Movement is a living language.
We are wild dynamic creatures designed to move in dynamic ways.
A large part of my work is about cultivating embodied connections. Enhancing our proprioception, somatic atttunement and ability to connect with our own physiological landscape. We can do this through tracking sensation, breath, posture and movement. The study and research of Somatics has remained a constant thread that ties all the elements of my work together. Harnessing these skills can transform pain and discomfort, and open new pathways of being.
Being still or moving while tracking and observing sensation rather than just sitting down or moving while in the mind, drastically impacts what is possible in the body. It is incredible how shifting our position a few inches with mindful attention can transform our physiological experience. How softening and getting still while deepening our breath can dissolve tension and pain. When we come to realize these connections, we see how much power we have to impact dis-ease in the body.
We are a mind-body universe, one is not separate from the other. The difference is the body never lies. It is necessary to include the body in the conversation, otherwise we are only existing with half of our intelligence.
I have been practicing Contact Improvisation since 2012 and teaching workshops and classes since 2015. I have danced and taught on Lasqueti and Salt Spring Island, in Nicaragua, and across Vancouver Island in the Comox Valley, Cowichan Valley and Victoria. This movement form is so much more than a dance practice, it reaches into the realm of relational therapy, movement therapy, boundary and consent work, and through the element of touch and shared weight provides a container for sensuality and intimacy. In this practice we learn about ourselves and build deep somatic relationships with other bodies.
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
My Movement Journey
I was always an active 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 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 a dancer either, I was somewhere in between. 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 my life changed. I had found the style of movement that met every part of me that wanted to be expressed. The acrobat, the improviser, the weirdo, the play, the strength, the technical, the subtle, the intimate, the community component, the unpredictability. And a form that 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.
Events & Workshops
Related training & experience
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.
Jin Shin Do Acupressure Level 1 Training, with Tolling Jennings on Lasqueti Island (Combining Japanese Acupressure and Qi Gong)
Quantum Touch Level 1 ~ Becoming Energized, with Randy Zonnis (Energy Healing through somatic visualization and breathing techniques)
Reiki Level 1, with Taiya Curle
Apart from these trainings, my experience with somatic therapy, somatic movement, and dance has contributed greatly to my understanding and connections of the body and what is possible.