LJ Leach Movement Arts

2014 Press Kit

About LJ Leach Movement Arts

The Company LJ Leach Movement Arts (LJMA) is a New York based dance company founded in 2011. Work has been presented through out New York and New Jersey including Dance New Amsterdam, Chez Bushwick, Center For Performance Research, CoolNY2013, Fab!Festival, Lungs Arts Festival in the Gardens, WOW Café Theater, and at the Shukra Arts Center. In 2013 LJMA was in residence at Chez Bushwick, and is fiscally sponsored through New York Live Arts.

photo credit: Yi-Chun Wu Photography

“The dances that I make are collaborative and have a foundation in improvisation. I am interested in exploring new ways of being, and the layers of what lie beneath. The process is important to me- being liberated in investigating the seen and unseen. When bodies are in motion the mystery of existence becomes clearer, and I want to share the energy, magic, and sweetness.” -LJ Leach

Repertory Embody Peace Project Rehearsal photo by LJ Leach

She showed us photos, and told us about in the end how he had Alzheimer’s, and his only vivid memories were as a soldier in WWII. This was the first time that I had seen her in 10 years. My step grandmother was sharp as ever and wanted to share with us the life of her husband who passed away two years earlier. Her words wrapped around my soul, and I knew that this is part of why I am here. She looked me in the eye and said that we have to end war. Shortly after this I started the Embody Peace Project. I am interested in peace building and conflict transformation, and how movement and body awareness are an essential component.

• April 2014: WOW Cafe Theater • September 2014: Dance & Camp Residency

Travelled by a vessel due east or west Photo credit: Yi-Chun Wu Photography

Freedom. Imagination. Images. Dreams penetrate pores and saturate us. We all have the same capacity, and every thought can either be vomit or babies breath. Mothers bare children and the generations continue to live and die. We exist together in a state that is united- a meditation on what it means to be alive and have consciousness.

• January 2013: CoolNY2013 • June 2013: Chez Bushwick Open Studios • Chez Bushwick Resident Artist • September 2013: FAB Festival, Lung arts in the gardens, Center

for Performance Research

To make sounds like birds do as a bullet or the wind Photo credit: Yi-Chun Wu Photography

I follow the longing of the spiral swooping upward and ask and listen with skin and insides. I see radiant colors, flowers, friends, and my mom. Yet, another bomb falls and another whistleblower is locked away.

• October 2011: Works In Progress at Dance New Amsterdam • November 2011: Sukha Arts Center • May 2012: Dance for DNA Day • January 2013: CoolNY2013

Artistic Director            

LJ Leach, founder of LJMA is dedicated to the rigorous investigation of the seen and unseen- the internal and external worlds that influence our thoughts and behavior. She is a graduate of Western Washington University with a BA in perofrmance and choreography. LJ has been in projects by Kaia Gilje, Laura Aschoff, No Collective, Movement of the People, Emily Smith, Alexandra Beller, Julie Edwards, Elizabeth Corbett, Amanda Miller, Amanda

Adamczyk, Isabel Lewis, and was part of Eva Kotátková’s sculpture installation at the Frieze Art Fair. Moreover, she is the administrative coordinator for Moving For Life dance exercise for cancer recovery. She is studying Dynamic Embodiment ™ Somatic Movement Therapy and BodyMind Dancing ™ under the mentorship of Dr. Martha Eddy.  

LJ Leach (347)304-4441

gathering.sticks@gmail.com