The Soul’s Language with Kristin Sudeikis

Four years ago, my friend Mikhael, sent me an email out of the blue asking me to be part of a concert at BAM. Kristin Sudeikis was creating “Stand with Revolutionary Love” and was looking to have voice paired with choreography. I shared a story of a friend who was killed by a stray bullet - something I’ve never talked about - to an entire audience inside BAM’s Fischer building. That moment helped lift my soul in ways I didn’t realize I needed.

I reconnected with Kristin to talk about the power of dance, FORWARD__Space, her imagined future and how these all sync.

Here are her words and images.

Atiba: Often times words and speech lead change and protests. In what ways do you feel dance and the body can connect to a betterment of the future?

Kristin: This immediately makes me think that there is a reason we march, we become so undeniably moved that we must put our bodies in action. Change and progress are meant to be physically moved. Physically expressed. Spoken! Then moved through the human body, through each of our vessels. Dance has long been the way humanity circled together to grieve, cry, play, celebrate, imagine, gain clarity, community and more. I bow to the choreographers, artistic directors and dancers across time that have courageously embodied the truth and the human story so as to allow an audience to connect and hopefully, feel something, bear witness to either stories they themselves know or to ones they can learn from and feel into.

I bow to the artists that create that sense of kinesthetic empathy, understanding, compassion, fire and curiosity.

Atiba: What do you imagine for your future?

Kristin: One of continued service to the arts, to dance, music, humanity, to infinite learning, storytelling, truth, to questioning what is presented before me. I imagine reimaging what the possibility of the future will be with my every word, thought, action, dance piece, creation, company and more.

I envision my future with me doing all I can with the time I am here. To create work, movement and physicalized conversations that push past any perceived limits-- awakening that raw sense of clarity and possibility in others as well as in my own being. I imagine my future as an infinite student of Universe University, as I sometimes tend to call it.

INSIGHT: Imagined Future

How do you see dance being connected to freedom?

Dance is intrinsically linked to freedom at a primal and mystical level. Primal because it is instinctual, guttural, ancient and timeless. Dance is the vehicle directly driving us to both individual and collective liberation. In its truest form, dance holds the capacity to be a complete expression of freedom-- mentally, physically, emotionally and spiritually. The tension between the simple yet complex nature of this truth is all held within dance.

On the mystical level, dance is full connection. Connection to our bodies, music, the present moment, the greater world around us. For some it is connection to spirit. For me, dance is prayer. I describe prayer as a connection to something greater than myself and that is my direct experience of dance. Dance is water. It is waves.

It is past, present and future all in one physical embodiment that is only happening in the ever-present now. By aligning the body with these inherent connections, one inevitably experiences a sense of freedom.

Complete the phrase “Art is...”

My first thought is what if that is the full phrase? Art is... the ever-evolving breath, breaking, being and becoming again and again and again.

Atiba: How do you envision FORWARD__Space providing needed space for various communities?

Kristin: We see FORWARD__Space as a dual landing and launching pad for communities, both near and far. The galaxies of deep connection, love, healing humanity, and pure potential are not so far from our reach when we board the ships of movement and music and collectively launch forward into this real space. 20 | www.fokus.org

INSIGHT: Imagined Future We often say that FORWARD__Space is for those who used to dance, love to dance and want to dance — meaning, we welcome everyone into our space. There is an athlete and artist in all of us. At FORWARD__Space, we simply hope to help unlock what is already there. We aren’t looking for everyone to fit into one mold or move in one type of way—rather we invite people to bring their full and unique self onto the dance floor.

We all need a space to move, to take up the space of our bodies, to drop, connect, explore and exhale. Whether in the comfort of the sanctuarymeets-club-environment, with the beats high and the lights low at 24 Spring Street or in the comfort of your own home and connecting with us through our Virtual Hub, FORWARD__Space is a vibe. A space to sync up and be guided through the inherent powers of music, dance and sweat.