Obituary: Gabrielle Roth

Gabrielle Roth: February 4, 1941 -October 22, 2012

“Our Mama Raven’s wings have lifted her spirit from this lifetime and she is in flight to her next journey, where she will dance in our hearts forever.”

-Jonathan

Gabrielle Roth died yesterday, October 22nd, 2012.  She was the most influential teacher of meditative dance of her time.

“We are born into bodies that are fluid and free. Yet for most of us, this state of grace is sadly short lived. Judgement, emotional wounds, fear and loss become stored deep inside our muscles and bones, leaving us with shoulders that sag, hips that are locked, arms that can’t reach out, hearts that beat behind a stone wall. When we move our bodies we shake up firmly rooted systems of thought, old patterns of behavior and emotional responses that just don’t work anymore. Rhythm, breath, music and movement become tools for seeing, then freeing, the habits that hold us back. When we free the body, the heart begins to open. When the body and the heart taste freedom, the mind won’t be far behind. And when we put the psyche into motion, it will start to heal itself.“ ~Gabrielle Roth

Gabrielle Roth was a dancing meditation artisits and musician, with a special interest in shamanism and healing and awakening through dance. She created the 5Rhythms approach to dance movement in the 1960s, which has become a worldwide phenomenon.  She deeply influenced many past and current University of West Georgia Psychology students.

Roth worked at Kripalu yoga center in Massachusetts and at the Omega Institute in upstate New York.   She founded an experimental theatre company in New York.  Her legacy includes having written three books, creating over twenty albums of trance dance music with her band The Mirrors, and she has produced or been the subject of about ten videos.

Just four days before she left her body this was posted on her Facebook Page:

Hello Dancing Loved Ones,

Over the last few weeks Gabrielle has been moving into stillness. Robert and I have been deeply moved by the love and support pouring in from around the world. We appreciate each and every message and have been watching her smile when we share.

We have now entered a time when we need to focus our energy on Gabrielle. We would like to ask that you all please understand that we can no longer respond to the outpouring of beautiful words via phone and the email individually. Gabrielle has asked to take refuge in stillness and solitude, and as her family, we need to honor that. Together we are dancing thru an amazing spiritual, meditative journey, that, unfortunately, no longer includes shopping.