Erica Kaufman, MFA, E-RYT

Erica has been a mover and investigator of physical forms since she was birthed into this life. She is a dancer, choreographer, yogini, and a Contact Improviser.

As the founder of Lîla Yoga™, Erica is a Registered Yoga Teacher at the E-Advanced Level—the highest level of registry the Yoga Alliance offers. She has been practicing yoga since 1975 and teaching yoga since 1984. Erica is recognized for inspiring students through somatic integration and powerful imagery. Yoga Journal noted Erica’s Lîla Yoga classes with its signature Karma Credit. Her teachings encourage yoga students to new depths of concentration, clarity, and spiritual sensitivity.

Erica began engaging in Contact Improvisation in the mid 1980’s while completing her Master of Fine Arts in Dance, Choreography & Movement Studies. Contact Improvisation became the central source of her dancing with rich and marvelous dances informing her into deeper and wilder discoveries. Erica has been performing and teaching CI since 1989.

In 2008 Erica coordinated CI36 — the international, once a decade, celebration commemorating the inception of Contact Improvisation.  The CI36 organizing hub of contact dancers, included Erica and Ray Chung, Alicia Grayson, Martin Keogh, Scott Rodwin, Gretchen Spiro, and Nancy Stark Smith. Together they worked with a team of 32 international dancers to envision, create, and manifest CI36 which included one central event at Juniata College with 300+ participants and more then a hundred related CI36 Satellite Events around the world.

As a performer and teacher, Erica has toured the USA, Europe, and Israel teaching seminars on Creativity, Improvisation, Movement & Reconciliation, Dance, Contact Improvisation and Yoga. Erica has been on faculty at the Conservatory at Point Park College, the Carnegie Institute, Pennsylvania State University, University of Denver, University of Marburg in Germany (visiting artist Fall ‘05), Bewegungs-art in Freibrug, Germany as well as CI Festivals including, Freiburg, Israel, and CI36.  Erica is a member of The Gravity Project, and teaches at JuniataCollege in Pennsylvania and is on faculty at Shambhala Mountain Center in the Colorado Rockies.