welcome to your practice
in solidarity and hope
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“if you believe in a cause, be willing to stand up for that cause, with a million people or by yourself.” otis s. johnson
breathing matters.
for us, dance is a powerful resource, that cultivates change, growth, liberation, transformation and many other pathways of permission and possibility. yet, for many, who are on the margins of society, these fundamental freedoms of movement are denied. the homeless become invisible – starving children are forgotten – global warming is dismissed – the elderly are expendable – domestic and sexual violence is forgiven – differently-abled are shunned – black lives are disposable. these, too, are definitions of a pandemic.
we believe that every human being deserves these simple pleasures; to inhale and exhale, to grow to their full potential, to change their stance, to be held in gravity and uplifted by buoyancy, to liberate their minds and to be informed and transformed by moving their bodies through space. a space that is safe enough for you to risk being yourself. a brave space where we care for each other and share with one another. our hope and prayer is to create a community where each gesture is treated with respect and recognition. a place of sovereignty, where we and all of our movements matter.
through the somatic practices of open floor and soul motion let us uncover, recover and discover all of the ways that we are unique and diverse. may we liberate our bodies and expand our hearts towards becoming our tender, compassionate, alive and engaged selves.
with respect and recognition,
michael & anneli
movements matter:
regenerative agriculture
black lives matter
me too
extinction rebellion
standing rock
take a knee
save our children
gender identity
animal rights
women’s movement
bipoc
lgbtqia+
climate change
families together
differently-abled
pro-choice
offerings
october 14-15, 2023 berkeley, california
an in person workshop with michael
to cultivate our capacity to receive and release, to offer and allow, to care for self and to share yourself….a breathing room.
the art of breathing, to draw in a conscious breath and let the hands soften, fingers loosening their firm grasp on things outside of my control. the art of breathing, to draw in a conscious breath and let the feet relax. soles widening their stance, accepting that there is always a place for you called here. the art of breathing, to draw in a conscious breath and let the heart unwind, the emotional hope chest quieting, dancing with the creative tensions of tenderness and tenacity, grief and exultation.
our ongoing prayer is this; may this next breath bring you not one step closer to death, but rather more fully into your life. that you live out loud, practice aliveness in each moment and sing into the silence which is always opening for you…..BREATHING ROOM.
november 10-12, 2023 burlington, vermont
an in-person workshop with michael
if our bodies are the vessels we use to move through the currents of our lives, then the heart is the rudder, our moral compass, for navigating the cruelties and the crises in the world with compassion and grace.
in this retreat you are being called to crack the chrysalis in the center of your chest and cradle the critic that cripples your creativity. let’s create a sanctuary where your longings and desires may root, roam, reach, and rise.
using the lens of curiosity, wonder and awe, we surrender ourselves through movement, poetry, art, witnessing and ritual to dare our dreams and sing our souls. if you feel pulled, please join our circle to be held in this sacred gathering of the potent exposing and expanding of our hearts.
november 30 – december 4, 2023
an online immersion
with michael and susan harper
in this 5-day online retreat, we participate in a multi-faceted movement range where we dance wildly and tenderly, fiercely and freely, deepen through ritual, and explore intrinsic movement.
using the movement practices of soul motion and open floor, let’s ignite our passions and appetite for being. we will root when dancing alone to satisfy our hunger for silence and solitude. we will reach when engaging with another to satiate our hunger for connection and communion. we will rise when weaving the threads of our humanity to meet our hunger for belonging and community. we will radiate in all directions of our lives to cultivate and stimulate our hunger for spirit and the mystery.
in the inquiry style of continuum, enter the sacred gateway of the body in primordial sounding and fluid movement. deepen in the nourishing gifts of the elemental intelligences and the wild and subtle beauty that lives within. attune to the generative mystery that reveals the gifts that live in your unique heart stream.
about us
anneli & michael first received each other dancing and felt that embrace in which two souls re-fuse to become one again. in october of 2011 they were blessed with the ultimate miracle; his name is jaylan kyan and he is the physical expression of their living love.
michael and anneli are living their dream of inspiring people to re-discover and reconnect into their entire self through conscious movement. they meet life and people with a passion and vulnerability that offers permission to embrace our nature and personal truths. they truly, madly, deeply love life.
they currently have found their way to the pacific northwest where they are nestled in the sanctuary of the olympic forest, surrounded on 3 sides by puget sound, an inlet of the pacific ocean, with snow capped mount baker and mount rainier in the background. they have wholeheartedly been embraced by the community of port townsend. both individually and collectively as a family, they are growing and knowing their most vibrant and vital selves.
from anneli & michael
black lives matter. it is worth being said over and over again, until hopefully there is a day when it does not need to be expressed again. for us, this is very personal and an integral part of our life, as we stretch and strive for something different, for our precious color-ful son.
no matter what color our skin is, we all have the same desires: to fall in love, take care of ourselves and our dear ones, laugh, find meaning in our lives, feel safe, learn, make mistakes, feel, live, breathe and die. the reality is that so many of us, in this country and in the world, live a totally different reality, without those basic freedoms.
our hope and prayer is that this will change and that we can envision a different future for all our children. a future where it does matter what color your skin is, but where each is treated with equality and justice. a future with more freedoms, where we all matter.
the movements-matter outreach is a dream to spread the medicine and healing of movement beyond the borders of the tapestry of our community. to reach those that have been relegated and regulated to the margins of society. to lift our eyes and hearts further than the periphery of our habitual gaze, towards the hope and prayer of a future where it does matter what is the color your skin, the gender you are in and the prayer of your religion, but where each is treated with equality and justice. a future with more freedoms, where we all matter.
we stay. this is a shortened version of a whole class with dancers being spotlighted (we do not do this in our regular online classes). to view the whole class or find other outreach recordings please visit here.
heart notes
our promise to ourselves
at certain intersections in life we are more acutely aware of how precious our time on this earth is. as we face the grief of deep loss or potential loss,…
we cannot breathe. black lives matter.
we cannot breathe. black lives matter. it is worth being said over and over again, until hopefully there is a day when it does not need to be expressed again. our…
in the middle of the turbulence of life
there is so much happening in the world. and we are most interested in what is happening within you. we hope you are navigating these times with grace and ease.…
IF MOTHERS RULED THE WORLD
if mothers ruled the world
all would be whole, fed and well.
war would cease,
i mean, what kind of crazy fools
send their babies to war
instead we would simply ask,
“how to meet that unmet need?”
the table of the world
would be set
with square meals for hearts
and all would gather round,
nourished.
the problem to solve
would be how to make
society more tender
and how do we open
all the borders
around our hearts,
that all parts of us
may have a place
for refuge.
if mothers ruled the world
we would be stewards
of the health, diversity and wild
of Mother Earth,
and each night
the stars would applaud
the beauty they witnessed here.
magic would rise with the sun
and light
would migrate back home
to our eyes.
creativity would pour abundantly
from humanity
like a full pitcher
of honeyed cream,
song, dance storytelling, tribe
would not be luxuries, garnishes, dreams—
they would be as universal and essential
as our breath,
they would be the main dishes
of our lives.
there would be ceremony
around resurrecting
every unblossomed voice
as it rooted into itself
and found its flower.
there would always be circles
to hold and witness
all laughter and tears.
deep listening
would be as requisite as taxes
and taxes would go to healing
growing, learning, thriving, celebration.
if mothers ruled the world
this world would go
from barren to fertile,
from wasteland
to rose garden,
from revenue
to relationship,
from burned out
to powerful, full bellied flame
almost overnight.
but we’re tired, we’re lonely,
we’re malnourished
because we don’t have the support
we need
because mothers do not yet
rule the world.
it’s time to feed The Mother
who lives within us all.
it’s time to bring
whatever nourishment we possess
to Her lips.
by chelan harkin