Aalia (aka Marriki) first encountered the dance form Contact Improvisation at the renowned Edam Dance Company in her hometown of Vancouver, Canada, training with Andrew Harwood, Anne Cooper, Olivia Shaffer, Martin Keough, Peter Bingham, and Helen Walkley. Discovering it's transformative effects on the body-mind within herself and others, she has continued to pursue the practice in Asia and Canada, studying with over 40 CI teachers including notable intensives with Kirstie Simson, Leilani Weis, Sasha Dodo & Dolores Dewhurst-Marks, Vega Lukkonnen, and Vangelis Legakis (Contact Beyond Contact).
Aalia has been teaching Contact Improvisation since 2019 in Bali, hosting jams, workshops, and organizing contact retreats (Bali Eco Stay Jam 2021 and Current Artist Retreat 2023). Her workshop Momentum - Contact Improvisation Fundamentals has been shared 25 + times over the years, welcoming hundreds of new dancers in the Bali CI community. Past Contact teaching opportunities include Bali Bloom Festival, Towards CI50 Conference, Flow60 and NYX Co-working, and teaching at Bali venues such as Soulshine, Samyama Mindfulness Center, La Tribu, Parq, and Mansion Wellness Center.
Movement studies over the last 20 years include contemporary dance, fusion, hip hop, swing, qigong, yoga, and more. She hosts the podcast Faces of CI- Conversations in Contact - interviewing Contact facilitators about the practice as a mirror for life. During the pandemic, she created Contact Body, an online self-study course in Contact Improvisation, and Fortune Score - Contact Jam Oracle Deck. She now guides new Contact facilitators in developing their careers by sharing this work through Momentum Contact Facilitator Training.
Her curiosity and love of the dance stems from sharing Contact principles, delving into the socio-psychological aspects through reflective group conversation, creative improvising, dance scores, and befriending the unknown. When not dancing, she is likely meditating in nature, attempting humor with comedy improv, reading or writing poetry, and petting whichever friendly dogs cross her path.
Instagram @FacesofCI