Movement Healing Training

Hello! My name is Ryir Norris, I am a professional performance artist and teaching artist residing in the Philadelphia area. My concentrations include ballet and modern technique, as well as classical and jazz music. Over the years, in addition to performing, I have made it my mission to dedicate much of my time to arts education, and community engagement as well as finding creative ways to integrate my specialties with mental health advocacy and sexual health advocacy.

Recently, I have begun transforming my relationship with movement and focusing on it as a strategic method of healing and meditation. Dealing with childhood trauma, I have always struggled with mental health issues. Some are more severe than others. While in high school, I had a friend commit suicide. After this tragedy, I made it my mission to not only dedicate myself to my own healing but to the healing of others as well.

Somatic Movement Therapy (SMT) is a process that allows you to re-engage with the sensations within your body as well as release chronic muscular tension patterns and integrate your breath for deep relaxation. SMT facilitates an experience of profound physical and emotional healing through movement.

This summer, I have been invited to study somatic movement as it applies to my dance training in Arezzo, Italy with Alessio Trevisani. With this training, I intend to further cultivate healing within my methodology of dance exploration and education. At first, this opportunity did not feel like something possible for me. Living in America as a queer black boy, it constantly feels like the systems are working against you. Because they are. I constantly feel like I am working four times as hard as everyone else and seeing a fifth of the results. After experiencing a car accident and over half a year of unemployment and financial and overall uncertainty in 2023, this opportunity felt so far away from being possible. It is imperative for me to take this opportunity, to show little black boys that we are not ruled by impossibilities and that we can take a leap of faith.

Please support me in my journey to Italy and my long-term journey of movement healing and black boy joy!

**Funds will be used to cover travel and program costs.