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ABOUT conjurer / khokhoi aka kk / aka mary alinney villacastion
Hello, my name is KhoKhoi, a childhood nickname meaning ‘little crab that bites.’ I come from generations of healers, creators, leaders & fisherfolk with origins in Bantayan (Bisayan for ‘watchtower’), an island in the central heart Visayan Philippine sea.
At heart, I am a traveling artist-anthropologist, hatha yogi, power plant herbalist, movement researcher, embodied videographer, slow writer, endless learner & healer of migrant islander diaspora.
This learning journey in spirit arts is humbly informed by psychedelic & medicinal plants in the Mexica traditions, Ayurveda foundational studies in India and bodywork/hilot in the Philippines. My movement as healing practice is informed by studies in hatha yoga, butoh dance, somatics, contemporary, ritual theater & kalaripayattu.
I approach the healing arts from a Visayan Philippine islander worldview that syncreticizes indigenous animism, south/east Asian healing traditions, folk faith & contemporary modalities.
My healing arts practice informs my cultural arts research on the sensual body in shifting techno-ecologies, or mediated environments. With a BA in Anthropology from Barnard College of Columbia University & an MA in Media Studies from The New School of Public Engagement, I have received awards, fellowships & residencies from Asian Cultural Council, The New School & Tropical Futures Institute to study body-based Visayan cultural media arts. My creative work is in collaboration and collective, as a core member of NYC's Red Canary Song, Bantayan's Panlantawon and CosmiKnots.
As a migrant settler to Turtle Island, I am indebted to the Seminoles swamplands of South Florida and the Lenapehoking coastal islets of New York City that my feet have called 'home.' As a conjurer, I continue to re-imagine relational intimacies through healing touch, plants, dance, performance, movement media & cultural arts.
fb / ig / rootsenroute.net
COMMITMENTS IN BODY STUDIES:
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200-hour Hatha Yoga Certification & 100-hour Ayurveda Foundations from Ayuryoga EcoAshram with Vinod Kumar
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Hilot Academy of Binabaylan & Body Options for Philippine-based massage certifications
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Butoh Dance: Diego Piñón (Body Ritual Movement), Yokko (Ren Gyo Soh), Yumiko Yoshioka (Body Resonance)
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2017 Public Performance Fellowship with Betty's Daughter Art's Collaborative (Ritual Theater in Black Womanist Tradition)
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Contemporary Dance workshops: Movement Research, Gibney
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Kalari student at Kalarigram: Temple of Kalaripayattu & Ayurveda
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Ex-student of Somatic Movement Therapy at The School of Somatics & Social Justice + Alternate Route in Dance Movement Therapy at 92Y Harkness Dance Center
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