Gabrielle Roth
Gabrielle Roth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | February 4, 1941 |
| Died | October 22, 2012(aged 71) New York City,U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Dancer, musician, author |
| Known for | 5Rhythms,trance dance |
| Spouse | Robert Ansell[1] |
Gabrielle Roth(February 4, 1941 – October 22, 2012) was an American dancer and musician in theworld musicandtrance dancegenres, with a special interest inshamanism.She overcame depression and injury to create the5Rhythmsapproach to movement in the late 1970s; there are now hundreds of 5Rhythms teachers worldwide who use her approach in their work. Her vision was to spread dance across the world, using the power of movement to heal body and spirit.
Roth worked at theKripalu Center for Yoga & Healthand at theOmega Institute for Holistic Studies.She founded an experimental theatre company in New York, wrote three books, created over twenty albums of trance dance music with her bandThe Mirrors,and directed or has been the subject of several videos.
Early life
[edit]Born in San Francisco on February 4, 1941,[2][3]Roth described being inspired by the dance of Spanish gypsyLa Chungaand by seeing theNigerianNational Ballet. She trained in traditional dance methods, suffering from anorexia during her teenage years. Roth paid for college education by teaching movement in rehabilitation centres. Following college she lived and worked in Europe for three years, during the mid 1960s. During this time she visited the concentration camps memorials in Germany that she had studied during college.[3]
Roth injured her knee in a skiing accident in Germany and later again in an African dance class. At 26, she was told that she needed surgery and wouldn't dance again and resigned herself to the prognosis.[3]She became seriously depressed and later retreated toBig Surin California, joining a group at theEsalen Institute.She became a masseuse there, and found that her body healed itself through dance, despite what the doctors had said.GestaltpsychiatristFritz Perlsasked her to teach dance at theEsalen Instituteand she set out to find a structure for dance as a transformative process. Out of her work at Esalen she designed the 'Wave' of the 5Rhythms approach, Flowing, Staccato, Chaos, Lyrical, Stillness.[3][4]
Career
[edit]
Roth was a faculty member atThe Kripalu Center for Yoga & HealthinStockbridge, Massachusettsand taught at theOmega Institute for Holistic StudiesinRhinebeck, New York.She trained for three years withOscar Ichazo,founder of theArica Schooland set up her own experimental theatre company inNew York City.[3]
The Moving Center teaches her work through her school in New York; it has certified over 400 5Rhythms teachers worldwide. She taught experimental theatre in New York based on herecstatic danceapproach,5Rhythms.Roth was music director of the theatre company The Mirrors and has been a member of theActors Studio.Roth directed theatre productions ofSavage/Love,bySam ShepardandJoseph Chaikin,at The Culture Project in Mercer Street, New York City.[5]She founded The Moving Center School in 1977 in New York.[6]
Roth wrote three books:Sweat Your Prayers: Movement as Spiritual Practice,Maps to Ecstasy: Teachings of an Urban Shaman,andConnections: The 5 Threads of Intuitive Wisdom.Sweat Your Prayers,begins with an autobiographical prologue, "God, Sex, & My Body", in which she writes of the contradictions in her personality that led her to dance. She comments, "I loved to work out my body but I hated the mirrors".[7]She notes that she was taught by Catholic nuns "with eyes trained to scan for sin"[8]and that her first dance teacher was "an old woman with frizzy dyed red hair, a funny accent, and a long thin stick" who would beat her whenever she made a mistake, initiating in Roth a severe inferiority complex.[8]In college, she became pregnant. She found her lover insensitive to the news and had an abortion three days later.[9]Roth writes that she felt the importance of privacy to her kind of dance while teaching at Esalen in a room "lined with picture windows". Passers by would stare in during sessions. Roth comments, "this was tragic, as the majority of my students were paralytically self-conscious when it came to moving their bodies."[10]She noticed that her students had difficulty breathing.[10]Her bookSweat Your Prayersends with her vision of spreading dance across the world, the power of movement "leading us back into the garden [of Eden], back to the earth, whole and healed, spirit and flesh reunited".[11]
With the Mirrors
[edit]Roth performed and recorded with her group Gabrielle Roth and the Mirrors, producing over 20 albums.[12]YogaChicagodescribed Roth's albumJhoomas "pure energy and bliss. Intense rhythms".[13]Hot Indie NewsdescribedStill Chillinas "without question yoga music" that "lends to an ambient, trance-like, meditative state".[14]Awareness Magazinewrote that the music pulsed, "creating a rhythmic aura that transports the listener", in a way that was perfect for yoga.[15]Michael Riversong wrote of "Silver Desert Cafe" onTonguesthat "I always dance when it comes up".
Roth and the Mirrors provided music for Michelle Mahrer's film,Dances of Ecstasy,in which Roth has an acting credit, appearing as herself.[16]The New York Timesreview noted that "Whirling Dervishesfrom Turkey,OrishaPriestesses from Nigeria and Brazil,shamanhealers from theKalahariand dancers in a Gabrielle Roth workshop in New York, pulse to the same beat ".[17]
5Rhythms
[edit]The5Rhythmsmovement system, founded by Roth in the late 1970s, focuses on five body rhythms: flowing, staccato, chaos, lyrical and stillness and is according to Jed Lipinski inThe New York Times"a way to become conscious through dance".[18]The movement spread worldwide, with 245 registered teachers by 2012.[19][20]In 2007, Roth founded the non-profit5Rhythms Reach Outwhich offered classes in 5Rhythms to various groups, including those suffering fromAlzheimer's disease,other dementias, and cancer.[21]The Huffington Postdescribed Roth as "an incredibly influential teacher of meditative dance".[2]Charlotte Macleod, in the LondonEvening Standard,describes dancing Roth's 5Rhythms as a kind of antidote to life in a large city, and how she was attracted to a dance class by a video of Thom Yorke. The class leaves her "mentally and physically refreshed, and oddly connected to the other dancers." The dance was "a kind of moving meditation" for her.[22]Christine Ottery, inThe Guardian,states that "ecstatic dancinghas an image problem "and" encompasses everything from large global movements such as 5 Rhythms andBiodanzato local drum'n'dance meet-ups ". She suggests that readers may" find 5 Rhythms a good place to start ", and does so herself:" Nervously, I stretch and warm my muscles. As the rhythms take off, I shake off my shyness. "She dances in different ways, alone or with partners." My body is expressing itself – it's utter abandonment and a complete high. "[23]The 5Rhythms have been the subject of academic study.[24][25]
Personal life
[edit]Roth was married to Robert Ansell.[1] She was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in 2009 and died on October 22, 2012, aged 71.[26][27]Roth's son, Jonathan Horan, is Director of The Moving Center, and Executive Director of Roth's International Institute, 5Rhythms Global.[28]
Works
[edit]Books
[edit]- Roth, Gabrielle; Loudon, John (1989).Maps to Ecstasy: Teachings of an Urban Shaman.New World Library.ISBN978-0-931432-52-1.
- Roth, Gabrielle (1997).Sweat Your Prayers: Movement as Spiritual Practice.Tarcher Putnam.ISBN978-0-87477-959-2.
- Roth, Gabrielle (2004).Connections: The Five Threads of Intuitive Wisdom.Tarcher.ISBN978-1-58542-327-9.
Music
[edit]- Raven Recordings
- Jhoom (The intoxication of surrender)(Raven, 2009)
- Bardo(withBoris Grebenshchikov) (Raven, 2002)
- Tribe(Raven, 2001)
- Refuge(with Boris Grebenshchikov) (Raven, 1998)
- Zone Unknown(Raven, 1997)
- Tongues(Raven, 1995)
- Luna(Raven, 1994)
- Trance(Raven, 1992)
- Waves(Raven, 1991)
- Ritual(Raven, 1990)
- Bones(Raven, 1989)
- Initiation(Raven, 1988)
- Totem(Raven, 1985)
- Endless Wave 1(Raven, 1996)
- Endless Wave 2(Raven, 2000)
- Music for Slow Flow Yoga(Raven, compilation, 2002)
- Music for Slow Flow Yoga 2(Raven, compilation, 2003)
- Stillpoint(Raven, compilation, 1996)
- The Movement(Raven, compilation, 2001)
- The Classics(Raven, 4 CD compilation, 2004)
- Other producers
- Dancing Toward the One / Sacred Rock(1982) The Moving Center
- Pray Body(1983) The Moving Center
- Path: An Ambient Collection(1995)Windham Hill Records
- Conversations With God: A Windham Hill Collection(1997) Windham Hill Records
- Still Chillin(2005) Aquarius International Music
Television and video
[edit]- I Dance the Body Electric(1993)
- Secret Egypt(1995) Mystic Fire Video (Directed by Sheldon Rochlin)
- The Spiritual Path to Success(1997) Quest special onPBS(now part of the Quest Life Trilogy, only available in the Quest Wisdom Collection).[29]
- Sukhavati: A Mythic Journey(1997 [music]) [DVD 2005] forJoseph Campbell FoundationandPBS(produced, directed, and edited by Maxine Harris and Sheldon Rochlin).
- The Wave: ecstatic dance for body and soul(1993)Sounds TrueVHS (DVD in Germany (Nietsch, Freiburg) 2000, USA 2004).
- The Power Wave(2001)Sounds True.VHS (DVD in Germany (Nietsch, Freiburg) 2000, USA 2005)
- The Inner Wave(2001)Sounds True.VHS (DVD in Germany (Nietsch, Freiburg) 2000, USA 2005)
- Ecstatic Dance Trilogy(2004)Sounds True.
- Dances of Ecstasy(2003) [featuring: Michelle Mahrer, Nicole Ma and Gabrielle Roth]BBC/Opus Arte
- Open Floor: Dance, Therapy & Transformation(2002) Raven Recording.
- The Great Lesson: A New Film About Mind and Body: Featuring Gabrielle Roth.Great Lesson Productions.(2012)
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abPeabody, Martha (2012)."In Memoriam: Gabrielle Roth".Esalen Institute.
- ^ab"Gabrielle Roth Quotes: Inspirational Words To Remember The Meditative Dance Teacher".The Huffington Post.October 25, 2012. Archived fromthe originalon October 28, 2012.RetrievedOctober 26,2012.
- ^abcdeAlbert, Mimi (March 23, 1991)."Teachings of an Urban Shaman".Yoga Journal(November/December 1990): 70–73.
- ^La Cerra, Peggy (January 1, 2012). "Dance ecstasy: the art and science of dancing into Nirvana".Spirituality & Health Magazine.
- ^Guzel, Jim (August 16, 2011)."Friday, August 19th: 5Rhythms with Margaret Wagner".Archived fromthe originalon March 22, 2012.
- ^5Rhythms: Moving Center New York.Retrieved February 4, 2014
- ^Roth, Gabrielle. 1997. pg. xix.
- ^abRoth, Gabrielle. 1997. pg. xvi.
- ^Roth, Gabrielle. 1997. pg. xviii.
- ^abRoth, Gabrielle. 1997. pg. xxi.
- ^Roth, Gabrielle. 1997. pg. 217.
- ^"Discography: Gabrielle Roth".AllMusic.RetrievedJune 7,2023.
- ^Yoga Chicago: Music ReviewArchivedMarch 31, 2013, at theWayback MachineMay 2000. Retrieved March 16, 2012
- ^Hot Indie News: Still Chillin'ArchivedFebruary 8, 2012, at theWayback Machine,September 2007. Retrieved March 16, 2012
- ^Dilberto, Chuck (2000)."Music Reviews".Awareness Magazine.No. Jan/Feb 2000.RetrievedMarch 16,2012.
- ^Roth, Gabrielle; Mahrer, Michelle; Ma, Nicole (March 31, 2009).Dances of Ecstasy: A Sensory Journey Though Rhythm, Dance And Music(DVD). Kultur. D0873.
- ^"Movies".Movies & TV Dept.The New York Times.2010.RetrievedMarch 20,2012.[dead link]
- ^Lipinski, Jed (August 4, 2010)."Dance, Dance, Dance. And That's It".The New York Times.RetrievedMarch 7,2012.
- ^"5Rhythms Global: List of Member Teachers".Archived fromthe originalon September 12, 2012.RetrievedMarch 7,2012.
- ^For example,Nadine Fiume,Adam Barley,Gay Murphy,andMargaret WagnerArchivedMarch 22, 2012, at theWayback Machine
- ^"5Rhythms Reach Out".Archived fromthe originalon January 2, 2013.RetrievedOctober 24,2012.
- ^Macleod, Charlotte (April 6, 2011)."Thom Yorke and the new 5Rhythms dance craze".Evening Standard.RetrievedMarch 17,2012.
- ^Ottery, Christine (July 21, 2009)."Ecstatic dance: rhythm to beat the blues".The Guardian.RetrievedMarch 18,2012.
- ^Cook, S., Ledger, K., Scott, N. (2003)Women's experience of 5 Rhythms dance and the effects on their emotional wellbeing(Book) Pubs U.K. Advocacy Network, Sheffield.
- ^Practical Midwife. 2007 March 10(3): 20, 22–3.The ecstasy of spirit: five rhythms for healing.Henley-Einion A. University of the West of England.
- ^Simon, Tami (April 10, 2012)."Dancing with Cancer, interview with Gabrielle Roth".Sounds True.Archived fromthe originalon February 2, 2013.RetrievedOctober 24,2012.
- ^Horan, Jonathan A. (October 23, 2012)."Gabrielle Roth 1941–2012".Facebook.RetrievedOctober 24,2012.
- ^"5Rhythms: Jonathan Horan".Archivedfrom the original on March 20, 2023.RetrievedJune 7,2023.
- ^Quest The Journey
External links
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