Acro Revolution Teacher Training
Donation protected
From the age of four until my freshman year of high school I played soccer. My freshman year, I decided that the competitive nature of the sport and the travel commitment that it required to play for sometimes only 10 minutes per game wasn't worth my time anymore. I quit. A few months later, a friend of mine asked if I would like to attend a 6-week long breakdancing class with her that was being offered free to high school students. I agreed and went with her the following day. I instantly found a modality that allowed me to not only feel freedom of movement, but also empowered me with feelings of strength and self confidence that were largely absent from my teenage self.
After the course was over, my Nana who a ballroom dancer into her 80th years of life offered to sponsor my continuation of breakdance classes at a local studio. I took her up on her offer and began taking classes twice per week. Although it took me a long time to figure out how to move my body to the music and find fluidity in my movements, I enjoyed the challenge that breakdancing had to offer. Through breakdancing, I also found a group of friends, a community.
After high school, I moved to Fort Collins, Colorado to attend Colorado State University. Not knowing anyone, I set out to find fellow breakdancers in my new home. I quickly found out about the Hip Hop Congress and began attending their practices in the school rec center. Instantly, I found friends and community through what we called our “universal language”, that of movement and dance. My involvement with this group expanded to the role of Community Outreach Coordinator in which I volunteered my time and began teaching 6-week breakdancing courses to elementary, middle, and high school students throughout the community. I also taught breakdancing fundamentals to new people who were interested in learning and joining our community. Eventually, this volunteer role turned into a job with the Studio West Dance Center where I taught classes to kids and adults, and choreographed performance pieces for recitals.
I moved from Fort Collins to South Korea to teach English as a foreign language to elementary school students. Here, I continued to incorporate movement into my English lessons with my students. After my year in South Korea, my partner and I took off on our bicycles and rode around Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. While in Cambodia, we were introduced to Acro Yoga and informed about a 30-hour training happening the next month in Thailand. Just as I was instantly hooked with my first breakdancing lesson, I was instantly hooked on Acro Yoga the first time someone put me into the air on their feet. We attended the training in Thailand and in it I found immense challenge, enjoyment, and most of all community. In Acro Yoga exists the same kind of Universal Language offered through breakdancing.
After 18 months in Asia, we returned to America. I was interested in doing work that involved sustainable agriculture and local food systems and found a position in Columbia, Missouri working with a large farmers market. Here in this new place, I began making new friends and flying them on my feet. Here in this new place, I began to share Acro Yoga.
My new friends quickly wanted to learn more and I began teaching informal classes in my living room. The number of people who wanted to learn surpassed the size of my living room and I began looking for space to host classes. I approached Yoga Sol, a studio in Columbia and was instantly welcomed into their space and community. Week by week, class by class, I began to teach Acro and grow the Acro community in my new home.
My fundraising goal of $3,000 will cover my tuition, materials, and living expenses for my 13-day residential Acro Revolution Teacher Training on the Big Island of Hawaii.
This training will further challenge me as a teacher and impart within me the skills that I need to further my offerings to my students and creating community through movement.
I greatly appreciate any support that you can spare as I reach for my goal of becoming a certified Acro Revolution Teacher.
Photo Credit: Jamaca Nichols - Maca Memory Photography
After the course was over, my Nana who a ballroom dancer into her 80th years of life offered to sponsor my continuation of breakdance classes at a local studio. I took her up on her offer and began taking classes twice per week. Although it took me a long time to figure out how to move my body to the music and find fluidity in my movements, I enjoyed the challenge that breakdancing had to offer. Through breakdancing, I also found a group of friends, a community.
After high school, I moved to Fort Collins, Colorado to attend Colorado State University. Not knowing anyone, I set out to find fellow breakdancers in my new home. I quickly found out about the Hip Hop Congress and began attending their practices in the school rec center. Instantly, I found friends and community through what we called our “universal language”, that of movement and dance. My involvement with this group expanded to the role of Community Outreach Coordinator in which I volunteered my time and began teaching 6-week breakdancing courses to elementary, middle, and high school students throughout the community. I also taught breakdancing fundamentals to new people who were interested in learning and joining our community. Eventually, this volunteer role turned into a job with the Studio West Dance Center where I taught classes to kids and adults, and choreographed performance pieces for recitals.
I moved from Fort Collins to South Korea to teach English as a foreign language to elementary school students. Here, I continued to incorporate movement into my English lessons with my students. After my year in South Korea, my partner and I took off on our bicycles and rode around Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. While in Cambodia, we were introduced to Acro Yoga and informed about a 30-hour training happening the next month in Thailand. Just as I was instantly hooked with my first breakdancing lesson, I was instantly hooked on Acro Yoga the first time someone put me into the air on their feet. We attended the training in Thailand and in it I found immense challenge, enjoyment, and most of all community. In Acro Yoga exists the same kind of Universal Language offered through breakdancing.
After 18 months in Asia, we returned to America. I was interested in doing work that involved sustainable agriculture and local food systems and found a position in Columbia, Missouri working with a large farmers market. Here in this new place, I began making new friends and flying them on my feet. Here in this new place, I began to share Acro Yoga.
My new friends quickly wanted to learn more and I began teaching informal classes in my living room. The number of people who wanted to learn surpassed the size of my living room and I began looking for space to host classes. I approached Yoga Sol, a studio in Columbia and was instantly welcomed into their space and community. Week by week, class by class, I began to teach Acro and grow the Acro community in my new home.
My fundraising goal of $3,000 will cover my tuition, materials, and living expenses for my 13-day residential Acro Revolution Teacher Training on the Big Island of Hawaii.
This training will further challenge me as a teacher and impart within me the skills that I need to further my offerings to my students and creating community through movement.
I greatly appreciate any support that you can spare as I reach for my goal of becoming a certified Acro Revolution Teacher.
Photo Credit: Jamaca Nichols - Maca Memory Photography
Organizer
Laurel Goodman
Organizer
Columbia, MO