Meet Kendra Adler | Land Artist, Somatic Movement Educator, Founder of Word As Movement

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kendra Adler and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kendra, let’s talk about principles and values – what matters to you most?

The ethos of reciprocity and being in right relationship help me navigate where I am and where I want to go. Both of these concepts came to me through various teachers, sometimes from the elements directly, but really landed after reading “Braiding Sweetgrass” by Robin Wall Kimmerer. For me – these two values come from a listening place rather than a doing place. If I make a decision for my somatic practice, I am taking into account all of the people, places, elements that will be in relationship to this decision so that the outcome is mutually beneficial for all. When we start a business or practice, generosity isn’t always at the forefront. I believe navigating from reciprocity, in which whomever involved feels met (heart, body, spirit) in an exchange is a place of mutual flourishing. This ideology that Kimmerer shares illuminated an innate craving for how I wanted to live my life. Nature operates from a place of mutual flourishing, cooperation – if we can remember coming from this place within our human modernity, maybe our decisions and investments would create greater care and greater abundance for ALL. This ethos is a grounding field for me in my life and informs my movement and art practice.

Describe your art practice and what you are most proud of…

I am a multidisciplinary artist and somatic movement facilitator using movement to investigate my connection between the Earth and the human body. My improvisational movement is a physical conversation between the elements and self, guiding me to discover the complexities of external and internal space. Through photography, film, ritual performance, movement, and land art – I explore the subconscious, texture, tones, and the subtle sensations that arise within nature and human nature. My work attempts to invite a remembrance of our connection to self and earth on a cellular level. An inquiry of the in-between, liminal places where these two facets dialogue with one another in various forms. An ongoing practice of listening, awakening and destroying.

My art practice is deeply influenced by my nature-centric somatic movement practice called Word As Movement. I offer movement experiences in various nature sites in Los Angeles, as a means to be with element, body and word. I feel a deep calling to hold spaces for integration of story, pattern, liberation, and care on an individual and collective level. For me, when the cellular memory connects with the conscious mind, integration is possible. When we become more clear in our cellular being, in why we are here, a ripple effect happens. Within our communities and within earth, land, stone, water. The body is the gatekeeper that holds and remembers. My art & somatic practice is my pursuit to deepen my awareness of the bridge between science and intuition. I believe, within this meeting place, we can come together to discover one other in a new sensory state of awareness. I create work to bring bodies, in their highest, together through this integration process. It is my greatest gift & honor –

I am most proud of my short embodied film “Story Of The Stone”, filmed/edited by Phoenix Losavio & Sound Design by Noah Rubin. An embodied telling of the Stone’s journey as an echo of human experience, this piece was birthed by a dream and inspired by River ecologist Ulrich Eichelmann who speaks about Stones being prevented from carrying out their life purpose because they are blocked by dams and other man made obstructions. I began to reflect, if the Stone is being blocked from their evolutionary flow by systems of capitalism and colonialism, how might human kin be stuck from connecting and becoming who they truly are? I wanted to investigate this with the stones through the medium of the body. My moving conversation is what is captured in this film. I premiered this work in April 2021 in a curated experience to sense the Stone. There were conversations from Chumash Elder Carman Sandoval & geologist Nicole E. Moore. Musical explorations of Stone: “PARAGGI: SCOGLIO D’ARGILLA, MASSAGGIO DI PIETRA” by Francesca Mariano & “ECHOS OF STONE” by Phoenix Losavio. Along with, “Undying Lineage”, sculptural work by Dana Funaro. We experienced two days of stoney sensations, in community, in nature. My vision is to take this film to other lands – as a means to curate and offer space for the stones, artists, and indigenous communities to speak and share on behalf of the stones/earth. I feel this could be my life’s work, I have no idea how my relationship with the stones and this film will continue to unfold, but I look forward to seeing where they take me.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Los Angeles, known as tovangaar to the Tongva people, is a place of great beauty. So when I bring folks around town, I want them to be able to tap into the sensory jingles that exist here – beyond the industry of glitz n’ glam. Most have no idea a river runs through the city, I would take them to the LA River bike path, grab a coffee at La Colombe, sit with the River alongside ancient Cottonwoods & over 100 species of birds, head to Suay for reclaimed clothing finds, and finish it with a sandwich at Wax Paper. If you are curious about how the River became colonized, I highly recommend reading: “The Los Angeles River: Its Life, Death, and Possible Rebirth” by Blake Gumprecht. If we are westside bound, we’d experience The Getty Museum, one of my favorite sensory experiences, between the limestone architecture nestled in the Santa Monica mountain range, along with the gardens, art, and tram ride – this museum is a gem and has the most breathtaking views of Los Angeles. It’s also one of my favorite places to dance/move – stones, water fountains, and garden nooks are wonderful listening spaces for movement, reading & inspiration! Afterwards, pop along Sunset for a scenic drive through the palisades that leads to the ocean. Pull over somewhere along highway 1, be with mama ocean, roll in the sand and end at Topanga Living Cafe for some fresh grub & drinks in Topanga Canyon.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

“Agua Viva” by Clarice Lispector changed my life. At that point, I was guided to live and relocate to Taos, New Mexico – a deep calling to be in closer relations to land and community. It was here, in my artist studio on the Mesa that I began to digest this mediative book. The words though, wanted to be more than cognitive, they wanted to move in my body. Some could say I danced myself out of the womb, the moving language of the body has always been a place where I know who I am and can communicate fluidly with the rest of the world. It was no surprise that the words wanted to move me, the piece that felt most alive was the creative spark to play! I moved furniture in my space, recorded my voice to a passage, and allowed my physical form to dance the words. I soon realized that I needed more space, so I rented private studio time at a local dance studio, Taos Satva. This space, this book, and my body soon began to form a bond. It was also at this time that the elements of Taos (river, trees, soil, stones) began to tug at me to dance with them to be in communication via movement. This creative period in my life, of deep listening to both my internal and external landscapes led me to discern that I was creating something, my somatic movement practice that I now share in nature in Los Angeles called Word As Movement. I owe a great deal of thanks to Clarice Lispector, for the land of the Tiwa people of Taos Pueblo, and my community of Taos for being anchors of support as I began to remember who I am, an artist of the earth in moving form.

I would also like to take a deep bow to my teachers Rosangela Silvestre & Vera Pasos – whom I began to study and deepen my relationship with the elemental ones via dances of the African diaspora in the Yoruba lineage. They offered me another piece to the puzzle – it’s thanks to them and their ancestors, that these archetypical teachings and dances gave me strength to continue following my curiosity and intuition in teaching and creating ritual performance experiences. They offered me possibility and encouragement, as well as a connection to my ancestral line.

Lastly, to my teachers Mary Lou Seereiter and Amy Matthews along with the whole school of Body Mind Centering – a somatic movement process that I am learning and incorporating into my teachings and art practice. I am grateful to receive such a visionary perspective around the intelligence of our body and the power of being in dialogue within community.

To all those that have supported my energetic, emotional, physical, and mental body, a deep bow. To my friends & family, thank you for seeing me and following me as I continue to unfold and discover who I am through movement and art making. To Tovaangar (now known as Los Angeles), land of the Tongva People, thank you for nurturing me and continuing to support me in this investigation of movement as a means to reclaim both internal and external space from a listening place.

Website: kendraadler.com

Instagram: instagram.com/kendra_adler

Twitter: @kendra_adler

Image Credits
Jason Adler, Phoenix Losavio, Joanna Gayle S., Kendra Adler