DIVINE SIBLINGHOOD

Angus Baguinho is an applied theater facilitator with a voracious passion for holistic justice. They believe that in order for change to develop and last in truly transformative ways it must be addressed from all perspectives: from the somatic, interpersonal, and spiritual to the cultural, systemic, and political. Using the specific tools of theater and dance, Angus brings people together in creative spaces for individual expression and collective action.

Angus comes from an immigrant, multicultural, and blended, beautiful mess of a family in the San Francisco Bay Area. Growing up Angus, like many, felt alienated from their immediate family. They sought comfort and belonging in their relationships outside of the home: mostly with teachers and peers who later turned out to be queer like them! These relationships shaped Angus into the self-accepting queer and trans person that they are today. Beyond that, those connections fostered a sense of queer kinship in Angus that they now carry into their professional life with intense devotion.

Angus received their bachelor’s degree in “Decolonization through Theater” from Pitzer College and is now pursuing their master’s in Drama Therapy at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. Angus will be starting their internship at the Pacific Center, an LGBTQ+ mental health clinic in Berkeley, this fall. They are beyond thrilled to be co-leading Divine Siblinghood with fellow divine siblings, space holders, and changemakers, Tosha and Abigail, with whom they have journeyed through many life-affirming rites of passages.

Angus first met Melissa Michaels EdD in 2013 as a participant in Golden Bridge’s Surfing The Creative® International Rites Of Passage Program. At that time no third group gender council existed and Angus was left with the painful binary choice of joining the men’s group or the women’s group, or worst of all sitting the whole experience out entirely and missing the magic of coming together with peers in sacred community. The year after that, with Melissa’s fervent support as an LGTBQ accomplice/ally, Angus co-facilitated the first gender council for queer and trans participants in the STC program. Since then Angus has come into apprenticeship with Melissa, studying and collaborating on her creative, movement-based approach to unwinding trauma and facilitating life-cycle initiations. With the support and inspiration of the Golden Bridge community, Angus spent the next five years teaching Spanish and theater, training fellow educators in the use of applied theater, and making much-needed interventions into hetero- and cisnormativity by providing third gender groups for rite of passage programs in K-8 schools.

So when Melissa invited Angus to co-lead Golden Bridge’s first ever queer and trans two-day workshop, Angus squealed with glee! They are so excited to welcome you into this process! Please email them at angusbaguinho@gmail.com with any questions or points of connection.

Oh, and one more message from Angus:
“Happy pride month to all you divine siblings out there!”

Tosha Jorden uses They Them Their Pronouns and identifies as a queer, Afro-Indigenous person of color, who was born in Denver, CO. Tosha Jorden was raised by two parents who were raised in Gary Indiana, who later moved to Colorado to seek a better life. Tosha Jorden has learned from a very young age how to navigate their soul between many walks of life. One walk of life being one of the most dangerous places to live in the United States, Gary Indiana, to one of that has a lot of financial stability, Boulder, CO.

Tosha Uses Music (Freestyle Rap), animation dance, and theater to portray their understandings of systemic oppression. Tosha is currently a Youth Violence and Prevention Educator and a Somatic Counselor and has an MA from Naropa University in Somatic (Dance Movement Therapy). Tosha’s intention in their journey is to remember the worlds they navigate, what their ancestors have to say, and how to empower themselves and people they engage with to be a vessel for embodied social justice and a vessel for healing.

Dance has been a healing path for a lifetime. Tosha met their mentor Melissa Michaels in 2012. Melissa Michaels has opened up the door for healing and somatic therapy for Tosha way before Tosha understood that dance/movement therapy was actually a path in the West. Melissa in many ways has supported Tosha in understanding their healing journey and life purpose. Melissa has supported them in integrating their truth, finding ground beneath them, and confidence in their own path. Melissa has given Tosha platforms to embrace their true theatrical expression, and from that, they understood and found their calling in theater as a tool for activism and change.

Abigail Rita Lubahn, MA, LPC, R-DMT, graduated from Naropa University with a Masters of Arts in Somatic Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Dance/Movement Therapy. Abigail has worked with NorthStar Transitions, an Addiction Recovery clinic offering Partial Hospitalization and Intensive Outpatient Treatment Program running group, individual, couples and family therapy. Abigail also works as a SomaSource Practitioner and independent contractor with Golden Bridge Organization since 2014 and has a private practice located in Boulder. Prior to employment with NorthStar Transitions Abigail worked as an emergency clinician in hospitals, jails, detox and crisis clinic with Boulder Mental Health Partners. She was also trained in various trauma-informed treatment modalities addressing developmental and early childhood trauma. She has worked with international populations using mindfulness-based, creative arts and movement therapies emphasizing client-centered interventions. Much of her orientation focuses on cultivating radical acceptance and compassion in the recovery and healing process from trauma, eating disorders, personality disorders and addiction. Outside of clinical settings, Abigail also works as creative support staff and professional dancer to a Brazilian dance company Samba Colorado and an assistant Capoeira instructor with United Capoeira Association. She has participated in facilitating and collaborative creative performance art programs while in the Naropa Graduate Program. She is currently developing a private practice based in Boulder and continuing to build bridges between various dance communities.