Alison Fortes
Auckland, Aotearoa (New Zealand)
Alison offers classes monthly in Auckland, she welcomes opportunities to teach in other locations and to collaborate. You can find her classes and workshops on:
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/wildpeoplenz/, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/wildpeoplenz/
For Auckland classes check out: https://www.facebook.com/qoyaauckland/
For classes in Aotearoa and Australia join the group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1488986997779860/
Alison is Qoya teacher and life dancer. Full time working mother of two, and change-maker. She continues to study various alternative healing modalities and offers these as part of her healers kete (basket). She is an earth lover and can be found in the bush and sea. Dancing is her joy, as is the ability to effect change through the body where energy moves.
When did you take your first Qoya class? I took my first Qoya class in 2015 (I think). In truth, I did not record the actual date; rather I distinctly remember seeing various spirit animals enter the room with a bunch of women I'd never met before who were 'real,' and I thought, “Ok this is a thing. These chicks are cool!”
What does it mean for you to teach Qoya? I know that to offer Qoya is an act of service for the divine and the Goddess. I am very grateful to be able to create from the heart, to make sacred spaces for spirit to land, and to share this. I love the sovereignty it offers, the ability to come home and let things fall away through movement, dance, and ritual. Qoya is my favourite creative process - music, sound, breathe, yoga. I feel like I can get out of the way, open to the guidance the pours down, and hold space.
What is your favorite song to dance to right now? Right now "Legacy of Light" by Fia; the lyrics feel like a chapter in my book. I also love Kiwi music "Find You" by Stan Walker and Maisey Rika is a beautiful song for the tenderness we find on the inside that can express as movement.
What book has inspired you on the path to embodying the feminine? Reading "The Lineage of the Codes of Light" by Jessie Ayani was an activation when I remember the divine feminine truth in my cells. This propelled me forward to act and changed my life. When I found Qoya, it was no coincidence that both were birthed in Peru, eternally grateful for both in my life.
What would you tell someone who is thinking of taking a Qoya class for the first time? Come! Simply show-up for you. Qoya is fun because we dance, take a risk, and a leap of faith. Qoya is a spiritual practice where magic enters the life, community is formed, sisterhood gathers, we find truth and healing for a life that is embodied.