I’ve always admired artists who keep changing over a career. Joni Mitchell. So many albums. So many selves.
When I began my dance company in 1997, I didn’t want to make the same show over and over again. I eventually developed the Capacitor Lab—a six-month process where I brought scientists and technologists from different fields into the dance studio to work with the artists on a project. Their new information and feedback kept us from repeating ourselves. Their input stimulated growth and change. It worked. I used that process for nine full-evening works.
I realize now I wasn’t just making dances—I was designing conditions for transformation.
Now I take people into the forest and help them discover the potential for the next version of themselves. Psychedelics can stimulate a flexibility of thinking that makes this possible.
You see that you don’t need to be who you always thought you were.
Personally, I’ve actualized myself many times in different roles.
As a director of a touring dance company - cracking up in rehearsals, performing hundreds of shows, working hard, playing hard;
As an artist embedded with scientists and conservationists on nature retreats;
As a touring public speaker at the intersection of art, science, & technology;
As a single woman living and partying in the heart of San Francisco in a loft;
As a central node in a tight-knit group of friends;
As a loving mom in a bright kitchen;
As a high-priestess of psychedelia or a simple guide taking people into the forest;
As a writer of this blog…
Maybe the next version of me creates large motion-sculpture events that bring the urgency of wild nature into the foreground. It feels like an important time to speak up and speak out.
What is the next version of you? Can you see it? Pay attention to the details. These new versions can arise in uncanny ways when you aren’t even looking.
* Lomask’s curtain call with the Salvadorian Olympic Gymnastics Team in front of the National Youth Symphony Orchestra