Behind the Scenes...
(MA THERAPEUTIC ARTS - ATHR, E-RYT 500, DIP ANP, POST GRAD DIP J, BA)
It’s tricky writing a page about yourself. It’s one thing to write a bio, it’s another to tell a story of the impulses and intrigue of following a thread through your professional life – the what’s and why’s, the various turns and influences. As I ponder this, a memory surfaces…
I’m sitting in the evening light at the little table by the sliding door of our Wellington Mana Street flat back in 2003. The lamp is on, my partner not yet home and I’m writing in my journal after a dance improvisation session in the studio – capturing my thoughts, my belly and chest charged with the passion and aliveness of my discoveries. My entry from January 2003 begins with, “Trying to develop a technique which helps people to become more aware of their physical body in space through movement…what we feel we can and can’t do in a given setting…movement not being produced through thought…” I remember making a pledge that I would do whatever I could to share the magnificence of human beings, the power of movement and its impact on physical and mental health.
Here I am today, as the days cool into Autumn of 2023, reconfiguring things after the loss of my mother and thinking about where I am and what matters. In reflection I share here a series of ‘turns’ (a few of many) that capture something of the trajectory of this professional thread, and serve loosely to structure my career.
Turn: At 19 I returned to ballet having given it up at 15 - it’s tough for a lanky teenager to feel graceful. Prior to giving up, my dance was my everything. I later realised it still was. I’ve danced ever since and never stopped taking class.
Turn: At the end of my BA. I chose journalism school over dance school - an agonising decision.
Turn: I got a job as an arts journalist and radio documentary maker for Radio New Zealand. Over three years I had the privilege of meeting incredible people and learning about profound creative lives and processes.
Turn: My fascination with movement and sound blossomed. Sitting in a dance show at Bats Theatre I realised I needed to live my own artistic life. I left RNZ and moved to New York City.
Turn: NYC was full of artistic inspiration, exciting collaborations, deep connections. I danced. I made sound. I studied. I experimented. I played. An Anusara Yoga class in Tribeca seeded becoming a yoga teacher. I went on to teach yoga & movement for over 15 years.
In New York and London my work took shape. I dived into Contact Improvisation, Anusara Yoga, Action Theatre, Skinner Release, Body Mind-Centering among many other body-oriented practices. I studied and studied, began to teach, collaborated, designed heaps of sound, made theatre, performed…
If I am to define myself now, I’m an educator, therapist and movement/sonic artist specialising in embodied practices & multisensory inquiry and learning. My work synthesises several decades of research, professional development, performance and teaching. Playful investigations into the physical, philosophical and daily applications of human embodied experience thrill me to this day. Research into embodied intelligence, anatomy & physiology, lived experience, eco-somatics and kinesthetic/multisensory awareness is ongoing.
My work rides the intersection of art, health and education to promote awareness of our embodied intelligence and the critical role I believe it plays in personal vitality, social cohesion, environmental care & positive change. I consider embodied intelligence essential for sustainability as a people and planet.
In brief here’s what happened/ing…
The Yoga Lab - Founder/Director pioneering Melbourne-based yoga & movement studio (2014-2017), to explore ways to create greater accessibility and understanding for somatic-based work.
Live Particle - Co-founder/Director of Melbourne-based independent embodied education provider with Angela Clarke.
Adventures In The Field - Co-creator of interactive embodied practice manual by Live Particle.
Embodied Therapeutics: movement & creative arts therapy. - Private practice began in London 2007 and has evolved to it’s current Melbourne offering.
LIPS - dance improvisation duo with Ineke de Graaf regularly performing around Melbourne since 2017.
Recently completed a Masters in Experiential & Creative Arts Therapy with MIECAT.
Currently studying as a Somatic Movement Educator in the Body-Mind Centering approach with Somatic Education Australasia.
For more moments from my professional portfolio – click here
Alongside my teaching & therapeutic work, I continue to collaborate artistically, design sound and delight in sharing a dynamic life with my partner Bing, our children Stella & Taylor and dog Jiemba.
NB: For some time I traded under yoga . movement . sound (visit old Facebook page). These aspects are now an integral part of my professional portfolio, but the differentiation here is helpful for biographical & professional credential purposes. See below…
Camilla & movement
I've danced for as long as I can remember. It's how I know me and this world I'm in. My moving research is vital creative practice, direct expression, sophisticated processing and profoundly informative and therapeutic. It's my way of communing.
camilla & yoga
Yoga is a way of being in the world and considering worldly things. For me it is like coming home. Yoga philosophy directly informs my work & yogasana is a beautiful embodied practice I cherish.
Camilla & sound
I’ve always been captivated by our aural world. The mix of natures tunes, the sonic human and our various environments and stories. I love the cinema of sound, how it reveals the beauty in the ordinary, and harnesses the power of our imagination. The microphone has been my instrument but more recently I’ve added the keys to this combination - paino, synth, hamonium.