KIRSTIE SIMSON
Evolving through movement
“I place my work within the larger context of the human endeavor to evolve as a species”
Evolving through movement
For forty years I have been engaged in a dedicated practice of dance improvisation. My encounter with this work in my early twenties transformed my life. As an earnest young student in a beginning improvisation class, I understood in a flash of insight that everything I would ever need to know was already present within me. I took this life-affirming message to mean that each one of us is graced with latent potential, talents that are waiting to be uncovered and brought to consciousness. I intuited that life was a process of self-discovery and a quest for meaning. In my own case this journey unfolded through my exploration of embodied intelligence.
I was catapulted into a life that has been more than I could have imagined. I realized I was an improviser, and went on to study Aikido, Meditation, the Development of Consciousness and the Alexander Technique as ways of supporting my path forward. I have become an international teacher/performer of improvisation who continually travels the world sharing my knowledge about the potential that dance has to liberate, and bring us to a deeper understanding of ourselves and each other. Over the past 12 years, I have held a fulltime position as a university professor of improvisation, instructing young students at the beginning of their dance exploits.
I did not plan any of this. Something has propelled me along this journey of discovery, in which listening to life seems to be the key.
Reaching 60, I have decided to create this website as a means of documenting the many projects and collaborations I have had the pleasure of participating in over the years, as well as a place to publish information about my ongoing workshops and classes.
