Nothing sets the mood like the right music!
Tastes vary, but the exploration of music that moves us is full of delightful discoveries that become lifelong memories.
As a choreographer, teaching artist and coach, music, songs, and playlists are a huge part of my life, my data streaming, and WiFi usage as I disc jockey sessions in real time and build up my library of music with which I resonate.
Let’s romanticize, gamify, and bring the fun to our learning and creating goals this season with a “Personal Curriculum!” It is a trending topic that I can really jump on board with.
As a dance educator and teaching artist, creating a safe space for learning has long been a topic of interest and top priority in coaching and classes Recently my interest has been reignited by working in a context similar to where I myself have experienced feeling unsafe, bullied, at risk: middle school. Being familiar with the concept of Safer Space codes of conduct in the context of queer nightlife, parties, dances, and demonstrations, the same tenets are applicable in a variety of social and educational contexts. Unfortunately its all too easy to see the parallels between middle school meanness and wannabe tyrannical rulers and thugs playing on the international stage. With intersectional diverse individuals feeling increasingly unsafe in current society and human rights under threat, Mental Health Day and Coming Out Day being celebrated in October, it is timely to consider how we can work together to generate loving, supportive spaces for all.
How do you counteract the natural negativity bias and inevitable criticism that meets a life of creativity? Enter the “Smile File” of praise, thanks, and acknowledgment from others. One of a slew of tools to refresh, inspire, and motivate when we feel down or burnt out. Take a peek into my own collected notes of thanks and gather your own evidence of acknowledgement and love to stay inspired and motivated.
Savor the last days of the season with me in real time, or feel the warmth of those long lazy days anytime with verses suitable to summer.
Light as a feather, fluttering in springtime and summer, having had encounters with butterflies in just about every place I have been, I always feel blessed by their gentle presence. Butterfly, Schmetterling, Farfalle, Papillon…I love their many names, their movements, the science and the mystery behind their lifecycles. My late ex mother in law Janine […]
Though I may not want a life on the open sea myself, I was raised on sailing and pirate stories and appreciate the ethos of freedom, treasure, and adventure.
What better time to embark on a fantastical journey of imagination than summer?
How and why take notes on dance classes & rehearsals?
Research supports the efficacy of notetaking in supporting learning and creativity, now how do we put that into practice and actually make time and space to jot a few ideas down afterwards?.
Happy Summer Solstice, arriving in late June in the Northern Hemisphere, and a time of high summer, early harvests, fruits and berries, creative energy in the natural world and for us individually.
Tap into the radiant energy of long bright days, short nights (as well as tipping into times of shorter days), basking, glowing, radiance, enjoyment, savoring, bounty, nourishment, possibly also thriving, relaxation, rest, vacation, getting outside, energy and adventure.
A ripe time for dance and sport intensives, camps, writing and creativity, and rich possibility for growth and breakthroughs!
For frequent flyers and folks for whom it is important that we freely move, I’m offering yummy yoga poses, practices, and a playlist full of goodies for small spaces of time and elbowroom. As always, asana, shapes and flows are adaptive to varying energy levels and needs, physical capacity and limits from within or without, which you may practice anytime from anywhere.
