Wednesday December 27, 2023
Online at 10:30am ET

Please register in advance to receive the join link via email.

Sumisha Shankar is an artist, former military officer, and a Fellow with the Indian Ministry of Culture’s Centre for Cultural Research and Training. Sumisha is the creator of Organic Dance Meditation, an all-encompassing movement practice that combines Yoga, Ayurveda, and Indian Aesthetics. Working with kumari giles at the Laboratory for Artistic Intelligence, Sumisha has been deepening her facilitation practice to better offer affirming spaces for diverse peoples.

‘Affirming’ refers to going beyond acceptance of diverse identities to validate and support people’s gender expressions. Affirmative practices honour everyone’s dignity with anti-oppression frameworks.

In conversation with kumari, Sumisha has been mapping out how the groundwork for gender-inclusive movement lives in many vedic teachings. In their innermost depths, these ancient forms can hold space for multitudes. Supported by the Laboratory for Artistic Intelligence, Sumisha is trying to unfold traditional practices and share the artistic intelligence of the Natyashastra for global audiences.

What does the body know? How do we embody other ways of being and knowing? How do we connect the concepts of feminine and masculine energies within us towards greater joy, creativity and kindness? Focusing on the universal principles of creative energies, Sumisha’s Organic Dance Meditation practice highlights feminine energy or the Shakti to invite more balance to the biases of modern life. Music and movement are used to restore the body and mind. Participants practice self-awareness through movement to dance toward greater emotional, spiritual, mental and physical wellbeing.

This special workshop offers participants a taste of Sumisha’s Organic Dance Meditation program. You are invited to a 1-hour online gathering with an optional 15 minute discussion/feedback at the end of the hour.

In this small group practice, Sumisha will share movement prompts alongside music, using water as a practising element. Her hope is to further develop workshops and multi-session series based in Indian ways of knowing and being that can be shared with international audiences.

Things to know:

1. No prior movement experience necessary, just be willing to try.
2. Please dress comfortably. We’ll be moving around, but you don’t need an entire yoga studio to yourself. The movement can be adapted for different bodies and environments.
3. For this online session, having video on is helpful though not required. If you’re shy, you might try angling the camera slightly away from you, while still allowing some visibility (e.g. half your body) so that Sumisha can better tune to you.

Wednesday December 27, 2023
Online at 10:30am ET

Please register in advance to receive the join link via email.