We met in Turkey and discovered that we had the same dream… to remember our native languages, our cultures of movement, to experience dance as ritual once again, beyond just the form… The intentions we laid with prayers, research, embodiment, hours of online meetings (long distance relationship) came into fruition in October 2023 in Topanga, LA. Her name is Kaynaktan, “from the Source” in Turkish. She is growing and we are so excited and proud to be the mothers of this project.
Becky Hicks
Becky grew up in a dancing family in England with her parents who trained alongside Anna Halprin’s San Francisco dancers’ company, she is a professionally trained dancer, choreographer, therapeutic movement and yoga facilitator, Non-Linear Movement©, and Switch2Move practitioner (inclusive dance for people with chronic neurological illnesses). She trained at London Studio Centre dance school with a BAHons distinction degree in performance theatre. Her professional dance career credits include Florence and the Machine, Celine Dion, Kylie Minogue, Rihanna, Coldplay, Nicole Scherzinger, Take That, Elton John, Olympic and Paralympic 2012 closing ceremonies, Thriller Live West End, The Voice, X Factor, Royal Variety Show etc, in arenas and stadiums around the world...combining contemporary, lyrical, commercial and hip-hop styles. She has choreographed a world tour, music video and show on the Eiffel Tower with Rita Ora, including Rock in Rio Brazil, she was the choreographer for two short films shot in Berlin, (film festival credited), and various music videos for other artists based in Europe.
After writing her dissertation on CandoCo, a disabled dance group based in London, she performed alongside them at the 2012 Paralympic Closing games and trained as a Switch2Move practitioner (for chronic neurological illnesses), sparking her desire to offer movement as a therapeutic art form.
For three years she taught with Into Dance Berlin; inclusive dance for people with physical impairments from chronic illnesses and has gone on to teach this in Lisbon and online.
Becky has taught therapeutic movement since her return from India and Nepal in 2016, after receiving her qualification in Vinyasa Yoga (Brahmani) creating her own class structure called Bodyflow combining dance, yoga, meditation, and her other movement trainings as an exploration of the human inner landscape and a tool for release and healing. She continues to share this around the world in different workshops and constellations with her belief that the body is a gateway for deeper connection to and expression of authentic self, whether it is a somatic experience or an expression of art.
Becky is trained in Ohad Naharin's Gaga Movement Language. She studied with Michaela Boehm in Amsterdam and is a qualified teacher in the Non-Linear Movement Method, teaching ‘the embodiment track’ and integrates this in her own practice and teaching. Becky was invited to artist’s residency in Morocco combining art and activism. She brought mindfulness and movement therapy into the curriculum in a school in an African slum and taught movement to children in an orphanage in Bali. There is a spirit in dance that speaks all languages, that transcends cultures, it can tell us who we are and where we came from, it is an expression and identity; Becky has a desire to awaken and facilitate these notions in her teaching, art and life.
Rüya Dream Günergin
Ruya is teacher, dancer, and farmer. She graduated from Harvard College, where she studied Social Studies, and later got her master's degree in education at Harvard Graduate School of Education. During her time in school, she actively participated in various dance and theatre groups, such as the Harvard Radcliffe Modern Dance Company, Harvard Expression Hip-Hop Dance Company, and Boston Experimental Theatre Group. Additionally, she was trained in Ohad Naharin's Gaga: Movement Language.
After graduation, Ruya took on the role of Senior Learning Designer at an education technology company, where she focused on designing curricula and teaching online courses in green room studios, incorporating elements of dance and theatre into the learning process. She also organized and led workshops in Turkey, on radical pedagogy, movement and body awareness in education, as well as storytelling and group psychology.
She then became a Teaching Fellow for the course, Public Narrative: Leadership, Storytelling, and Action, at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Executive Education program. There, she facilitated weekly section meetings and provided coaching for 18 executives from diverse industries and countries.
Currently, Ruya is pursuing her teaching certification for Waldorf Education at the Waldorf Institute of Southern California. Last year, she served as a Movement and Games teacher for 1st to 5th grade students at a Waldorf-inspired charter school in Downtown LA. She crafted curricula tailored to the mental, emotional, and physical development phases of over 120 students, incorporating various movement modalities, dance practices, games, and sports.
Currently, Ruya is stewarding a non-profit organization based on an organic regenerative farm in Fillmore, called “Back to Eden Forest Collective” which she co-founded with the mission of cultivating healthy, abundant and harmonious ecosystems through practicing agroforestry, offering educational programs, and promoting food security.
In addition to teaching, Ruya offers movement-integrated personal coaching sessions to private clients and leads movement journeys at various events and retreats she hosts. Ruya is moved by the pursuit of removing blocks to love in herself and others in everything she does.