Tribute to Zoe

A Life Too Short, but Always Full

~ from Melissa

Zoe Bowick Levine - Kinesis Project founding company member, dear friend and Board Member - passed away on Thursday, Sept 10 at 7:45am Mountain time.

Many of you who have been with us for the years of Kinesis Project's growth, know Zoe as a joyful, floating, precise dancer - a sparkling performer, a cheerleader of the company, a dear friend and since 2018, a Kinesis Board Member.

From early in her career, Zoe was known throughout Brooklyn as a leader in fitness, wellness, movement and care. She was dedicated to keeping bodies out of pain, getting individuals moving and healthy - particularly new mamas. She did this in Brooklyn for 14 years, then Denver and beyond - creating followings and communities via ThrivingBody, Strong as a Mother, and Rise Collective.

Even through her own cancer diagnosis and treatments, Zoe led hundreds of people to a better understanding of their own bodies - into an appreciation of movement - and in many cases, how to find expression and freedom through dance. 

Zoe is a connector, a gather-er of people, a healer and always a dancer. 

I met Zoe in 2002 when she auditioned for Murray Spalding Mandalas in NYC. We danced together in that company while I was also at the very beginning of founding Kinesis Project. In 2003, I asked Zoe and dancers Jared Cardon and Gina Bashour to step into creating a piece with sculptures by my friend Ruth Borgenicht. We accomplished that work, premiering it at both University Settlement and in a forest sculpture park. This began the shift to move Kinesis from a pick-up company into an ensemble of artists working together regularly with laughter and craft.

Zoe would tell me that when she was in college imagining her dance career, she knew she wanted to be at the beginning of something, to help build a dance company –  we were lucky enough to find one another at exactly the right moment. Zoe called me once after returning to NYC from a trip: “I was flying over New York City thinking ‘I love this place, and it’s even better because you are making dances here, Melissa Riker!’”  

How could I ever stop making those dances? 

Zoe’s belief in what Kinesis was becoming and building - from our dances, to our mission - was unflappable. She wrote about Search(Light) in the DanceEnthusiast because she was so affected by the work. She always pushed our fundraising with playfulness and competition and she was both reasonable and ambitious in how she saw our mission moving into the future. 

She leaves behind a legacy of movement, sparkle, determination, authenticity, persistence, patience, grace, diplomacy and wisdom - and Kinesis Project is a small piece of her far-reaching effect on so many people across the country.

Zoe’s family, their long-term support and friendship, is intertwined and embedded in Kinesis Project. We will all keep her undimmable light present and moving into the future with us. 

More Details

Burial services were held Friday, 9/11/2026 at Evergreen Memorial Park, Colorado.

Zoe (46) is survived by her husband, Ben, their two children Leo and Clara, her parents Chris and Maureen Bowick, her brother David, her sister-in-law Mia and their two daughters - as well as many family members and a veritable village of loving friends in Denver, Brooklyn and beyond. 

In lieu of flowers, please make a charitable donation in her name to one of the charities requested by her family below:

Camp Wildcat www.campwildcat.org/

Kinesis Project dance theatre www.kinesisproject.com/support

True Companions truecompanions.org/