Help Gabrielle Give Back Through Dance

Hi there friends known and unknown,

As a young leader in my local dance community, I am asking for support in furthering my education to better support the groups that I show up for. This is where I’m hoping you can help!

These funds will be used to pay for my tuition at the Azul School of Movement, which includes an Apprenticeship and Certification module. As well as, the cost of my flight and lodging in Assisi, Italy for my graduation. This support will make it possible for me to offer high-quality movement experiences to my community.

For the last 10 years dance has been my saving grace.

I never knew that I belonged somewhere until I set foot on the dance floor. It all started in a gymnasium surrounded by my peers and one dedicated teacher playing music that moved us all for an hour and a half (and for me it often moved me to tears). Finally, I could express the immense emotions that were inside of me, doubt, fear, bounding joy, and crippling grief. It’s here where I could express these feelings, give them shape, give them space and time to unfold and reveal their lessons to me. It’s here where I began to learn to trust the wisdom of my body, and thus began to more deeply love and accept myself.

With intentional movement as my steady companion over the last 10 years, I’ve grown into the woman I am today. It is because of this practice and these communities that I have committed to becoming a dance teacher. And this very decision is why I come to you now, asking for support.

The choice I've made to embark on a nearly two-year-long dance teacher training is one of the biggest decisions I’ve ever made. After years of my critical mind trying to convince me that I could, “never be a teacher” I found myself reaching a turning point, realizing that at this rate I may never fully live my life. So, I’ve said yes to this opportunity.

I have been dancing with my teacher, Amara Pagano on and off for nearly 5 years now. Time and time again I have circled back around to her masterful teaching. She founded the Azul School, a psycho-spiritual dance “therapy” modality, and I have chosen to be her student. It wasn’t until I began dancing that I came to understand that I am a very tactile and kinesthetic learner. Decades of public school have led me to believe that something was wrong with me because of the challenging time I had learning. Yet, finding this school has helped me to know that there wasn’t anything wrong with me. I simply never experienced an environment that would truly nurture and challenge me in a way where I could fully flourish. When I envision my dream school, this training is that very dream.

Over the last two years I have been held within a curriculum containing my peers, graduated students (now teachers themselves), and my teacher, Amara Pagano.

The schedule of this training is set up to fully support the integration of 4 core foundational programs that this body of work rests upon. These core pieces are each a six-day-long immersive module, in between each session are monthly integration sessions which are designed to deepen the exploration of content from each module and support the overall integration of the material into my personal life, which I will in turn offer outward to the world.

I am grateful to believe that this training will lend itself as a means for supporting myself. It also shows me proof of my dedication to being of service to those around me.

This training is not for me alone, what I learn and integrate from this training is one of the greatest gifts I can offer to every community I encounter.

Throughout the years I’ve borne witness to the profound capacities of gently guided movement. When dancing among strangers, or even close community members I’ve found the practice of movement and dance to be at times, incredibly vulnerable. In the world I grew up in, the dominant way to communicate my needs and wants was through verbal speaking, yet only 20% of our communication is verbal. More than twice that amount, 45% of our communication consists of facial expressions and bodily gestures. I’ve chosen to practice a new way of relating to others and the space around me. When one enters most intentional movement spaces we are invited into a non-verbal space. I believe that through this kind of container, a new part of ourselves can emerge. Yet, that doesn’t mean it's always going to be comfortable. Beginning to express myself in this way has been one of the most nerve-racking encounters I have ever experienced.

I remember my first intentional dance. The music began and I was in a small sea of people, a mixture of my peers and others I have never met, some older than me, and some younger. I was scoping my surroundings, eyes wide, taking in all the bodies and movements around me, and wondering if I was “doing it right”. I was hyper-aware of every movement I made, glancing around me to see if I was being leered at or judged through the eyes of another. My body moved yet I was still very much in my mind, focused on discerning if this was a “safe” space for me. Little by little this new environment became more and more familiar and then, I heard a voice, a warm and steady voice speaking over the music, the voice of the dance instructor.

“If you ever get lost, remember that you can always return to the rhythm of your own feet.”

These words were such a simple and profound invitation for me, a gentle prompt to drop the mind and bring my focus inward, and down. Throughout the dance, my instructor offered similar small yet masterful cues such as this one. I remember feeling held by her words as if she was speaking directly to me and the group simultaneously. We were all receiving these words together. This invitation left me able to experience myself and this diverse group of people as more unified. The energy in the room shifted, I was able to close my eyes and allow my inner world to move through me. My previous movements that were previously imbued with a nervous and concerned mind were now transforming into gestures fed by a sense of ease and curiosity. I was ever so gently able to let myself be curious about my own experience and dare to let it be seen by the people surrounding me.

As I said, stepping onto the dance floor can be an incredibly vulnerable act, and I've found that with a skilled facilitator present, our courage can be called forward to rise within us.

I intend to become that skilled teacher, to confidently invite my students to meet themselves, their challenges, and their joys on the dance floor, and in community.

Thank you for reading and for your support.

In gratitude,

Gabrielle Gribbin

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Gifts for your Donations! (if you desire)

As a “thank you” for your kind donation there is an opportunity for me to offer my art to you in return. You are welcome to simply give a gift, yet if you desire to receive something in return I ask that you comment an intention to guide my offering back to you when you make your donation. This can look like a phrase or simply a word.

One aspect of this teacher training is guiding the attendees through movement, the other half is the creative element of curating evocative sets of music to move to.

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First Tier - For every $20 donated - I’ll offer you a special song. Please add “an intention” to your message when you donate to support me in finding the perfect song for you.

Second Tier - For every $50 donated - I’ll offer you a 5 song mini-wave of music. Please write “an intention” for this offering in your message when you donate.

Third Tier - For every $100 donated - I’ll offer you a full hour-long personalized set of music. Please write your “intention” for this set in the description of your message when you donate.

Fourth Tier - For every $500 donated - I’ll offer you an in-person (or online) 2-hour, one-on-one guided movement experience. Feel free to write your “intention” for this session in the description of the message when you donate. And if this is you then, we will be in contact about further details.

I look forward to connecting with you.