Today we’d like to introduce you to Jenna Bodensteiner.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was adopted as an infant from Colombia and raised in a predominately white community. I grew up fairly detached from my heritage, but always very loved and supported by my parents. While I was in college I became increasingly interested in dance classes, yoga classes and spirituality. To make some extra money I ended up getting certified as a fitness instructor in a practice that blended yoga, dance and loud, high energy music. From there I was hooked. Addicted to the high I got from facilitating group fitness and the energy cultivated when a group of people are motivated by nothing other than the beat! I began teaching in a night club with access to club quality sound and blacklight effects. It was a party! All of this lit up something buried deep in my soul. A very primitive part of me began to stir. Eventually in my classes my playlists started to gravitate towards predominantly world beats including lots of drumming and lyrical themes relating to Earth and the elements. I was beginning to awaken and I started to remember parts of me I had no idea I had forgotten. The indigenous blood in my veins became alive!
After about 5 years of teaching this particular fitness practice I decided to create something of my own. A movement practice that included the specific aspects & modalities that once assisted me in remembering who TF I am. I created Rhythm & Rootz, a ceremonial dance practice that focused less on fitness and more on remembering and building connection, connection to ourselves, the Earth and each other. I am a Colombian indigenous woman and that part of me had laid dormant for far too long. Once I started to push Rhythm & Rootz out to the community the opportunities started to flow in my direction. I started to find a community of people who felt the same way I did about Earth and sustainability. People began to see me as a leader and an innovator. My professional career in education started to flourish. I started to do more research into my indigenous heritage and the ways of my people. I started experimenting with herbalism and living a more conscious and sustainable lifestyle. I started to see myself reflected in the plants and the animals. I began to understand and notice symbolisms found all around me. I started to slow down and pay attention. I started to understand what it meant to be. I began to pray to the creator and honor my ancestors. I could physically feel myself becoming deeply aware of who I am and how much wisdom was held in my DNA. I felt at home in my body and soul. I had arrived and my ancestors were there to greet me, finally breathing a sigh of relief, I heard them say, “We have been waiting for you.”
I no longer feel the disconnection between my identity and my heritage. I am who I am because I was shaped by my lived experience and am thriving because of who I was born to be. I then found my biological family. I was given the opportunity to meet my biological mother and sisters in Colombia. I felt the love I knew in my heart that had been guiding me my entire life. All was and is well in my soul.
Rhythm & Rootz was created to assist everyone no matter age, ability or ancestry in remembering who TF they are. Through world beats, accessible dance (dance that is not focused on synchronized steps), and moving with intention much like our ancestors did in their ceremonies and rituals, we can all begin to revive our relationship to earth and each other. We are all indigenous to this Earth. We all have ancestors that at one time or another lived in balance and harmony with nature and if we want to build a thriving and sustainable future we have to remember. The way forward is deeply connected to the past. Dance and music have the ability to connect the past to the future. Dance and music have a way of building bridges between communities, cultures and conflicts. Music and dance is the universal language.
Today I am a ceremonial dance facilitator with Rhythm & Rootz as well as a practitioner in the healing arts where I use a variety of sensory experience along with Earth/indigenous medicines and rituals. In ceremony I go by Luna Jenna, a name derived from Spanish & English that creatively translates to full moon “luna llena.” I am guided by community leaders, the Earth, Spirit, my intuition and my ancestors. I believe indigenous women will lead the way in restoring the balance between humans and nature and my role is to do this through music and dance, through the Rhtyhm & the Rootz. We are all connected.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There are 2 main identifiable struggles:
One, and probably the biggest one is after 30ish years of feeling and identifying myself as not Colombian “enough” to then fiercely identifying as an indigenous Colombian. I felt like I had to provide proof to myself and to others. I felt particularly insecure around other Central and South American people who are not estranged from their community and culture. Throughout my life I had been somewhat bullied by other Latinos for not being Colombian “enough.” So when I began to grow, learn and evolve I had to decide if I was going to let that hold me down?Ultimately the answer is no, however it is an ongoing internal challenge. I am who I am, and here in the U.S. we are all living in a deeply isolated society and deeply disconnected from what is important regardless of heritage, so there is that… So I just keep doing the work and those who are ready can join me and those who are still using language to harm are only doing so because something within them is not yet a peace.
The second challenge is getting people to DANCE. Again here in the Midwest and in this society we do NOT dance enough. People are even intimidated by the word dance and the word rhythm. People feel like it is something you either have or you don’t. The challenge is getting people to move and to fearlessly embrace the beat. We have been conditioned to view rhythm and dance as a skill and not just something we all have the ability to enjoy!! People are afraid of Rhythm & Rootz, it is hard to describe to people what it is exactly. It is not a dance class but a dance experience. It is not ecstatic dance because we are encouraged to move together (not synchronized) but on the same frequency, if that makes sense? The thing is, it’s an experience and there are really no words that I have found to describe it accurately, I am convinced it is something you can only feel not describe. Not everything needs words, so in a society where people talk too much and don’t dance enough, this has become a struggle lol.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I think what sets me apart from other movement practices is the ceremonial aspect I integrate into Rhythm & Rootz. It is a ritual, it is a prayer. In Rhythm & Rootz we set an intention…What are we dancing for? We dance holding tight to that intention knowing that with every ounce of effort poured into the dance also translates off the dance floor and has the ability to impact that which we desire, like a prayer. When we are dancing in ceremony, we are connecting to the same energy as our ancestors. The same energy used world wide on all continents for thousands of years, when villages danced for rain, danced to celebrate, or danced in grief, we are tapping into that sacred energy and that becomes powerful. I never lose sight of that and make sure to always include the Earth and our ancestors in every experience.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I am a bridge. By nature I am indigenous with the many gifts my ancestors have blessed me with. but because of nurture and my supportive upbringing I had the confidence to follow my passions and connect to my purpose. Because of my unique experience as an adoptee estranged from my culture and then reconnecting to it, I am able to create an inclusive environment that supports and welcomes everyone in reviving the essential need for us all to connect to Earth and each other. I know the only way to create a better future is to impact people at their core, there isn’t a top down policy that will work as efficiently as someone motivated from within.
Pricing:
- $125-75 for private 60-90 minute ceremonial dance experience/ritual
- $25+ for 30min limpia/cleanse (depending on location)
- Flexible pricing for non-profit /community events
- Trade/barter welcome
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lunajennakc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jenna.bodensteiner
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/user/12151115267?si=a62fc66d567f4b64
