So it is that one doesn’t choose their fame … their fame chooses them.
And so it was that when the name Tristan St. Germain first reached me, it was in the aspect of the neon clad “twerk queen of the North Bay.” The twerk, for those who don’t know, is a hip-hop derived, booty-forward dance style. It’s strong and it polarizes opinion. It has been called both “the final evolution” and “the final devolution” of 20th century dance styles, and it is found everywhere in the clubs.
And if one lives in the North Bay and dials “twerk” into their Instagram discovery page, chances are they will pull up a viral video of St. Germain leading a big class of “twerkers” at some earthy rave-y music festival (try @tristan_st.germain for a shortcut).
These classes are fierce and even intimating scenes of (mostly) women backing it forward in martial line. What detractors sometimes miss is that the twerk is about liberating female power.
Given the fame attached to her name, I was surprised to enter St. Germain’s new dance studio, The House of Flow, and read the schedule of classes she had posted. “Twerk Out” was just one of 10 or 12 of the weekly classes offered by her and two other regular teachers, along with group circuit training, Vinyasa yoga, Buti Movement (high energy yoga and cardio), “Free Your Dance Style,” teacher trainings, master classes, belly dancing, MMA (mixed martial arts) and group fitness with her husband, Matt.
Taking that weekly schedule of classes as a mosaic portrait of the professional woman, “Twerk” represents only one small tile in her composite image. If there is a word to group her many styles and approach to teaching movement, it would be her own—“movement medicine.”
Cincinnatus Hibbard: Tristan, tell me about The Healing Sanctuary, the second business inside your House of Flow studio.
Tristan St. Germain: Yes. I am a trauma-informed somatic transformational life coach. And I like to give homage to my teachers. I was trained in “Compassion Inquiry” by Dr. Gabor Mate. I also studied “Internal Family Systems” under Dick Schwartz and “Holistic Health and Wellness Coaching” through The National Academy of Sports Medicine. With The Healing Sanctuary, I have come to specialize in addiction and psychedelic plant medicine preparation and integration. I do that work here and with people all over the world, remotely.
Tell me about Twerk and Twerk Outs as movement medicine and trauma-informed somatic therapy.
We tend to hold so much tension in our hips … and with that shame, oppression and sexual trauma. I try to facilitate safe spaces where you can really shake your hips open and shake that stagnant energy out. It is sensual, but it’s more than that … our hips are the center of our being.
Learn more: Go to houseofflowsr.com and on instagram @house_of_flow.sr.
