2011 Presenters

Keep checking back as we continue to add presenters as they confirm and we finalize our list - it looks to be an especially wonderful year!

Marc Lapin (Ritual of All Beings) is an ecologist with interests in human relationships with nature, deep ecology (biocentric rather than anthropocentric world view), and connecting science and spirituality. A long-time practitioner of meditation, he has been training with Joanna Macy to bring to others the embodied wisdom of "reconnecting practices" that strengthen us as we work in the Great Turning (our present challenge to transform from the toxic industrial growth society to a life-sustaining society). He drums in Congolese and West African traditions.

Carl Bridge (Dunduns for the Fire Circle) is an artist and educator. Along with his work as a visual artist within the realms of theater and film, he is passionate in his practice of martial and rhythmic arts. Over the past 5 years Carl has delved deeper into the realm of West African percussion by studying traditional Malinke rhythms and playing for dance classes and performance troupes. He is honored to be able to bring that practice as an offering to the Spiritfire family.

Junie Moon (Chakras and Shadows) has been a practitioner of the healing arts for over  20 years. She is a licensed acupuncturist, herbalist, mask maker, interfaith minister, CHAKRAS ALIVE!  movement teacher, actress and mother. Junie is also a certified Shadow Work® facilitator and coach.  She has led many sacred circles incorporating shamanic tools such as chanting, drumming, dancing, journeying and prayer.  Finding ways to become more fully present to the blissful moment we live in is her passion and her inspiration to teach. Helping others with tools to embrace life more deeply and allowing joy in is Junie’s heartfelt desire for the classes she facilitates. 

Asherah Allen (American Guedra) is an anamist, ritualist, witch, and priestess.  She is co-founder of Ritual Arts Collective, a non-profit organization that holds a monthly drum and dance and offers grants to local artists.  Asherah has been on staff and helped to lead rituals for several festivals including Spiritfire Festival, Rites of Spring, Fire Dance, and Celebrate the Spirit.  Artistically, Asherah is happy to be a part of Sisters of the Moon-Tribal Belly Dance Troupe as well as relishing the chance to DJ whenever she can.  She enjoys her work as a licensed Massage Therapist, is a candidate for diplomacy in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, and holds a B.F.A. in acting from Boston University.  Asherah lives in W. Mass, with her fiance and daughter.

Donovan Arthen (Hand Drumming at the Fire) has been on the path of the drum and fire circle since he was born. Teaching West African rhythm professionally for the past seven years, he is a co-founder of the AzaAshe Dance and Drum company in Western Massachusetts.  Donovan graduated as a music major from Wesleyan University; his focuses include traditional folk music from around the world - West-African rhythms, South Indian voice and percussion, Taiko drumming, Eastern European vocal music, and Medieval Vocal music. He has a strong passion for ethnomusiclolgy and the connection between cultures and their traditional musics. 

Jonathan Avalon asked himself one day. ”What is the one thing that you think about more than anything else?” Clearly, it was Love and clearly Love had become the Greatest Force of all Powers. As a Lover, or one who is devoted to Love, Jonathan loves to share his relationship with Love with all who are attracted to Love’s Energy. Is there enough Love in that for you?

Johnny Scovel returns to us with years of experience in traditional Haitian and Cuban drumming. He is a seasoned teacher, lecturer, and performer. Johnny has engaged in scholastic and independent study of various African, Caribbean, and Native cultures, with a special interest in religion, drumming and dance. From 1983 to present, Johnny has been an active ceremonial drummer, playing for Haitian Vodou Ceremonies and Cuban Lucumi and Kongo ceremonies in Haiti, New York, Florida, California and his home state of New Mexico.

Penny Olson has been dancing the nuances of play for many years.  Penny holds a M.Ed. in Counseling Psychology, an "advanced degree” in Play, and is the Founder of Flexibility Strategies International.  She is a coach and educator and teaches powerful strategies for transforming stress into strength while juggling life with lightness and joy.  She has been attending SFF since it began and has used these techniques to deepen her work while she has fun at the fire.

Alisa Wright Tanny (Yogini & BodyDancer) is an Integrative Movement Therapist, Infant/Child Developmental Movement Educator and Movement Intuitive.  She holds a Masters Degree in Expressive Arts Dance Movement Therapy, is a certified Pilates Instructor, Embodyoga™ Teacher, and is certified in teaching Embodied Developmental Movement and Anatomy of Body Systems through Yoga, from the School for Body-Mind Centering®.  During the past eight years Alisa has extensively studied and assists teaching with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, founder of the School for Body-Mind Centering®, approaching the embodiment process from a dynamic cellular fluid awareness.  Alisa’s approach to supporting and listening is transmitted with a strong compassionate and loving emphasis; balancing the body’s natural expression of organic fluid rhythms, nervous system and glandular tone, and muscular skeletal structural alignment.  Alisa’s presence provides the space and safety for inquiry and exploration, transformation and integration, and joyful embodied empowerment.  Alisa has been teaching dance, movement education and rehabilitation for over 30 years.  She has a private practice in Western Massachusetts specializing in working with infants, children and women with specialized health needs. www.embodimentstudio.com