Maurya Kerr: On Diversifying GYROTONIC® Studios & Amplifying Black Voices

I first met Maurya during my training days at LINES Ballet summer intensives back in 2001. She then became one of the main teachers at the LINES BFA program for Ballet and the GYROTONIC® Method, where I was also a student.

During the pandemic, lockdown, and the Black Lives Matter’s uprising (all of which is still going on), I was able to take some time to reflect on my own background, dance training, and what it means to be Black in the Dance and GYROTONIC® Community and if it did, in fact, mean anything…but of course it does.

This led me to the question: Where are all the Black Gyrotonic Trainers? and How can I highlight them more? I immediately turned to Maurya and a few other trainers I knew personally for support on the matter.

Maurya lets us in to what she’s been working on artistically and politically, the change and lack of change she’s seen within the Dance and Gyrotonic communities, and how we all need to help amplify Black voices.

This is her (and our) story.

Follow Maurya’s Work

@tinypistol

BLACKSTAR – Dance Film

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Take Maurya’s Class

San Francisco, CA

Open GYROTONIC®-Based Classes

Every Saturday, 11am-12pm (PST)
Classes are sliding scale, $7 – 20,
free for Black, Indigenous & People of Color
who need the financial assistance.

Message Maurya directly, @tinypistol on Instagram

Photos by Kimara Alan Dixon