CURRENT FEATURED ARTISTS
Travis Jacobs partners with various Veterans organizations offering writing classes to Veterans and their spouses to help unfold healing, expression, connection, and transformation through the art of putting pen to paper.
He is part of two prison poetry groups one at the South Dakota State Penitentiary and the other at the Jameson Annex Penitentiary.
Along with his sister Tessa, he co-founded TnT Healing, a nonprofit that offers free writing experiences to adults and children who have experienced trauma.
Travis is the author of 3 books, Wolves & Words: A Rhythmic Walk in the Woods, Winged Words: A Rhythmic Walk in the Wind, Rhythm Wisdom: The Endangered Humans Traveling Guide, and one spoken word album entitled Cage-Free Poetry.
Traveling all over the United States using his unique rhythmic storytelling to help hustle hope, healing, humor, and a hi-five to the human experience. Performing his original poetry for all sorts of audiences in castle towers in Texas to ranches in Colorado, in prisons, schools, churches, recovery centers, and businesses looking to give their employees an uplifting boost of energy.
In 2019 Travis won both the Siouxland Libraries Poetry Slam and the Full Circle Book Co-op Poetry Slam.
Travis Jacobs
Dad, dog lover, author, storyteller, radio host, word wrestler, and part-time ninja
Check out our TWO collaborations:
A Beautiful Poem by Travis
https://youtu.be/O4x3-9k3U0Q
RIE TANAKA
Concert Pianist
Registered Yoga Instructor
D.M.A. (Doctor of Musical Arts) - University of Minnesota
RYT 200 (Registered Yoga Teacher) - Yogi Hari’s Ashram
Rie Radha Tanaka is a Yoga practitioner, Concert Pianist, and music teacher. She completed her 200 hours of Yoga Teacher Training in Florida in 2020, studying under Shri Yogi Hari, an internationally recognized Yogi from the Shivananda lineage. He accepted her as one of his disciples, and named her Radha (the fortunate). She has learned, practiced, and is certified to teach Sampoorna Yoga - Yoga of Fullness, which combines 6 paths of Yoga; Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Gyan Yoga, and Nada Yoga.
Rie started to practice Yoga when she injured both wrists from playing the Piano in 2012 which prohibited her from playing the Piano for over seven months. She recovered from injuries through physical therapy and Yoga practice, and she has been passionate about bringing wellness and peace to others.
She has been teaching Yoga for the past 4 years. She has created her original program “Wellness for Musicians,” designed to help musicians to prevent performance injuries through lectures and daily Yoga sessions. Developed by her doctoral research and her own recovery from injury, she taught at various music camps and festivals, including Minnesota International Piano Camp, Saint Paul Chamber Music Institute, and Green Lake Chamber Music Camp. Her comprehensive approach to raise awareness, develop strength and flexibility, and regain a healthy body and mind has impacted many lives.
Rie’s mission is to aid the weak link between the vast majority of music students to the wealth of methods and information about injury prevention. To build a culture of healthy musicians, she believes that it is essential to educate teachers. In her doctoral thesis, “Wellness for Musicians; Blueprint to Your Very Own Injury Prevention Course,” she introduces applicable Yogic activities that an individual teacher can implement into their own teaching. She has been featured as a guest lecturer at Universities and Music Teachers Associations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington, and South Dakota.
Rie lives among the artistic community at the Schmidt Artist Lofts in Saint Paul with her husband Jesse and cat Munchie. She offers free Yoga classes to her community every Tuesday morning. She currently teaches Piano at the Saint Paul Conservatory of Music and Mount Olivet School of Music.
Check out our "Yoga Flow with the Music":
Other Side of a Wednesday
https://youtu.be/PrJ8YmMSUJc
Madeleine Scott, originally from Beresford, South Dakota, is the founder and artistic director of South Dakota Ballet. She began ballet at Dance Gallery of South Dakota. At age 13 she moved to Philadelphia, PA to train at the Rock School for Dance Education. Madeleine competed in Youth America Grand Prix (the world's largest scholarship ballet competition) where she was invited to compete in New York City Finals each time she has competed. Madeleine's professional dance training also includes the School of American Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Chautauqua Dance Festival, Ballet West Academy Trainee Program, Ellison Ballet, Jose Carreno Dance Festival, Cecchetti Council of America Summer School, and many more. Madeleine trained privately in New York City with Elena Kunikova throughout her career.
She is a profoundly driven young woman with a vision to bring ballet to all 50 states. Madeleine began planning for South Dakota Ballet amidst her senior year at the University of Utah where she earned her degree in ballet. She also studied nonprofits and community engagement. She has gained unique insight while performing professionally with companies such as Ballet West, Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, L.E.D. Boise ("Dance Magazine" 2019 Top 25 To Watch) and Sacramento Ballet.
She looks forward to sharing ballet and it's culture with the residents of South Dakota. While she may be starting from scratch, Madeleine sees this as an advantage. She sees South Dakota Ballet as a clean slate with the opportunity to implement the best ingredients of traditional ballet culture through a modern lens. Madeleine strives to design a company that will become an example to others across the country, leading the future of ballet to a more inclusive culture and broadened vision for sustainable community impact.
