Myra Krien
Meet amazing Myra —dancer, performer, body poet, choreographer, set and fashion designer, and granddaughter of the great Zen philosopher Alan Watts. Myra emphasizes the transformative power of dance, its ability to build community, and the need to approach it with respect, curiosity, and a willingness to transcend age and body type barriers.
In this episode, Lili sits down with Myra Krien, a Santa Fe-based performer and the founder of Pomegranate Studios, to explore the deep intersection between dance, healing, and personal agency. Myra shares her lifelong journey with oriental dance, tracing her roots from a childhood steeped in the arts and the California Renaissance Fairs to her early leadership at age 14, where she used dance as a tool for safety and credit for marginalized high school students. Throughout the conversation, she challenges Western misconceptions of belly dance, emphasizing its cultural origins as a powerful, gender-inclusive art form that fosters a profound connection to the "mythic body" and energetic self.
The dialogue moves beyond technique to discuss the challenges of maintaining an artistic path in a culture that often dictates rigid body standards and discourages pursuing the arts professionally. Myra details her mission to uplift belly dance for social change through her youth mentorship program, her collaborative theatrical productions—such as the Minoan-themed show featuring artist Michael Bergt—and her belief that embodiment is an essential counterbalance to our increasingly tech-driven world. The episode concludes with a spirited invitation for people of all ages to reclaim their bodies as instruments of joy and storytelling, reminding listeners that the physical form is both a surprise and a gift.
