What happens when you combine a philosophy degree, a background in dance, a decade of teaching art and design, and a love of kung fu? Each of these can be seen as a separate and very different beginning, but if you take them all together, you start to see how they actually fit. We tend to make sense of the world this way, matching and contrasting what we see. So we quite literally learn that darkness is what happens when you turn off the light, and naturally process everything as separate entities that either match, or are opposites: up/down, inside/outside, quiet/loud, me/you, yin/yang, sun/moon…

Andrée has made a practice of trying to piece together these ever changing parts, always working to understand the patterns in how things are connected, looking for the places where opposites fold into each other. Finding stillness through movement is an evolving practice, drawing on traditions of mindfulness, meditation and qi gong to explore these patterns — finding flow through breath, sound and movement, and developing a practice of active listening to the movement inherent in our bodies.

Andrée has completed studies in philosophy, history, politics, gender studies, music, material art and design, ballet, Egyptian and contemporary dance, yoga, pilates, reiki, kung fu, qi gong and taiji. She currently teaches qi gong, taiji and stretch therapy at the Shaolin Temple Quanfa Institute in Toronto, where she also occasionally runs her own business — a lifestyle brand for kids and kids at heart.