What is a ritual? It is how we become aware of the experience of life. Rituals connect us directly to other living beings. Our most basic rituals are the simple and profound acts that we repeat everyday. We empty our lungs. We release our bowels. We sweat from our pores. We exfoliate our skin. We bleed. All are mundane, all are elevated moments of spirituality. Each gesture delays our decay and creates nourishment for the rhizome below. The rhizome graciously receives the offerings of our discarded particles - A never-ending conversation between our everyday small homes above and our great shared earth home beneath.
I grew up in the foothills, playing in red clay dirt full of roots and rocks and insects. Though I have lived in cities full of pavement, the way I experience the world is always through the earth. As a Cherokee, our traditional dances take place outside, on the earth. And as a professional dance artist, my site-specific work is outdoors and takes place in deep relationship with the contours of the ground. No matter where I roam, when I am able to touch the earth, I am able to access a feeling of familiarity and belonging. Not necessarily a belonging to the place as my homeland, but a belonging to our earth home, as a human. Because I no longer reside in my homelands, my first greeting to a place happens via connection with earth and dirt, somewhere that is inherently home for me as a human.
As an adult, I began to plant our traditional crops by hand. When I dug into the earth it was like diving into a coral reef: a strange, fluctuating, vibrant world. I began to think about the moving parts of the rhizome, the multitude of homes in the soil and the flowing of liquid, rock and fire. I began to think about how, when and where we as humans are interacting with the forces and processes beneath.
In February of 2023, I had a febrile seizure. During my recovery I had to use crutches. As a dancer used to moving freely, I often opted to get around via a three-legged bear crawl. This ordeal changed my vantage point and relationship to the ground.
The combined experiences of my upbringing, constant traveling, dancing on the ground, planting and crawling, have shifted my perception of home to include the ever receiving, ever giving earth/dirt/soil home that is everywhere.
ᏄᏫᏓᏱ Maura García (non-enrolled Cherokee/Mattamuskeet) is an award-winning Dancer specializing in Performance, Dance-making and Facilitation. Recognized as a 2025 Finalist for the Dance/USA Fellowships to Artists program, Maura inspires people to liberate themselves through vibrant performances that channel the sensual rhythms of the natural world. She has toured throughout the United States, Canada and Australia, sharing her dance in theaters, nightclubs, museums, Urban Indian Organizations, universities, private events, and site-specific outdoor performances. Maura's artistic vision is to heal by making more space for joy in the world.
Special thanks to Estrellex Supernova, June, the Rhizomatic Residency, and Occaneechi Saponi homelands
