Elaine Colandrea
Description
Biography
Elaine Colandrea’s work lives at the intersection of movement, sound, breath, and embodied expression. A movement artist, Continuum teacher, somatic educator, and bodyworker, she has long been drawn to the transformative power of conscious movement and to the way an artful, present body can help shape a more compassionate society.
Experience & Teaching
Based in the Hudson Valley, Elaine is a frequent presenter at Omega Institute, Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing, and Shantigar Foundation. She has also served as a keynote presenter for ISMETA and at somatic dance conferences, and teaches annually in Italy. As Artistic Director of Watermark Arts, she unites her two enduring passions: somatic awareness and art.
Lineage & Influences
Elaine worked closely with Continuum founder Emilie Conrad from 1993 until Emilie’s passing in 2014. Her other influences include Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Susan Harper, Robert Ellis Dunn, Lenore Latimer, and Irene Dowd, along with extensive study of therapeutic exercise systems. Her students, clients, and personal health challenges have also contributed meaningfully to her path.
Education & Publications
Elaine earned an M.A. in dance from Columbia University in 1982 and became a certified massage therapist through the Muscular Therapy Institute in 1988. In 2022, she co-authored The Elemental Body: A Movement Guide to Kinship with Ourselves and the Natural World.
Artistic Career
As an independent choreographer, she has created several evening-length dance works and many short dance films. She has been described as an “alchemist of the human body” and a “wizard of new dance forms.”