In 2020, our world has been turned upside down. Being human is a team sport, and social distancing has made social connecting more important than ever. Many of our elders and patients with chronic conditions are stuck at home; gyms have declared bankruptcy, and dance instructors have lost their jobs of 10 and 20 years. Medical research shows that creative arts therapy improves both mental and physical health, but it’s underutilized in healthcare.
As a stage IV cancer survivor, I understand the impact of stress, isolation, and loneliness during this challenging time. It is more crucial than ever to keep ourselves and our loved ones healthy, both mentally and physically. We at Dance4Healing are committed to reconnecting people of all abilities, conditions, and ages across the globe to a nurturing community, while creating a platform for movement educators to continue doing what they love. Imagine: YouTube meets Zoom meets eHarmony for health buddies. Our mission is to make healthy habit-building fun & supportive. Our vision is to be a global technology leader in bridging creative arts and healthcare. Our online dance platform is becoming a space for connecting those with a yearning to dance, solo, or in community, to a variety of both live and pre-recorded classes tailored to their needs!
Thank you for those who attended a sneak peek of our program this Past Wednesday, Nov. 18. We are incredibly grateful for your wonderful feedback. This has been a labor of love over the last couple of months, as we’ve gathered wisdom from instructors, advisors, mentors, and healthcare experts to design this program together. We are planning for an official soft launch in the week of December 1st. Stay tuned.
Curious about the lineup? Check out these rad instructors:
Sky: Being with Impulse
Sky Spiegel is a soul manifest in this stage of life as an artist, performer, lover, mover//groover, with an ever-present fascination in our divine humanness and desire to dance with how we deeply connect with self, one another, and nature. A 2019 Calarts Grad with 10+ years of multi-modal training, Spiegel has performed and premiered works in LA and abroad. She has a commitment to the liberated joy of all bodies and looks forward to cultivating a space of transformation, laughter, and love in her classes and can’t wait to meet YOU!
Roya: Find Your Magic
Dancer, Performer, and Multidisciplinary Artist. Roya has been training in dance for 20+ years in a range of styles and modalities and holds a BFA in Art Studio from the University of Kentucky. In addition to creating her own work, she is a collaborator of Lexington, KY-based dance-theatre company, Blackbird Dance Theatre, and Los Angeles-based theatre company, The Public Assembly. She believes in her whole heart that dance helps us become more empathetic beings- connecting us deeper to ourselves, each other, and nature.
Kirsten: Dance Flow: Mind & Body
Kirsten Johnson has been in the Fitness and Wellness industry for over 25+ years both in Europe and the United States. She has been instrumental in developing new and innovative group fitness programs, educating instructors around the world, and managing high-end fitness companies in Hamburg, Germany as also San Diego and The Bay Area in California, US.
Kirsten Johnson has a background in psychology coaching teaching Neurodynamic Self -Management seminars helping clients with a deeper understanding of their intentions and learning how to create new habits to live a more fulfilled life.
Cristina: Movement for Resilience
Cristina M. Leyva: Latinx director // performer // multimedia artist creating transformations within ecology, ancestry, and community. For the MFA in Experimental Choreography at UC Riverside, she presented EarthWaterFuture: Ritual for survival mid-apocalypse (Feb 2020), and La Casa de mi Abuelo in Cajobabo, Cuba (2018). Previously, Leyva directed The Bee Dance Project (2016), co-directed anthrocollagik sound + movement co. (2009-15), and graduated from UCLA’s Department of World Arts and Cultures (2008).
