SUKHA/KIM G. CHOREOGRAPHER/TEACHER OF MOVEMENT

A versatile choreographer and teacher of movement, Sukha (Kim G) is a respected figure in the theatrical. academic, outreach and healing arts communities. Founder and director of "The Movement Works Project", a dance/arts outreach organization dedicated to working within both the California Department of Corrections and the juvenile justice system since 1994, she is committed to using her art and creativity as an agent for social change. "Akimbo Movement Theater", the performance branch of the project is focused on creating innovative interconnected performance art and dance that is truly a voice of the community. Influenced and inspired by the material generated in Sukha's prison classes and workshops, the company has performed at local and international arts festivals since 1998.

A modern dancer by training (primarily Graham and Horton techniques), Sukha is versed in Contemporary and Classical Ballet, Hatha Yoga, Pilates and Gabrielle Roth's 5 Rhythms Method. This deep understanding of movement is reflected not only in her choreographic and teaching style but in her own lifestyle. Her company's diverse performance repertoire is rooted not only in rhythm and movement, but in poetry and the written word. Akimbo performs works that range from audience interactive dance & yoga theater to improvisational comedy. Integration and innovation are at the core of their work creatively, technically and philosophically.

Sukha began her formal training as a tap dancer and then shifted her focus to Modern Dance and Theater. She studied dance and theater at San Diego State University and the University of California at Los Angeles . In the early 80"s, Sukha (then Kim G) made an unplanned for creative seque into the then booming Aerobics Industry - she seized the momentum and unbridaled energy of the phenomenon and became an irreverant aerobic celebrity, teaching for Jane Fonda and being featured in sports magazines as "the articulate new wave dance rebel" - she was given a residency in Japan where she discovered yoga, rediscovered her body, reclaimed her dance roots and rebirthed herself a choroegrapher. She continues to expand her teaching skills and technique with continuing education courses in the movement and healing arts as well as an ongoing devotion to the disciplines that define her daily practice - movement (yoga & the 5 rhythms) meditation & writing.

As a teacher, choreographer and movement coach, Sukha has worked with individuals from a wide range of backgrounds, ages and levels of experience - from college students to "at risk" youth and incarcerated adults. From athletes to artists to professional dancers to corporate executives - it is her trademark to consistently reach people from all walks of life through movement with her dynamic energy, sensitivity and humor. Using communication skills to bridge differing cultural and socioeconomic pockets within the community, she has served as a project consultant and guest artist for organizations such as AmeriCorp/Building Up L.A., Project Head Start, Children of the Night, The Beat Within, Homies Unidos, Arts Expand and the Criminal Justice Consortium. She has held artistic residencies abroad in Japan and Italy and most recently was a guest artist/teacher in Taiwan (Republic of China) where she taught Movement, Theater, Poetry and English classes to college bound students.

Currently, Sukha teaches Modern Dance, Contemporary Ballet and Vinyasaflow yoga for the UCLA Department of Cultural and Recreational Affairs at the John Wooden Center . As well, she provides yoga/alignment and stress relief workshops for the Anderson School of Business Management, The Dashew International Student Association, The University Buddhist Association and many other student and faculty organizations within UCLA. She is an adjunct faculty member at Mount Saint Mary's College where she taught Yoga and Modern dance. Sukha also presents integrative Yoga, Dance & Poetry Workshops as a guest artist thoughout California (San Francisco, San Diego, Sonora) and most recently in Boulder Colorado, Little Company of Mary Hospital and various dance companies and collaboratives throughout the city and state. Sukha also serves as a movement coach, developing specialized personal practices for individuals to illuminate awareness alignment and balance of body, mind and spirit.

In 1994, Sukha (then Kim G.) combined her philosophy of movement as a healing force with her knack of performing and teaching in virtually any setting to create the Movement Works Project. Movement Works is a performance outreach organization which provides Interdisciplinary Arts classes (which utilize assorted artistic media such as poetry, storytelling and theatrical improvisation, as well as dance and movement) to incarcerated minors at Central Juvenile Hall in Los Angeles . A recognized success in spite of the numerous obstacles working within a prison system presented, her work has been the recipient of numerous awards and media attention, which included grants from The Mattel Foundation, Los Angeles County, Warner Music and feature articles in the Los Angeles Times ("the Choreography of Hope"), the L.A. weekly, SHAPE and in Oprah Winfrey's "O" magazine ("Hope Floats"). Her work has also been featured on the Oxygen channel, CNN, NBC and is currently the subject of a feature documentary, "The Box Project". Most recently a retrospective of Sukha's dance and poetry was presented by Akimbo Movement Theater and highlighted by a group show of renowned visual artists in support of Movement Works at an event called "Convicted to Love".

In 1999 the scope of Sukha's outreach work with the incarcerated population evolved and expanded to include an appointment as a contract artist for the California Department of Corrections. Working primarily with men at all prison security levels, she travels statewide presenting a diverse slate of programs, from poetry and storytelling to Yoga and Body Awareness. Each workshop is crafted to serve the distinctly different populations of the specific penal institution. Over the course of three years she has visited 17 of the states 33 prisons. Despite the resent dissolution of the “Arts in Corrections” program due to state budget crisis, Sukha continues to maintain an ongoing relationship as a volunteer artist teacher at 2 institutions – Pleasant Valley State Prison in Coalinga and Sierra Conservation Center in Sonora where she teaches monthly. As well Sukha & the Movement Works Project facilitate ongoing movement & healing arts workshops for women & mothers of all ages within the Los Angeles community - MarVista Family Center & Dorothy Kirby Juvenile Detention Center. Sukha's most recent outreach effort in progress involves bringing artists & teachers to New Orleans for a community performance/workshop event integrating the arts & the healing arts called "heart mind & body nourishment 101" - working in collaboration with organizations from New Orleans, Washington D.C. & Los Angeles.

In addition to her academic, outreach and community work, Sukha choreographs professionally for film and video. Her work has been seen on HBO, Comedy Central and the Oxygen Network - a national lampoon special "Gumby's 50th Birthday" featuring Smashmouth will be shown on HBO this fall. Sukha and the company are at work on a collaborative full length movement theater piece "SHE" is based on Sukha's original poetry setting individual poems as solos on women - originally performed in Studio Z in San Francisco . Sukha is at work on her first book, "A Captive Audience" - a collection of essays and poetry based on her experiences within the prison system and her work is the subject of a feature length documentary - "The Box Project".