Artistic Director, Continuum Movement Arts
In another time and place, Elaine would be a temple dancer, but in this world she is an authorized Continuum Movement teacher, dancer/choreographer, massage therapist and originator of the Deeply Restorative Workshops, Moving for Health, Dancing for Health and The Intelligent Body series. Based in the Hudson Valley of New York, Elaine also offers workshops in Italy, in both the south in the caves of Basilicata and in the north in the hills of Emilia-Romagna.
Elaine’s artistic expression often combines her passion for somatic practice with choreographic projects; an ongoing theme is the parallel between the human body and the natural world. Dance reviewer Linda Diamond wrote that Elaine is a “wizard of new dance forms,” in response to On the Nature of the Body, a 2012 gallery dance installation.
The transforming effects of movement have always guided her and led to the study of many forms of dance, the creation of original dance theater productions (Venus, 2009; The Field, 2004; Marsh Dreams, 2001; Fool’s Journey, 1999) and the study of various movement and bodywork practices. Elaine has an M.A. in dance from Columbia University (1982) and was certified as a massage therapist by the Muscular Therapy Institute (1988).
Major Influences
Emilie Conrad (Continuum Movement), Susan Harper (Continuum Montage), Judi Bachrach (who first introduced Elaine to Continuum), Lenore Latimer (Limon dance technique), Robert Ellis Dunn (choreography), Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen (Body Mind Centering), Irene Dowd (functional anatomy). Clients and students as well as health challenges have served as primary teachers.