“When I read that first line I say to myself, wow Denise, that’s a lot of titles! Bio’s seem to place me in some sort of odd paradigm relationship with myself anyway. However it’s true, movement has been such a big part of my life in so many ways, from a craft utilized for feedback and learning to a tool necessary for supporting internal survival. I see now for myself how I was destined as a very young girl to become a dancer, and then later a dance & yoga teacher. Like others come to spirituality, dance, especially performing modern dance, was my way of discovering who I am and how to find my purpose. At this point I travel the globe, but I grew up in central Pennsylvania an only child spending most of my time in the Appalachian Mountains. When I wasn’t running with my friends through the woods of rural America, to entertain myself I would dance for hours in the yard or in my room. Interestingly enough, every movement I did on the right side of my body, I repeated on the left side of my body. In the third grade in my first creative dance class, I fell in love with my dance teacher who always wore a beautiful long blonde braid cascading down her back, Mrs. Betty Jane Dittmar. Any child in the town of State College, PA who was lucky enough to study with Mrs. Dittmar, was also introduced to the world of movement dynamics, body parts, exploration and imagination. Her school focusing on raw movement, self-expression, and creative process not product, was so different from the sequined costumed tap and baton dance studios putting on big recitals. It was these first experiences which laid the foundation for my work, research and professional aspirations in the dance world, and then to follow, the yoga world. Fortunate enough also to have studied with many wonderful artists and masters, from Lucus Hoving to Luigi to Pearl Lang, Rodney Yee, and John Friend, I am always deeply interested in the human movement potential, and how one’s life is shifted by connecting to the energy and spirit of the body. A person’s movement signature fascinates me. Thank you for your interest in New Moves. Namaste.”