The 2022 PAI leadership team is an energetic group of teachers and artistic professionals. We also really like each other and are thrilled to be coming together from our homes around the world to craft an immersive and creative experience for Performance Art Intensive participants.

Summer Hills-Bonczyk, Director

Summer (she/her) is an artist and educator. She is passionate about creating objects and immersive experiences that promote tactile value, embodied creativity and joy. Summer's artistic practice encompasses a wide range of media including ceramic sculpture, performance art, pottery, dance, writing and curation. Her artwork has been exhibited at venues locally and internationally, including the Northern Clay Center, MSP airport and a 2020 solo exhibition in Antigua, Guatemala. She holds an M.F.A. in Ceramic Art from SIU, Carbondale and is professor of Ceramic Art at Macalester College.

Summer has received an Artist Travel and Study Grant from the Jerome Foundation and an Individual Artist Initiative Grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, which is funding this project. She is a certified Kripalu Yoga teacher and JourneyDance™ facilitator and has been co-leading international yoga and meditation retreats with her yoga teacher family for 10 years.

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Forefeather, Sound Designer, Teaching Artist

Best known as a rapper, founder, and front-person in Brooklyn-based NOLA-funk/hip-hop band Big Village Little City. Forefeather (Zac Hills-Bonczyk, he/him) is a musical entertainer, presenter, event host, ecstatic dance guide, yoga teacher, yoga DJ, podcaster, and unapologetic bliss enthusiast.

The youngest in a family of four Kripalu-certified yoga teachers and a student of hip-hop since childhood, Forefeather believes the key to a fulfilling life is unrestrained immersion in the present moment, whether through music, yoga, dance, or otherwise. He has been working to bridge gaps between ancient and contemporary practices since 2011.

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Sophia Avramides, Assistant Director, Healer

Sophia (she/her) has led 200+ hours of workshops on self-study, Ayurvedic philosophy, self-care practices, and intuitive plant medicine. She has co-facilitated international retreats - offering her teachings in colorful cultural landscapes and places.

Sophia is a certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor with 5+ years of one-on-one counseling experience. She has had various subtle energy attunements and utilizes them in her healing work. She holds a degree in Health Psychology from Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences.

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Rebecca Frost, Poet in Residence

After a career as a modern dancer, Rebecca Frost, CMT, RSMT, MFA (she/her) has moved into life as a multi-disciplinary artist, writer, somatic therapist and educator. She earned a BA in Theater and an MFA in Writing and is certified in a number of modalities. Rebecca has taught Body-Mind Centering in the University of Minnesota Dance and Theater Department, Writing and Emotional Currency at The Loft Literary Center, experiential anatomy to UMN Medical students and body-sourced writing at Shakopee Women’s Prison. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Somatic Movement Education & Therapy Association (ISMETA). Rebecca helps people become the best version of themselves.

More about Rebecca and Embodied Arts

To set up an appointment through her private practice, contact Rebecca at rebeccafrost@embodiedarts.com

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