Collective Spotlight: Taina Lyons
Meet Taina Lyons, Contact Improvisation Instructor and Somatic Ritualist
Why did you want to become a embodied movement facilitator?
I started dancing Contact Improvisation regularly in 2015, after friends had been inviting me to try it for years. I felt a lot of resistance at first, especially after an initial experience in a dance space left me feeling uncomfortable. The first time I tried CI, someone approached me and was nudging me across the room with their head! While this kind of play may arise in a Contact Improv space, as a brand new dancer who hadn’t learned any of the skills or community norms, it was jarring! It took me a while to come back around to CI after this experience. I took a class with a local teacher, Moti Zemelman, who is skilled with guiding each participant’s attention to their internal landscape before bringing in any contact with others. In this space I began having “somatic epiphanes” –I could connect with subtle pleasures of simply moving freely and with curiosity. I could see the kinds of emotional and relational patterns I had as they arose in relation to other dancers. I discovered the joy of improvisational movement. I danced weekly for years, and my experience of my body and sense of self began to transform. The qualities of grounding, freedom, and spontaneity I was practicing in CI began to extend into many aspects of my life. As my appreciation for the form deepened, I decided I would also love to teach it. In 2017 I began offering classes in various settings around Southern VT and Western MA. Since then I’ve offered classes in various settings, including to high schoolers in the dance department at The Putney School, elementary school age children at The Academy School in Brattleboro, and private workshops for younger and elder adults.
What have you gained from this work?
As a highly sensitive person, I’ve needed to find my voice and learn to trust my intuition in the facilitation role. This has been very healing for me. As I strengthen trust in myself, I can more effectively attune to the energy of a group and be sensitive to individuals’ needs as well as the whole group process.
What do you hope your students feel after working with you?
I hope students feel new understandings about themselves and others. I hope they can feel safe to soften and feel what’s present in their heart. I hope they connect with a capacity to listen to their bodies and emotions and from this awareness, set boundaries and cultivate their relationships and creativity. I hope they feel more connected to themselves, others, and the natural world.
What’s your favorite season of the year and why?
My favorite season is the late summer cusping into Fall. My birthday is in early September. It’s still hot but there’s a hint of change in the air that may creep in on cool mornings. The river waters go from a cool dip to a cold plunge from one week to the next. The end of the summer season sharpens my appreciation for the lingering leaves, flowers and fruits. There’s a bit of melancholy at the edges that inspires me to make art and touch the magic of life more deeply. The Northern European ancestors in me delight and chop some wood, and the Southern European ones complain about the cold and demand comfort food.
What has made you smile recently that you feel the need to share?
My kids always make me smile! My daughter Willow is 13, my son Valo is 11 and my partner has a 12 year old child. We love going on nature wanders and if my son finds a good climbing tree, I happily join him in it! We also love singing along to musicals and trying to jump scare each other.
Learn more about Taina at:
https://www.emergeholistictherapy.com
https://www.consentientbeings.com
Learn more about Contact Improvisation by reading Taina’s blog:
Dancing a Nation Through Transformation: Midwifing cultural change
