Artist Statement
As a dancer, choreographer, speaker, filmmaker, writer, producer and spoken word artist using many mediums of expression, I live a life devoted to creativity and research. Sharing my creativity and sparking the creative energies in others is one of my primary motivations when I perform, produce, write, teach and create using web technologies.
I know that I was born to dance. I agree with Plato that dancing is the natural expression of our emotions through the motions of our bodies. I dance out of the sheer necessity to feel fully alive.
I am fascinated by the ancient and the primordial. That is why I have chosen dance, an ancient and primordial art form, as my most important means of artistic expression. I am equally fascinated by everything that is “cutting edge,” and I find myself most at home experimenting with technology, whether in the mediums of digital video, web-based technologies or producing music.
I am particularly enamored with the Internet, because it is interactive and international. I love to know that I can actively connect with anybody in the world. It seems to me like a powerful medium through which I can benefit many people through my art and creativity.
I see my art as a link integrating the primordial aspects of dance with the cutting edge aspects of technology. I believe that in our highly sedentary, media-intense culture, we need to dance and to be connected with our bodies more than ever. For this reason I have developed systems like The Dance of the Universe™, a whirling meditation; as well as Archetypal Wisdom™ and Shakti Yoga-Dance™, which take dance off the stage and into people’s lives as a tool for self-exploration and self-development.
I am passionate about safeguarding dance and music traditions in danger of extinction and the wisdom inherent in them. I do this through documenting and preserving them through audiovisual media and by creating cultural immersion trips that honor them.
I consider the wisdom these traditions convey an important legacy for generations to come; I want to contribute to revitalizing these traditions and give a voice to those who make them come alive. As a result, in 1994, I created Dances of the World Society, to collaborate with organizations and individuals that wish to support these endeavours.
The natural place to start was with my own culture. Thus, I developed the Flamenco Roots Program, to rescue and revive aspects of Flamenco that are in danger of extinction, such as the Zambra and the Ancient Feminine Flamenco dance.
I create unique Flamenco Cultural Immersions to share the magic of my culture and offer people the opportunity to come to Spain to experience, among us local Spaniards, our unique ancient traditions and our flamenco singing and dancing rituals .
My commitment is to living everyday in dedication to benefiting people by manifesting in tangible mediums of artistic expression the intangible forces of creativity, knowing that every step contributes to fulfilling the destiny I was born to live.