November 19, 2025 • 27 mins
In this episode of Joyously Free!, host Joanie Lindenmeyer talks with Skye-Marie McDonald, founder and artistic director of Wild Rivers Dance. Skye-Marie shares her insights on the power of dance for people of all ages and abilities. The conversation highlights how adopting a confident posture and embracing movement fosters self-expression, confidence, and well-being. Skye-Marie encourages […]
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(00:10):
Hi, and welcome KCIW listeners at 100.7kciw.org,
Brookings, Oregon. And, of course, we are syndicated
down with the Humboldt County Access Humboldt Eureka
at k z z h ninety six point
seven. You are listening to me, Joni Lindenmaier,
the author of Joyously Free, which is also
(00:31):
the name of this radio show. I'm so
glad you are tuning in. I'm a thirty
four year resident of Harbor, Oregon, a retired
Del Norte High School teacher, and a twenty
twenty five Lambda nominated author who has published
three books in two years and with my
audiobook of none better.
I love life and love being the producer
and host of this show. I'm so glad
(00:53):
you are here with us today. So let's
begin with our morning salutation.
I start with it's a brand new day,
and you voluntarily
participate by saying never been lived before. Here
we go. It's a brand new day.
Never been lived before. Woo hoo. Yes. Yes.
Yes. Congrats, everybody. And it is a brand
new day. Don't have to worry about what
(01:14):
happened yesterday. Let's start brand new fresh today.
So this radio, gay d o show, as
Will and Viv named it, is a show
that talks about LGBTQ
plus stories and tips
along with religion, church, faith, spirituality,
and lots of joy. That's what it's about.
We're here to share, radiate, and spread that
abundant joy and freedom, hence the title joyously
(01:37):
free. It was also the book that I
coauthored with Elizabeth Atkins of 2sisterswriting.com.
So this radio show, just as in my
life, there's no hate speech,
no hate behaviors, and no bullying. It will
be blasted with the three c's, courage, confidence,
and collaboration.
Together, we're gonna seek understanding,
think out of the box, and be open
(01:59):
as an open parachute.
The guest we have today, Sky Marie, is
sitting right across from me. You might recognize
that name around town here, and she is
smiling and looking sharp. But just get started
with our first thing we need to do.
Let's open our hearts to prayer this morning.
We ask our creator to shine light on
our community and our world.
(02:20):
I excitedly believe and hope in the power
of the divine, and that Jesus God, whatever
name you put on a higher being, is
always with me and always with you.
It's all well with my soul, and love
is abundant and everlasting.
So let's center ourselves.
Take a big deep breath in
with the good
(02:41):
and out with doubt.
Again,
breathe in
through your nose with hope
and out from your mouth with any fears.
Last one.
Take a big, big, big, big deep breath
in with joy
and out with any worry or despair.
(03:04):
In the name of mother, earth, God, our
creator, Jesus, our redeemer, and the blowings and
winds of the Holy Spirit, we say, good
morning. Good morning, God, spirit, Jesus. Thank you
for being with us.
The quote for today, for my prayer, is
is is a quote more than a scripture.
And here's how it goes.
Fairy tales are not just for children.
(03:26):
Dreams really do come true.
Think about that one. Fairy tales are not
just for children.
Dreams really do come true.
When I read that this morning in my
prayer, I thought how often we give up
on our dreams.
We give up on hope.
We forget how what it's like to just
(03:47):
be spontaneous
and abundant and happy and joyful as toddlers
or little children.
And so we have to remember that God,
our creator,
blesses us every day with people in our
lives,
situations,
circumstances,
opportunities
that are part of helping us
to reach our dreams.
(04:09):
So with that, I'm gonna say today is
a fairy tale day with the guest speaker
I'm gonna be talking with today, and I'm
so excited about that. Dear lord, thank you
for guiding me, for giving me hope, for
giving me dreams that last.
I hope that everybody in our community will
be lifted up, that will be guided and
healed.
(04:29):
Thank you, holy one, once again, for being
with us this very beautiful day. So let's
have a happy day together right here, k
c I w and k z z h
listeners.
So across the table, I said, we have
our guest and friend,
Sky Marie McDonald.
She is the founder of artistic
(04:49):
founder and artistic director of Wild Rivers Dance
and Productions.
She's an awesome person.
Energy galore. Our topic today is dance your
heart out. Yes. Dance your heart out. So
welcome, Sky Marie.
Thank you so much, Joni. It's so great
to be here, and thank you for that
(05:09):
beautiful prayer and blessing this morning. I felt
that one. That was magnificent.
Right on. And I bet you you pray
and dance.
You know, I do. Dance is actually
my prayer language. It's funny that you would
bring that up. I do. I'll shut the
door, put on some music or sometimes not,
sometimes just dance in the silence.
And that's one of the main ways I
(05:31):
connect in really. Awesome. Mhmm. Awesome. Oh, okay.
So everybody out there listening, you can tell
we're already into it. Already, we're into it.
Of course. Deep right from the beginning there.
Right? Yep. We are dancing right from the
start. Yes, sir. So so it sounds like
you're doing great today. And have you danced
today?
Not yet.
Okay. Tell me about your daily routine and
(05:52):
how dance fits into that. Oh, goodness gracious.
You really wanna know? Yes. I do. Well,
okay. We'll just start. I I sleep on
my back. I make sure I stay on
my back all night
totally like a mummy
so that my body stays in alignment. If
I wake up on my side, I put
myself right back on my back to keep
(06:12):
my body very symmetrical.
It makes a huge
difference, and it took a lot of discipline
and training to get myself to do that.
So I wake up, hopefully, still right where
I put myself, and usually I do. And
before I ever get up, I start my
day with gratitude before I open my eyes.
I try to train myself. Don't open your
eyes until you've
(06:33):
really thought about
the things you're grateful for. And that's also
kind of a discipline, but I spend a
few minutes doing that, and I'll roll my
ankles around, and they pop and crack.
And I stretch my heels out, and I
stretch my arms up, and I spend a
good five minutes
just feeling
the oppositional direction in my body from, you
(06:54):
know, north south, and then I'll stretch my
arms out east west, and And that makes
a huge difference. If I don't roll my
ankles out, as soon as I stand up
in the morning, it will hurt.
But if I take a few minutes to
get my body kinda, you know, loosened up
before I even put feet on the floor,
may I also put my, you know, brain
and heart in the right place too, then
we have a much better day.
And, first thing, I go and let the
(07:16):
dog out and just enjoy the sunrise and
some little hummingbirds
and, again, keeping my place my mind in
a place of gratitude. And,
then, once all the kids
are off on their days,
I take care of some some business stuff,
usually some admin, some costuming.
(07:36):
I try to get my body moving while
I'm going about the business part of what
I have to do,
And I make it into the studio usually
midday,
and, hopefully, I've got some time to put
into my own body before
the kids get there.
But I, will put on some music and
just start by really making sure my body's
aligned,
pressing into the earth and lifting up to
(07:58):
the sky, and,
just feeling really rooted in the space. I
had a a teacher once who
challenged me to own the space that I
occupy.
And it took me a couple of years
to really understand what she meant.
And that meant to stand with both feet
evenly planted on the floor and stretch myself
(08:18):
up as high as I am tall. I
don't think we always stand as tall as
we really are,
and to keep my chin up high, my
shoulders back, and to try to maintain that
all day long.
So that also is a discipline, but it
changes the way that you view the world
and the way the world views you. And
that's confidence.
It builds your self esteem. It builds your
(08:40):
confidence
to be your authentic self.
I I love your morning ritual. This sounds
beautiful. This sounds beautiful. Thank you. Wow. Wow.
And and and I know that you're you're
you're not a 25 year old, but you're
close to that. And so as your as
our bodies age, that is so important that
we open our bodies up in the morning.
(09:01):
It is. And I'm I'm I'm almost double
that. Thank you.
But my next big birthday will be 50.
It's kinda crazy Oh my god. To see
how time's gone by that quickly. So I
have no intention
of hanging up my dancing shoes anytime soon.
It's really on my priority list to keep
moving and grooving as long as I can.
(09:22):
I wanna keep going into my eighties, nineties,
hundreds. I know there are dancers who,
you know, like Debbie Allen, she's been going
I don't even know how old Debbie Allen
is now. I don't need We'd have to
Google that one. Somebody out there Google it.
Martha Graham went
long late into her life. And so I
I fully intend to keep keep going. Well,
(09:42):
and and the body is reacting, but it's
the heart inside that's expressing, isn't it? Absolutely.
Yes. Absolutely. Yes. They're very intertwined. I find
that the heart feeds the body, and the
body feeds the heart. We can't really, have
one without the other. They're both very vitally
important to each other. Right. You know, and
the title of the show is joyously free,
Sky Marie. Yeah. And does that all fit
(10:03):
in with joyously free when you're Oh, absolutely.
Feet are doing their thing, your body is
gyrating or moving to the whatever music or
whatever silence?
Absolutely. I'll tell you a a sweet little
story.
A few years ago,
I was teaching a dance class of about
third and fourth graders.
And at the end of class, I like
to put on music and just let the
kids improvise movement to the music. I try
(10:24):
to pick a song that they will connect
with,
and, you know, I'll dance along with them.
And I had a new little girl that
had only been to class a few months
maybe, and she she wasn't quite into that
part of the class. She was very timid
about
coming up with her own improvised dances.
And she was watching me, and I could
feel her eyes on me as I was
dancing. And Mhmm. I stopped and kinda looked
(10:45):
over and smiled, and she said, how do
you do that? And I said, what, that
move I just did? She's like, no.
How do you do that?
I said, which one? What do you mean?
She said, how do you just be so
free?
And I said, well,
just close your eyes and move. Don't worry
about anyone else. No one else in this
room cares what you're doing. No one's watching
you. They're all doing their own thing. Just
(11:06):
listen. Just close your eyes and feel from
the inside out. It took her a little
bit, but she got it. And I think
that's one of the most beautiful things about
dancing is learning to be free. You have
to shake off a lot of
insecurities
and, you know, preconceived ideas about what a
dancer body might be. Mhmm. But, you know,
(11:27):
everybody is a dancer body. Everybody has a
dancer body. Mhmm.
Just get your body up and dance. That's
all you gotta do. That's all the prerequisite
is, you know, even if you can't use
your legs, even if you are
wheelchair bound, or maybe you don't maybe you
don't have legs, maybe you don't have all
of your limbs. Oh, good point. So dance
with what you got, even if it's just
(11:47):
hands, even if it's
just, you know, sway side to side. Any
of it counts. It's it's all legit. And
that's so cultural. That is. You know? I
I think of the different people and and
places I've lived and my wonderful Filipino friends
and my wonderful native American friends and my
wonderful,
black friends, brown friends, all the different colors
of the spectrum is what I call it.
(12:07):
You know? And they all have their cultural
dances and or moves and grooves. They do.
They do. My other degree I have
a degree in modern dance. My other degree
is in cultural anthropology for that reason, to
study the different
the ways the different culture or cultures I
can't talk here. The ways the different cultures,
approach
movement and celebration
(12:29):
and,
those kind of rights of passage that come
along with with dancing. You bet. You bet.
So you own a studio in town. You're
the cofounder of it. You're running all kinds
of things going on within your studio from
students, young people, to adults.
Talk to us where, when, your hours. Talk
to us about what's available
for the the community here in town. Awesome.
(12:51):
Yes. Wild River's Dance, I founded in 2015,
so we've been here a decade now, and
it is a wonderful, beautiful place. We have
programs for little people
from about age two and a half to
three,
all the way through senior citizens, everyone in
between.
You know, ballet, modern dance, and jazz are
(13:12):
really the foundation of our program, but we
offer a lot more than that. There's, tumbling,
gymnastics,
lots of different cultural styles come and go
throughout the seasons.
I was a competitive Irish dancer, so we
a lot of that. And especially in the
springtime around Saint Patrick's Day, our our crew
will go out and perform some Irish dancing
for the community. And,
(13:33):
yeah. So lots of different ways to get
involved. There's salsa for couples or individuals. You
don't have to come with a couple, but
as a couple, but you can.
I've got, some new ladies who are
even, older than me joining into our ballet.
We've got our women's ballet that women's ballet
is it's not women's. I shouldn't say that.
(13:53):
Men are very welcome. We just don't currently
have any men attending right now, which I
would love to have. But it's open to
all. It is. It's open to anyone.
But,
we've got some really cool people that come
to that class. That's a Tuesday night class,
and we have a live pianist. So it
it just has a very organic,
life giving feeling when you're working with a
(14:15):
live musician. Mhmm.
And it's it's really cool to see. Can
you give a shout out to the pianist?
Well, yeah. We've got a couple. We've got
Gabriel, we've got Rivers who both play for
us at different times,
and they are both fabulous
and put up with my antics.
Your joy, your energy is what you're really
(14:36):
talking about. Oh my god. And then are
you the the the are there other instructors
beside you? Yes. How about some shout out
Swiffer? We have some wonderful instructors here. We've
got,
Ren Dodd is our hip hop instructor. She
is just
talk about a joyous, bubbly person. She's
she's fantastic. She's one of my former students.
(14:57):
Really? Yes. Let's see. Yes. Yeah. Oh, how
precious. I love Ren. And we've got Kalika
Bell as our tumbling instructor. I believe you
had Kalika on the show recently. I call
her Cal. Cal. Yes. Yeah. Hi. Coach Cal.
The kids call
her.
Who else? Miss Merriweather is my oldest daughter.
She's grown up in the studio, and she's
(15:17):
taking classes
and honors her own now. But Wow. Yeah.
She's approaching twenties. So she's she's been she's
been
she's been around in the studio since she
was a little bug. Mhmm. Mhmm.
Who else do we have? We've got some
wonderful teachers down in Crescent City as well.
I opened a new location down there this
last summer.
So,
(15:38):
So you have two locations for your dance
studio. Wait. And we we need addresses. We
need where they are. Yeah. Absolutely.
We are on, 1109 Checo Avenue here in
Brookings. We're down by Wolf's Dog Bakery,
and this is actually our third real location
in Brookings.
And it's our biggest and best yet with
two big beautiful dance rooms and a beautiful
(15:59):
lobby. It's very inspiring space,
and we just we love it there. And
then our other studio in Crescent City is
on Lake Earl Drive, and it's a lovely
one room studio. It's very large down there.
So
we between the the two locations, we've we've
pretty much got these counties covered. I think
we've got some great things happening. We're, like,
good
(16:19):
offerings at both locations and wonderful students. Oh
my gosh. Can I just tell you a
minute about how great our Absolutely, please? I
love stories with people. Yes. That's what it's
about. Brag for a minute? Okay.
So our poster for The Nutcracker has not
come out yet. But when it does, I
want everyone to take note of the beautiful
dancer who is on the poster. Her name
(16:41):
is Jade, and Jade has been my right
hand girl for about
four or five years
now. She came in as
a cute little,
I don't know, 10 year old, nine year
old
with a little baggie full of wadded up
dollar bills
for her tuition that she had earned herself
from walking dogs,
(17:02):
helping neighbors, raking leaves,
with her little grubby baggie of dollars. Uh-huh.
Said, is this enough for dance class? I
said, of course. This is absolutely enough for
dance class. You know? I didn't count it,
but sure. Of course. Absolutely.
And, after a couple of months, I asked
her, I said, Jade, would you like a
(17:23):
job? So yes. I I wanna help. Yes.
So she's been my assistant ever since, and
she has learned to assist other classes. She
has grown as
a dancer and as a leader,
and she is just
stunning on stage.
So I want you to come and watch
her. She'll be Nutcracker again this year. And
(17:43):
And what's the date of Nutcracker? Oh, yeah.
The date. It's it's crazy early this year,
Jodie. Oh my goodness. It's the twenty eighth,
twenty ninth, and November 30. So the day
after Thanksgiving,
we will be on the stage.
Hopefully, all of that Thanksgiving
dinner will fit in the tutu.
I love it. I love well and I
(18:03):
think it's a perfect timing because with friends
I I call them friendsgivings as well as
Thanksgiving.
But when family and friends are together at
that time, how fun to go to an
event together, to be entertained, to laugh, to
smile, to watch. Absolutely. I hope it's a
really fun way to kick off the holidays.
Okay. Repeat the date repeat the date, times,
and location for us, please, Skye Marie. Wild
(18:25):
Rivers Coast Nutcracker will be November
at Crescent Elk Auditorium
in Crescent City. The showtimes
are Friday at 7PM,
Saturday, 2PM and 7PM, and Sunday, 2PM.
And the cost is? Cost is
(18:45):
10 to $25
depending on
stuff. Student rates, senior rates, all all the
other stuff in between there. Exactly. Okay. But
what a deal. A local Nutcracker
performance?
Awesome. It's gonna be great. And we bring
in some really beautiful guest artists in addition
to our our local students. We have about
eighty, eighty five local participants. Mhmm. In addition,
we usually bring in four,
(19:12):
dancers, and then we have a wonderful swing
dance troupe that's joining us from Arcadia as
well. Oh. Our Nutcracker is kind of different.
It's set in the nineteen fifties.
Most Nutcrackers are Victorian. Mhmm. Ours is mid
century.
And I I think that's really fun. The
Nutcracker really took off in America
mid century. So that's one of the reasons
I said it at that time because American
(19:33):
Nutcrackers,
that's where the Nutcracker ballet really got its
traction in The United States. So why don't
you talk a little bit about that? There
may be listeners out there that don't even
know what the Nutcracker is. They hear the
word Nutcracker. They don't know. Can you get
just a little Right. Story of it? It's
kinda funny. If you ask a dancer, what's
The Nutcracker about?
They'll stop and think for a few minutes.
(19:53):
What is The Nutcracker actually about? It's kind
of an ambiguous
plot that each choreographer
puts their own spin on. But in a
nutshell, The Nutcracker is the story In a
nutshell.
I love it. I love it.
In a nutshell, The Nutcracker is the story
of,
a girl, Clara.
Sometimes she's called Marie. I don't know why
(20:15):
she has two different names, but ours is
a Clara.
And she
is,
the recipient of a special gift at Christmas
time. There's a party at her house, and
her uncle, who's usually a magician or a
toymaker, he's usually sort of an an odd
peculiar personality,
comes with gifts, and the gift she receives
(20:37):
is a Nutcracker doll. So, yeah, we always
kid about why is she so excited about
this old man doll. Right? It's kind of
a weird gift, but she's utterly excited to
receive this present.
And she has a little sibling.
Often, it's Fritz.
We tend to have a Frances because we
have more girls that dance than boys. So
we have Clara and Frances
(20:58):
and the very jealous little sibling
who,
breaks the doll.
And Clara is distraught.
And, her uncle, Drosselmeyer,
he fixes the doll, but he fixes it
with a little extra Christmas magic.
And as she falls asleep,
she awakens into a very magical world Yes.
(21:20):
Where there's a big battle with, all of
the toys come to life. The the
the Christmas tree grows, and she shrinks, and
the mice are huge, and they're scary, and
the rats are battling, and the toy soldiers
are battling. And, ultimately, Clara saves the day.
She hits the, the rat king, ours is
a rat queen,
with her slipper
and kills her dead.
(21:41):
And, then the Nutcracker takes her on a
a magical journey through the world where they
get to sample all the delicacies from all
over the world. There's Spanish chocolate,
there's Chinese tea,
There's, all sorts of delectable goodies,
each one represented in a dance.
And, Clara and Nutcracker,
(22:02):
they, try all of these different delicacies, meet
a lot of interesting people along the way.
And then at the end, she wakes up
and wonders if it was all a dream.
So ours, we we put some spins on
it. Like I mentioned, it's mid century, so
there's a few surprises with that. The costuming
is different. Some of the characterization is a
little different.
(22:22):
I'm, you know, really trying to make the
story
more,
more palatable for younger generation. A lot of
times, people say, oh, the Nutcracker's old. It's
stuffy. It's boring. I can't sit that long
for that.
Ours has
enough surprises that are different
that it will keep, you know, a younger
generation that maybe doesn't have the attention span
(22:42):
for,
you know, two hours of classical ballet,
on the on the edge of their seats.
Awesome. I love to go out at intermission
and kind of hear the kids talking about,
like, those rats were really scary. That was
terrifying. I'm like, yes.
It is really scary. Not too scary for
little kids. Exciting scary.
But,
it's
it's a really fun show that I think
(23:04):
has a timeless message about,
about hope and perseverance. You'll just have to
come see it and see how that all
gets played in.
So Oh, it sounds wonderful. And I remember
as a teenager going to my first Nutcracker
and just loved it. Loved it. Loved it.
Loved it. And to have it locally here
is just phenomenal, and I love your twists
(23:24):
on it. You have a few things that
are just bringing it to light and more
engagement for all of us. Absolutely.
The professionals that come in make it really
spectacular too. The kids are great, but the,
professionals that we bring in really elevates it
to the next level and gives those kids
that have,
professional ambitions,
gives them contacts so that they they know
people in the field. They can actually,
(23:46):
you know, make those contacts,
as they grow.
Right. Right. And just just like going to
a professional
sports team sport event, you know, people want
autographs, and people wanna have photo ops with
the different people. I know even as a
a published author and a best selling author,
people are always wanting that from me. But,
you know, being around professional people, they have
an aura. You would have that aura too,
(24:08):
Skye Marie. You do. And I I I'm
just so thrilled that you're able to do
all the things you do for our community
with dance for all ages. And it still
is bringing out the heart in you because
you're timeless.
Oh, thank you, Tony. Yeah. Right back at
you, Lily. Right back at you. Thank you.
Thank you. Well, we are winding down. This
has been a phenomenal
storytelling,
(24:29):
event today listening to you. Are there any
final comments that you would like to say
on the joyously free show about
Dance Your Heart Out?
I just wanna just really drive home that
dance is for everybody.
And, you know, sometimes I speak with people
who say I used to be a dancer,
and you see such sadness in their eyes
when they say that. Don't give it up.
(24:50):
Just because your body ages, just because your
circumstances change,
it don't give it up. You can dance
in your kitchen, in your living room. You
can come to a class. You can go
hit the dance floor anywhere. You can shut
the door in the bathroom and dance by
yourself in a tiny room where no one
can see you. It doesn't matter, but keep
moving. Keep moving. There's studies that say that
that dance is one of the very best
(25:11):
things you can do for your mental health,
for your physical health. So just, you know
Keep moving. Dare to dance. Dares to dance.
There there's the model for the day, dare
to dance. Oh, that's wonderful. Oh, that's wonderful.
Alright. So everybody out there, if you're in
a position right now that you can dance,
go for it. If you're in a car
or you're moving around in a some kind
of transportation wiggle. That's why you gotta do
(25:31):
it. Don't wiggle. Just do the shoulders. Do
the hands. Do the whatever. So oh my
gosh. Oh my gosh. Perfect. A little shimmy.
Oh, a little shimmy. I love
it. Oh, and thank you, Sky Marie, for
being on the show today. It's just fabulous.
We wanna thank all the beautiful listeners, that's
you, on this gorgeous coast of Southern Oregon
and Northern California for being with us in
this joyously free manner.
We hope you've been inspired,
(25:53):
challenged, and have enjoyed the stories and tips,
hopes, love, and joys with Sky Marie today.
You know what? All we need to do
is remember to always thank people. Sky Marie
started her day with gratitude.
I am so thankful for
Tom Bozak,
Mike Gorse, Candice, and Rose. Mike is on
the soundboard today. And and the entire team
of KCIW,
(26:14):
we all lead each other for our community,
and we rely on each other. And and
now more than ever, I wanna give one
shout out. Saint Tim's is setting up their
pledge drive. And so if anybody can figure
out, hey. I wanna donate $25 a month
for a whole year or $200 a month
for a whole year. Saint Tim's is accepting
pledges, and now is the time because food,
(26:35):
in many ways, needs to be shared. Absolutely.
Saint Tim's does such great work. Yes. So
here we go. Smile big and wear bright
colors, everybody. It's your day. Dance your heart
out.
Hi, and welcome KCIW listeners at 100.7kciw.org,
Brookings, Oregon. And, of course, we are syndicated
down with the Humboldt County Access Humboldt Eureka
at k z z h ninety six point
seven. You are listening to me, Joni Lindenmaier,
the author of Joyously Free, which is also
(00:31):
the name of this radio show. I'm so
glad you are tuning in. I'm a thirty
four year resident of Harbor, Oregon, a retired
Del Norte High School teacher, and a twenty
twenty five Lambda nominated author who has published
three books in two years and with my
audiobook of none better.
I love life and love being the producer
and host of this show. I'm so glad
(00:53):
you are here with us today. So let's
begin with our morning salutation.
I start with it's a brand new day,
and you voluntarily
participate by saying never been lived before. Here
we go. It's a brand new day.
Never been lived before. Woo hoo. Yes. Yes.
Yes. Congrats, everybody. And it is a brand
new day. Don't have to worry about what
(01:14):
happened yesterday. Let's start brand new fresh today.
So this radio, gay d o show, as
Will and Viv named it, is a show
that talks about LGBTQ
plus stories and tips
along with religion, church, faith, spirituality,
and lots of joy. That's what it's about.
We're here to share, radiate, and spread that
abundant joy and freedom, hence the title joyously
(01:37):
free. It was also the book that I
coauthored with Elizabeth Atkins of 2sisterswriting.com.
So this radio show, just as in my
life, there's no hate speech,
no hate behaviors, and no bullying. It will
be blasted with the three c's, courage, confidence,
and collaboration.
Together, we're gonna seek understanding,
think out of the box, and be open
(01:59):
as an open parachute.
The guest we have today, Sky Marie, is
sitting right across from me. You might recognize
that name around town here, and she is
smiling and looking sharp. But just get started
with our first thing we need to do.
Let's open our hearts to prayer this morning.
We ask our creator to shine light on
our community and our world.
(02:20):
I excitedly believe and hope in the power
of the divine, and that Jesus God, whatever
name you put on a higher being, is
always with me and always with you.
It's all well with my soul, and love
is abundant and everlasting.
So let's center ourselves.
Take a big deep breath in
with the good
(02:41):
and out with doubt.
Again,
breathe in
through your nose with hope
and out from your mouth with any fears.
Last one.
Take a big, big, big, big deep breath
in with joy
and out with any worry or despair.
(03:04):
In the name of mother, earth, God, our
creator, Jesus, our redeemer, and the blowings and
winds of the Holy Spirit, we say, good
morning. Good morning, God, spirit, Jesus. Thank you
for being with us.
The quote for today, for my prayer, is
is is a quote more than a scripture.
And here's how it goes.
Fairy tales are not just for children.
(03:26):
Dreams really do come true.
Think about that one. Fairy tales are not
just for children.
Dreams really do come true.
When I read that this morning in my
prayer, I thought how often we give up
on our dreams.
We give up on hope.
We forget how what it's like to just
(03:47):
be spontaneous
and abundant and happy and joyful as toddlers
or little children.
And so we have to remember that God,
our creator,
blesses us every day with people in our
lives,
situations,
circumstances,
opportunities
that are part of helping us
to reach our dreams.
(04:09):
So with that, I'm gonna say today is
a fairy tale day with the guest speaker
I'm gonna be talking with today, and I'm
so excited about that. Dear lord, thank you
for guiding me, for giving me hope, for
giving me dreams that last.
I hope that everybody in our community will
be lifted up, that will be guided and
healed.
(04:29):
Thank you, holy one, once again, for being
with us this very beautiful day. So let's
have a happy day together right here, k
c I w and k z z h
listeners.
So across the table, I said, we have
our guest and friend,
Sky Marie McDonald.
She is the founder of artistic
(04:49):
founder and artistic director of Wild Rivers Dance
and Productions.
She's an awesome person.
Energy galore. Our topic today is dance your
heart out. Yes. Dance your heart out. So
welcome, Sky Marie.
Thank you so much, Joni. It's so great
to be here, and thank you for that
(05:09):
beautiful prayer and blessing this morning. I felt
that one. That was magnificent.
Right on. And I bet you you pray
and dance.
You know, I do. Dance is actually
my prayer language. It's funny that you would
bring that up. I do. I'll shut the
door, put on some music or sometimes not,
sometimes just dance in the silence.
And that's one of the main ways I
(05:31):
connect in really. Awesome. Mhmm. Awesome. Oh, okay.
So everybody out there listening, you can tell
we're already into it. Already, we're into it.
Of course. Deep right from the beginning there.
Right? Yep. We are dancing right from the
start. Yes, sir. So so it sounds like
you're doing great today. And have you danced
today?
Not yet.
Okay. Tell me about your daily routine and
(05:52):
how dance fits into that. Oh, goodness gracious.
You really wanna know? Yes. I do. Well,
okay. We'll just start. I I sleep on
my back. I make sure I stay on
my back all night
totally like a mummy
so that my body stays in alignment. If
I wake up on my side, I put
myself right back on my back to keep
(06:12):
my body very symmetrical.
It makes a huge
difference, and it took a lot of discipline
and training to get myself to do that.
So I wake up, hopefully, still right where
I put myself, and usually I do. And
before I ever get up, I start my
day with gratitude before I open my eyes.
I try to train myself. Don't open your
eyes until you've
(06:33):
really thought about
the things you're grateful for. And that's also
kind of a discipline, but I spend a
few minutes doing that, and I'll roll my
ankles around, and they pop and crack.
And I stretch my heels out, and I
stretch my arms up, and I spend a
good five minutes
just feeling
the oppositional direction in my body from, you
(06:54):
know, north south, and then I'll stretch my
arms out east west, and And that makes
a huge difference. If I don't roll my
ankles out, as soon as I stand up
in the morning, it will hurt.
But if I take a few minutes to
get my body kinda, you know, loosened up
before I even put feet on the floor,
may I also put my, you know, brain
and heart in the right place too, then
we have a much better day.
And, first thing, I go and let the
(07:16):
dog out and just enjoy the sunrise and
some little hummingbirds
and, again, keeping my place my mind in
a place of gratitude. And,
then, once all the kids
are off on their days,
I take care of some some business stuff,
usually some admin, some costuming.
(07:36):
I try to get my body moving while
I'm going about the business part of what
I have to do,
And I make it into the studio usually
midday,
and, hopefully, I've got some time to put
into my own body before
the kids get there.
But I, will put on some music and
just start by really making sure my body's
aligned,
pressing into the earth and lifting up to
(07:58):
the sky, and,
just feeling really rooted in the space. I
had a a teacher once who
challenged me to own the space that I
occupy.
And it took me a couple of years
to really understand what she meant.
And that meant to stand with both feet
evenly planted on the floor and stretch myself
(08:18):
up as high as I am tall. I
don't think we always stand as tall as
we really are,
and to keep my chin up high, my
shoulders back, and to try to maintain that
all day long.
So that also is a discipline, but it
changes the way that you view the world
and the way the world views you. And
that's confidence.
It builds your self esteem. It builds your
(08:40):
confidence
to be your authentic self.
I I love your morning ritual. This sounds
beautiful. This sounds beautiful. Thank you. Wow. Wow.
And and and I know that you're you're
you're not a 25 year old, but you're
close to that. And so as your as
our bodies age, that is so important that
we open our bodies up in the morning.
(09:01):
It is. And I'm I'm I'm almost double
that. Thank you.
But my next big birthday will be 50.
It's kinda crazy Oh my god. To see
how time's gone by that quickly. So I
have no intention
of hanging up my dancing shoes anytime soon.
It's really on my priority list to keep
moving and grooving as long as I can.
(09:22):
I wanna keep going into my eighties, nineties,
hundreds. I know there are dancers who,
you know, like Debbie Allen, she's been going
I don't even know how old Debbie Allen
is now. I don't need We'd have to
Google that one. Somebody out there Google it.
Martha Graham went
long late into her life. And so I
I fully intend to keep keep going. Well,
(09:42):
and and the body is reacting, but it's
the heart inside that's expressing, isn't it? Absolutely.
Yes. Absolutely. Yes. They're very intertwined. I find
that the heart feeds the body, and the
body feeds the heart. We can't really, have
one without the other. They're both very vitally
important to each other. Right. You know, and
the title of the show is joyously free,
Sky Marie. Yeah. And does that all fit
(10:03):
in with joyously free when you're Oh, absolutely.
Feet are doing their thing, your body is
gyrating or moving to the whatever music or
whatever silence?
Absolutely. I'll tell you a a sweet little
story.
A few years ago,
I was teaching a dance class of about
third and fourth graders.
And at the end of class, I like
to put on music and just let the
kids improvise movement to the music. I try
(10:24):
to pick a song that they will connect
with,
and, you know, I'll dance along with them.
And I had a new little girl that
had only been to class a few months
maybe, and she she wasn't quite into that
part of the class. She was very timid
about
coming up with her own improvised dances.
And she was watching me, and I could
feel her eyes on me as I was
dancing. And Mhmm. I stopped and kinda looked
(10:45):
over and smiled, and she said, how do
you do that? And I said, what, that
move I just did? She's like, no.
How do you do that?
I said, which one? What do you mean?
She said, how do you just be so
free?
And I said, well,
just close your eyes and move. Don't worry
about anyone else. No one else in this
room cares what you're doing. No one's watching
you. They're all doing their own thing. Just
(11:06):
listen. Just close your eyes and feel from
the inside out. It took her a little
bit, but she got it. And I think
that's one of the most beautiful things about
dancing is learning to be free. You have
to shake off a lot of
insecurities
and, you know, preconceived ideas about what a
dancer body might be. Mhmm. But, you know,
(11:27):
everybody is a dancer body. Everybody has a
dancer body. Mhmm.
Just get your body up and dance. That's
all you gotta do. That's all the prerequisite
is, you know, even if you can't use
your legs, even if you are
wheelchair bound, or maybe you don't maybe you
don't have legs, maybe you don't have all
of your limbs. Oh, good point. So dance
with what you got, even if it's just
(11:47):
hands, even if it's
just, you know, sway side to side. Any
of it counts. It's it's all legit. And
that's so cultural. That is. You know? I
I think of the different people and and
places I've lived and my wonderful Filipino friends
and my wonderful native American friends and my
wonderful,
black friends, brown friends, all the different colors
of the spectrum is what I call it.
(12:07):
You know? And they all have their cultural
dances and or moves and grooves. They do.
They do. My other degree I have
a degree in modern dance. My other degree
is in cultural anthropology for that reason, to
study the different
the ways the different culture or cultures I
can't talk here. The ways the different cultures,
approach
movement and celebration
(12:29):
and,
those kind of rights of passage that come
along with with dancing. You bet. You bet.
So you own a studio in town. You're
the cofounder of it. You're running all kinds
of things going on within your studio from
students, young people, to adults.
Talk to us where, when, your hours. Talk
to us about what's available
for the the community here in town. Awesome.
(12:51):
Yes. Wild River's Dance, I founded in 2015,
so we've been here a decade now, and
it is a wonderful, beautiful place. We have
programs for little people
from about age two and a half to
three,
all the way through senior citizens, everyone in
between.
You know, ballet, modern dance, and jazz are
(13:12):
really the foundation of our program, but we
offer a lot more than that. There's, tumbling,
gymnastics,
lots of different cultural styles come and go
throughout the seasons.
I was a competitive Irish dancer, so we
a lot of that. And especially in the
springtime around Saint Patrick's Day, our our crew
will go out and perform some Irish dancing
for the community. And,
(13:33):
yeah. So lots of different ways to get
involved. There's salsa for couples or individuals. You
don't have to come with a couple, but
as a couple, but you can.
I've got, some new ladies who are
even, older than me joining into our ballet.
We've got our women's ballet that women's ballet
is it's not women's. I shouldn't say that.
(13:53):
Men are very welcome. We just don't currently
have any men attending right now, which I
would love to have. But it's open to
all. It is. It's open to anyone.
But,
we've got some really cool people that come
to that class. That's a Tuesday night class,
and we have a live pianist. So it
it just has a very organic,
life giving feeling when you're working with a
(14:15):
live musician. Mhmm.
And it's it's really cool to see. Can
you give a shout out to the pianist?
Well, yeah. We've got a couple. We've got
Gabriel, we've got Rivers who both play for
us at different times,
and they are both fabulous
and put up with my antics.
Your joy, your energy is what you're really
(14:36):
talking about. Oh my god. And then are
you the the the are there other instructors
beside you? Yes. How about some shout out
Swiffer? We have some wonderful instructors here. We've
got,
Ren Dodd is our hip hop instructor. She
is just
talk about a joyous, bubbly person. She's
she's fantastic. She's one of my former students.
(14:57):
Really? Yes. Let's see. Yes. Yeah. Oh, how
precious. I love Ren. And we've got Kalika
Bell as our tumbling instructor. I believe you
had Kalika on the show recently. I call
her Cal. Cal. Yes. Yeah. Hi. Coach Cal.
The kids call
her.
Who else? Miss Merriweather is my oldest daughter.
She's grown up in the studio, and she's
(15:17):
taking classes
and honors her own now. But Wow. Yeah.
She's approaching twenties. So she's she's been she's
been
she's been around in the studio since she
was a little bug. Mhmm. Mhmm.
Who else do we have? We've got some
wonderful teachers down in Crescent City as well.
I opened a new location down there this
last summer.
So,
(15:38):
So you have two locations for your dance
studio. Wait. And we we need addresses. We
need where they are. Yeah. Absolutely.
We are on, 1109 Checo Avenue here in
Brookings. We're down by Wolf's Dog Bakery,
and this is actually our third real location
in Brookings.
And it's our biggest and best yet with
two big beautiful dance rooms and a beautiful
(15:59):
lobby. It's very inspiring space,
and we just we love it there. And
then our other studio in Crescent City is
on Lake Earl Drive, and it's a lovely
one room studio. It's very large down there.
So
we between the the two locations, we've we've
pretty much got these counties covered. I think
we've got some great things happening. We're, like,
good
(16:19):
offerings at both locations and wonderful students. Oh
my gosh. Can I just tell you a
minute about how great our Absolutely, please? I
love stories with people. Yes. That's what it's
about. Brag for a minute? Okay.
So our poster for The Nutcracker has not
come out yet. But when it does, I
want everyone to take note of the beautiful
dancer who is on the poster. Her name
(16:41):
is Jade, and Jade has been my right
hand girl for about
four or five years
now. She came in as
a cute little,
I don't know, 10 year old, nine year
old
with a little baggie full of wadded up
dollar bills
for her tuition that she had earned herself
from walking dogs,
(17:02):
helping neighbors, raking leaves,
with her little grubby baggie of dollars. Uh-huh.
Said, is this enough for dance class? I
said, of course. This is absolutely enough for
dance class. You know? I didn't count it,
but sure. Of course. Absolutely.
And, after a couple of months, I asked
her, I said, Jade, would you like a
(17:23):
job? So yes. I I wanna help. Yes.
So she's been my assistant ever since, and
she has learned to assist other classes. She
has grown as
a dancer and as a leader,
and she is just
stunning on stage.
So I want you to come and watch
her. She'll be Nutcracker again this year. And
(17:43):
And what's the date of Nutcracker? Oh, yeah.
The date. It's it's crazy early this year,
Jodie. Oh my goodness. It's the twenty eighth,
twenty ninth, and November 30. So the day
after Thanksgiving,
we will be on the stage.
Hopefully, all of that Thanksgiving
dinner will fit in the tutu.
I love it. I love well and I
(18:03):
think it's a perfect timing because with friends
I I call them friendsgivings as well as
Thanksgiving.
But when family and friends are together at
that time, how fun to go to an
event together, to be entertained, to laugh, to
smile, to watch. Absolutely. I hope it's a
really fun way to kick off the holidays.
Okay. Repeat the date repeat the date, times,
and location for us, please, Skye Marie. Wild
(18:25):
Rivers Coast Nutcracker will be November
at Crescent Elk Auditorium
in Crescent City. The showtimes
are Friday at 7PM,
Saturday, 2PM and 7PM, and Sunday, 2PM.
And the cost is? Cost is
(18:45):
10 to $25
depending on
stuff. Student rates, senior rates, all all the
other stuff in between there. Exactly. Okay. But
what a deal. A local Nutcracker
performance?
Awesome. It's gonna be great. And we bring
in some really beautiful guest artists in addition
to our our local students. We have about
eighty, eighty five local participants. Mhmm. In addition,
we usually bring in four,
(19:12):
dancers, and then we have a wonderful swing
dance troupe that's joining us from Arcadia as
well. Oh. Our Nutcracker is kind of different.
It's set in the nineteen fifties.
Most Nutcrackers are Victorian. Mhmm. Ours is mid
century.
And I I think that's really fun. The
Nutcracker really took off in America
mid century. So that's one of the reasons
I said it at that time because American
(19:33):
Nutcrackers,
that's where the Nutcracker ballet really got its
traction in The United States. So why don't
you talk a little bit about that? There
may be listeners out there that don't even
know what the Nutcracker is. They hear the
word Nutcracker. They don't know. Can you get
just a little Right. Story of it? It's
kinda funny. If you ask a dancer, what's
The Nutcracker about?
They'll stop and think for a few minutes.
(19:53):
What is The Nutcracker actually about? It's kind
of an ambiguous
plot that each choreographer
puts their own spin on. But in a
nutshell, The Nutcracker is the story In a
nutshell.
I love it. I love it.
In a nutshell, The Nutcracker is the story
of,
a girl, Clara.
Sometimes she's called Marie. I don't know why
(20:15):
she has two different names, but ours is
a Clara.
And she
is,
the recipient of a special gift at Christmas
time. There's a party at her house, and
her uncle, who's usually a magician or a
toymaker, he's usually sort of an an odd
peculiar personality,
comes with gifts, and the gift she receives
(20:37):
is a Nutcracker doll. So, yeah, we always
kid about why is she so excited about
this old man doll. Right? It's kind of
a weird gift, but she's utterly excited to
receive this present.
And she has a little sibling.
Often, it's Fritz.
We tend to have a Frances because we
have more girls that dance than boys. So
we have Clara and Frances
(20:58):
and the very jealous little sibling
who,
breaks the doll.
And Clara is distraught.
And, her uncle, Drosselmeyer,
he fixes the doll, but he fixes it
with a little extra Christmas magic.
And as she falls asleep,
she awakens into a very magical world Yes.
(21:20):
Where there's a big battle with, all of
the toys come to life. The the
the Christmas tree grows, and she shrinks, and
the mice are huge, and they're scary, and
the rats are battling, and the toy soldiers
are battling. And, ultimately, Clara saves the day.
She hits the, the rat king, ours is
a rat queen,
with her slipper
and kills her dead.
(21:41):
And, then the Nutcracker takes her on a
a magical journey through the world where they
get to sample all the delicacies from all
over the world. There's Spanish chocolate,
there's Chinese tea,
There's, all sorts of delectable goodies,
each one represented in a dance.
And, Clara and Nutcracker,
(22:02):
they, try all of these different delicacies, meet
a lot of interesting people along the way.
And then at the end, she wakes up
and wonders if it was all a dream.
So ours, we we put some spins on
it. Like I mentioned, it's mid century, so
there's a few surprises with that. The costuming
is different. Some of the characterization is a
little different.
(22:22):
I'm, you know, really trying to make the
story
more,
more palatable for younger generation. A lot of
times, people say, oh, the Nutcracker's old. It's
stuffy. It's boring. I can't sit that long
for that.
Ours has
enough surprises that are different
that it will keep, you know, a younger
generation that maybe doesn't have the attention span
(22:42):
for,
you know, two hours of classical ballet,
on the on the edge of their seats.
Awesome. I love to go out at intermission
and kind of hear the kids talking about,
like, those rats were really scary. That was
terrifying. I'm like, yes.
It is really scary. Not too scary for
little kids. Exciting scary.
But,
it's
it's a really fun show that I think
(23:04):
has a timeless message about,
about hope and perseverance. You'll just have to
come see it and see how that all
gets played in.
So Oh, it sounds wonderful. And I remember
as a teenager going to my first Nutcracker
and just loved it. Loved it. Loved it.
Loved it. And to have it locally here
is just phenomenal, and I love your twists
(23:24):
on it. You have a few things that
are just bringing it to light and more
engagement for all of us. Absolutely.
The professionals that come in make it really
spectacular too. The kids are great, but the,
professionals that we bring in really elevates it
to the next level and gives those kids
that have,
professional ambitions,
gives them contacts so that they they know
people in the field. They can actually,
(23:46):
you know, make those contacts,
as they grow.
Right. Right. And just just like going to
a professional
sports team sport event, you know, people want
autographs, and people wanna have photo ops with
the different people. I know even as a
a published author and a best selling author,
people are always wanting that from me. But,
you know, being around professional people, they have
an aura. You would have that aura too,
(24:08):
Skye Marie. You do. And I I I'm
just so thrilled that you're able to do
all the things you do for our community
with dance for all ages. And it still
is bringing out the heart in you because
you're timeless.
Oh, thank you, Tony. Yeah. Right back at
you, Lily. Right back at you. Thank you.
Thank you. Well, we are winding down. This
has been a phenomenal
storytelling,
(24:29):
event today listening to you. Are there any
final comments that you would like to say
on the joyously free show about
Dance Your Heart Out?
I just wanna just really drive home that
dance is for everybody.
And, you know, sometimes I speak with people
who say I used to be a dancer,
and you see such sadness in their eyes
when they say that. Don't give it up.
(24:50):
Just because your body ages, just because your
circumstances change,
it don't give it up. You can dance
in your kitchen, in your living room. You
can come to a class. You can go
hit the dance floor anywhere. You can shut
the door in the bathroom and dance by
yourself in a tiny room where no one
can see you. It doesn't matter, but keep
moving. Keep moving. There's studies that say that
that dance is one of the very best
(25:11):
things you can do for your mental health,
for your physical health. So just, you know
Keep moving. Dare to dance. Dares to dance.
There there's the model for the day, dare
to dance. Oh, that's wonderful. Oh, that's wonderful.
Alright. So everybody out there, if you're in
a position right now that you can dance,
go for it. If you're in a car
or you're moving around in a some kind
of transportation wiggle. That's why you gotta do
(25:31):
it. Don't wiggle. Just do the shoulders. Do
the hands. Do the whatever. So oh my
gosh. Oh my gosh. Perfect. A little shimmy.
Oh, a little shimmy. I love
it. Oh, and thank you, Sky Marie, for
being on the show today. It's just fabulous.
We wanna thank all the beautiful listeners, that's
you, on this gorgeous coast of Southern Oregon
and Northern California for being with us in
this joyously free manner.
We hope you've been inspired,
(25:53):
challenged, and have enjoyed the stories and tips,
hopes, love, and joys with Sky Marie today.
You know what? All we need to do
is remember to always thank people. Sky Marie
started her day with gratitude.
I am so thankful for
Tom Bozak,
Mike Gorse, Candice, and Rose. Mike is on
the soundboard today. And and the entire team
of KCIW,
(26:14):
we all lead each other for our community,
and we rely on each other. And and
now more than ever, I wanna give one
shout out. Saint Tim's is setting up their
pledge drive. And so if anybody can figure
out, hey. I wanna donate $25 a month
for a whole year or $200 a month
for a whole year. Saint Tim's is accepting
pledges, and now is the time because food,
(26:35):
in many ways, needs to be shared. Absolutely.
Saint Tim's does such great work. Yes. So
here we go. Smile big and wear bright
colors, everybody. It's your day. Dance your heart
out.
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