harvest retreat: Teachers
‘Auli’i Aweau
10am-Noon Hula & Healing Circle
A kanaka Hawaiian born and raised in Hawai’i, ‘Auli’i grew up studying the Hula as a tool for cultural resilience and personal awakening. She combines her background in substance abuse counseling with Hawaiian cultural practices to address generational and personal trauma. ‘Auli’i is the Founder and Kumu of Na Wahine o La’akea, a sister group that promotes collective healing through Hula. She has also been a Hawaiian culture educator, traveling throughout the islands to work with youths and community organizations, include Nature Activities For Learning and Understanding (NALU) Studies.
Linda Kuo
1pm-2:30pm MoveMEANT Lab
Linda Kuo is a Brooklyn-based choreographer, born in Taiwan and raised in Hawaii. She is also the Director for Dancers Unlimited, a bi-coastal company based in NYC and Honolulu. Her artistic focus is creating genre-blending movements that elevate individuals and communities, while facilitating important conversations to address social issues.
She has presented work at Shanghai World Expo, Jazz at Lincoln Center, New York City Center Studios, Queens Summer Outdoor Dance Festival, Triskelion Arts, Ailey Citigroup Theater, Peridance Capezio Theater, and Dixon Place to name a few. As a dance educator, she was a featured teacher for NYC Dance Week, and has taught Contemporary and Hip Hop workshops at US Embassy in China, Mark Morris Dance Center, University of Hawai’i, Bard College, Castle High School (Hawaii), SEEQS Middle School (Hawaii), Honolulu Biennial Arts Festival, and many other dance studios in US and abroad.
Kuo continues to develop her skills as a dance educator and organizer through training in Urban Bush Women’s Summer Leadership Institute and BOLD programs. She is also an alumnus of the 92nd Y Dance Education Lab. Most recently she was selected by Hālāwai as a featured artist for its New York / Pacific Island Time program. In March 2021, she was presented as a panelist for Dance NYC Symposiumʻs The Transformation Track.
Marianna Koytsan
2:45pm-4:00pm Intuitive Body Work: The class starts with breathing technique, followed by a full-body tapping technique, a yoga sequence, and a self-massage technique (acupressure).
Marianna Koytsan began her dance studies in Ballet at the age of 4 and continued to perform with various folk dance companies until the age of 10.
While at the university, she fell in love with street dance choreography and began to study Hip Hop, House, Contemporary, and Contact Improvisation Dance styles.
In 2012, Marianna moved to New York City to continue her pursuit of dance.
Her current performance venues include City Center, Barnard College, PeriDance Capezio Center, LaGuardia Performing Art Center, The Davenport Theatre, Gramercy Theatre, Tisch Performing Art Center, and 92Y to name a few. Marianna is a member of Crazy-Natives, a House/Freestyle dance crew based out of New York City, found by James “Cricket” Colter.
Aside from dance passion, Marianna has other interests in holistic health including nutrition, fitness, meridian yoga, and acupressure. She is also skilled in photography and writing.
Vive Khamsingsavath
4:15pm-5:30pm Contemporary
Vivake Khamsingsavath (Vive) is a Laotian American dancer, teacher and choreographer from Brooklyn, New York. He studied dance at Binghamton University, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in English. Vive toured Europe performing with modern company Galumpha, taught workshops in Asia and South America, and worked in Los Angeles California. In 2012, Vive decided to focus his work in New York City where he has performed at notable venues including Lincoln Center, Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall, Broadway at Bryant Park, Battery Park, and Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. Vive has appeared on the Today Show, The View and Good Morning America. He was listed as one of the “Hottest Men in Dance” by The Huffington Post, featured in campaigns for The W Hotels, VISA, Nintendo and Sears. Vive served as choreographer for The US Open, Bravo TV, Bloomingdales, PUMAxMaybelline, NARS Cosmetics, TNT’s “I Am The Night”. Vive is director at Dance United, an arts organization which provides cultural dance workshops to underserved public school across NYC. Currently, Vive dances for Battery Dance Company, where he teaches “Dancing To Connect” a program which offers arts to communities throughout the world who do not have access to it. Vive’s movement is influenced by his meditation and Qi Gong practice, his love of studying water, and the physicality of the human experience. Vive aspires to share his passion for dance in hopes to inspire the world to connect to humanity.