History and Lineage
In February 2020, NatureMoves celebrated our 30th anniversary of producing performances, retreats and workshops focused on inspiring and educating our True Nature.
For our first 20 years we functioned as a movement arts organization called “Dance for Diversity,” founded in 1990 by our artistic director and president of our board, Melinda and David Harrison. In February 2010, NatureMoves incorporated as a Colorado not-for-profit organization and in 2019 we became a 501c3.
Our in-depth creative work with natural landscapes emphasizes site-specific, strongly intentional dance “scores” created and witnessed primarily by event participants. Our foundational program, called “Embodied Arts Training (EAT),” is now in its 9th year. EAT introduces all primary NatureMoves principles and practices and takes place at our main studio and outdoor environment in the Rocky Mountain Foothills just outside of Boulder.
For more than 25 years, we have produced the “WilderDance Retreat (WDR),” (hyperlink to WDR webpage)in which 12 to 18 people travel to a backcountry hut for a 3 to 5 day adventure in creating site-specific dance “scores” or rituals. These rituals, or “dances with a purpose,” are deeply personal, intimate and witnessed only by other workshop participants. The high altitude (normally 11K feet) and back country nature of the WDR means dancer participants must be well-prepared for rugged outdoor conditions.
In 2019 we initiated our first 9 month NatureMoves facilitator training program called “Dancing on the Edge (DoE);” as it is time for a new generation of diverse and youthful artists to be prepared to carry on our essential work, programs and lineages.
NatureMoves views art and dance as expressions directly emanating from the life of a person or community. The dances are an enactment or participatory event, much like a ritual or festival of an indigenous community. Movement activities are inspired by the natural elements of selected locations — the rocks, trees, water, weather, fallen logs, and open spaces. NatureMoves provides a way for people of all ages, abilities, and cultural backgrounds to engage in an intimate exploration of their relationship with nature through simple, authentic arts and movement.
Our programs and activities originated from a unique creative approach called “Life/Art Process”, developed by Anna Halprin and Daria Halprin and taught at the Tamalpa Institute, http://www.tamalpa.org/,
A key aspect of the Halprin’s work is a collaborative approach to developing the Life/Art expression, known as RSVP Cycles © (“Resources, Scores, Valu-Action and Performance”), developed by Anna and her late husband Lawrence Halprin, a famous landscape architect.
Since 2009, when dancer/director Maureen Momo Freehill, MFA joined as co-facilitator and board member of our organization, NatureMoves now also incorporates lineages of Butoh, and other landscape and somatic embodiment resources. Momo has extensive training in Butoh in Japan with the late Kazuo and Yoshito Ohno and provides a broad range of artistic input, and leadership in exploring embodied arts in nature. www.butopia.net.
Our nature-focused performance rituals for public audiences include: “Cry of the Crane”, 1990-92; “Catastrophe and Restoration,” 1991; “Rainforest Dance,” 1992; “Pasión Indigena,” 1993; “Ancient Forest Rite,” 1995; “Planetary Dance,” 2010; and “Paper Dance,” 2015, “Boulder Creek City Dance,” 2015, 2016; “30th Anniversary Dinner Theater: Honoring our Lineages,” 2020 and annual outdoor performance rituals for Solstices and Equinoxes.