As I sit on the riverbank watching the occasional fishing boat float by, encased in the stillness of the mountains and river, the smells, the sounds, the calm with which it cradles me, I am filled with a sense of gratitude and reflection. The river teaches me. I release my tightly held thoughts to the drifters and watch as the current carries them far from me.

With vision and openness
        inspire communities:
embody truth
        embrace life
                empower others to find their voice

With the divisiveness that has come to the forefront of our daily lives, I finally embrace that there is no more vital way to help balance the scales than as an artist. Not just to create work that brings awareness, stimulates dialogue and activism, but even more, to bring beauty into this world through collaborative creation and community engagement. Work reflective of our natural world and interconnectedness. Work that reaches into the soul and asks the hard and vulnerable questions, that navigates this life through the beauty of dance, music, art, writing... creativity. Work that brings people together in a moment away from their technologically connected lives.

Approaching the twenty year mark as a choreographer in 2018, it has been a most humbling education in human behavior, humanity’s hidden brilliance, and our ability to find strength in vulnerability. I have seen first hand, through the creative process, how one’s voice can be recovered, discovered, introduced… how dance has the power to heal... how empathy and compassion can transform lives and bridge divides… one person at a time, one creation at a time. There is no choice but to continue to follow the creative current... together. ~GP