Corn i Yoga ambassador

Levity and joy appear when yoga and dance come together.

The convergence of yoga and dance found a home at Kripalu. I remember that Swami Kripalu asked his disciple, Amrit, why people were yelling and crying during a workshop called an Intensive. It was a cathartic, psychological, and body-focused weekend workshop to free up people’s inner constraints and limitations. Amrit responded that it was important to find ways that Westerners could relate to the core principles of yoga. So, in the spirit of fusion, Kripalu DansKinetics was born. The Kripalu community had the perfect mindset to allow for the birth of the yoga of dance. There was ample commitment and sincerity behind people’s practice of yoga, their spiritual development through a body/movement discipline, and an openness to discover other body/movement disciplines. In fact, there was a movie of Swami Kripalu in India, spontaneously following the movement of prana or energy in the form of a dance of body positions and mudras, that looked like an improvised T’ai Chi flow. Also, Amrit developed what he called “posture flow,” which was a process where prana (or life force) would prompt the body-mind to choose what posture to move into, how deeply to go into it, how long to hold it, and what posture to move to next. Amrit had a gift for connecting to prana and expressing it through movement.

Photos: Previous Spread: Shiva Rea: Amir Magal / photo illustrations: Melissa White opposite: Dan Leven: courtesy leven institute / michael franti: Sam H. Friedman / seane corn: Norman Seef this page: Discovery Yoga: PaulConrath.com / courtesy Kripalu / .:PAn TRiNiTY.DAs

When the river of aerobics met the river of modern dance in the ocean of a yoga ashram, we couldn’t contain this incredible fusion and wanted

to bring it out to the world. A core group of us started leading Kripalu DansKinetics teacher trainings. Back then we all had Sanskrit names: I was Natraj, Ken was Nateshvar, Helaine Wolf was Ansuya, and Susan Camp was Anandi. Eventually Megha (Nancy Buttenheim) became involved in leading the teacher training at Kripalu. And Toni Bergins, a graduate of my DansKinetics training, developed her form of transformation through dance, called JourneyDance. The three of us will teach a Tribal Jam workshop at Kripalu over Memorial Day. After leaving Kripalu in 1984, I felt the loss of my spiritual home, and I needed to ground myself. I began studying movement disciplines that supported me personally and fueled my evolution of DansKinetics, which I trademarked as Shake Your Soul. I trained with Martha Eddy in her integration of Bonnie Cohen’s work of Body-Mind Centering with Laban Movement Analysis. I studied T’ai Chi and Qigong for a number of years, along with African and Afro-Caribbean dance. I’ve also been inspired by Emilie Conrad’s work. My current work has its grounding in reconnecting with our fluid body and our energy body. Body-Mind Centering codified a wonderful map of the fluid body that has become a grounding to my trainings. In 1994, Kripalu entered a time of turmoil and pain, when it was discovered that Amrit had been involved in inappropriate relationships with several disciples. Kripalu’s founder was asked to leave the community. Suffice it to say that 16 years later, Kripalu has grown stronger from its fall from grace. Kripalu DansKinetics lives on and thrives. A few years ago, its name was changed to Kripalu YogaDance. I love seeing how dance is growing. People want joy! They also want a movement experience that leads to greater mindfulness or consciousness. Being a conscious mover is what yoga is about; being a conscious dancer is what the yoga of dance is about. Any dance experience that fosters a mind-opening, spirit-awakening experience is embodying the yoga of dance. Yoga simply means union. If dance softens our excessively thinking heads and awakens the feeling consciousness of our bodies, we are in a state of union. Let’s all keep dancing. Find the dance, the music, the community that works for you. You will know when you are home, because your soul will share its inherent joy with you!

Serenity among the springtime blooms on the grounds at the Kripalu Center.

Students delight as Megha facilitates a workshop at Kripalu.

Megha Nancy Buttenheim Founder of let your yoga dance

“I never in my life thought I was ahead of my time back in the eighties, and now–WHOOOOSH! people are dancin’, people are yoga-ing, it’s all happening just as I dreamed.” conscious dancer | spring 2010

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FAITH McCLELLAN i journeydance trainer

“This is where my YogaDance experience begins!”

E

ven mountains need to move. Starting in mountain pose, I feel my body frozen and hardened against the heavy grip of winter. Outside, the wind cracks against branches; inside, the wind ripples through the crevices of my spine. My body feels held and brittle. My feet are callous and cemented to the earth. Today, this is where my YogaDance experience begins. From winter freeze, seeking the thaw of spring. I begin small: lift and spread the toes; root back down. Breathe up through feet to pelvis; open pelvis back down to earth. Lengthen spine to the sky. Breathe. Wait. Listen. Hear my body’s messages. Today my fingers call first. They form tight snowball fists transforming into starbursts. Finger sparks begin to ignite the wrists, which twirl and circle like fire-spinners. Elbows and shoulders start to play in space, popping and opening through the freeze. My mountain is beginning to crackle, unfreezing itself into a dance. Today, the deep freeze lives in my upper spine. I come into slow, tender, standing cat-cows. I inhale to invite in warmth and opening, exhale to hug in to the spine. It takes many breaths and patience, but

the warmth begins to grow. Now my spine is beginning to undulate like ocean waves, back body cresting like the tides, arms taking flight like seagulls. After a swell of breath, my body lowers into a forward fold and I hang out there for a while, feeling the torso like a waterfall pouring down fluid and breath. My knees and hips soften down into child’s pose and I find a dance with my arms and torso—curling and hugging in like a seed, then radiating out and forward. I think of the tenderness and tenacity of daffodils in late frost, growing even as the earth continues to thaw. My body is doing this now. Thawing. Growing. Reaching back to the sun. As I teach and practice yoga and dance, I find the two almost inseparable. It is hard for me to stay in any asana without awareness of the subtle dance that wants to emerge or to dance without spontaneous calls back to yoga. For me, both yoga and dance are about giving space for the spirit to move in and through the body. I cannot melt off winter, but winter can melt off of me. Like the mountain, I need simply to breathe, and let the rivers run down.

“Is it mind first? Is it body first? When we’re in that place of multidimensionality then we are truly functioning from all of the realms in an integrated way.” micheline berry i filmmaker, yogini, & founder of zendancing

“Yoga is the riverbank, dance is the flow.” Just as ocean waves ebb and flow, ripple and undulate, we too are designed to move in sensual and creative ways. By integrating somatic dance movements— in particular the circle, spiral, wave, and undulation—into your yoga practice, you will become strong yet supple and deepen the process of embodiment in your yoga sadhana. Just as yoga has the power to open up the body and its energy channels through structure and breath, dance has the power to generate a tremendous surge of creative energy (prana). Dance has the power to stimulate a free flow of vital energy through our body that activates yoga’s rejuvenating power, allowing us to stay embodied and supple at any age. 24

conscious dancer | spring 2010

Photos: From top: Mark L. Baer / Courtesy www.iambody.us / Amir Magal

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Yo g a E v e n t s SHIVA REA Prana Flow Immersion April 29 - May 2

ANA FORREST Forrest Yoga Intensive May 21 - 23

JUDITH LASATER Experiential Anatomy June 7 - 11

Restorative Yoga July 19 - 23 Studio Locations: VALENCIA

STANYAN

HAYES

CASTRO

1234 Valencia @ 23rd 780 Stanyan @ Waller (415) 387-4707 (415) 647-9707 519 Hayes @ Octavia (415) 626-9707

97 Collingwood @ 18th (415) 701-9642

y o g a t r e e s f. c o m

Visit for more information or email t e a c h e r t r a i n i n g @ y o g a t r e e s f. c o m

R e t r e a t i n Pa r a d i s e

vitality

Amazing Grazing

Chow down in greener pastures with global fare that’s kind to the earth and easy on your budget.

I

’m not a hunter; I gather. In the urbansuburban garden of my life, gathering food is more than eating enough to survive and storing the rest in my pantry. Preparing meals and snacks that build a healthy physical foundation and support the momentum of my life is an artistic endeavor. Super-fun, super-nutritive edibles offer trippy new tastes for my family’s varied needs and curious taste buds. A typical kid question, “What’s in this?” comes after taking a bite and usually with a smile. And the answer is often less than typical. So call forth your wild side, add a dash of humor, and take a culinary trip, on or off road. You’ll discover a new frontier of colorful ideas and flavor combos to amuse and satisfy your palate. First things first. I think it’s okay to have the munchies and snack when you’re hungry. And I take lightly the ever-changing food pyramid scheme. Learning to eat responsibly means choosing what and how much your body needs. Evolving a healthy outlook is a key part of growing up and can be accomplished without the proverbial parent taking away the yummy treats. Crunchy, salty, bitter, sweet, or savory. You can have it all, sans guilt when it is nourishing. Working up an appetite

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conscious dancer | SPRING 2010

and foraging for foods that really are food— still fresh, colorful, and full of life, points the way to being a conscious consumer. Have you noticed how far we’ve come from lunching on grilled cheese sandwiches? And in the snack department, we’ve really gone the distance. With a nod to Dr. Bronner, the original Willy Wonka of crunchy consciousness with his mineral- and manifesto-covered corn chips, there is an expanding, globally harvested selection of tasty, healthy-for-you grab-and-go’s. From Himalayan goji berries to Amazonian jungle peanuts, they make for amazing grazing. These lively new products have inspired chefs, entrepreneurs, and whole food enthusiasts to new culinary, albeit quirky, heights. Oodles of revolutionary, nutrientdense ingredients are just begging to be made into new classic recipes. Fun and simple to mix and match, these foods and snacks also travel well in a lunch bag or backpack. If you’re an active mover, you’ll appreciate the clever, satisfying, and hydrating combinations that green foodies are dreaming up. Chomping on something you really vibe with is an easy way to keep your inner child or other passengers gracefully declining un-happy meals en route. If you have dietary

restrictions or special circumstances and mealtime has been challenging, these snacks bring good news. Top allergens (wheat, gluten, dairy, corn, soy, eggs) are usually nowhere in sight. Fermented “sodas,” cultured veggies, and sprouted crackers offer energizing and rejuvenating fare, free of chemicals, overheating, and heavy processing that modifies foods to foodlessness. Plus, your digestive tract will thank you for the naturally occurring pre- and probiotics. A multinational, multidimensional food scene is emerging. “Super-Cuisine” is delicious and sophisticated, yet I can think of a few inedible surprises when I first began to play around with ingredients in this new way. Alchemical flops, because it’s alive, and not all flavors play well together. But all in good fun. My youngest daughter, who eats glutenfree, has been a fan of raw nut butters for years. Used in spreads or smoothies, these butters offer an easy, nutritious addition, and the umami flavor, that savory depth they add, makes an otherwise flighty snack quite satisfying. According to Jason Mahon, co-owner of the nut butter company Artisana, consumers are also getting savvy to the nutritional value of his products. “People are really catching

photos: Trey Ratcliff, www.stuckincustoms.com opposite page: www.flickr.com/photos/kendiala / www.istockphoto.com/sf_foodphoto

by Laura cirolia

on to the big difference in oils and fats,” he says. “They are recognizing healthy fats found in raw nut butters; walnut butter in particular is full of omegas.” From feeding your brain to nourishing your skin and hair, raw nut butters are an all-around smart choice and they mix and match well with fruits, veggies, and

grains. Tahini and honey is the new peanut butter and jelly. However you burn energy while moving about your life, take the opportunity to widen your culinary horizons, surprise your taste buds, and super-fuel up on a whole new array of guilt-free snack foods. Bon appetit!

®

C h o w D o w n i n G r ee n P a st u r es Art meets science on the picnic table as new tastes blend with traditional treats. The Conscious Dancer team got together for a snack party, and we’re excited to share our discoveries. Try out our favorite grab-and-go essentials, daring pairings, and triedand-true classics. For your snacking pleasure—whether you’re sharing with friends in a movement class, packing for dance camp, or just looking to jazz up those school lunchboxes—here are some scrumptious inspirations to satisfy body and mind.

A h h h PAIR S

Artisana Niu kinolau Ku

Kalpa Vriksha (Coconut The Tree Of life)

SATISFYING > Alive & Radiant Kale Chips and sprouted cashew spread with

GT’s Kombucha. Crunch and munch down on this trio of raw, organic taste sensations. REFRESHING > Pop Chips Salt-and-Vinegar with Simply Organic Creamy Dill Dip.

We love this crunchy, creamy, and sour mix of fun flavors. Perfect to pack for a party. UPLIFTING > Artisana Coconut Butter and bananas with Ayala’s Ginger Lemon Peel Herbal Water. Kudos to this amazing combo that should be in every kitchen. SAVORY > Eden Brown Rice Chips with Wildwood Raspberry Chipotle Hummus.

Who would have thought to add berries to hummus? This surprising combo is outstanding. SPICY > Garden-of-Eatin’ Red Hot Blue Corn Chips with avocado and lime.

Remember avocados, a classic superfood, full of healthy fat and protein to feed the brain. ELECTRIFYING > Kaia Foods Curry Sunflower Seeds with mandarin oranges.

A light and digestible combo that travels well. Surprising synergy between flavors. BITTERSWEET > Navitas Naturals Sweet Cacao Nibs and tangerines.

Double-up! This sweet-tart fruit adds a tangy note to pungent raw chocolate. EXTRAVAGANT > Gone Nuts Maple Walnuts with jicama and feta.

Add this combo to any salad and give your taste buds a happy meal at home or on the road. ENERGIZING > Stonyfield Oikos Yogurt and Lydia’s Sprouted Cereal.

Update this favorite with Greek yogurt, fruit, and exciting new raw granolas. GROUNDING > Lundberg Wasabi Rice Chips with Organic Valley Cottage Cheese.

Zesty chips and creamy cheese make this a delightfully satisfying snack. FULFILLING > Ezekial Sprouted Bread, Artisana Walnut Butter, Larrupin Mustard

Dill Sauce, Cultured Sauerkraut, and alfalfa sprouts. We love this faux Reuben

sandwich. Hands-down favorite!

G r a b - a n d - G o S TA F F FAVORI T E S SALTY > Pop Chips Barbeque • Barbara’s Cheese Puffs • Somersaults • Flat Earth

Veggie Crisps • Newman’s Own Salt and Pepper Pretzels • Mary’s Gone Crackers SWEET > Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss • Strawberry Crunchies • Navitas Naturals Cacao

Nibs • Ayala’s Herbal Water • Artisana Coconut Butter • Sambazon Elixir • YogaChips SAVORY > Transition Nutrition Bliss Mix • Muir Glen Black Bean Corn Salsa • Robert’s

American Gourmet Veggie Booty • Living Intentions Salad Booster • Santa Barbara Olives SOUR > GT’s Kombucha • Lifeway Greek Kefir • Woodstock Farms Baby Dill Pickles

Evolutionary Organic Creation crust: 1c each almond flour and flax flour. (grind separately in a vitamix or coffee grinder) try dark and light flax for taste preference 1/3 c. date paste (soak fresh dates a few minutes in water if need be, pit, and press firmly into measuring cup) ¼ c. Artisana coconut butter (not oil!) 1 c. raisins (mannuka or red flame. Look for raisins not coated with oils, ie safflower oil) ½ tsp. cinnamon reserve ½ c. raisins. Blend all ingredients in food processor until well combined (about 1 minute). Add the reserved raisins and blend for about 3-5 seconds so chunks remain. Coconut cream: 1 c. “fresh” macs (must be white and sweet! Not yellow, rancid and bitter!) ¼ c. Artisana coconut butter (not oil!) 1 ½ c. filtered water ¼ c. date paste 1 whole vanilla bean (the whole pod, not just the seeds) blend in a high powered blender (ie vitamix) until creamy smooth, but don’t let it get too warm. Makes about 2 cups. Fruit: 4 spotted ripe large bananas, coarse sliced and then chopped. 1 ½ c. blueberries (frozen is fine) to assemble pie: press crust into pie plate. Use spatula to add banana layer, working the banana until all air pockets are gone and the banana forms a gel like smooth solid surface. Next, spatula about 1 ½ cups of the vanilla cream across the banana layer, or more if you like. Finally, place a nearly solid layer of blueberries onto the cream. That’s it! Enjoy! You can place it in the freezer for a couple hours to help firm it up before serving. It also freezes very well for longer storage. Thank you to Christian Mastor of Sebastapol for this Awesome Recipe!

Premier Organics

www.premierorganics.org (866) 237-8688

conscious dancer | spring 2010

27

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conscious dancer | SPRING 2010

Richard Bartlett, DC, ND, teaches Matrix Energetics©, a consciousness technology for insight, spiritual growth—and living a life unbound by the limits we have been trained to believe in. Teachable & transferable, Matrix Energetics© is accessible to everyone, from a ten-year-old child to a medical professional. During this life-changing weekend, we will learn the art of rewriting any rule of your reality —about your health, your happiness, or even your understanding of what is physically possible.

UPCOMING SEMINARS: Seattle Mar 20-21, Level 3 Whizard

Denver Jun 04-07, Levels 1&2

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Baltimore, Boston & San Francisco

May 18, Certified Practitioner Class

coming Fall 2010

Check our website for our seminar schedule, early registration discounts and streaming video.

www.matrixenergetics.com 800.269.9513

sounds MC Yogi on stage with acro-yogis at the Wanderlust Festival in Squaw Valley, CA, 2009.

Rock on Hanuman!MC Yogi flips Downward Dog on BY martin tickle

photo: ana grillo www.anagrillo.com Photo:

I

t was a divine conspiracy” is MC Yogi’s theory behind the numerous “aha moments” and coincidences that led him to the top of the world music charts. Divine intervention is one explanation; hard work, perseverance, and dedication are another. MC Yogi’s journey took him from yoga teacher in Point Reyes Station, CA, to iTunes chart-topping, speaker-popping world music and hip-hop artist in a few short years. As the story goes, the persona MC Yogi, and the music that inspired the debut album Elephant Power were the creative sum totals of a series of life-changing moments. While he was still Nicholas Giacomini, the 18-year-old was riveted by a meditation intensive given by a teacher from India. A graffiti artist, Giacomini was drawn to the style and colors of India’s urban and spiritual life. As a kid raised on old-school hip-hop storytellers like Slick Rick, he was equally captivated by Hinduism’s deities and their colorful tales. “Yoga is about freedom from entanglements; that’s why I call myself an “un-rapper,” says the man who translates the wisdom of yoga with the language of hip

its tail and gives the yoga world a dose of elephant power.

hop. And in spite of the Hindu iconography in his repertoire, Yogi explains: “I was raised Christian, but I relate to Krishna Das when he says, ‘I’m an un-do, not a Hindu.’” Yogi’s wedding celebration, at the Yoga Toes studio he runs with his wife, provided one of many aha moments. “The DJ was playing “Brass Monkey” by the Beastie Boys and a friend of mine picked up a statue of Hanuman, the Hindu monkey deity, and started dancing with it,” he says. During his honeymoon, a chance meeting with Mike D. of the Beastie Boys in a yoga studio validated

powerful year for Yogi—the same year that he released Elephant Power and it began its roaring climb in the world music scene. Why “Elephant Power”? [The elephant deity] “Ganesh is invoked at the beginning of any undertaking,” says Yogi. “It’s a reminder of overcoming obstacles as we are coming into our own power. Like the Buddha, Ganesh is also an appealing, widely recognizable image to the West.” To produce Elephant Power, Yogi earned the backing of record label White Swan and raised $13,000 from his Point Reyes Station community, although not one song was yet complete. With encouragement from his wife Amanda and production support from producers Robin Livingston and Sean Dinsmore, the ideas behind Elephant Power were translated into a cohesive sound. Whether it’s the kirtan-influenced “Temple Prayer” or the playful, upbeat tune “Rock on Hanuman,” Yogi’s sound resonates with the times. He describes Elephant Power as medicine for the world, and sends his inspired message of healing and hope across the globe.

“I call myself an un-rapper” Yogi’s emerging vision. “It was an omen of the union of the two worlds,” he says. Through Yoga Toes studio Yogi hosted and befriended kirtan singer Jai Uttal and met kirtan luminaries Krishna Das and Bhagavan Das. “Krishna Das came to my house after his performance one night, and I started freestyling over some classic hip-hop instrumentals,” says Yogi, describing another formative experience. In the meantime, Bhagavan Das predicted in a reading that 2008 would be a

conscious dancer | spring 2010

29

™

vinn martí’s mystical movement ministry Become intimate with the motion of the soul in all directions and ground yourself in the present moment.

soulmotion.com 30

conscious dancer | spring 2010

31 Education 31 Events and Performances 31 Festivals 33 Retreats and Workshops

38 Book Reviews 40 CD and DVD Reviews 40 MixMasters Top 10 42 Results

Movement Menu

Visit www.ConsciousDancer.com for the global directory, and sign up for the monthly eZine!

spring highlights education

events & performances

I Can Do It 2010

Beyond Gravity

May 13–16 San Diego, CA May 27–30 Toronto, CAN The ICDI conference has it all: a host of dynamic speakers to entertain and educate you; an onsite bookstore with a variety of books, CDs, DVDs, and other products from your favorite authors; dozens of fascinating seminars and workshops; an exhibit area offering wares from jewelry and clothing to crystals and massages; and book-signing events with the authors after each session. Featuring Krishna Das, Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Louise L. Hay, Byron Katie, Caroline Myss and many more. www.hayhouse.com

Try the 16 Ways to balance polarities - pg. 35

photos: From top: www.marcosanchez.net / Kyung-sun Baek / Carl Sermon / Bryan Alberstat / Courtesy of Natural Rhythms

Sacred Activism Midwest Yoga Conference

June 3–6 Bloomingdale, IL The Midwest Yoga Conference is calling all sensual beings to come together and tip the energetic scales of the solar system from craving and aversion to beauty and truth. In the yoga workshops, intensives, and teacher trainings we will sing, dance, and share healing stories of Sacred Activism. Our faculty includes Julia Butterfly Hill, who spent over two years living in a redwood tree; Andrew Harvey, sharing universal teachings on Sacred Marriage; Tony Bergins' JourneyDance Workshop Intensive on the relationship to our chakras through movement and dance; and Rara Davis leading us in "Dundaal Yoga," a warrior's journey into breath, sound, and movement to enhance our yoga and dance practice. www.midwestyoga.com

www.ascendanceproject.com

New York Dance Parade

Get your shimmy on at RAQS Festival - pg. 31

Columbus Dance Theatre

April 2–3 Columbus, OH Multimedia manipulations with daring movement and music blended with compelling visuals, all questioning the power of human touch. Directed by Tim Veach, art work by Tony Rio, original score by Korine Fujiwara, and live music by Carpe Diem. www.coldancetheatre.org

festivals Be embodied at Movement Play - pg. 33

Less Is More Feldenkrais Conference

July 24–29 Loyola University of Chicago, IL Inspired by the skyscrapers of Chicago, this year's theme stems from the city's simple architecture, which is direct and allows for a feeling of openness, light, and freedom of movement. This is an opportunity for practitioners and trainees from all over North America and the world to come together and share ideas, continue their education, sharpen their skills, and deepen collegial bonds. The conference features educational workshops, midweek mentoring sessions, the annual meeting, forums, and social events. Come join us and be inspired. www.feldenkrais.com

May 22 New York, NY Free cultural fun at the fourth annual New York City Dance Parade. Featuring 60 styles of dance, over 120 organizations, and more than 10,000 dancers who will flock to the fun-filled streets of New York. This is a free festival to enjoy a celebration of culture, including hula, swing, Irish step, salsa, tango, waltz, and more! House and techno floats to keep you stepping and grooving down Broadway, live bands, and free dance performances. Join this nonprofit celebration to help promote dance as a unifying and expressive art form. www.danceparade.org

Dance is the Answer Conference

June 16–19 Washington, DC Tenth Annual Conference, themed "Dance Beyond Borders." Re-define your borders with this future professional development event. This conference features professional development sessions, advocacy on Capitol Hill, networking, and in-depth discussions. If you are in the field of marketing, artistic directing, human resources, finance, choreography, or dance, this can greatly benefit you! Special performances from companies appearing in The Kennedy Center's Ballet Across America series, and local artists will also be showcasing. www.danceusa.org

March 12–14 Berkeley, CA AscenDance Project was founded by German-born performance artist and mountaineer, Isabel von Rittberg. Her work explores the aesthetics of rock climbing with dancers performing on a vertical stage without ropes. The work exhibits strength and grace enhanced by the effects of gravity on the dancers and their ability to overcome it. They move through three dimensions, using time and space as inconsistent and unpredictable variables. Von Rittberg’s aspiration is to create a sense of detachment and lightness, to offer a completely new stage perspective, and to appeal to a collective appreciation of rhythm and movement.

Step into your Dancing Priestess - pg. 37

RAQS LA BellyDance Superstars Festival

April 17–18 Glendale, CA This celebration of modern fusion and traditional styles of belly dance is brought to you by The BellyDance Superstars & Miles Copeland. Featuring professional performances, workshops, vendors, and traders from all around the world; a Saturday night Hafla; and a BellyDance Superstars Audition on Sunday. For the first time this year, the event is offering the 2010 Teen Showcase, which will celebrate the new faces of belly dance! Auditions are required, and dancers will have a special showcase on the main stage on Sunday. Teen dancers can win a full year of instruction, with the chance to get vouchers for seminars and classes. The Superstars will also be offering their full range of dancewear, and new media releases. www.raqsla.com conscious dancer | spring 2010

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dance paws

速

Protect your feet and liberate your soul. Adjustable Dance Paws shield the ball of your foot from skin tears and burns, allowing you to focus on your movement.

866.326.2829 dancepaws.com US Pat 7,051,457. Made in USA.

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conscious dancer | spring 2010

festivals DMJ International Video Dance Festival

April 29–May 2 Tokyo, Japan The festival is organized by Dance and Media Japan (DMJ), in partnership with Asahi Art Square, a group dedicated to the creative collaboration of theatre, dance, and media arts. The festival features dance film and dance video, a genre that is different from mere documentation of dance performances. A dance film or dance video presents choreography that has been specially made for the camera. Its aim is to act as a medium to transmit cultural notions concerning performing arts for the new generation, causing an alchemical collision of every kind of artistic discipline. www.dance-media.com

Joshua Tree Music Festival

May 14–16 Joshua Tree, CA This eighth annual festival provides an intimate setting in the infamous and beautiful National Park. This festival features an eclectic mix of music including the Mexican Institute of Sound, Fort Nox Five, Midnite, and Geri x! This is also a family event, kids under ten are free, and The Love Train offers ongoing activities for little ones throughout the three days. On-site camping, two stages, world market, organic food, drinking water in the music bowl, art installations, playshop stage, and Kidsville. Hot showers in the campground and shade over the music bowl! This family-friendly event is a weekend of dance-worldelectro-funk-grooving. www.joshuatreemusicfestival.com

San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival

June 6–28 San Francisco, CA For more than 20 years, local amateurs have entertained visitors with high-class and unusual dance in the glorious setting of the Palace of Fine Arts. The Bay Area has been acclaimed as one of the hottest dance spots in the country, and the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival brings the world under one roof. Dazzling artistry from as many as 28 of the Bay Area's most exciting dance companies is presented over three consecutive themed weekends in June. Featuring dance from as far afield as Portugal, Mexico, China, India, and Tahiti, the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival is genuinely diverse and entertaining. www.worldartswest.org

Harmony Festival

June 11-13 Santa Rosa, CA Celebrating 32 years of "Harmony From the Roots Up," focusing on progressive ideals, community activism, and uplifting music. Join us for Harmony After Dark with the legendary Techno-Tribal Dance and its bedazzling celebrations of music and underground dance culture. Fire spinners dazzle the eye as daring aerialists soar through the dark reaches above the pulsing crowd, whose bones vibrate with massive bass beats. Also featuring a global artisans market, healing village, workshops, and a Sunday morning ecstatic dance hosted by Conscious Dancer magazine. www.harmonyfestival.com

Bates Dance Festival

Jun 27–Aug 8 Lewiston, MA This festival brings together an international community of dancers, choreographers, educators, performers, and students to collectively study, perform, and create. It is separated into four sections including Young Dancers Workshop, Professional Training Program, Youth Arts Program, and the Community Dance Project. Bates Festival is known for providing a safe place to dance, creating a unique and accepting atmosphere, and fostering a sense of community. www.batesdancefestival.org

Movement Play Micro-Festival

June 25–27 Willits, CA The third annual Movement Play brings together music, art, community, and movement of all types in a summer paradise setting. Beats by Random Rab, Alxndr, Dragonfly, Neptune, and BombGoddess. Workshops include Contact Improv, Modern Dance, Tribal Belly Dance, Hip Hop, Breakdance, Nia, Yoga, Partner Yoga, Thai Massage, Hooping, Poi, Staff, Contact Juggling, Slackline, Improvisational Storytelling,

Breathwork, Meditation, Stretching, interactive craftiness, and more. Camping, swimming, and hot tubs powered by solar energy! All-organic food provided by Table Nectar, and included in price. Three hours north of San Francisco, this intimate event is one of the most nourishing festivals in existence. www.movementplay.com

WestWave Dance Festival

July-Dec Monday Evenings San Francisco, CA WestWave Dance Festival is a choreography festival presented in a shared-program format in San Francisco each July. Its mission is to provide veteran and newly established choreographers of all cultures and disciplines, in and beyond the Bay Area, an opportunity to present their work in a professional venue in order to experiment, develop, and refine their repertories, and to build audiences without the burden of self-producing. This project of DanceArt was founded in 1998 by Joan Lazarus and Linda Rawlings. Their combined enthusiasm for all things dance- and performance-based, as well as their commitment to the San Francisco Bay Area arts community, compelled them to focus their resources on particular projects that had the potential to touch the lives of local, independent artists. www.westwavedancefestival.org

SEEDS Festival

July 9–18 Earthdance Retreat: Plainfield, MA SEEDS (Somatic Experiments in Earth, Dance + Science), a unique summer festival dedicated to arts and ecology, cultivates innovative practices—the integration of environmental stewardship and artistic process. This year's ten-day festival features workshops with Butoh Ritual Mexicano Dance artist Diego Piñon, Body-Mind Centering® and Contact Improvisationinfluenced K.J. Holmes, and experimental dancer/ choreographer Benoît LaChambre, plus land and permaculture projects, films, panel discussions, live performance, and interdisciplinary investigation, all in the gorgeous wooded hills of the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts. Come for the entire festival or attend a single seed/event. www.earthdance.net/seeds

Sacred Dance Guild Festival

July 26–31 New London, CT Explore diverse spiritualities, cultures, and dance styles in workshops with today’s leaders in sacred dance. Enjoy informative lectures and performances. Shop our marketplace for unique attire, props, music, and more. Daylong schedules feature morning meditation, yoga, technique classes, and informal performance and networking opportunities. Experience our huge communal dance event! SDG is an interfaith, international, inclusive, and multicultural organization. All ages and abilities are welcome. Day rates or full session. Accommodations available. www.sacreddanceguild.org

Mettler Studios’ Summer Workshop In Vermont

retreats & workshops Goddess Healing

March 19–24 Sedona, AZ Ladies, join Shanti during this unprecedented time of spiritual awakening, when the cosmic scales of light are balanced in perfect equilibrium, when night is equal to day. With winter behind us it’s time to celebrate our blossoming life force, to transform our inner darkness to light, and to plant the seeds of a new dream of deeper personal wisdom, understanding, patience, abundance, health, love, and peace. Together during this Spring Equinox, we’ll re-awaken our remembrance of the divine Goddess within. www.journeysofthespirit.com/trips/sedona-goddess/

Silent Retreat, Language of the Soul

March 25–April 1 Costa Rica The Silent Retreats are the heartbeat of the sacred journey. They provide a restful environment for the deepest inquiry into the truth of one’s being. One is dissolving into the timeless here and now. This is where profound steps are taken through the journey of transformation. A Silent Retreat is a rare and precious opportunity to focus solely on the most earnest questions of the heart and to spend some days in silence, in a beautiful, natural setting. (The “Who is in ?” is a prerequisite for participating in the Retreat).

CREATIVE DANCE IMPROVISATION for Adults

Individual & Group

IMPROVISATION in Brattleboro, Vermont July 12-16, 2010 Tuition: $300 (financial aid available)

Dancers and dance educators on all levels and professionals in the fields of education, recreation, and therapy are encouraged to take part. No previous experience is necessary. For Information or to register contact: Griff Goehring

griff@creativedancecenter.org 802.380.0068

www.pachamama.com

conscious dancer | spring 2010

33

CLASSES, WORKSHOPS & EVENTS at www.ConsciousDancer.com

Deep in the heart of

Texas CONTACTS

SCHEDULE

1122-C S. Lamar Blvd. www.dancingtogether.org (512) 923-4643

9:30- 11:30am 10:30- 11:30am Afternoon 7:30-9:30pm

AUSTIN Austin Yoga School Body Choir

Galaxy Dance Studios www.bodychoir.org (512) 680-4212

5 Rhythms® Classes

Galaxy Dance Studios www.dancingfirelizards.com Ideland@earthlink.net (512) 444-0443

NiaSpace

3212 S. Congress, 78704 www.niaspace.com (512) 443-3013

DALLAS Heather Gream- MA, CEAP Priya, Unity, Move Studio, Studio B www.drumdancesingsilence.com drumdancesing@live.com 817-229-6134

Mati Vargas-Gibson

Certified 5Rhythms® Teacher www.bodyspiritdance.webs.com bodyspiritdance@yahoo.com 214-280-4204

HOUSTON Ecstatic Dance Houston Sydney “SunShine” Strahan 5624 Larking St., 77077 www.ecstaticdancehouston.com (281) 748-8080

Hope Stone w/Leslie Scates

1210 Clay #26 www.hopestoneinc.org (713) 824-1197

HUNTSVILLE Crazywood Dance Spa 1416 Sam Houston Ave. www.crazywood.org (936) 662-5250

WIMBERLEY ZAZ Studio w/ Lauren Robins lrobins2000@yahoo.com www.laurenrobins.com 512-847-9665

MONDAY

TUESDAY 10:00-11:15am 6:00- 7:30pm

EVENTS

Movement Exploration ZAZ Studio “Moonday” Movement (Heather) Unity Joy Dance (Children) ZAZ Studio Contact Improv (Tom) NiaSpace Dancing for Birth (Heather) Studio B Partner Yoga/Contact Improv Crazywood

WEDNESDAY 9:30- 10:30 am Afternoon 7:45 - 9:45pm

AUSTIN DALLAS HOUSTON HUNTSVILLE WIMBERLEY

Nia (Heather) Joy Dance (Children) Dancing Together

Studio B Zaz Studio Austin Yoga

THURSDAY 6:00-7:10pm

8:30-9:45pm 7:30-9:30pm

FRIDAY

7:00- 9:30pm 7:45 – 9:45pm

Dancing for Birth (Heather) Move Studio Conscious Dance Adventure (Heather) Move Studio 5Rhythms® Endless Wave Class Galaxy Dance Studio

5Rhythms® Night Waves Mati-Dallas (1st Friday) Dancing Together NiaSpace

SATURDAY 10am - noon

SUNDAY 10am- noon 10am – noon 10am – noon 6:00- 8:00pm

5Rhythms® Sweat Your Prayers Galaxy Dance Studios

Ecstatic Dance Planet Funk Body Choir Galaxy Dance Studios Dancing Together Austin Yoga Contact Improv Hope Stone

In the heart of dance:

eventscommunitymusicandyou! DANCING CHEF CATERING

Lizzie29@aol.com

LOOK FOR

“The Women of Monday Morning”

A Documentary about 13 years of Movement Exploration in Wimberley

BODY CHOIR- AUSTIN 16th Birthday

www.bodychoir.org

CONSCIOUS DANCE ADVENTUREDALLAS

Heather Gream @ Priya Yoga 1:30-3:30pm 2nd Saturday of each month www.drumdancesingsilence.com

5RHYTHMS®, DALLAS Mati-Vargas-Gibson

Classes, Sweat Your Prayers™ June 5-6: You, Me & Us: Waves Workshop w/ Adam Barley August 6-8: Spiritweaves w/ Michael & Anneli Molin-Skelton Full Schedule @ www.bodyspiritdance.webs.com

JOURNEYDANCETM - HOUSTON

w/ SunShine schedule: www.ecstaticdancehouston.com

DANCE SLUMBER PARTY Last Fridays @ Crazywood

Arrive Fri. after 6pm, depart Sat. by 6pm Pot luck buffet, overnight & spa www.crazywood.org

WIMBERLEY EVENTS Trance Dance

6-9pm, April 3rd @ ZAZ Studio &

Yoga & Movement Exploration 1:30 – 2:45pm, May 1st @Heart of Texas Yoga Studio Lauren Robins & Becky Jordan (512) 847-9665 www.laurenrobins.com

retreats & workshops Movement Improvisation Master

March 25–28 Port Townsend, WA Ruth Zaporah is bringing her creation, Action Theater: The Improvisation of Presence, to the Madrona Mindbody Institute for a four-day intensive. Fully immerse yourself in being here, unveiling yourself to yourself, one moment at a time, one moment leading to the next. Ruth's movement exercises, physical, vocal and verbal, invite the practitioner into unknown yet uncannily familiar territories, territories of the embodied imagination. Participants experience fresh views of themselves, who they are, how they perceive and respond to the ordinary, and how vast is their potential. Open to the novice as well as the experienced, all those who relish living in a human body and like to move. www.madronamindbody.com

Writing the Waves with Continuum

March 26–29 Santa Monica, CA Join Emilie Conrad and Rebecca Mark as we emerge from the sourcing of our Continuum journey. Previous Continuum experience necessary as we put pen to paper and revel in the writing, hieroglyphic renderings, ciphers, and mysterious cave drawings sometimes appearing as stories, poems, and possibly dialogues as emergent characters surprisingly arrive. We find ourselves in a process individually illuminating, mysterious, communally healing, politically radical, and in forms of genius never seen before. We move, we sound, our voices blend, our gestures reveal the moment as alive with creative fire. Ultimately this process helps us witness the immense brilliance of the wave of cellular illumination and innovation we as humans are suspended in. www.continuummovement.com

The 16 Ways: Level 1, Fundamental Energies April 10–11 Los Angeles, CA The 16 Ways is an innovative, groundbreaking, body-mind development modality that focuses on the bioenergetics of consciousness and movement. Developed over a ten-year period by Juilliard-trained choreographer/composer Dylan Newcomb, this new approach to using movement for self-transformation brings together core elements of Integral Theory, I Ching/Yin-Yang principles, Spiral Dynamics, MBTI, Energy Psychology, Emotional Intelligence, and more. Using eight specific vowel sounds together with intuitive full-bodied movements and specific cognitions, this powerful alchemy of sound, breath, movement, thought, and emotion rapidly brings the whole system into new levels of health, alignment, and coherence.

Loving Release-

Dance with the River and Play on the Bay ... with our Creative, Conscious Community!

www.the16ways.com

Dancemeditation

April 10–11 Asheville, NC Dancemeditation™ explores the relationships between self and other, self and cosmos, self-with-Self, and self-to-the-Divine-Eternal. By encouraging receptivity, creativity, and present-ness, Dancemeditation cultivates our inherent ability to heal and self-regulate using a wide variety of movement techniques (including Fluid Yoga, Breath Dances, Deep State Motion, and Gesture) within a primarily nonverbal study environment. Practitioners drop out of an over-active, distracted mind into intuitive embodiment. Inner and outer witnessing are balanced. For more workshops around the country: www.dancemeditation.org

Teotihuacán Mexico

April 22–27 Mexico City, Mexico Using the layout of the city as a model for transcendence, we spend four days changing our dream of frustration and suffering to a dream of inner peace. Discover all the things that have been preventing you from expressing yourself fully and authentically in this lifetime. Just as the ancient Toltecs did here at Teotihuacán, we too will practice the three masteries for personal freedom: Awareness, Transformation, and Intent. www.journeysofthespirit.com/trips/teotihuacan/

Joyful Connections 2010

April 24–May 1 Costa Rica This Yoga and Expressive Arts Retreat will be held by Tracy Carruth of Yoga Balance and Silky Hart of Expressive Hart. We will combine yoga and creative expression to give you a retreat experience filled with

Mark your calendars now!

Subscribe for updates at go@RiverGuidess.com. Our California trips are popular, and will fill fast. June 25-29 ~ Kings River Flowfest

For 8 years, ending NCDC Dance Camp with a splash!

Cleansing Retreat May 21-27, 2010 Harbin Hot Springs

The nurturing support you need to cleanse & revitalize! Yoga Raw Foods Massage Breathwork Movement Meditation Nutrition Sauna Salt Scrubs Reg. by Apr. 1-Wkend $365/Wk$686 Info:(707)987-4812, ahlea@earthllink.net

July 16-18 ~ Yoga, Meditation & Sea Kayaking on Tomales Bay ~ with Nina Wise & Davida Taurek. Catered by Elaina Love of Pure Joy Planet.

July 29-Aug 1 ~ 5Rhythms ® on the Trinity River Jan / Feb 2011 ~ Wildlife & Rivers of Costa Rica

RiverGuidess Adventures

California, Baja & Beyond ~ since 1993!

Call Gail at 415-312-3112 www.RiverGuidess.com conscious dancer | spring 2010

35

Make Love to Life

Watsu waterdance

®

retreats & workshops opportunities to joyfully connect with nature, your magnificent self, creativity, and new friends. At the Pura Vida Spa in Costa Rica, participants will enjoy daily yoga classes, expressive arts activities, eco-tours, and healthy cuisine while being pampered in a country renowned for its natural beauty. Retreat includes three delicious and nutritious meals a day. No previous background is necessary. Just bring your desire to play and have fun! www.expressivehart.wordpress.com

Omega: Truth Heals, What You Hide Can Hurt You

workshops, retreats, & tools to re-connect you, nature, sense and soul Join us on the east and west coast, Mexico & Hawaii

Relax…Release…Surrender…

Tmassage in a pool of warm water in the

A quiet world of healing and transformation reat yourself

to this nurturing

tranquil hills of San Anselmo. Free from the effects of gravity, your body can unwind in new and unexpected ways.

BOOK THE EXPERIENCE www.VividlyWoman.com www.VividExistence.com

the ocean refuses

Davida Taurek: 415-455-8981 davida@davidadance.com www.davidadance.com

April 30–May 2 Rhinebeck, NY Join Master Healer Deborah King for the adventure of a lifetime. Heighten your innate healing abilities, connect to your guides, and learn contemporary healing techniques. Step-by-step, King guides you to develop the foundational skills of a healer, demystifying the world of healers, sages, and shamans. Attendance is limited so you can work individually with Deborah. Sign up today for the transformative Truth Heals experience! www.eomega.org/omega/workshops

A Greener America Workshop

May 27–30 Fayetteville, AK A community cob building experience at Wattle Hollow retreat and learning center. Expect your building experience to be accompanied by music, whimsy, and dancing. We will also have a guest lecturer, Richard Herman, sharing his expertise on permaculture. Our meals will be gourmet vegetarian (from local sources), some of the food cooked in solar ovens. Daily yoga classes for those who wish. This is a time to relax, learn, and commune with friends and nature. www.wattlehollow.com/schedule

KiahKeya Afro-Butoh Nature Spirit Dance

June 2010 Alto Paraiso, Brasil Hernando Villa, Kathi Von Koeber, and Nancy Eagle Spirit lead this intensive nature-dance workshop in Alto Paraiso, Brasil. A unique and powerful exploration of authentic movement with cleansing sweat-lodges, yoga, plant-medicine ceremonies, and interpretive dance experiences that reveal each participant's true nature in relationship to oneself and as an integral part of the universe. Connecting with the deep, vibrant nature of the land, facilitators create a space for participants to discover self-preservation of one's own instinctual mechanisms. Through dance and voicefacilitated exercises, the canvas of spirit is used as a palette to create form. www.kiahkeya.com

Release in the Rhythms

a Soul Motion Experience ™

hosted weekly by Michael Z. Thursdays, 6:30 - 8:00 pm Jeffrey Bihr Studio Oakland’s Rockridge district { a short walk from Rockridge BART }

dance the dance that you are. move with music, move in silence. alone, together. listening, inside and out. express. exalt. exhale. dance.

June 4–6 Harbin Hot Springs, Middletown, CA Join us as we use the healing power of hands, rollers, and balls to discover and let go of our muscle and joint tension. We’ll dance into release, release in our dance, and birth this new freedom into reality. Let’s liberate feet and legs until our weight becomes palpable; dig into hips and thorax so the pulse between us is loud and clear; let go of tightness in shoulders, neck, and face to land in a community of release; wave-upon-wave, supporting us in feeling new ways to surrender. Let’s feel the joy of dancing our unique and precious body. bella@bodyjoy.net

Circles to Spirals

June 11–13 Albany, NY Let Nature and dance awaken you to your Vividly Woman essence. Discover peace, power, and fulfillment in re-union with your sacred sensuality. Leela Francis invites you to join her in the heart of nature on an enriching path of beauty and aliveness, connecting you more deeply with self, your sisters, and the wisdom of the natural world. Savor the awakening of body and soul through explorative movement and dance, creative ritual, and the circling community of Vividly Woman, a safe and nurturing place to rekindle your love affair with the creative wisdom of your body. www.vividlywoman.com

Private sessions, special events, too:

lucid_mz@hotmail.com 510-847-7736

www.lucidmz.blogspot.com

Michael Zipkin is a Soul Motion Apprentice

36

conscious dancer | spring 2010

NCDC Summer Dance Camp

June 19-28 Dunlap, CA Come dance, play, celebrate, and grow as we cocreate a village for nine days in the southern Sierras. Daytime classes in a wide range of movement

modalities as well as music and art. Fabulous daytime activities like swimming, canoeing, frisbee, and hiking, plus electric evening dances. Fun for the entire family.

BIODANZA®

www.ncdcdances.org

Fieldwork Intensive

June 26–28 Flagstaff, AZ Fieldwork is a creative laboratory where artists develop their performance-based work by showing it to each other and exchanging reflective feedback, facilitated by a professional from the greater artistic community. This workshop is for artists of all disciplines, facilitated by Jayne Lee, Delisa Myles, and Paul Moore of Human Nature Dance Theatre at Canyon Dance Academy. At each meeting, participants present their works-in-progress and exchange feedback artist to artist. Sign-up is open to artists working in dance, music, performance art, visual art, and theatre. http://web.me.com/leejayne/

“The Poetry of Human Encounter” Joy Music Dance Expression Community Ecological_ Consciousness

Human_Nature_Dance_Theatre/FIELDWORK.html

Weekly Classes

Settling into Stillness Retreat

June 26–July 3 Corfu, Greece Welcome the sun each morning with a two-hour empowering Kripalu Yoga practice focusing on a sequence of 27 postures, pranayama (breathing) synchronized with 15 hand mudras. Add to this a late morning Kirtan using the vibration of sounds to open the heart and move the body spontaneously. Afternoons are spent enjoying the sandy Mediterranean beach, receiving a massage, walking through the olive groves, or sitting in quiet contemplation. Late afternoons alternate between Heart Chakra meditations, a four-directional rhythmic-moving breathing-meditation accompanied by music, or guided iRest Yoga Nidra sessions. Two evening dance parties complete the week. www.globalyogajourneys.com

In SF and East Bay

Workshops for Personal Development

Teacher Training Open Enrollment for Fall 2010

SAN FRANCISCO SCHOOL OF BIODANZA®

Empowering Creativity Through Movement, Metaphor, and Dance

June 28–July 7 Kentfield, CA This workshop offers time to feel and to listen deeply to the powerful intelligence of the body, to play and express with imagination through the arts, to create personal and collective dances that have meaning, and to bring new vision to the life themes that matter to us in our daily lives. The workshop will begin in the studio with four days of Life/Art Process with Taira Restar, exploring body mythologies through movement, poetry, and drawing and will end with five days with worldrenowned dance innovator Anna Halprin. Spontaneous and authentic dances will emerge through somatic exploration, non-stylized movements, and improvisation. Participants will generate personal and group dances and rituals that speak to the deep truth and knowing of individual and collective bodies. www.tamalpa.org

Spiral of Love in Turkey

Dancing Practical Priestess

August 18–22 Atlanta, GA Your inner priestess forms the part of your consciousness that directly connects you with the Divine. When activated and practically applied to any area of life or creative pursuit, the priestess within helps you bring Spirit into the physical world. The priestess archetype deepens your ability to fully run the energy of the Divine through the temple of your body and dance in step to the sacred rhythms of nature. Join Lisa Michaels in this powerful process to strengthen your ability to align with the forces of creation, taking the sacred dance of your life to the next level. www.naturalrhythms.org

Rolando Toro System

Sacred Dance Guild Festival 2010

Shop our marketplace. Network with fellow sacred dancers. Celebrate in motion. Accomodations available. The Sacred Dance Guild welcomes dancers of all genres, faith traditions, cultures, and abilities. Interfaith International Intergenerational Inclusive. ISBN 978-0-9715994-3

August 11–16 Gokcedere, Turkey Come dance in the spiral of love, integrating the physical and non-physical dimensions. Guided by the poetry of Rumi and Hafez, explore love’s intoxication through movement that lies between trance and control, letting go and technique. Gain more awareness of your energy anatomy and the ability to dance your Heart inside the spiral of love. Take home a daily movement practice that supports an inner alchemy of turning negativity to gold. Our setting is a Sufi/Dervish House or Dergah, a true tavern of love, beyond any particular religion and open to all. Our days are a balance between dance, yoga, chanting, music, meditation, sharing, developing our own creativity, and the chance to explore individually the beautiful beaches, villages, and sites of Turkey’s exquisite Marmara region. www.namah.net/workshop/spiral-love-turkey

info@biodanza.us www.biodanza.us (415) 339-8739

Written by a teacher of ballet, expressive, and sacred dance, Lisa Michaels. Claim 4 free gifts NOW when you visit www.naturalrhythms.org.

Simply Soaring July 26-31

Connecticut College, New London, CT.

Be uplifted by exciting classes,

workshops, and performances. Enjoy networking, our marketplace and a huge communal dance experience. All ages, spiritualities, cultures, dance styles and abilities are welcome. Accommodations available.

DETAILS & RESERVATIONS: 877-422-8678

SDGfestival@sacreddanceguild.org

www.sacreddanceguild.org conscious dancer | spring 2010

37

Tantric Dance of the

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Divine Feminine R E V I E W S BOOKS

with Kathy Kali

Linden’s Last Life Alan Cohen

Dance the power of your inner Shakti...

Year and a Day Program of weekend workshops starts May 2010 in Seattle

To register: call Molly Allen (206) 708-9400 ~ or e-mail presentpulse@gmail.com www.tantricdance.org

Body Tales

®

Cruz

n essing,

with Olivia Corson and Lysa Castro Tend and Attend Body, Earth and inner World 2010 Retreats: Spring Summer March 26-28 July 16-18

Fall Oct 22-24

Join us for 3 days of Body Tales intuitive Movement, spoken Word, embodied stories, supportive Witnessing, Creative expression, and Healing. intimate, Depth Work, 12 person maximum in the Beauty of the santa Cruz Mountains

707-823-2652 info@bodytales.com

www.bodytales.com 38

conscious dancer | spring 2010

An adventure novel with a message, Linden’s Last Life is reminiscent of other bestseller sensations such as The Celestine Prophecy and The Da Vinci Code. In this mind-expanding book by Alan Cohen, we are taken into the world of Linden Kozlowski—a down-and-out San Francisco writer who has just reached his limit for meaningless existence. We encounter him on the ledge of the Golden Gate Bridge with a lost sense of hope in living. Just before he leaps, Linden is intercepted by a monk who convinces him that if he opts out of life’s lessons, he will only have to do them all over again next time, and his problems will be even worse. And so our main character sets out on a journey to make a supernatural deal to die and never be reborn. In an adventure odyssey that includes determination, love, discovery, and unexpected awakenings in consciousness, Linden’s Last Life delves into the interplay between free will and destiny. The hero must decide if his fate is strictly subject to forces beyond his control, or if he is in charge of how his life turns out. “Millions of people are questioning their purpose and direction in life, and how they fit into the greater scheme of things,” says Cohen. This book is his response to life’s big questions. Fiction with a greater purpose than simple entertainment, his tale is one individual’s quest through the terrain of the eternal human questions “Why am I here?” and “What happens when I die?” Like all of us, the lead character in this supernatural thriller is challenged to see through to the essence of the most foundational human relationships, and to “do the right thing” as he clears karma and awakens to his true nature. We are with him as he struggles through painfully distant phone conversations with his mother, and as he encounters true love in the most unexpected moment. But will he choose to embrace his newfound reasons for living, or will he continue on his quest for transcendence? “Many people give their power away to outside forces such as astrology, the economy, bad programming by their parents, religious oppression, and evil people or institutions,” Cohen explains. “One of my purposes in writing this book is to give readers inspiration and tools to reclaim the power they have attributed to people and events outside themselves.” www.hayhouse.com

Bridge Between Worlds: Extraordinary Experiences That Change Lives – Dan Millman and Doug Childers

Dance! Images from the Bates Dance Festival – Arthur Fink

Having experienced their own path-altering twists of fate, Dan Millman and Doug Childers came together to present 37 true stories about the possibilities for awakening offered by circumstances that range from severe to truly extraordinary. Bridge Between Worlds is a deep and uplifting collection of stirring accounts of ordinary people as well as iconic figures, past and present. From the stories of architect Buckminster Fuller and West African writer Malidoma Patrice Somé to the account of an unknown Vietnam vet, these real-life memoirs speak to our own quest for meaning. The key to transformation lies in the turning point. Through tales about people who find life’s meaning in myriad ways—initiation, love, a dream, and even prison—this impressive collection bridges faith with reason. In one piece, a grieving widow recognizes divinity in the presence and symbolism of birds; in another, a young man pierces through emotional dichotomy during an arduous initiation; in a third, a world-known genius encounters his purpose in his own darkest hour. These tales reveal the way that the storyteller’s life unfolded after the pivotal event, and how each person turned the hand of fate into medicine for themselves and for the world. We see, time and again, that it is so often the human plunge into the dark night of the soul that allows us to perceive the light. Well worth a place on your bookshelf!

In his evocative and compelling book of images from the Bates Dance Festival in Maine, photographer Arthur Fink offers a visually stunning collection of moments in dance. This splendid 42-page spread documents the humanness of dance in a rainbow of images, some portraying a blur of line or movement, others moving in close to capture a dancer’s foot or the back of a head. The viewer perceives both beauty and effort. “I document the work and energy that goes into dance…not just the final performance,” says Fink. “Being in the studio as dances are created, or as dancers prepare themselves, feels like being in a delivery room as children are being born. Amidst pain or anguish, tempered with rhythm and support, and bolstered with faith, new life emerges. It’s physical, sometimes sensual, often spiritual. Too often this process is ignored, as image makers look only at the final result—the dance.” Fink came to specialize in dance photography through a journey of self-discovery. Hosting his first creative shoot with a group of dancers, he felt enveloped into the realm of spiritual experience emanating from his subjects and was compelled to capture it. That ineffable something that we try so hard to put into words, he has elegantly framed with thoughtful and well-composed images. As Fink so aptly articulates it, “My statement is in the visual experience you have.”

www.newworldlibrary.com

www.arthurfinkphoto.com

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A Journey into Rhythm, Voice & Movement with Alyssa DeCaro

Explore your body as an instrument through Body Percussion, Vocal Expression, Ecstatic Dance, Contact Improvisation, Circle Song and Balinese Kecak

"Join the Movement" www.Muscle-Brain.com

Upcoming events... Bay Area National Dance Week, San Francisco, Ca ~ April 29th Esalen Institute, Big Sur, Ca ~ June 11-13th, 2010 Movement Play Campout, Willets, Ca ~ June 25-27th, 2010 www.BodyofSound.com - info@bodyofsound.com Interested in Booking for your event? Please call 1-415-971-6452

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conscious dancer | fall 2009

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“Re-wire your Brain - Tune your Muscles!�

39

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REVIEWS CDs

DVDs Women of Monday Morning

David Starfire Bollyhood Bass The new sounds of the underground are about building bridges with bass. Cross the border into India and Asia with this rickshaw-rocking collection of well-crafted cuts released by Six Degrees Records. David Starfire has earned his reputation through a relentless touring DJ schedule and a knack for devastating dance floors. This outstanding release showcases his taste and talent by blending 14 cutting-edge bass riffs with sacred sounds and voices of the Hindu and Arabic worlds. Guest appearances by iCatching, Lynx, and Jamie Janover round out this must-have mix. Cream of the crop! www.davidstarfire.com

BAKA BEYOND Beyond the Forest

Tamalpa Institute Movement Based Expressive Arts

Existing simultaneously on Earth are the people who enchant animals by song and the technology to share in the music that connects us. Inspired by the Baka Forest People in Cameroon, Baka Beyond blends European Celtic traditions with West African rhythms and melodies. Their latest album, Beyond the Forest, carries us from the longing call of the Celtic coastline to the heart of humanity. Royalties from sales come back to the musicians’ communities. Creating cross-cultural respect and reciprocity, each musician honors a lesson of the Baka people: “everyone to be listened to.” www.whiteswanrecords.com

During this season of rebirth and renewal, enjoy the inspirational documentary Women of Monday Morning. This film portrays a group of women in Wimberley, Texas, who have been meeting every Monday morning for 13 years to spontaneously dance and move as a way of opening the mind, body, spirit, and heart. These dedicated friends remind us that the spirit of dance has no limits. The film is a learning tool for anyone interested in dance therapy, and an expression of authentic movement as a spiritual practice. Women of Monday Morning depicts the healing potential of art. Directed by Kakki Keegan. www.laurenrobins.com

Nia opal Encouraging you to discover the yin and yang within yourself and your movement expression, Nia’s opal class experience DVD brings something to smile and sweat about. Brilliantly designed from the student’s perspective, this DVD can transform your living room into a classroom, with you as your own teacher. The Nia philosophy encourages you to move in your body’s way, and to make the moves your own. Watching and participating in opal, you can witness the authentic joy, creativity, and inspiration of other students—encouraging and allowing you to experience your own. opal offers balance for you to spring into form. www.nianow.com

MIXER MIX MASTERS SPOTLIGHT

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DJ Dragonfly – Top Ten

artist

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track title

photo: Rick Chapman ©2005

1. Earthrise Soundsystem - Makyen Ghrir 2. Celt Islam - Halaqa 3. Bombay Dub Orchestra - Journey 4. Evan Bluetech - Mysteriosa Flambeau

Public workshops and training programs in movement based expressive arts education and therapy.

5"."-1" */45*565&

www.tamalpa.org Tamalpa Institute • Kentfield, CA • 415.457.8555

40

conscious dancer | spring 2010

Mr. Martin Tickle is the gaia-tronic groovemaster known as DJ Dragonfly. With a well-earned reputation as the hardest working DJ in the Bay Area, he is the force behind the legendary monthly Groove Garden in Fairfax, CA. Celebrating ten years of conscious mayhem in a courtyard garden that is a church by day, Groove Garden enters its second decade of ecstatic, purpose-driven gatherings that combine global spirit, DJ culture, sound technologies, and healing arts. We tip our hat to the man behind the decks, a fan and supporter of Conscious Dancer from the start: event producer, party rocker, genre surfer, comedian, and all around amazing character. Let the bass go boom!

6. Bird of Prey - Xenomorphic 7. Tony Talwar - Alien Vs Bollytronic 8. Desert Dwellers – Raga Saga 9. Ching - Shiva Soundsystem's Mo-Flo Remix 10. David Starfire - Shenai Wobbler

Photo: David Ray

DJ Dragonfly - The Groove Gardener

5. Jef Stott - Lamaset (DJ Oud Remix)

3966 Piedmont Ave, Oakland Public Classes in Oakland: TUESDAY 9:45–11:15 am, $15 FRIDAY 5:45-7:15 pm, $15 Oakland Yoga Studio, 4 Yosemite St WEDNESDAY 12:00-1:00 pm Yoga for a Cause Donations fund the work of 108 n profits for peace, conservation & human rights. ✓ Feng Shui Consultations Piedmont Yoga, 3966 Piedmont Ave ✓ Interior Alignment Coaching Private Yoga Therapy: ✓ Space Clearing Ceremoies Please call for appointment

Private Yoga, CranioSacral & Heart Centered Therapies

Yolanda Marie Vazquez Pritam Hari Kaur CMT, NCTMB, IYNAUS

Private Yoga, CranioSacral & Heart Centered Therapies

(510) 268-9321 quietmind.com 3966 Piedmont Ave, Oakland

(510) 268-9321

quietmind.com

SOULWORK THROUGH THE BODY

SOULWORK THROUGH THE BODY

Public Classes in Oakland:

Progressive Primitivism in Dallas

TUESDAY 9:45–11:15 am, $15 FRIDAY 5:45-7:15 pm, $15

Oakland Yoga Studio, 4 Yosemite St

WEDNESDAY 12:00-1:00 pm Yoga for a Cause

Heather Gream, MA

— Certified Expressive Arts Practitioner

• Nia Blue Belt

Donations fund the work of 108 nonprofits for peace, conservation & human rights.

Piedmont Yoga, 3966 Piedmont Ave

• Dancing for Birth Instructor • Conscious Dance Adventure Creator • Drum Circle Music Facilitator • Birthing From Within Mentor • 5 Stages of Self-Healing Guide • Neo-Humanist

www.drumdancesingsilence.com

Private Yoga Therapy:

tm

Please call for appointment

the Ultimate in Anti-gravity Total Home Gym ‘Yoga Swing’ technology • Weightless Fitness • Inversion Therapy • Back Care • Pelvic Traction • Pain & Stress Management!

Patent# 7255666

www.OMNI-SWING.com www.YogaSwing.com 1-877-YOGA GYM

415.690.9167 claire@clearingthenoise.com

www.clearingthenoise.com

Building Bridges Between Injury and Repair

Island Chiropractic 510-769-6066

1414 Everett St., Alameda, CA

BIODANZA

Experience the World Famous

'OMNI-SWING'

Claire Rumore

®

East Coast USA with Michelle

Sistema Rolando Toro “Poetry of Human Encounter”

Dance/Movement Therapy Courses for Northern & Southern California

Let fabulous music, authentic movement and heartfelt emotion be part of your life. Weekly classes in the DC area and monthly classes in NYC.

Explore the role of movement in therapeutic self-experssion and relationships. DMT Alternate Route Training Courses and MFT/LCSW CE Credit Courses available. For information, visit

www.movement-education.org/therapy

0HONE s #ALIFORNIA ""3 #% 0ROVIDER

www.biodanza-usa.com

biodanzaeastcoast@gmail.com • Facebook: Biodanza East Coast USA

conscious dancer | fall 2009

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RESULTS flow through my neck, spine, and joints in a circular undulating pattern. Arching multidimensional and curling, twisting and turning, I feel my movements on the fitness system that Gyrotonic tower slowly unwinding the day’s tension. Breathing supports flexibility, deeply, I feel my mind calming, in rhythm with the peaceful wave ease, and grace. of this dynamic yet tranquil method of exercise. my facilitator, tara coyote, told me that Gyrotonic was created by Juliu Horvath, a former dancer who had been injured, which is what first piqued my interest, as I am also a dancer. She said, “Gyrotonic combines gymnastics, swimming, Kundalini yoga, and ballet in a series of three-dimensional circular and spiral movements. The exercises build strength, increase flexibility, elevate the heart rate, and massage the internal organs and nerves.” I had to see what this was all about. i had persistant pain for several years from a broken jaw, years ago. I also commute five days a week to work, from Sonoma to Marin County, and my back is tight from all the hours spent in a car. From my injury, I often experience pain in my neck and back, as well In the flow on a as achy joints. I needed a gentle form of movement Gyrotonic tower. that wouldn’t further compress my joints or compact my upper and lower spine like running or aerobics would. When I first tried Gyrotonic I thought I wasn’t getting any results, as it felt so easy. Afterwards, I noticed more flexibility and buoyancy, very similar to what I feel doing gentle dance movements. I’ve noticed my dancing has improved as my body feels more open and fluid. As I do a Gyrotonic side opener, it’s like warming up in dance, doing a side stretch. I love the dolphin diving exercise I do with my legs in the straps, which make me feel like I’m swimming and take the pressure off my joints. The addition of the weights on the pulley tower makes my muscles more flexible and increases my range of motion. All the usual exercise equipment I’ve seen before is linear, while the Gyrotonic machines all move me within a continuous circular/spiral pattern. After a long day at work, teaching, I usually come to my session feeling tired, yet when I walk out of Studio Equilibria’s door, I feel energized and renewed. I sleep better at night as well. Tara has a gentle way of guiding me and will correct and lengthen my stretch, sometimes by touching certain parts, such as my ribs, to help further the extension. The handle unit assists me in going deeper into my shoulders, back, and ribs, and I feel like I have Amity Hotchkiss more movement in my hips and spine. My joint pain has lessened, High school teacher and I feel like I have more space in my joints. There is so much Santa Rosa, CA more to explore with the movements, and I feel lucky to experiAge: 46 ence it with her one on one. Activities: Dancing, As I am in my mid 40s, I want an exercise routine that is fluid and backpacking, poetry, gentle and calms my nervous system. Gyrotonic is exactly what I hot springs soaking, writing, and being a need to take me into my later years. Arching and curling, I keep mom. spiraling deeper into the center of myself. Gyrotonic is a

I turn the handles and feel the motion

Tara Coyote teaches Gyrotonic in Fairfax, CA. www.studioequilibria.com 42

conscious dancer | spring 2010

Photos: above: Shelly Gerrish / below: Paige H. Needleman

My dancing has improved as my body feels more open and fluid.

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closing circle “ The rhythm of the body the melody of the mind and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.”

Photo: Daniel Hebert, f3fotos@yahoo.ca

– B.K.S. Iyengar

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