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About

 

Born into a professional acting family, Geneviève spent the first few decades of life immersed in the worlds of theatre and film (both onstage & behind-the-scenes). In her mid-twenties, however, she recognized a passionate need to tell stories with music and movement, transitioning into professional dance and choreography, as well as discovering the joys of teaching. On a whim, in 2013, she also chose to enroll in an intensive licensing program at the Ashland Institute of Massage, in order to better assist her students (and herself) with injury mitigation and pain management. This decision, however, turned out to be a life-changing exploration into the human body, modern medicine, and the lesser acknowledged correlations between psychological and emotional perception, somatic memory, pain management, storytelling, and the human need for artistic expression.

At around the same time, she was discovering the joys of Latin American partner dances—and fell passionately in love with traditional Argentine Tango. After only a year, Geneviève began DJing for Milongas and festivals across the West Coast of the US. During one such event, a good friend (who knew Geneviève’s love of traditional folk music) suggested that she might enjoy trying some dances from other countries and invited her to a Fest Noz (Breton dance & music event) and her world turned over again. By 2016, despite having her own successful, full-time private massage practice, Geneviève found she could only think about spending more and more time learning various folkloric music and dance traditions. She decided she would spend one summer attending festivals around Europe and—if it seemed promising—she would return to save up money and embark on long-term travels to learn folk music and dance traditions from around the world. Instead, she missed two flights home and never looked back.

For the next five years, she would explore 16 different countries, collecting stories, songs, and dances, wherever she went. Having simultaneously picked up the guitar, she began feverishly writing songs and was asked more and more often to perform by the communities she visited. While on the road, she began That Folking Podcast (formerly, We Who Move) to showcase the work of the incredible musicians she met on her travels—many of whom were unknown in the US—which featured for a year on Two Rivers Radio, York. In 2022, Geneviève was accepted into the prestigious Global Music Bachelors+Masters program at the world renown Sibelius Academy. She now lives and studies in Finland, with a focus on Swedish Nyckelharpa (keyed fiddle), guitar, voice, and double bass, as well as exploring active means of employing traditional music to face global issues and foster intercultural connections. She also hosts a new folktale podcast, The Loom, as well as touring globally as a professional musician, storyteller, and teacher.