I am a creator. I generate movement, dialogue, and joy. I seek perspective shifts with my whole being; and, often, I can be found upside down turning an idea over in my mind and with my body. Embodied Joy, the study and application of dance-based mindfulness practices is my guiding philosophy. Choosing joy despite loss requires radical responsibility for what a joyful life requires: on-going conscious healing, confrontations with denial, accepting hard truths, and choosing to love wildly anyway. Through this lens, I explore equity as a result of empathy in action. Action-based empathy demands that I put myself in spaces and places beyond my comfort zone and learn from change. I learn in conversation and community with folx, and I do my best thinking in reflection on conversations that take me outside myself and expand my viewpoint. A life in dance performance, creation, and education provides a rich community for this discourse. Embodied Joy weaves my artistic practices and life experiences together; one enriching the other as they meld.

 

As you dive into my work, I encourage you to literally dance with me along the way. The rest of this statement offers movement prompts. I invite you to move with me as you read it, but only if that feels like a positive risk for you to take. Otherwise, imagine me dancing my way through it. I offer the dance as a bridge between us and a means to encounter these ideas with your whole self, too.

 

I am a creator. I generate movement, dialogue, and joy. 

 

Rise up and read this statement, swaying. 

 

I offer dance in theaters, schools, corporations, studios, day centers, homes, and crosswalks. 

 

Find a taller way to move while you read. 

 

I am closest to my definition of the divine when I am dancing. I am free. I am pure. I am honest. 

 

Sneak somewhere else in the room and read this in a low level, finding stillness. 

 

I understand others based on their rhythms, patterns, shapes, and effort. I wonder how people experience joy if they haven’t found it coiled up within their own moving body. And, I’m curious; how do you find joy?

 

Expand as wide as you are able and keep reading. 

 

We need to understand each other. We need to hear each other’s stories and empathize with each other’s experiences, including the memories we’d rather erase. 

 

Flinch. 

 

Moving our body with purpose is our first language. The tiniest movement is often louder than the shrillest wail. 

 

Wrap your arms around yourself and squeeze. 

 

My life’s work is creating movement that speaks to the soul which empowers others to move. 

 

What moves you?

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