I love Cara's energy and clear view of love - no matter how confusing it may seem." --Mario Torero, San Diego painter & muralist
"Cara did so many amazing things at the Prosperity Hive. The HoneyFestival was the best party I have ever attended - there was just something so absolutely alive and luscious about the energy of all of us dancing, and it wasn't only because of Todo Mundo, it was also because of Cara's spirit and the whole community that she created there. So, whatever she does next, I'd love to hear what that is - please put me on your mailing list or friend list." Claire McCready
Seed Tosser, Weed Puller, Plant Planter
"Whether it has been experiencing mind-fullness in Deer Park, dancing in circle with sacred souls, or breaking bread and building, Cara has been an embodiment of the change we all seek. She has also helped me realize this within myself as well as lent a loving and guiding hand along the way."
--Marlon J. Frausto
"The energy Cara gives to her body language/dance/poetry is most fun.
It is good modeling for the young poets to see how Cara doesn't just read,
"The Prosperity Hive had Cara's spirit...full of energy, joy, and fluidity!"
--Marlon J. Frausto
"The energy Cara gives to her body language/dance/poetry is most fun.
It is good modeling for the young poets to see how Cara doesn't just read,
she performs, infusing weight in each word." --Jim Moreno, poet
"I love what Cara does. Her writing is inspirational. She has a natural magneticism that easily comes across. " -- Ayesha Aranha"The Prosperity Hive had Cara's spirit...full of energy, joy, and fluidity!"
--Deb Ignacio
"In only a few meetings, Cara's class has transformed how I experience the world around me for the better. It's a unique opportunity to do something amazing for yourself. --Sasha Peter Carter, re. Cara's "Primal Fluidity" Dance Class
--Devi Kirn Being, holder of sacred space
"I really love Cara: she has such amazing presence and energy." --Andrew Hahn, aka Kirtan Rabbi
“One of Cara’s strengths is her emergence as a poet with open heart, curious, loved, loving, full of gratitude and modest with a genuine appreciation for being alive, for still standing and having survived. This is the place where true poetry comes from and it is apparent that Cara is realizing this, she has found it, and is experiencing how to live it.”
“This process of poetry – of becoming poetry embodied – is also a process of sculpture, of becoming sculpture embodied. And it is the process of dance, of becoming spirit in motion with heart, soul and intelligence all embodied. This is a process I see Cara beginning to manifest and embody.”
--Laiwan, Interdisciplinary Artist and Writer, Vancouver
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| "Making Contact,"
Eveoke Dance Studio, 2008
Cara served as the Artistic Director of San Diego DanceJam and taught
Contact Improvisation, Modern and Post-Modern Dance, and Ensemble
Thinking within this community.
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“Cara is a dancer and photographer but, at the end of the day, it is poetry that ties her work together.
Cara is a poet who dances, who takes pictures, who lives each day and who is engaged in the process of becoming sculpture embodied.”
“Cara’s storytelling is vibrant and moving; her stories are strong and poignant.”
--Susan Green, San Francisco Artist, Activist and Educator
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| "Rooftop Reflections," San Diego Yoga Loft, 2010
Cara facilitates and leads movement-based, mixed-media workshops.
This photo was captured during the "Ritual and the Pursuit of Meaning,"
spring 2010 weekend workshop series.
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"Cara is a beautiful facilitator of freedom and connection. She flows with grace, warmth and openness. Her medicine bag is broad with different ways to explore experience and get to the heart of the matter. Offering movement, sound, touch, paint, words, trust, community and much more, she guides us on this fantastic journey to Self and Expression."
--Aravel Forbes, Ritual and the Pursuit of Meaning Workshop participant
(All photographs on this page by CHC Designs, aka Cara)
Thank You's & Links to Others:
Kevin McIlwaine at Stone's Throw Photography for time spent together on the land. Kevin has been Cara's main photographer since 2009.
Mario Almanza, also for improvisational play spent on the land & for demonstrating how to bee a warrior once more.
Cara's friends at Cathedral Arms Senior Residential Living Facility in Hillcrest for time spent together taking our M.E.D.s - movement, exercise and dance.
The many San Diego communities that have been elemental to Cara's growth for allowing her to learn and document our process together over the course of the past decade.
The sacred spaces that offer us the time and place to share - each other, life and this journey.
More links to Cara's work:
On Connection Therapy and Celebrating True Abundance
On the Root of Contact Dance Improvisation
Organic Farmers as Everyday Heroes
On Sustainability and Honoring that What We Have Now is Just Enough
Cara's photography on display
Cara on the News
More of Cara's Photography
