Kriss (they/she) is a contemporary movement artist, aquatic dancer, and interdisciplinary maker. Their love for disorientation has inspired them to dance suspended off bridges, free fall into the depths of the sea, and plummet into hundreds of bodies over the many years of practicing contact improvisation. Through their various movement muses, they are constantly asking, “ How can I be in the most available state to receive and respond to a constantly changing environment?”
Kriss is currently working as a freelance dancer and choreographer based out of Berlin and is an Axis Syllabus teacher candidate. Kriss graduated from Tanzfabrik Schule (2022) and holds a degree in Neurobiology Physiology and Behavior from the UC Davis (2014) and Expressive Arts Therapy from the Tamalpa Institute (2016). Growing up in Northern California on the American River, Kriss has always been a water creature swimming and rafting as well as being a competitive synchronized swimmer and coach over the course of 10 years. Since, Kriss has taken up freediving, and studied aquatic therapy, specifically Liquid Presence and Janzu, in Mexico and Spain. Kriss’s creative work has been received throughout the Bay Area and greater Northwest of the USA, Turkey, Mexico, Canada, France, and Germany. Their movement is inspired and informed by Contact Improvisation, Breaking, House, Axis Syllabus, Flying Low, and Free Diving. Kriss has performed and collaborated with various companies such as KD MovingGround, Piñata Collective, Scott Wells & Dancers, James Graham & Dancers, Footloose Presents, Artship, and Dugway Proving Ground, amongst others while continuing to deepen their research through making dances, films, and teaching.
kristenrulifson.com
Asha (he/they) is an integrative bodyworker, aquatic therapist, SEP (somatic experiencing practioner), facilitator and dancer with a somatic oriented approach to guiding the body into functional fluidity. He strives towards presencing ever deepening levels of embodiment and somatic freedom and integrity. As a dancer/mover, his movement practice has been shaped by many influences, but is predominantly informed by Axis Syllabus, Contact Improvisation, functional movement, contemporary dance, Playfight and aquatic dance. Through his practice and teachings, he hopes to support the development of functional fluidity, a reliable connection to the ground, subtle listening, and presence in moments of disorientation.
Asha earned his BA from Hampshire College in integrative psychology, medical anthropology, and cognitive science, and his CMT from Mckinnon Body Therapy Center, and SEP. His passion for aquatic therapy led him to study Aguahara and Fluid Presence in Brazil, Mexico, and Spain. He is a certified DanceAbility teacher, Aguahara practitioner, Freediver. His somatic work is informed by his Somatic Experiencing Practitioner training and now Gabor Mate's Compassionate Inquiry Method. He offers trauma-informed bodywork, and somatic experiencing sessions through the psychedelic-assisted-therapy clinic Sage Integrative Health in Berkeley, Ca, and co-facilitates legal psychedelic retreats in the Netherlands with Kiyumi.
Escolacqua.com