Former Olympian Tamara Levinson discusses her transition from a gymnast to a dancer, touring with Madonna, and her passion for teaching movement. They also explore living in NYC, the power of somatic therapy, the importance of cooperation, and accessing pure awareness beyond expectations.
Movement allows individuals to tap into their emotions, release trauma, and find clarity.
Creating safe spaces for free and authentic self-expression enables individuals to unleash their creativity and inner wisdom.
Through movement, individuals can connect to something greater than themselves and experience profound personal transformation.
Deep dives
The Power of Movement and Embracing Vulnerability
Movement is a powerful tool for self-expression and healing. It allows individuals to tap into their emotions, release trauma, and find clarity. By moving the body freely and without judgment, people can connect to their true selves and experience a sense of freedom. This form of movement therapy goes beyond just dance or exercise, providing a space for individuals to explore their emotions and find healing. Society often discourages vulnerability and promotes competition, but embracing vulnerability and moving with authenticity allows for deeper connections with oneself and others.
The Importance of Creating Safe Spaces for Expression
There is a need for safe spaces where individuals can express themselves without fear of judgment or criticism. Traditional notions of what is considered 'dance' or 'movement' can limit and discourage self-expression. Allowing people, regardless of age or background, to move freely and authentically unleashes their creativity, emotions, and inner wisdom. By creating an open and non-competitive environment, people can feel seen, witnessed, and respected in their unique expression. Breaking free from conditioned expectations and labels enables individuals to connect with their bodies and experience the transformative power of movement.
The transformative potential of movement and being fully present
Movement has the potential to connect us to something greater than ourselves, allowing us to transcend the limitations of the mind. When fully present in our bodies, we can tap into the profound wisdom and healing that resides within. By going beyond words and immersing ourselves in the sensations and emotions of movement, we can experience a state of flow and freedom. This deep connection with ourselves opens the door to profound personal transformation. Through movement, we are able to see ourselves more clearly, make choices aligned with our authentic selves, and create positive changes in our lives.
The Importance of Movement and Emotion
The podcast episode emphasizes the significance of movement and emotion in our lives. The speaker highlights that the body holds a great deal of emotion and that it needs to move in order to prevent stagnation, depression, and other negative emotions. They discuss how movement and emotion are interconnected, and how allowing the body to express and process emotions can be transformative. The speaker shares examples of individuals who have experienced a positive shift in their emotional well-being after engaging in movement-based practices. They also mention the importance of acknowledging and honoring all feelings, not just positive ones, in order to have a healthy and authentic relationship with oneself.
The Power of Living Authentically and Letting Go of Judgment
The podcast episode explores the idea of living authentically and the obstacles that prevent individuals from doing so. The speaker challenges societal conditioning that values only the expression of positive feelings and encourages hiding negative emotions. They argue that by embracing all feelings and seeing them as a language of the body, individuals can find healing and self-understanding. The speaker shares their teaching approach, creating a safe space for individuals to express themselves freely and authentically. They emphasize the importance of letting go of judgment, both external and internal, and describe the transformative effect of embracing and processing emotions. The podcast episode concludes with a vision of what the world could be like if everyone experienced this authenticity and emotional freedom.
Tamara “Cuchira” Levinson was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and moved to the United States of America at age five. She represented the USA Rhythmic Gymnastics team at the 1992 Olympic Games just ten years later. Growing up an athlete gave her great discipline though her nature has always been raw, wild and free! Once her athletic career came to an end at 18 years of age, she made her way to New York City to explore who she was beyond the athlete.
She found her-SELF through dance, freeing all parts of her that had been put on hold up thill then. First by way of underground clubs that attracted the most eccentric of beings, later through professional dance theatre, Broadway and the NYC underground scene. Her love of free movement, individualism and eMOTIONal exploration eventually led her to a successful and ongoing 20+ year professional dance, aerial arts and choreography career that spanned from New York City, to Hollywood and throughout the world. She eventually finds herself touring with Madonna on three world tours, along with handfuls of other huge pop icons. This gave Tamara unique experiences few ever get a chance to have, seeing the world and performing in front of hundreds and thousands of screaming fans worldwide!
Her next big artistic venture came by way of her roots through a well-known avant-garde aerial group called ‘De La Guarda’. She co-choreographed and performed in the shows “Villa Villa” and Fuerzabruta. Think rave meets aerial theatre, but Tamara is curious about all forms of physical expression so she made her way across the movement world and got to work with many iconic people such as the legendary Twyla Tharp on Broadway's “The Times Are A CHANGIN’” and choreographed some scenes in the movie “The Greatest Showman” with Hugh Jackman. Gaining such production and creation knowledge throughout her time being in the thick of Broadway and Hollywood, Tamara naturally transitioned into directing many of her own pieces of work on stage and film.
With a bag full of movement expertise, Tamara’s underlying success always came from the fact that she moves through RAW E-MOTION that everyone can CONNECT to, so it only be natural that her work organically led into guiding others to their own freedom through the body's wisdom. She began teaching workshops and masterclasses about tapping into the language of the body. Once we understand BodyTalk we can begin having real conversations with ourselves and there is where true healing can begin. MovMEANT took off and a whole new inspired world opened up for Tamara. She has now been teaching MovMEANT for almost three decades all over the world and this has changed her life and of those who have incorporated the practice into their lifestyle.
What does MovMEANT practically look like? Think ecstatic dance à la the most breakthrough therapy session you’ve ever had! Or an Ayahuasca ceremony where dance is the “drug” that transcends the here and now. The mover returns anew, cleansed, with vast knowledge of their inner world. This kind of clarity heals and transforms. That is the power of MovMEANT! Tamara continues to grow in the infinite space of somatic healing and the work continues to evolve to find more and more of an audience everyday.
From Olympian, to professional dancer, choreographer, artist, director, healer… Tamara is fascinated by the infinite world of E-motions and how they speak to us. She does retreats and workshops all over the world. If you’re interested to learn more go to MovMEANT.com. You can also find her on Instagram @cuchira
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