We are made to move in dynamic ways.
I see movement as both an art form and a pathway to greater health, connection, and self-expression. As a movement practitioner and dance teacher, I support people in developing more efficient, adaptable, and embodied ways of moving, cultivating strength, agility, play, and expression along the way. Through classes, workshops, and community events, I create spaces where we can move together, deepen our relationship with our bodies, and experience a greater sense of embodied belonging.
Current Movement Offerings
PULSE
Pulse is a focused experimental space to practice Contact Improvisation Dance in a class and jam format with the accompaniment of recorded and live music. You are invited to experiment, research, play, and develop new pathways of movement within the framework of Contact Improvisation. All levels of dance and movement experience are welcome to participate.
The evening beings at 7pm with a facilitated class/guided warm up focused on concepts and themes related to the principles of Contact Improvisation. The warm-up is intended to provide a comfortable, welcoming space for beginners to learn basic concepts of the form to move more fluidly into a jam setting, while providing more advanced dancers a focus in which to deepen their movement exploration.
At 7:30pm we begin a Jam with music. The Jam portion of the evening is a non verbal, self guided, movement focused space to explore solo or partner dance, technique, physical listening, and improvisation.
At 9pm we close the evening with a moment of stillness and silence together, and end with a short circle.
This is a welcoming and consent-centered environment that values curiosity, presence, and the shared practice of improvisation. Come as you are, to move, listen, connect, and explore the unfolding dance.
When: Bi-weekly on Fridays
Where: Ashtanga Yoga Studio
Cost: $20
***Pre-registration is mandatory for this event***.
UNBOUND
Contact Improvisation for Women: A 4 week embodied journey through the fall season.
NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART --- For those seeking a non-conventional, awkward, strange and wildly fulfilling embodied practice to juice up your life, please join us.
In this 4 week movement series for women we will explore primal movement, ergonomic pathways, agility, play, and creative expression through the practice of Contact Improvisation.
We will cultivate strength and physical intelligence while deepening our sensitivity to space, touch, weight, and momentum. Together, we will expand our capacity for non-verbal connection and discover the intimacy, trust, and freedom that can emerge through group movement.
***Welcome to all levels of movement*** no previous experience necessary. Beginner and intermediate CI dancers welcome.
A few of the concepts we will explore:
Spine Articulation, No-hands dancing, Rolling Point of Contact, Over-under dancing, Falling into the Floor, Lift Sequences, Composition, Improvisation & much more!
When: Mondays from 6:30pm-8:30pm (Sept. 28th - Oct. 19th)
Where: Church of Truth in James Bay
Cost: Early bird $180 before Sept. 15th, $200 after
What is Contact Improvisation Dance?
Part “non-martial” martial art, part acrobatic dance, part movement meditation, part collaborative bodywork practice, contact is a place where we can, with a sense of playfulness and curiosity, explore our bodies and interconnection. ~ Karl Frost
Contact Improvisation emerged in the 70’s through a group of contemporary modern dancers who were experimenting with the physics of moving together in shared weight. It intersects the work of somatics, martial arts, contemporary dance, meditation, and theatre. It is an un-coded form of dance meaning there are no set moves or rules, but rather a set of fundamental techniques that act as a frame for the exploration of improvisation and emergent movement. It is an exceptionally dynamic form in that it can be very fast, acrobatic and technical, while also being very subtle, slow and intimate. This is a unique style of partner dance in that there is no set lead or follow, and the direction of movement is inspired more through the point of contact, shared weight, and the dancer’s attention and curiosity. This shared attention, curiosity and willingness to improvise allows the dancers to enter into an effortless, playful flow state. Apart from being a movement practice, Contact is also a relational practice and provides a container to explore relational dynamics such as: boundaries, patterns, habits and stories. It is accessible to all bodies and levels of movement and is practised in many cultures around the world.
Interested to learn about upcoming workshops and events? Leave your email below.
My Movement Journey
I was always an active, sporty person from a young age, running around and eager to move my body. I grew up playing sports and loving the comradely of being on a team. I played baseball and soccer before moving on to volleyball, which I pursued the furthest, continuing to play competitively through club and beach volleyball after high school. l never had any formal dance training and always envied my friends who were performing in dance shows. I wasn’t quite an athlete and I didn’t associate as a dancer either, I was somewhere in between. At times, I found it challenging to not really fit in to either. I just felt like some wild creature who loved to move, and there was something about being part of a group that I loved. Throughout my early twenties I found ecstatic and 5 rhythms dance and a part of me came alive. I had found a community that was just moving to move rather than perform. When I found Contact Improvisation Dance my life changed. I not only found a new style of dance that I loved, I found a “movement research”. A form that combined studying the body, observing relational dynamics, and dancing. I felt like I could express every part of myself here: the acrobat, the improviser, the weirdo, the silly, the strong, the technical, the subtle, the intimate, the relational, and the thrill-seeker. I could be alone, in a duet, or part of a group composition. This form has taught me so much about my body and how I move through the world relating to other bodies. I started practising Contact Improvisation in 2012 and began teaching in 2015 on Salt Spring Island. I have taught across Vancouver Island, in Nicaragua and on Salt Spring in class, workshop and festival environments. Within my contact training I have also been exposed to Feldenkrais, Contemplative Dance Practice, Capoeira, and Axis Syllabus.
Through studies in Jin Shin Do Acupressure and Chinese Medicine I found Qi Gong which has drastically helped reduce my anxiety, insomnia and fatigue. I have been practicing Qi Gong weekly for the past 6 years. I am an avid hiker, runner, biker and in the past 3 years I started surfing and have maintained a consistent strength training routine. I love challenging my body and learning new pathways of movement. I have studied Salsa, Swing and Fusion dance and have intentions of travelling to Brazil this Winter to continue training in Fusion and Contact dance.
Related training & experience
14 Years practising Contact Improvisation Dance & 10 years teaching in class, workshop and festival environments.
Fusion dance Festival, with Samuel Samways
Zouk & Bachata 4 week training, with Javi Monsa
Somatic Inquiry Play Shop, with Mariah Moser (Combining Attachment Theory, Parts work, Trauma Resolution and Somatic Explorations)
Embodied Relational Gestalt Training, with Michael Clemmensat Esalen Institute in Big Sur California
7 day Somatic Meditation Retreat, Vajrayana Buddhist practice at Stowell Lake Farm on Salt Spring Island
Youth on Fire ~ A Somatic Rite of Passage Dance Teacher Training, with Melissa Micheals (Combining Bill Plotkin’s Eco-psychology principles and the human development wheel, Gabriel Roth’s 5 Rhythm framework and Somatic awarness techniques for body-centered rites of passage.
6 week Salsa Course
Classes in Feldenkrais, Acro Yoga, & Thai Massage
Apart from these trainings, my experience with somatic therapy, somatic movement, bodywork and dance has contributed greatly to my understanding and connections of the body and what is possible.