Process Piece

Graduate of the National Circus School in Montreal, Antonia Dolhaine spent the last 4 years touring the world teaching and performing with the likes of Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Éloize, and Celebrity Cruises among others. Recently she ran away from the circus to run back to herself. Now a trauma-informed Breathwork facilitator and somatic practitioner in-training, her purpose is to help others to reconnect with themselves through the creation process, embodiment practices, shadow-work, and rituals allowing them to reframe their relationship to life. In this conversation, we talk about her history working in the circus arts and finding her identity as an artist, her personal experiences dealing with mental health and how that has led her into the world of healing practices such as Breathwork and shadow work, looking at the creative practice from a trauma-informed lens, and the parallels between the artistic practice and polarizing politics. 

**Disclaimer: In this episode we speak about microdosing as part of Antonia's healing journey and while she feels that it is important to share information and be open about these experiences, you should not take any drugs or substances without consulting a licensed medical professional.

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Aida Azlin is a writer, creative, proud believer, and dear friend of mine from Singapore. In this conversation, we cover quite a lot of ground. We talk about how Aida started writing, how it has changed over time, and her very specific routine that kickstarts her writing mode. We discuss how human connection is the most important thing in art and in life, made especially clear during the pandemic we are in currently, the idea of “humanity before religiosity,” and how practicing Islam relates to practicing art.  Because we held this conversation during Ramadan and it is coming out during the final days of this sacred month, we also talk about Ramadan itself and how it can reset our personal intentions and open up more space for creative work.

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Kennedy Muntanga is a movement artist born in Ndola, Zambia where he resided until he was 7. Moving to Leeds (UK), Kennedy’s passion for movement came from his wholesome relationship between dance and culture. We discuss the intersection between his cultural heritage and dance, how narratives bring empathy to art, why he feels like he is still at the very beginning of creating his voice in dance, what it means to be a dancer, especially during this time of global crisis when no one can perform or teach in person, and how his christian faith deeply influences and drives his work.

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Elin Kelsey, PhD is an award-winning author and internationally-recognized thought-leader for hope and environmental solutions. We talk about what led Elin to write and create children’s books specifically, as well as how to us books and art as vehicles for larger narratives and heavier conversations. We dig into her research process of writing a book and discuss the intersection between poetry and science. I love the way Elin speaks about reframing the pervasive “doom and gloom” narrative about the environment to one that is more hopeful. She elaborates on this concept and talks about how the same reframing can be applied to our current quarantined reality, finding hope in the chaos.

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Training across New York, Paris, Berlin, London, Tokyo, Brazil, regional Australia, and her purple bedroom, Vanessa Marian Varghese is particularly fascinated with street dance and the way it is born outside of the dance studio context. In 2016 Vanessa founded Groove Therapy, aimed at making dance accessible to all walks of life. In this conversation we dig into Vanessa's background in dance and creativity, how her diverse past of studies and interests now inform the whole package of her present work, her relationship with failure, and how she built groove therapy into the expanding creative business it is today. She describes a very practical piece of advice for artists and creative workers of any kind, which is building a happiness baseline budget, plus we discuss the joy of being a beginner and lifelong learner

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Anna Brones is a writer, papercut artist, illustrator, and producer living in the Pacific Northwest of the USA. She is the author of several books including Fika: the Art of the Swedish Coffee Break and Live Lagom: Balanced Living the Swedish Way. We speak in detail about her recent Women’s Wisdom Project, the cultural and societal values of work and productivity, how a multifaceted creator like Anna decides what is work and what isn’t and when to say yes or no to a new opportunity, enjoying what she aptly calls the “marination phase” of the creative process, and, something that we can all relate to lately, how limitations and restrictions can actually enhance the artistic process instead of hindering it.

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Because this is my 20th official conversation on the podcast, it seems fitting that the artist I am speaking with is not only a dear friend and someone I have worked with in the past, but the woman who sparked the idea for this entire thing to begin with. Natalia Fernandes planted the seed of exploring deep process in my mind in 2015 when she directed a solo that I choreographed as a part of The Oldest Thing in the World. In this episode, we spoke openly and joyfully in Natalia’s cozy apartment in the center of Madrid. We talk about a wide variety of things relating to the real work behind the work, but namely Natalia’s dance history and how she brings all of her references to her work, what it means to choose to the life of an artist, the body as a constant and natural fluid process, the big questions we all ask in our work, why the world needs more poetry, on discipline and repetition, and how we define being radical.

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Akeisha de Baat is contemporary dance artist turned online fitness enthusiast for dancers, based in Vancouver, Canada. She loves to create new works, self produce shows, and encourage other artists to go after their dreams. We talk about Akeisha's unusual path through dance, starting with roots in traditional Polynesian dancing as a link to her family, carrying the history of different dance styles in her body, her love of countertechnique and what it is exactly, plus we talk a lot about being a dancer as an artist versus an athlete. For non-dancers, we also talk a lot about processes that are applicable to all. For example, what resilience means and not only what it is to be a resilient dancer, but a resilient artist, how an injury forced her to take a break and how taking a pause can effect the creative process, and her interest in energy and the law of attraction.

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This episode is a little bit different from others. I decided to sit down with the one and only Marouan Ben Larbi, who is not only my husband, but at certain points throughout our relationship, a co-creator and fellow performer. In this conversation in our living room, the two of us go back and forth about topics relating to art-making, relationships and where the two subjects intertwine. Most notably, how we worked together and what our collaboration process looked like for our full-length dance performance piece titled Marked Territory, plus what being an artist means to each of us and separating artistic spirit from artistic profession. We discuss the fact that a stigma still exists claiming that true artists can’t devote time to stable relationships or marriage and we also get into the benefits of having someone close to you in your life with whom you can be totally vulnerable and talk to about your process. We also received several questions from friends and podcast listeners, so we answer those sporadically throughout this chat. We are hoping this conversation will give you a glimpse into just one example of what two artists coming together in a relationship can look like from the inside, going through the process of making a life and making art side-by-side.

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Sharon Picasso is a Minneapolis based movement and interdisciplinary artist. Her creative work incorporates her rich background in dance, theater, somatics, music and design. She invests in cultivating an inclusive and sustaining creative environment and above all, values the process. In this episode we discuss her beginnings in theater and psychology and why she took a break from dance for two years, how becoming a mother positively impacted her career as a choreographer and how she makes life and work sustainable, being a self-proclaimed “slow cooker” in terms of creative process, her thoughtful and special relationship with failure, plus she shares a couple of my favorite answers that I have heard so far in terms of what her daily rituals are for creativity.

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