Sources of Inspiration
These are the exceptional people and practices that have most strongly guided me on my path.
(In chronological order)
Loving mentor who first taught me to listen deeply to the body
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Tamar is a New York based choreographer, filmmaker and teacher who has directed many large scale, site specific and traditional proscenium productions. Daughter of a doctor, and raised with a deep reverence and curiosity for the human form, Tamar is on a life-long, ongoing investigation of the internal structures of the body. She calls her movement research “Body Scripting.” With her intuitive approach she has helped people of all ages, walks of life and abilities to better sense and awaken their physical selves. Tamar is the one who taught me to go in and to discover for myself the mysteries and miracles of our architecture. At 75 she is still spelunking with as much energy and fascination as ever.
Brilliant and powerful force who catalyzed my life path
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Min Tanaka is a Japanese dancer and actor. He formed the Body Weather Laboratory and Farm and dance company Maijuku in the 80s and later Honmura Farm and Tokason dance company in 2000. I cannot tell you with any authority who Min Tanaka is now because he has always been in the act of constantly becoming, transforming, being reborn. When I worked with him over 20 years ago, he inspired me profoundly in how he moved in response to the environment and how he approached every aspect of his life as a research for his dance. In 2001, Tanaka began to act for the screen and has since been in dozens of films and has been given the Japanese equivalent of the Academy Award. Though I have not seen him in nearly two decades, not a day goes by that I don’t reflect upon something I learned from Min san.
Legendary dance pioneer, model of vitality, and what I want to be when I grow up
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Born in 1920, Anna was a path-forger and a shaping force in the field of postmodern dance in America. She was a pioneer of systems both internal and external. She has left many legacies in the world such as her “Movement Ritual” “Planetary Dance” the “RSVP” Cycle, and the Tamalpa Institute (cofounded with and still run by her daughter Daria.) Anna’s outdoor dance deck, nestled in the Marin hills of California, designed by her husband Lawrence, has held many of the great luminaries of the dance world of the 20th and early 21st century.
In addition to being a teacher who touched countless lives, Anna was a prolific choreographer. Her works were often site specific and political in nature. She was a rule breaker and remained vibrant, active and dancing up until the end. She died in 2021 at 101. I thank my lucky stars I got to cross paths and work with Anna.
Beloved sage and Shifu
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David (my Shifu) is a 16th generation lineage holder of Wudang Zhang San Feng Pai, and a global instructor of Wudang Daoist Wellness Arts. He has completed over 11,000 hours of formal training at the Wudang Mountain Traditional Daoist Martial Arts Academy, China and has taught workshops internationally. David founded Wudang West Cultural Center in 20 in Oakland, California. Wudang West calls itself a small circle with a big cause. Their aim is to practice and preserve the Daoist wellness arts of Wudang, China, and to make them available for everyone to explore. Shifu’s guiding principles of Integrity, Humility and Sincerity (which he also transmits as show up, shut up and add value) provide a robust scaffolding upon which a thriving life and practice can grow.
A humble master in the endless art of research
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Frey Faust is the creator and primary author of The Axis Syllabus©, which he calls “a repository of useful information concerning the use, preparation, treatment, structure, function, limitation and potential of the human body in motion. The Axis Syllabus© is a sincere support for a collective effort towards individual health sovereignty.”
Frey is fantastically obsessed with understanding the form and function of the human structure and through his tireless study in living anatomy he helps his students understand how to move more harmoniously within the dictates of our form.
When I thought I wouldn’t be able to dance anymore because of chronic back pain, I found my way to the AS and with their thorough and empowering approach I learned my way into new and improved patterns of movement and became reinvigorated in my own process of self-discovery.
Photo Mike Rafail
Mentor of stunning mind and spirit,
Actor of many roles
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Fighting Monkey Practice was created and is continuously developed by the luminous pair Linda Kapetanea and Jozef Frucek. It is a research methodology that takes movement and communication as instigative sources but is unlimited in its potential applications. Through rigorous and playful explorations into universal principles underlying life in general, and human expression in particular, FM challenges students to cultivate their responsive, adaptive and creative selves. What emerges is a multi-disciplinary approach that ultimately leads to greater connectivity to one’s self, relationships and environment.Jozef received his doctorate in Communication, regularly collaborates with professional athletes, physiotherapists, scientists and movement enthusiasts from around the world, and creates original theater works with Linda and their company Rootlessroot. He mentors people of all walks of life, and I have been extremely fortunate to be one of those mentees since 2021. He blows my mind, in the best possible way.
Other wonderful teachers I have had:
Wendell Beavers (Improvisation) Susan Bonowitz-Collard (Ballet), Maureen Fleming (Butoh), Jonathan Hart (Voice), Lee Holden (Qigong), Dr Yang Jwing-Ming (Qigong), Damo Mitchell/Lotus Nei Gong (Daoist Internal Arts), Muisi Kongo Malonga (Congolese dance), Bob Moyers (Theater), Mari Osanai (Noguchi Taiso), Mary Overlie (6 Viewpoints), Natalia Pieczuro (Fighting Monkey), Annie-B Parson (choreography), Rosemary Quinn (Dramaturgy), Antoine Ragot (The Axis Syllabus), Mrs. Simpson (9th grade English, but really, how to think creatively), Simon Thakur (Ancestral Movement), Stephen Wangh (Acting)