A life in motion

Arts involvement keeps Linda Grinde on fast track

There's little in Linda Grinde's life that isn't based on movement.

She has spent her life satisfying her diverse interests by moving among a never-ending stream of jobs in the arts world. Her most recent is her appointment as communications director at the Hockaday Museum of Art in Kalispell.

But Grinde's 10 years as a professional dancer also have led her see the world as a series of physical actions.

"It's what ties the world together," Grinde said. "It's not just about observing, but participating."

Grinde, 57, lives out her philosophy with her involvement in the Brain Gym program and with her long history of diving into theater, music, visual arts and anything else that has interested her in the Flathead Valley.

Directing for the stage has probably been her most high-profile activity - and one of her biggest passions as well.

"I love directing," she said. "Directing feeds my soul."

She began her local arts career in 1979 when she was hired as a choreographer and performer with the Bigfork Summer Playhouse. She ended up working eight different summer seasons in Bigfork as a choreographer, director or performer.

She moved to the Flathead Valley in 1983 after earning her Master of Fine Arts in directing from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. She has since directed productions with her own (now defunct) Center Stage Players company in Bigfork and at Flathead Valley Community College. She regularly directs for the Whitefish Theatre Company; her most recent project was this spring's production of "Enchanted April."

Her approach to directing actors on stage is not unlike the way she would create a plan for dancers.

"When I direct, I direct physically, like choreography," she said. "Dance has given me an understanding of the space and the motion and the relationship of things. It's always a dance to me."

Dance is what first pulled Grinde into the arts.

After growing up in New Jersey, she majored in English and journalism at the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut. But while in school, she became hooked on dancing after taking undergraduate classes in dance; she went on to study modern dance in New York City and London.

In the next decade, she founded modern dance programs in Aspen, Colo., and Seattle and toured with New York's Raymond Johnson Dance Company and Seattle's Bill Evans Dance Company.

She gave up dance as a formal pursuit when she left Seattle for Montana, but has since filled that void with a combination of arts-related jobs and activities.

One of her first jobs in the Flathead Valley was in the position she has now at the Hockaday. Her main duties in the part-time job - providing publicity for the museum - are the same as they were 20 years ago. She has added her own touches to the position, such as creating a multimedia presentation and bringing in actors to present a look at the life of artist Walter Hook during a recent opening for an exhibition of his work.

The job has grown along with the museum, with more exhibits to tout, more members to keep informed and computers providing a means to create in-house publications, but Grinde said she still believes in the basics when getting the word out.

"If you want people to come to events, you have to call them up and invite them," Grinde said. "As much as I can, I get a phone tree started. I ask people to call their friends."

She's melding her theater background with the visual arts, teaching a theater camp on bringing art to life through the Hockaday this summer for junior high students.

"We'll do theater skills and storytelling, using statues and looking at how fine art triggers storytelling," she said.

Inspiring youth is second nature to Grinde. Her own children have followed her lead in the arts, with daughter Bente, 20, staying involved in an improvisation group at Yale University though she is majoring in environmental science. Her son Ken, a senior at Flathead High School, is a state champion in speech and debate. He has been a high-profile actor in Flathead theater's plays and musicals, and played the lead in the school's recent production, "Romeo and Juliet."

Grinde's interest in the physical is not purely centered on the arts. Brain Gym, a program of exercises and movements that enhance the development of the brain, integrates mind and body in a way that lines up well with Grinde's outlook on life.

She is a certified Brain Gym instructor, teaching classes at FVCC, to seniors or in private sessions on the simple physical activities that she says "keep the thinking, feeling and gut instincts in balance."

Brain Gym often is used for children with learning disabilities, but she has taught in-service sessions for school teachers to use in the classroom and to the elderly to keep their minds stimulated and help prevent the onset of Alzheimer's. Private sessions may be for athletes, those stuck with writer's block and those having difficulties with major life transitions.

Grinde also gives a class called Smart Moves at the Montana Athletic Club in Bigfork, using a series of simple activities "that bring you all together."

"People feel better, they're not so foggy-headed, they're calmer, more relaxed, more focused after a class," she said. "We dance, using routines based on neurophysiology, activating the brain through movement."

She will speak at the next International Brain Gym gathering in August in Ottawa, Ontario, giving a talk on the "laughter balance."

"Laughter is another important way to get rid of stress," she said.

She believes strongly that sitting children in front of computers is detrimental to their education.

"It's totally wrong for what our brain needs," she said. "You have to move to learn - you can only learn the things you do."

Grinde's personal stress relievers are all participatory. She sings in groups when she can, she paints and writes in her journal. She's learning to play the piano; someday she would like to write a book.

Even when her schedule seems insanely busy, she always has made time for the arts. She had a night job for a while that was not arts-related, and because she missed the theater, she auditioned for a part in February's Whitefish Theatre Company production of "UP - The Man in the Flying Lawn Chair."

Rehearsals ran from 5:30 to 8:15 p.m.; she then would rush to her job for a 9 p.m. to 10 a.m. shift. Sleep was a rare commodity during that time, but the sacrifice was worth it, she said.

"I had to be in the show, to keep my soul alive," she said.

Participation is everything to Grinde.

"It's not about the product, it's about doing it," she said. "What I tell my classes is 'the best exercises are the ones you do.'"

Reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4431 or by e-mail at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com.