Earthbody / Teresa Smith

This is Earthbody... a body of performance, teaching and artwork that emerges out of an intimate conversation with the natural environment. I see our own human being as a part of this environment, needing deeper connection... and thus I am attempting to create work that both highlights and merges with other living and present forms...the rocks, waters, trees, creatures, fire and sky.

7/2022 I'm working on a gallery of dance photographs, which I create as a part of

my artistic and choreographic process, some of which are offered here.

Gallery page coming soon. (photo copyright Teresa Smith/Earthbody)

July 2022 A lot has happened since I last updated this website. My Earthbody work has developed and deepened in rivers, caves, fields, by the ocean, in galleries and other non-traditional spaces. The Covid-19 pandemic caused a shift to dancing alone and online for a while, a time of contemplating internal spaces and threads of electronic connection. Family, the passing of elders (my parents and some important mentors), and the developing needs of my kids took precedence and became my primary dance (and I found a new love for creating with clay). Yet, as always, moving with consciousness and curiosity has remained a daily joy and support.

All this germinating and experiencing feels finally ready to blossom again. I've returned to a deep study of two dance forms close to my heart, Skinner Releasing and Open Source Forms, the fruits of which which I look forward to sharing in the near future. And I am excited about some new performance work ready to burst forth! Stay tuned for performance and class offerings, and let me know if you are interested in participating or bringing the Earthbody dance work to your community. w/love ~ Teresa

Earthbody at Awosting Falls 55 page photobook

by photographer/choreographer Teresa Smith Request to preview/order here

New Earthbody Video !

'Immersion Imprint' project; performance and discussion of creative process.

(here on youtube)

Earthbody ~ Ocean of Creativity ~ Retreats

Residential Workshop on the Atlantic Ocean Coast

with Teresa Smith at Popham Beach State Park, Maine

August 19-26, 2017

Moving Earth Yoga - Creative Hiking - Environmental Dance - Individualized Creative Coaching - Photography as Perception -Community Art-making on the Beach- Environmental Arts as Spiritual Practice

Hosted at an Seaside Cottage, 2 minute walk to quiet expanse of gorgeous ocean beach! Small group size, limited spaces available, Info/Updates/Register: Earthbody Ocean Research.

perceive - pause - swim - explore - dance - hike - meditate - create - perform - connect - rest - release - rock - burrow - dive - flow - relate - unwind - emerge - empathize - energize

Teresa Smith ~ brings to her teaching a deep appreciation of each individual's expression and delights in awakening creative confidence. Ms. Smith choreographs, teaches, performs and explores with/in eco-somatic depths and frontiers, informed by a 30 year practice of site-specific dance and art, authentic movement, contact improvisation, continuum, butoh, release technique, transpersonal studies, sufi dancemeditation and yoga.
Earthbody Events, Workshops and Performances engage individuals and communities in an intimate conversation with their natural environments through dance, ecology, art-making and photography.
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Earthbody ~ Ocean of Creativity
Summer Retreats 2016

Residential Weekend Workshops on the Atlantic Ocean Coast with Teresa Smith at Popham Beach State Park, Maine

July 8 - 10, July 15 - 17 & July 22 - 24, 2016

Moving Earth Yoga - Creative Hiking - Environmental Dance - Individualized Creative Coaching - Photography as Perception - Community Art-making - Environmental Arts as Spiritual Practice

Hosted at an Ocean-front Historic Home (with option to arrive early or extend your stay) Small group size, limited spaces available, priced for accessibility $225-$250. Info/Updates/Register: Earthbody Ocean Research.

Earthbody Performance and Art ~ Summer 2015

Earthbody Performances July 18 (6pm) and July 19 (12pm)
Upper Awosting Falls, Minnewaska State Park, New Paltz, NY
A member of our company will Meet audience members At the Head of the Upper Awosting Falls Trail (Lf side of road 500 ft past main park entrance both) and 'guide' you through the site-specific performance. Look for the person holding up a tall stick with a green gauze streamer. Questions: Earthbody Info

May - July 2015 ~ Work in Progress at Awosting Falls, NY
Come see the creativity unfolding in original environmental dances. Our rehearsals are mini flash performances. We are dancing on the earth at this location Mon-Sun. Catch us if you can!

Follow us on Facebook: Earthbody
Regularly updated with photos, blogs and poetry from our rehearsal process. If you happen to catch us in rehearsal at Awosting Falls, and you want to connect please send comments and photos to this page Earthbody.

July 18 - 19, 2015 ~ Earthbody Awosting Falls Performances
sign up to see us and receive performance updates: teresasmithdance@yahoo.com

I'm delighted to be creating interdisciplinary earth-art based in dance and arising out of spontaneous, intimate conversation with the environment. An adventure in listening, envisioning and directing for me. Currently embodied with dancers Bea Ehrsam, Emily Feit, D. Hobbit, David Raponi, Leah Siepel, Meagan Shapiro and Ophra Wolf.

New Earthbody Events! Classes, Jams, Creative Peer Gatherings!

Connect to the environment of your body and the body of your environment through the practice of movement improvisation and spontaneous performance. Utilizing authentic movement, choreographic map-making and photographic documentation you'll transform imagination into action, move with the joy of connection and gain confidence in your creative abilities.

Earthbody Events are one of a kind! Created to inspire and connect each group of participants; beginners and skilled performers, students, kids, elders, artists and audience with their natural world.

Your Earthbody guide & workshop leader is Teresa Smith,
accompanied by guest collaborators in music, art, dance, photography, poetry and nature guiding.

For information on upcoming workshops and performances or to schedule an event near you please contact (click here)

"Recently I've concentrated my environmental dance work on guerilla type performances and teaching workshops in evocative natural surroundings. In 2013-2015 Earthbody events and classes have taken place at the streams and waterfalls, on the rocks and in the woods, in state parks and in backyards in NY, NH, ME, CT and Puerto Rico. I've been making site-specific dance and performance art for over 30 years. I've performed in fields and forests, in a cabin filled with feathers, on a bicycle, in a large stone fireplace, hanging upside down 30 ft over the audience, in night clubs, store windows, museums, theaters and in the middle of Times Square! I bring to my teaching a warm appreciation of each person's potential and delight in awakening creative confidence." ~T.Smith

Dance Meditation and Sufi Whirling

open your heart, free your body, rest your mind, enliven your spirit
Tuesdays 6:30 - 8:00 pm
January 7, 14, 21, 28
Jai MA Yoga Center
69 Main Street, New Paltz, NY
$15 (scholarships available)

Mondays 11 am - 12:30 pm
January 6, 13, 20, 27
YogaYoga Studio
446 Main Street, Rosendale, NY
$10
Discover the spiritual, emotional and physical intelligence of your body in motion. In Dance Meditation classes you’ll experience a continuum of heart opening, clarity and expression through fluid yoga, deep relaxation, intuitive movement, ecstatic vibrations and Sufi whirling.
(Dance Meditation is suitable for all abilities, no dance or meditation experience necessary. Please wear loose, comfortable exercise clothing).

Teresa Smith is a certified Dance Meditation teacher and long time Sufi dance practitioner. As an internationally seasoned modern dance choreographer she integrates knowledge of experiential anatomy, Skinner Releasing, Transpersonal Breathwork and yoga in her classes. She brings to her teaching a warm appreciation of each person’s potential and delights in awakening the creative spirit.

Dance Meditation and Sufi Whirling

with Teresa Smith
December 9, 16, 23, 30
Mondays 11 am - 12:30 pm / $10 class
Yoga Yoga Studio, 446 Main Street, Rosendale, NY

Discover the spiritual, emotional and physical intelligence of your body in motion. In Dance Meditation classes you’ll experience a continuum of heart opening, clarity and expression through fluid yoga, deep relaxation, intuitive movement, ecstatic vibrations and Sufi whirling. (Dance Meditation is suitable for all abilities, no dance or meditation experience necessary. Please wear loose, comfortable clothing, and call ahead with any questions).

Teresa Smith is a certified Dance Meditation teacher and long time Sufi dance practitioner. As an internationally seasoned modern dance choreographer she integrates knowledge of experiential anatomy, Skinner Releasing, Transpersonal Breathwork and yoga in her classes. She brings to her teaching a warm appreciation of each person’s potential and delights in awakening the creative spirit. teresasmithdance.blogspot.com

Sufi Whirling and Creative Meditation Workshop

with Teresa Smith

Sunday November 3 , 4 - 6 pm

Upstairs Studio at MaMA

3588 Main Street, Stone Ridge, NY

$ 15 (some scholarships available)

This wksp is designed as an introduction to Sufi Whirling Meditation. The class will cover techniques for whirling, an chakra-opening warm-up and plenty of time for meditative and ecstatic whirling in community, accompanied by beautiful, centering music. To conclude the evening we will meditate / write / create visual artwork and share our experiences. (All are welcome. Please wear loose comfortable clothing, whirling skirts over leggings optional. Bring socks for whirling, and water to drink.)

Teresa Smith is a certified Dance Meditation teacher and long time Sufi dance practitioner. As an internationally seasoned modern dance choreographer and teacher she integrates knowledge of experiential anatomy, Skinner Releasing, Transpersonal Breathwork and yoga in her classes. She brings to her teaching a warm appreciation of each person’s potential and delights in awakening the creative spirit.

Dance Meditation & Sufi Whirling

Wednesdays 5:15 – 6:45 pm

November 6, 13, 20, 27
$15 class / $50 series ($5 off per class when you bring a friend)

UpstairsStudio @ MaMA, 3588 Main St., Stone Ridge, NY

Open your heart, free your body, rest your mind, enliven your spirit !

Discover the spiritual, emotional and physical intelligence of your body in motion. In Dance Meditation classes you’ll experience a continuum of exhilaration, clarity and release through fluid yoga, deep relaxation, intuitive movement, ecstatic vibrations and Sufi whirling.

Teresa Smith is a certified Dance Meditation teacher and long time Sufi dance practitioner. As an internationally seasoned modern dance choreographer and teacher she integrates knowledge of Experiential Anatomy, Skinner Releasing, Transpersonal Breathwork and Yoga in her classes. She brings to her teaching a warm appreciation of each person’s potential and delights in awakening the creative spirit. Info: 917-519-4377

Dance Everywhere: Environmental Performance Workshops for Everyone! with Teresa Smith and Rose Oceania

July Series / $15 class or $40 series

July 9, July 16 and July 23. 7-9 pm

Canal Town Alley Studio & Rosendale parks & trails
(studio is off Main Street, behind The Big Cheese deli)

Learn to see and create spontaneous dance and performance art that grows directly out of your environment. Through the practice of site-specific dance you'll transform your imagination into action, move with the joy of connection and gain confidence in your creative ability. Workshops take place both inside and outdoors and draw from dance improvisation, movement theater, performance art, environmental art and human potential. Teresa and Rose create a creative, supportive community that is open to experienced movers, artists and absolute beginners.

August Weekend Intensive

August 23 - 25, 2013 in New Paltz, NY

Improvising and Performing in the Shawangunk Mountains

Create, Perform & Document your art making activities in our inspired, supportive community. Exciting schedule of dance improvisation, dance-theater and environmental art classes, hiking, bonfires, hot-tub, healthy meals and many friends!
Overnight and commuter options. Please inquire for details (sliding scale rates).

Information / Registration: tsmithdance@yahoo.com (917-519-4377)

DANCE EVERYWHERE with Teresa Smith

Sunday, July 7 - 5 - 7 pm at MaMA, 3588 Main Street, Stone Ridge, NY
(please see description below) $15

Dance Everywhere: Improvisation in Contact with the Environment with Teresa Smith and Rose Oceania 5/19/13 Sunday 5-7 pm at MaMA, 3588 Main Street, Stone Ridge, NY

Come dance and create inside and outdoors! We'll use the fire-circle, hillside, gardens, cafe, stairwells and studio at MaMA! Cameras, costumes and everyone over 14 yrs. encouraged to attend!

Connect to the environment of your body and the body of your environment through the practice of movement improvisation. Learn to see and create spontaneous composition. Then, inspired by environmental art, flash mobs and performance art we’ll adventure outside to create dances that interact with the world. Through the practice of site-specific dance you'll transform your imagination into action, move with joy of connection and gain confidence in your creative ability.

Rose Oceania performs and co-directs with Zany Angels dance theater and with Zamboni (Hudson Valley dance/music improvisation artists). She has been practicing, performing and teaching dance improvisation and performance to kids and adults for over 20 years. Rose is committed to empowering people to tap their own unique sense of creative expression within an organic approach to learning the elements of dance and artistic thinking. She is also a life coach/counselor, expressive arts specialist to both children and adults,as well as a certified yoga teacher and a visual artist. zanyangels.com

Teresa Smith has choreographed and performed site specific dance and performance art in fields and forests, in a cabin filled with feathers, on a bicycle, in a large stone fireplace, hanging upside down 30 ft over the audience, in night clubs, store windows, museums, theaters and in the middle of Times Square! Currently she collaborates with Zamboni Improv/Performance. Teresa has a graduate degree in choreography, a B.A. in dance anthropology and teacher certification in Dance Meditation and yoga. She brings to her teaching a warm appreciation of each person's potential and delights in awakening creative confidence.

April 7, 5-7 PM Contact Connections taught by Teresa Smith @ MaMA, Stone Ridge, NY

From a meditative exploration of connective tissue we’ll move into connecting physically, energetically, emotionally and creatively. We’ll explore ways in which we can chose and follow a sense of connection to ourselves as well as each other. We’ll also notice and give full expression to those sometimes hidden impulses to disconnect. If we are listening, contact improv muses whisper how, when and why we move together and apart. From our individual dances of expansion and contraction we’ll weave a symphony of relationship and enlightened collaboration. Music, mapping and journaling will sometimes accompany this journey. Open level contact improvisation class.

2013 Contact Improvisation Classes with Teresa Smith

Contact Improvisation is a playful exploration of how the body moves through its own intelligence and how two or more bodies in contact with each other can dance together, responsive to touch, weight, momentum and curiosity.

Teresa Smith During the past 25 yrs my improvisational movement practice has nurtured me through various stages of life; performing internationally with post-modern choreographers, presenting my choreographic work, teaching, and dancing in the living room while raising children. I bring to my teaching a warm appreciation of each person's potential and I delight in the exchange of creativity found in the CI community.

January 6, 2013, 4-6 PM
Contact Improv: Engaging the Heart through the Physics of Movement

Physical meditations, inspired collaborations and heartfelt jamming!

February 10, 4-6 PM
Contact Improvisation FUNdamentals
In class you’ll learn classic CI movement vocabulary and skills that will help you enter safely and gracefully into this vibrant movement community. While FUNdamentals is designed to be accessible to the absolute beginner we will also address the interests of experienced dancers.

March 10, 4-6 PM
Contact Improvisation: Games and Score for Embodied Creativity
We'll use movement scores (games) to develop our creative potential. A yummy warm-up and plenty of time for in-depth individual, duet and group dancing included!

April 7, 5-7 PM
Contact Connections
From a meditative exploration of connective tissue we’ll move into connecting physically, energetically, emotionally and creatively.

May 5, 5-7 PM
Weight and Breath in Contact Improvisation

Contact Improvisation - Finding Connection in External and Internal Space
Sunday November 6
4 - 6 PM $15
Marble Town Arts Center, Stone Ridge, NY Directions
Through movement games, experiential anatomy and the
poetics of Skinner Releasing, we'll seek pathways into states of being
that can inspire deep personal and collective creativity. We'll also
work on growing our facility for embodied movement, revisiting classic
CI skills that loosen habitual relationships to control, momentum and
sensation. Overall an attitude both playful and inquisitive will guide
us in our learning.

Upcoming Classes for Winter/Spring 2012:
Authentic Movement
(adults)
Contact Improvisation
(adults)
Dance Meditation
(adults)
Creative Dance
(for kids)
For information and schedule please contact: teresasmithdance@yahoo.com

Dance Everywhere

Teresa and Rose will be offering more Dance Everywhere workshops in the near future, stay tuned for Dance Everywhere for Kids! and Dance Everywhere Weekend Intensives!
or contact us and we'll bring a Dance Everywhere Wksp to you!

Dance Everywhere in The Chronogram

Dance Everywhere is a teaching and performance project directed by Teresa Smith and Rose Oceania. We offer workshops in making and performing site-specific and environmental dance and performance art. We also create and perform site-specific work as Dance Everywhere, and with other Hudson Valley artists as Zamboni Improv/Performance.

David and Leah