Jeannie is an artist, designer, and facilitator devoted to the transformative power of freeform dance. Her path began through her own healing journey, where she discovered movement as medicine and went on to explore Ecstatic Dance, 5Rhythms, and other somatic practices. She is profoundly grateful for the wellspring of creativity from musicians around the world with which she gets to move and play.

An AMC facilitator since 2022, she crafts music mixes as emotional dance waves, and invites authentic expression, connection, and embodied presence. Her work invites people to move with honesty and return to the wisdom of the body.

“Dance is the hidden language of the soul.” – Martha Graham

Find Jeannie / Leontine’s wave mixes: https://soundcloud.com/dancingleontine

CJ has been creating ecstatic dance waves for the Asheville community since 2014. CJ became an AMC facilitator in 2015 and took a break from AMC in 2020 until getting involved again at the end of 2025. CJ has served AMC in many capacities and aims to be of service in whatever ways are most effective and supportive of AMC’s vision and having a well-stewarded and supported dance community. CJ also organizes around contact improvisation, partner dance, earthskills events, agroforestry, collective governance, community living and collective land stewardship through a variety of other local projects.

As a facilitator and mix maker, their eclectic mix of musical styles beckons dancers into new patterns of movement and expression through diverse time signatures, instrumentation, and a wide range of musical and emotive qualities. CJ’s waves explore high peaks, beautiful vistas, juicy lowlands and the profound reflective stillness of tranquil water. CJ’s dance waves are pre-produced and refined through the body and ears of a dancer and audiophile.

Find more of DJ SeigeA’s dance waves at https://dj.seigea.com

“Peace in oneself, peace in the world.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

Grayson is the Volunteer Coordinator for AMC and has been part of ecstatic dance and embodied movement practices for over seven years, beginning his dance journey in Austin, Texas. After moving to Asheville in 2024, he immediately began volunteering with AMC because movement, mindfulness, and conscious community have been foundational parts of his life.

Professionally, he works in sales and education strategy. He is also a certified meditation teacher, facilitator, and songwriter who primarily teaches on Insight Timer.

Outside of teaching and community work, Grayson loves hiking, climbing trees, practicing aerial silks, writing music, and finding ways to stay connected to nature, creativity, and play.

Kristikka first encountered 5Rhythms in Los Angeles in the 1990s, but it was in Austin where the practice truly took root and blossomed. From her very first ecstatic dance there, she felt a deep sense of belonging and knew she was home. Since 2007, she has been dancing every week, discovering again and again that ecstatic dance is not only a practice of movement but also medicine for the soul.

After decades of devotion to the dance, Kristikka felt the call to step into facilitation, training with ecstatic dance pioneers O’skar Madera, Lucia Horan, Michael Skelton, DJ Osiah, and her mentor DJ Esmae. She first DJ’d a wave in San Antonio, Texas, before relocating to the Asheville area in 2023. Her sets weave world music, organic rhythms, and eclectic sounds into journeys that invite dancers into an embodied state of meditation and expression.

For Kristikka, ecstatic dance is a pathway to freedom—a practice of surrender, emotional release, and complete liberation. As a facilitator, she loves crafting waves that carry people deeper into themselves while strengthening the threads of community. “The best dances are when we can let go, step out of our heads, and allow ourselves to be danced.”

Listen to her mixes here: soundcloud.com/dj-kristikka

David is a life long daily meditator, father of two, retired computer programmer and former teacher of multiple sports to humans of all ages. He has been doing ecstatic dance and 5 rhythms for over 10 years. He loves children of all ages so supporting childcare at AMC just felt right to him. He has been a substitute childcare provider, a home “babysitter,” a part-time “Manny” for two young girls and an after school program provider.

Mountaine has been dancing with AMC since around 1998, before we were formalized as a nonprofit. He has a lifetime of experience in nonprofit administration, including a stint as Director of Finance and Administration at the Florida Grand Opera. Now retired from all that, he spends his time breathing, traveling to fabulous places including radical faerie gatherings, going deep in a variety of ceremonies, creating consciousness-raising theatre for Fringe Festivals, and breathing. Some of his stage work is done in collaboration with the wise wiseass wisecrack wizard Merlin. He likes to dance intentionally but wildly during “Stillness” !

Ted is interested in anything that can get him out of his head, and music and movement do a pretty good job of that. He hopes to offer music that facilitates an inner journey and invitations that create a shift. You can hear some of his mixes on Mixcloud. For his day job, he tries to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable, little by little, via www.tedriskin.com, www.groupkap.com, and www.ifsessentials.com.

Of the many gifts my mother bestowed upon me, the love of dance and movement is one of my most treasured – when the music comes on, “get up and dance!” I have been dancing with AMC since 2018 and have found both my dance home and my community here. Dance is my spiritual practice; I never leave a wave the same as I entered it and am grateful for the profound experiences our facilitators offer us in their mixes and the safety and generosity of the those on the floor with me. Grateful for this AMC community and wanting to give back, I have been either volunteering or serving on the Board since joining the community. In my day job, I work with people in deep grief and those at end-of-life. Dance informs my work – and my work informs my dance.

At some point in 2017 I entered the AMC dance space and found myself intrigued, disrupted, and captivated. I assumed I was just going to have fun, but I saw immediately that within the gym, dancers felt safe enough to explore their bodies and psyches. In the subsequent months and years, I moved cautiously toward this adventure myself and was rewarded with a deepening love of music and movement, a sense of confidence and safety within my body and the connections of a warm community. What started as a personal challenge became a pathway for healing and an unfolding of Self.

In 2024, I was entrusted with the honor of facilitating dances. My goal is to craft musical stories that take dancers on a journey of self discovery. You can find my attempts at this on Soundcloud.

In my day job, I approach this same objective in the therapist office.

For Ran, intuitive, free-form dance is a pathway to self-knowledge and greater freedom from past conditioning. He first discovered this pathway at a retreat for gay men shortly after coming out at age 40. Soon thereafter, he began weekend commutes from Seneca, SC to Atlanta, Asheville, Charlotte, and other cities several times a year to practice with various teachers of Gabrielle Roth’s 5 Rhythms®. It has been twenty years now (2026) since he discovered an embodied way to express the longings and prayers of his heart. The exploration is a lifelong one that never grows old. Ran enjoys writing poetry, letters, dreams, and reflections, as well as swimming, bicycling, running, and working out at the gym. He is passionate about engaging with friends and clients via meaningful conversation and the power of conscious touch. His website is: www.BodySoulTendingForMen.com.

Marta has been part of AMC since she moved to Asheville from Surfside, FL in 2008. She has been teaching movement for over 20 years, using music and movements from around the world.

She loves to motivate people to find freedom in their bodies so they can dance to the spirit of the music.

“I was dancing in my father’s arms before I was walking. When I dance, I feel ageless. Through movement I have found my inner power. My light shines brightest on the dance floor.”

You can listen to Marta’s mixes on https://www.mixcloud.com/DancingMarta/ and https://soundcloud.com/avlmovementcollective

“The fastest way to still the mind is to move the body.” – Gabrielle Roth

Annie is part of the administrative team at AMC and currently serves as the media publisher.  She is new to the ecstatic dance community and is excited to continue to learn and play every day.

Annie is a native of Asheville, and her family has called the area home for several generations.

Tiffany loves to move: in the body, around bodies, playing with energy. Endlessly curious and deeply passionate, Tiffany wants to help liberate humans from the shells and walls they’ve built around themselves, allowing their essence to shine forth into the world, so we can fully feel that we are connected in love and light. Let’s shatter the barriers, see each other in all our aliveness, and play!

Megan’s love affair with dance began in ballet, when she explored the magic of movement as a young child. Sitting still was always a struggle and dance provided a way to channel and release energy, so she could be more present in her body and mind. After attending her first Ecstatic Dance at Kalani on the Big Island in 2012, she was hooked. She danced there for many years before moving to Austin, TX in 2021, where she began to DJ for the Ecstatic Rhythms Sunday dance. In 2023 she moved to Asheville with her husband Grayson and began to integrate into the dance community here. She currently still provides sets remotely for the Sunday Second Wave in Austin and facilitates dances in person for the Asheville Movement Collective.

She is also an artist, playing with many mediums from dried flowers to graphic design, and a health practitioner who helps individuals weave the mental, physical, and spiritual components of wellness together to support balance.

Listen to her mixes at: https://soundcloud.com/djesmae

Rory is a singer/songwriter and performs as a solo artist with guitar, harmonica, and vocals in different venues and at times you may see him busking downtown Asheville. Rory stepped into Ecstatic Dance in Houston, TX for the first time in 2014 and believes in the power of dance to transform and bring a healthier, happier, and connected lifestyle. It is that driving force and passion that pushes him to explore the role of being an ecstatic dance facilitator using world rhythms and different musical genres to weave mixes that incorporate many elements of Gabrielle Roth’s 5 Rhythms.

Rory found a home with AMC in 2021 knowing it was a magical place where all these elements live and thrive. He started out as a Guest DJ and adheres to AMC’s Vision, Mission and Aims by making the commitment to follow through with the pathway to become a facilitator. This was achieved on 8/21/22 and now he is on his journey to continually provide a safe and energized space for all to experience the magic of music through the full expression of movement.

Micah is an ecstatic dance DJ, DJ instructor, and real estate agent based in the Asheville area. He founded and produced Dance Church Maui for eight years and has been involved with the Asheville Movement Collective since 2018. His live DJ sets span multiple genres and follow an undulating wave structure that supports emotional and physical transformation.

Micah has attended 5Rhythms Workshops led by Doug and Lucia Horan and deeply believes in the healing and transformative power of dance. His DJ mixes and mash-ups are available at SoundCloud.com/mikayaswabb. While he is also comfortable performing traditional club and festival sets, his primary focus throughout his 20+ year DJ career has been ecstatic dance.

Holding sacred space for others is an integral part of our lives. Robert creates live-mix ecstatic dance waves by digging into an extensive catalog of music he has collected for over 25 years, ranging from angelic vocals to hard hitting bass. He cultivates the music to be a heart centered journey that can allow any emotion expression. Amanda supports in creating the container by lovingly calling in the unique invitation of the dance through her beautiful altar and words. We have been honored to raise our 3 children in this loving community. Practicing massage therapy since 2004, we own and practice at the Asheville Massage Center in the Heart House of West Asheville. We love giving and receiving massage therapy to the world and love helping our clients discover their root causes of any discomfort they may be experiencing.

We really enjoy creating containers for others to discover and express and AMC has been an amazing outlet for our artistic creativity to flourish and share with the community. We have been supportive members of AMC since 2008.

“If you just set people in motion, they’ll heal themselves.” -Gabrielle Roth

Conway remembers the moment when her first grade teacher Mrs. Dean lined up the girls, put Tchaikovsky on the record players and said “Pretend your a flower”. That ecstatic meeting of music and creativity was a life gift. Thanks Mrs. Dean!

She has been a part of AMC from its humble beginnings and thinks its the most wonderful organization and community that there dan be. The Dancer Path has given her healing, transcendence, sustenance through numerous life transitions, and deep exploration of the many realms of the self. She hopes to meet you on the dance floor!

If you want to know more about her work as a somatic psychotherapist, you can visit her website www.conwayweary.com

“The Dancer Path is to play with the world in wonder, spontaneity, passion and joy. It’s a path that helps the inside meet the outside, the body meet the spirit and the healer meet the wound.”