Workshops, classes & offerings
Private Sessions
Ongoing
Live or Online
A collaborative process of addressing your individual movement needs and interests
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In a private session I first work with you to determine what kind of movement tools you want to develop. From there I craft something catered to your specific needs, level of experience and life context. Together we address universally applicable principles of balance, dynamic alignment, coordination, strength, mobility, rhythm, adaptability, resiliency and resourcefulness.
My goal is to support you in enriching your movement life and refining your physical attunement.
I have depth of experience in a wide diversity of sources including the Chinese Internal Arts such as Qigong and Yang Sheng Gong (practice for good living), Butoh dance, Improvisational dance and theater, Fighting Monkey, MovNat, the Axis Syllabus and Nutritious Movement. You can read more about some of my primary movement sources HERE.
The cost of a private session is $75-120 an hour, sliding scale. Please reach out with questions or schedule a free consultation call.
Elemental Vessel Immersion
8 weekends, 2023-2024
next: Spring Equinox, March 16 & 17
Online
With Frieda Kipar Bay
a periodic and in-depth investigation into the artistry of change
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Life in its many forms is the story of nuanced adaptation to the environment, complex interdependencies and a driving urge to express itself. Transformation is the movement and very nature of existence.E l e m e n t a l V e s s e l I m m e r s i o n
the Water and Fire Cycles8 weekends, October 2023 - September 2024
with Dana Iova-Koga and Frieda Kipar Bay
In this offering, Frieda Kipar Bay (herbalist, tracker, artist, activist) and Dana Iova-Koga (movement artist, teacher, bi-continental resident) will be diving through a multi-layered inquiry of what it means to shapeshift through our lives and wayfind with grace and clarity. Through the foundations of movement, our collective health, and interlacement practices*, we will hone our awareness of ourselves, others, and the environment. We will look at how we can turn these inherent abilities into artistry, and how doing so supports our health, problem solving, communication, and fulfillment of Life. Creativity is our immunity!
This yearlong immersion meets on the 8 significant points on the wheel of time (from the Daoist, Baltic, Celtic traditions, among many others), and uses the relevant planetary wisdom at each point as our guide. We meet roughly every 6 weeks.
In our time together we will investigate:Foundations of Daoist Medicine- Qigong, Tao te Ching, 8 Extraordinary Vessels
8 biological pillars and Universal movement patterns/principles
Tracking a landscape and all it’s inhabitants
Universal movement patterns/principles
Recognizing cycles, systems, and the circularity of our experience
Learning to engage the movement of life and allow it to express itself is a way of caring for ourselves and all our relations.
*W h a t a r e i n t e r l a c e m e n t p r a c t i c e s ?
Interlacement practice is locating ourselves in relationship in a way that is self-reflective rather than self-absorbed. We notice how we relate to the ecology we are a part of, the seasons, our relations, the human organism, and creative processes. How do we navigate all of these overlapping threads? What shapes do we take? Life in its many forms is the story of nuanced adaptation to these complex interdependencies. We do not exist outside our relationships and landscapes.
How can this engagement cultivate groundedness in a groundless time?DETAILS:
-8 weekend intensives meet Saturday + Sunday for 3 hours via Zoom
-Join for the whole immersion or individual weekendsOct. 28-29, 2023 ~ We place ourselves. Samhain/Celtic new year/end of agricultural (plant) year. Navigating from a dynamic center.
Dec. 16-17, 2023 ~ Internal Cartography. Solstice/birth of the Sun. Navigating through wandering, getting lost, intuition.
Jan. 27-28, 2024 ~ The Roles We Wear. Imbolc/beginning of Spring. Navigating through change; we are all shapeshifters.
Mar. 16-17, 2024 ~ Shifting Relations. Spring Equinox/mid-spring festival. Navigating through shifting perspectives, from human to non-human.
April 27-28, 2024 ~ The Plurifluent Body. Beltane/high flower festival/beginning of summer. Navigating through observation and the under-appreciated art of imitation.
June 22-23, 2024 ~ The Storied Path. Summer Solstice/solar festival. Navigating through story and narrative.
August 3-4, 2024 ~ The Growth Cycle. Lammas/beginning of Fall. Navigating through rhythm, timing and cycles.
Sept. 21-22, 2024 ~ Being Contextured. Mabon/Fall Equinox. Navigating through extended self; we are woven bodies.
Supplemental content + prompts are provided for integration outside of class. Registering for the full year Includes a private session with both myself and Frieda.
MORE DETAILS AND REGISTRATION HERE, ON FRIEDA’S WEBSITE
Dancing the Landscape
August 30-September 2, 2024
at the historic Earthdance venue, Massachusetts
With Frieda Kipar Bay
An expansive inquiry of how to relate to the ecologies on either side of the skin
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We reside in a living world shaped by reciprocity. Nature responds to every single thing we do. In this 4-day, immersive workshop, we will center these deep connections between how we move and how we relate to the ecologies we are a part of. We will begin by asking “how do we dance a landscape?”, and "how are we being danced by our landscapes?" Investigations will occur inside the studio and out, in the beautiful weather of late summer, and we will draw from several primary sources as inspiration.
We will practice:
Qigong to attune our listening and understand the fractals at play.
Dynamic and rigorous Body Weather crossings to challenge our memory, proprioception and coordination.
Improvisational movement scores to play with universal movement principles.
Contact Improvisation to deepen our understanding of physical reciprocity.
Tracking and plant ID walks on Earthdance to meet the landscape with deeper understanding.
Garden work in the ED Garden to practice integrating theory into practical application (while participating and contributing to the ED community)
In recent years, much attention has been paid to the practices of Mindfulness and Embodiment and they are widely accepted as being beneficial in our aspirations of being vibrant, compassionate, responsive human beings. But what about the practice of relating to our environments and landscapes with attention and reciprocity? While equally as vital, it has not yet entered the mainstream consciousness to the same degree. We will investigate this relationship with place - emplacefulment; it’s not a word, but it’s what we’ll be practicing anyway.
Frieda is a clinical herbalist, mother, writer, activist. More about FriedaGo HERE for more information including sliding scale pricing and to REGISTER.
Be Your Own Game
May 2024
NYC
Exact dates and venue TBA
With Roberto Regueiro
Inspired by the playful and rigorous investigations of the Fighting Monkey Practice
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In this weekend intensive we will play together and get lost together.
We will provoke new questions and uncover novel solutions.
We will become anonymous in order to expand our capacities.
We will investigate the unseen.
We will navigate the unknown.
It’s going to be really fun.
Stay tuned for more info!
More about RobertoAbout Fighting Monkey: FM practice is developed by founders Jozef Frucek and Linda Kapetanea through a deep study of cross motion analysis, and with the aim of understanding principles of human movement, communication and the ageing process.
Dance on Land
upcoming dates TBA
Taught with Shinichi Iova-Koga since 2006
an intensive movement workshop in the wild
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Very close to my heart is Dance on Land, which I have taught with my partner Shinichi since 2006.
DOL is an intensive movement workshop that takes place in nature and encourages deep listening to the surroundings. By immersing ourselves in diverse environments- forests, river, ocean and field, we study both the patterns inherent in these landscapes as well as the responses moving through our bodies.
Paired with the explorations in the environment are sessions in the studio, where we cultivate our sensorial mind and creative responsiveness through rigorous physical and improvisational training rooted in Noguchi Taiso, Body Weather Training, Dao Yin, Action Theater, Yang Shen Gong and Qigong exercises.
Dance on Land is most frequently taught in Northern California but has been offered in various places around the world.
To inquire about hosting a Dance on Land event, please reach out.
Dance on Land 2016
Dance on Land 2014
