Erik Thurmond facilitates the mountain.

Thurmond’s unique approach to embodiment is the product of wide-ranging training and experience. A classically trained dancer, Thurmond studied ballet, contemporary dance, and African dance at The Alabama School of Fine Arts and the Alvin Ailey School in New York City. He later trained in Kung Fu and studied avante-garde performance practices and history at The New School, where he earned a BFA. Thurmond earned his MFA in visual art from Rutgers University, where his research focused on performance art and experimental pedagogies.

Thurmond’s professional experience as a movement artist and choreographer includes work with Gaga, the movement language of Ohad Naharin; Core Performance Company; and Art Movers at High Museum of Art, Atlanta. Thurmond has worked with notable artists and scholars, including Kara Walker, Andrea Miller, Sharon Hayes, Steffani Jemison, and Beth Gill.

Thurmond’s spiritual inquries are largely guided by mystics, including study and practices from Thomas Merton, Teresa of Avila, Hafez, Meister Eckhart, and Julian of Norwich.

the mountain combines these influences, generating a new practice that integrates physical and spiritual connections for individual and collective growth.