Crossing the Threshold: Body and Dance in Rites of Passage, with Dr. Melissa Michaels
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Crossing the Threshold: Body and Dance in Rites of Passage, with Dr. Melissa Michaels How does one know that they are standing at a threshold whose crossing is a promise that life will never be the same?  What gives us the power to move through the toughest, the biggest, or the most influential turning points of our lives? And why are the body and the heart, dance and community our best allies in both personal and collective rites of passage? Listen to Dr. Melissa Michaels weigh in on these powerful questions, and speak to the importance of finding one’s soul path vs. getting on the “success path”.   ––––– Melissa Michaels, is a doctor of education, based in Boulder, CO,  a movement– and rites-of-passage guide and facilitator, a youth mentor, a community leader and activist. She creates movement based cross-cultural educational opportunities focusing on the potential that is available at major life thresholds. Her work uses the expressive and social arts to establish body and heart as resources for authentic expression, and for mapping the journey from trauma to dynamic well-being. Recognizing the essential need for the body in our cultural conversations about how to serve the next generation, she has developed comprehensive programs, assisting youth and the adults who serve them in accessing their kinesthetic intelligence and their capacity to move with grace, focus, and freedom. Melissa creates safe and provocative learning environments that support individuals and communities in the embodied exploration of how creativity serves awakening and connection.  Melissa is the Founder and Director of  a couple of international somatic education and Rites-Of-Passage programs. She also founded Golden Bridge, the nonprofit organization that serves as the umbrella for her work and the work of the hundreds of emerging leaders who have come of age in her programs. Melissa is the author of the book, Youth On Fire: Igniting a Generation of Embodied Global Leaders. She is the mother of three daughters and a mentor for youth across the globe. Find more about Melissa's work at  http://www.goldenbridge.org/    
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