Connor's Story

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In the early 80s, a flyer arrived in my hands describing a year-long training with Janet Adler in Western Massachusetts in Authentic Movement. I lived in Boston at the time and had just begun my work as a dance/movement therapist so taking the time off was not possible for me. But the seed was planted and my longing stirred. In 1985 I took a workshop with Heidi Ehrenreich (one of those first students in that programme) and I began to explore, what is an impulse to move? Heidi later offered us an ADTA Chapter workshop to explore the practice. I made sure that at every ADTA Annual conference that I attended every all day trainings offered and every other workshop on the practice. All day experiences included facilitators Tina Stromsted and Neala Haze , Zoe Avstreih and Janet Adler. 

In 1991 I had the opportunity to study for a week with Janet Adler at the Naropa Institute, Boulder, Colorado which enabled me to crystalize the practice and understand the depth and breadth of the practice. After my week long training with Janet she invited me to be part of one of her training groups in California but I became pregnant shortly after that and could not join. At that time I was facilitating the practice with a woman’s circle in Colorado and began a peer group in 1994. In 1995 we moved to Germany where I offered the practice at DMT training programmes and at Playback Theatre conferences and gatherings. 

In 2002 and 2003 I attended a retreat with Tina Stromsted in Tuscany, Italy when I lived in Sicily. During my time in Sicily I had been practicing on my own without a witness and these retreats allowed for tremendous growth in my capacity as a mover and witness. 

In 2003  I relocated to New Zealand where I began offering half-day workshops in the practice in New Plymouth and then later in Auckland where half days became the occasional full weekends. 

In 2011 I held a small retreat in New Plymouth and since 2015 hold an annual retreat at Te Moata on the Coromandel Peninsula.  After moving to Guam in 2016 I began practicing online with my colleague Anne Hurst.  That experimentation leads us to develop our first online offering through Authentic Movement Australasia. 

Living in Europe and NZ without a DMT or Authentic Movement physical community puts me in a unique position to understand the needs of movers who long to be seen and held in this practice. By offering the practice on line we have discovered we can reach others in rural and isolated areas and support their development in this practice and giving them skills to develop this practice within their community.

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I currently live in Guam, enjoying my explorations under the sea.