You speak about "multi-dimensional selves" and "dancing between the worlds." Can you speak a bit more about these concepts?
I have actually addressed this question in the above response but let's isolate this topic for a moment and elaborate on some distinctive definitions.
Often in a Shamanic practice you will hear reference to "going between the worlds". This can sometimes be identified as an altered state of consciousness often precipitated by what is named Shamanic Drumming. Much can be understood by the writings and research of Michael Harner and Sandy Ingerman both of whom I was influenced by in earlier studies and practice.
One of the practices of Shamanic Journeying is after you have journeyed and met your guides you are in-couraged to dance your animal totem or guide as a way of honoring and thanking them. It was from this experience that I learned to honor all voices and movement that was coming through me as a result of journeying within. However I was also practicing many forms of dance at the time and started to surmise from my own experiences that my dance was tapping into this altered state on a fairly regular basis. That is how "dancing between the worlds" entered into what I teach now. However I have expanded this experience to encompass and literally acknowledge that there is a multidimensional reality of dance that we are experiencing that is not necessarily addressed in the shamanic teachings. I also needed a non-traditional venue so I could explore these other influences without dishonoring what already existed within the american indian way. So I ventured off of traditional practices knowing full well it was impulsed by the great healing practices of shamans. But I needed to have free flow with all the tingling sensations of the cosmos that I was experiencing and the culmination of my intercultural and eclectic spiritual/philosophical practices and studies.
In the end "dancing between the worlds" was a bridge of my dance-theater-voice background with my spiritual path and ultimately this body of teachings.
Can you speak a bit about "prayerforming" in the context of Shamanic Improvisation? Is there a line between art and prayer?
It was obvious to me early on that it was my higher self moving through my Shamanic Improvisations. From my deep meditation as preparation it was clear the source moving through me was what I asked to be present when I went out on that stage. Eventually I realized that I was truly performing my prayer. Prayer for me is soulful expression inclusive of our multi-dimensional be-ing. Art is the variety of mediums of which we can express.Thus Art (medium of expression) and Prayer (soulful expression) when sharing intention of source are inseparable. Thus it seemed perfect to create the word "Prayerforming". To this day it truly represents what I do and facilitate.
I believe that our origins from source is absolutely brilliance and genius. When we freely express from this point of presence we are in perfect correlation with the universe.
How did you choose, or receive, the name Deerwomon? Why the alternative spelling?
This is quite an involved story with many facets and traveling in timelines to define. The simplified version is this...when I was living in San Francisco I received an anonymous postcard, no signature, no postmark. It was a picture of a deer and the words written on the back said "You are very much needed in this world Deer Woman!". I never knew who sent it but I kept it on my altar for years.
In the late 1980's I moved to Eureka Springs, Arkansas. This was the first time I went to live there and returned 25 years later. I arrived on 360 acres of land with no electricity or running water. I loved it! When I got there I had shared that I really wanted to make my own drum. I had a hoop drum at the time but I wanted to get a hide and have the spiritual journey of making my own. I was informed that a woman, Owl Medicine Heart, was arriving in 3 days and she was specifically coming to tan her deer hides. We met. I told her my wish. She said you need a deer. Look for a road kill. Now I just arrived here straight out of NYC with a bleached mohawk and the thought of gathering a roadkill was rather foreign. None the less, within 24 hours a roadkill comes to me. I borrowed a truck and proceeded to load the heaviest weight I could have possibly imagined. But I did, sheer force of will.
I brought the deer home. We strung her up and Owl Medicine Heart proceeded to show me how to remove a hide more meticulously than you can imagine. It was exquisite. After the hide was removed I asked Owl to identify the body parts and she did. As we were examining the organs and such Owl comes across a part she is uncertain about. At that very instant of examination we both knew, looked at each other and started crying. We had a mama deer that had 3 young fawns inside. We just sobbed.
The day had been very long with a very emotional ending. I had been instructed to take the hide to the creek behind the shed where I was staying and put it under water so the flesh would soften and prepare it for the clean skinning in the next few days.
Prior to my arrival in Arkansas I had attended a Women's Spirituality Conference in NJ facilitated by Sonia Johnson. One of the ceremonies offered there was for anyone wanting to empower themselves with a name change. I had been pondering this but wasn't too certain of my name. With the help of some sisters I came up with Jesse Womoon (womon of the moon). Mary Daly, a writer, was a strong feminist influence of the times and she in-couraged wimmin, wymin to make up new words in place of patriarchal words. She believed this was a way for us to re-empower and heal ourselves. Thus the beginning of my playing with words and taking the name "womoon".
As I returned to my shed hut and sat down on the edge of my bed. There on my altar was the postcard. I picked it up, re-read it and intuitively and very deeply heard my name was Deerwomon. I went on to make medicine drums with deer-hides for the next 15 years and the stories of my relations with deer continue to today.
You have a long history of working in the fields of music and recording, and you have produced a couple of cds in the past. In relationship to the dance you speak about "acoustical physics." Can you describe this concept, and how your musical background relates to your dance and improvisation?
I had the honor and privilege of joining up with Christopher Lantz about 20 years ago. He is a famous Symphony Conductor and Painter. He created the Acoustical Physics Program at Stanford University and founded The House of Symphonies in Santa Fe, New Mexico. I also recorded his audio book version "The House of Symphonies" of which I contributed greatly over these past years. This is quite an extraordinary story and not so simple to state briefly. However I will attempt to highlight the aspects that did indeed enter my body of work as a result.
Christopher built a 4000 sq.ft. acoustical chamber as was guided by a vision. In a 2 week period of time a petroglyphic-looking array of images appeared on his perfectly white, plaster walls. He recognized that there was a musical notation of sorts within the images. He spent 26 years deciphering this new music 20 yrs. of which I was a part. Thus the audio masterpiece "House of Symphonies". Needless to say the Star Nations brought this body of work to and through Christopher. My contribution was the uncovering of dance as a vehicle to assist in the translation of the musical notations and messages.
Christopher had uncovered and created some principles of physics that we worked with continuously throughout this journey. First he identified 4 bodies, physical, auric/emotional, dream and nagual/mysterioso. Then he applied 3 applications to these bodies, Acknowledge, Enthuse (Enthios), Honor and the Law of Affinity. The instruments of choice were 22 crystal bowls. To keep this brief I integrated these applications into my teachings to create the platform in which a multi-dimensional experience could be prompted. I created improvisational scores that were influenced by how Christopher and I explored and experienced them with rather good success according to us.
This experience of "Acoustical Physics" is what opened the door to my understanding of how dance and the physics of acoustics could indeed facilitate an altered state of consciousness. Not only did it create a non-drug activation of the pineal but it endorsed multi-dimensional expression from and through the physical body. As a result of this experience I have continued to explore and integrate many understandings via my own personal journey into the body of work I now call "Shamanic Improvisation".
Eventually I started to explore using traditional instruments, electronic music making devices, professional and nonprofessional musicians to explore the range of bringing more of "Music of The Spheres" to fruition. My basic underlying premise is that if we are truly experiencing "The Art of Be-ing In the Moment" and assuming we work with the spiritual premise that all is oneness and perfect then we are capable of be-ing the perfect divine instruments of expressing the perfect divine music that already exists "Music of The Spheres". I know this is a very tall order like be enlightened and then play but bottom line we actually have this potential. That is my expertise, recognizing potential and going the distance within my earthly and starry capabilities. This is how I view each and every member who dares to experience the likes of me..LOL! I will facilitate the environment and prompts that are conducive to your highest potential with gentle loving care.
Early in the 1980's when I was exploring many brilliant improvisational teachers, some of which are represented in CQ (Contact Quarterly), I observed many exploring how to create a larger form of expression. At the time many of these instructors had come from formal backgrounds of traditional dance such as ballet, modern, jazz, etc. alongside theatrical backgrounds as well. So it was realistic to experiment with how is a Performance or Theatrical event created using an improvisational approach. This was an awesome and beautiful time in the Bay area. Thankfully, I was there when it was happening. I experienced so many levels of this as did the many others at that time. "Scores" was the word applied to setting the parameters in which the improvisational dance would occur. I continue to use that vocabulary to this day. Inevitably some areas were choreographed or scripted with enough spaciousness to improvisationally participate. However I do remember us trying to improvise a story-line or a way of threading an hour's show to be extraordinarily challenging and not always interesting. But us renegades were so devoted to the process that group support was abundant. Contact was as popular and included at the time.
So after many years of developing Shamanic Improvisation I was again exploring that very concept. How could I develop this art into a full out show. I already had accomplished the integration with Shaumbra Dance Theater Company of Consciousness (which I will elaborate on in one of the other questions) but I hadn't created an ensemble of musicians playing improvisationally. This would now integrate yet again the brilliance I was in the presence of with my long standing relationship with Christopher Lantz now sourcing from his musical doctorate of expertise.
In 2010 I made the call for musicians to experiment with a Shamanic Improvisational Ensemble named Quantum Leap. I was to be the conduit/conductor of this ensemble. 10 members came on board in less than a 24 hr window of putting the request out. This ensemble met every week for 1 year and proved to expand my vision of "Music of The Spheres". It was a mixed group of professional and nonprofessional musicians and a few members who I had identified as having potential to bring their talents to the forefront such as storytelling and vocal experimentation. The experience and evolution of this ensemble is a book in and of itself. Let me simply say that this particular aspect of my work is yet to continue. The vision and facilitation I have to offer is now another option of what I can recreate in an even more vast unfoldment in the world of Shamanic Improvisation.
In answer to your inquiry about my skills as a recording artist I have created original scores for Shaumbra Dance Theater Company of Consciousness and recorded every session of Quantum Leap. My self education of the recording arts began in 1997 and evolved into the creation of mobilecapture.com, a mobile audio/video service. Multi-media is essential in my work and has been applied in a numerous amount of ways. In my past, I did enhance my electronic musical skills using both Protools and Ableton Live. I was exploring the bridge between electronic improvisation and Shamanic Improvisational Prayerforming.
In the classes I took with you, we never danced with music in the background. This is not uncommon in the world of contact improvisation, but it is often unnerving for those who are accustomed to musical accompaniment, or unaccustomed to silence. In your class, we experimented with sound through our own voices--sometimes a word, other times "noises." Can you say a bit about these sound choices in the practice?
My first class in improvisation was with Irini Nadel. She was teaching movement theater in San Francisco in the early 1980's. At the time I was enrolled at CIIS, The California Institute of Integral Studies and had taken up the practice of Vipassana meditation (object of focus being breath). It so happened that Irini was a buddhist practitioner and the foundation of her classes were based upon same meditative practice, vipassanna, before evolving into the exercises. Working with Irini was profound for me and the stillness and silence we experienced as a group was essential in my evolution as a dancer. It remained with me until this day.
I offer shamanic Improvisation not only as a Prayerformance Art but as a healing art as well. In this respect silence proved to be a valuable therapeutic approach to uncovering emotions. Stillness, silence indeed does push our comfort zones and thus was a good tool in getting to the source of issues rather directly. In the course of this application I started to experience the very non-traditional and perhaps indigenous evolution of voice and sounds. Not only was I able to recognize sounds of the shamans and the deep release of giving voice to them but I could hear the voices of other terretial and extraterrestial entities. When the voices of the group emerged I started to recognize what I have come to name the "Music of The Spheres". My sensitivity increased in unveiling the sensation of vibration, light and frequencies beginning to exhibit a very powerful role in the sounds that were now ignited into free expression. This was clearly the portal to the multi-dimensional realms I knew existed but hadn't quite articulated yet in the teachings. Alongside this experience I was introduced to "Acoustical Physics" that I'll elaborate on more in later discussion.
As a result I came to have this founding belief: When we are able to be open and unencumbered by the ego or critical self the absolute divine source will express through our physical vehicle of voice and movement and resonance. Trusting the divine is in perfect order thus embraces the concept that our vehicle will express within divine order. This leads me to recognize the authentic origins of genius and brilliance. If in fact we are all connected and in Oneness then it would only make sense that a group experiencing this divine expression together would spontaneously be in perfect sync and harmony. This is how I think of "Music of The Spheres". The music is already there inclusive of rhythm, melody and acapella genius. All we need to do is get out of the way and allow this to come through us. As a result of this belief I'll often say "not until all is improvisational in life will we have truly arrived!"
As an improvisational dancer I was always challenging myself to break out of the box so-to-speak. I recognized that there was a comfort zone that one could fall into improvisationally. That comfort zone started to reveal itself when I experienced a movement or sound coming out of me that I recognized. The inner guidance was always to go deeper and find more range and intricacy in my being so that I would reflect that uniqueness through my movement. Sometimes we can recognize this familiar place when we are warming up, when we haven't quite dropped yet. I often have shared with my students how important it is to do a good warm-up before a Prayerformance or you are going to perform your warm-up. Thus the experience that would occur is that not until the very end of the performance do you really feel you are dancing and dropped. This can be witnessed in any form of dance. Watch with that perspective. It's easy to identify someone dancing their warm-up. Usually it is not very inspiring. You may appreciate the technique but ask where is the real guts of the activity? Where is the risk and vulnerable display of dancing the unknown? Aaaaah, that is when our breath can be taken away or a new horizon opens in us as a result of being the witness.
The most significant observation I have regarding music and dance is that we do fall into a scripted movement as a result of the rhythmic beat. The bobbing starts and we begin to dance by rote. Of course creativity and technique is added but the base beat becomes the base dance. I in-courage finding the music from within simply because I experience most music as predictable. Usually music is rearranged to make it different but in my experience music for the most part only represents a limited part of our sounds and albeit influenced by the limited culture from which it is derived. There is an entire universe sounding the "Music of The Spheres" with tones, rhythms, frequencies yet to be expressed. We are in fact those tones and frequencies that we are yet to vocalize. This I find exceptionally exciting and a portal to our deeper selves. As you can imagine there are many layers to be dissolved in our existing personnas in order to articulate the kind of sounds I am identifying. This requires an extraordinary trust and surrender as well as you can imagine the ability to be awkward and funny. Now we are venturing even closer to "dancing and sounding between the worlds". This jazzes my soul!