GETTING TO KNOW KRISTEN

The Story

ABOUT ME

Hi, I'm Kristen, and at age 5, there were two pivotal moments that I have continued to carry with me into the rest of my life. First, I met face to face with a smiling beluga whale through a pain of glass, which catapulted a whale obsession, leading to homemade beluga whale halloween costumes (thanks and sorry, Mom!), and dreams of becoming a marine biologist. I am fascinated by their navigation through depths of the oceans, waters so complex that we have only discovered about 5% of them. Humpbacks joyfully launch their 40-ton bodies into the air, and their sense of community and use of echolocation is a reminder of the importance of listening to one another, with a confidence of traversing into the dark unknown. 
At that same age, I also began dancing, and never stopped. Taking tap/ballet combo classes turned into a life long journey of exploring movement. My childhood dreams of becoming a marine biologist were traded with a Spanish and Teaching degree when I soon realized that chemistry and I didn't quite get along, and my love for movement in college earned me a Dance Minor. I relocated to Los Angeles, where I created art through choreographing collaborative live works and dance films locally and internationally, performing with musical artists, on dance companies, and in film and television. I shared my joy for both dance and Spanish, teaching children and adults in immersion programs, bilingual schools, underserved communities, and special needs students in studios and schools, locally, nationally, and internationally. After my journey creating in the City of Angels, I have returned to my roots in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, embarking on my MFA in Dance, renewing and reflecting upon my embodiment in life in the serene abundance of Evergreen trees, Aspen leaves, and fresh mountain air.  
What do whales have to do with my art making? Like whales, there is extreme joy I find in moving my body, that can propel me into a 4 hour improvisation session  after a 12-hour work day. Similar to these gentle giants, I have a deep desire to find connection and meaning with others through movement, exploring the depths of the unknown. When dropping into my body, intuition navigates my tentacular cells, which listen and echolocate each other by music, through movement. In these moments, my body is the teacher and she always schools me, saying more than my mouth or mind alone ever could. In this vessel, I search confidently in the dark for meaning, senses open, listening, tasting, smelling, seeing, feeling for the next message, story, connection, or piece to this lifelong puzzle I will never fully understand. I feel most alive and true to myself when connecting with Yaweh and traveling across geographical boundaries as well as cellular and spiritual ones. My art is not separate from any of these things, nor would I want it to be.
Through dancing, choreographing, teaching, and filmmaking, I create cross-disciplinarily in collaboration with good-hearted, embodied, soulfully-rich humans. The work must serve a higher purpose, staying honest to social and environmental change we wish to see in this world. In this ocean we call life, I use embodied movement practice as the whales do, as a means to connect, heal, grow, learn, give, forgive, share and listen until the day I die.