Improvisation Lab: Making Space for…
Facilitated By: Taina Lyons and Moti Zemelman
October 3-6, 2024
Making Space for… Movement…Listening…Each other…Ourselves…Ancestors… Ritual…Magic…Nature…Silence…Sound…Presence…Connection…
Join us for a weekend of emergent group movement scores, Contact Improvisation, ritual practice and site specific dances with nature.
We’ll provide the scores, structures, guidelines & instruction. WildHeart will provide the gorgeous new studio, the lush natural setting, and delicious meals. You’ll bring the motion, emotion, histories, magic and your inquiries into life and dance.
Movement Scores? In order to make space for the creative magic of improvisation, constraints are needed—structures that support the space.
Contact Improvisation? Contact is our primary movement language. We’ll offer practices that expand your vocabulary and skills.
Ritual? Every improvisation is a ritual and every ritual is an improvisation. Ritual brings intentionality, purpose and mindfulness to our practice and invites connection with the unknown.
Site Specific Dance? We’ll explore the relationship between our bodies and the natural world through immersive practices that connect us to the earth and other-than-human dance partners.
Sample Schedule:
Thursday:
2-3pm: Arrival
3-4pm: Orientation + Tour
5:30-7pm: Dinner
7:30-10pm: Opening Circle/Evening Jam
Friday & Saturday:
8-9am: Breakfast
9:30-12: Morning session
12-1pm: Lunch
1-2pm: Break
2-5pm: Afternoon Session
5-6:30: Dinner
7-10pm: Evening session/Jam
Sunday:
8-9am: Breakfast
9:30-12: Morning session/Closing circle
12-1pm: Lunch
Departures between 2-4pm after lunch clean
Who is this Retreat for?
All bodies interested in immersive, creative movement spaces. We intend to create a safe and welcoming space LGBTQIA dancers and their allies.
“Taina is a thoughtful and skilled teacher who inspires participants/students. She is adept at maintaining a container for people to thrive in and is intuitive in “reading the room” as well as paying close attention to individuals.” -AH (Massachusetts, USA)
“I love Taina’s approach to Contact Improv. Her classes explore CI not only as a dance of connecting bodies, but as an inquiry into being human. Taina holds space that feels safe and open, playful and meaningful, while offering skills that build our inner and outer movement vocabulary for both the dance floor and for life.” – RF (Rhode Island, USA)
“For me this was the most perfect retreat I could have imagined — dancing contact improv every day with a bunch of wonderful people in a beautiful setting. The embodiment, playfulness, connection, and love I felt while on this retreat rivaled anything I had previously done.” – GC (Boston, MA)
“This Retreat was an absolute highlight in my over 30 years on again off again CI dance life. Moti is a sensei, a true master teacher, who has fed my love for CI on a very deep level and has brought out new curiosities and inner explorations into my being a CI practitioner.” – CH, (USA/Germany)
“With her focused and compassionate presence, Taina taps into deep wisdom and insights and offers a healing experience that is rich and profound.” – Vermont, USA
“Moti’s intensive was hands down the best contact dance intensive I have ever taken. Moti was able to create a space where community could flourish and where we were able to explore ourselves at so many levels. Contact dance was the vehicle through which we delved deeper into ourselves and what in means to be in community with each other. I cannot recommend his teaching enough.”
– RM (Toronto, Canada)
About Taina & Moti
Taina Lyons
I am a somatic ritualist, movement artist, and holistic counselor. I teach Contact Improvisation and hold spaces for grief, rites of passage, ancestral & nature connection, and consent. My capacity for intuitive guidance supports students’ growth and discovery through dance and reflection. I center gentle inquiries into purpose, healing, and connection and invite you to deepen in your awareness of self and other. Along with Moti Zemelman I co-founded Consentient Beings, offering trainings in consent, movement, and relating practices for groups and organizations.
Consentientbeings.com
Emergeholistictherapy.com
Moti Zemelman
As your co-host and teacher I bring 35 years of CI experience to share. Based in Massachusetts, I’ve taught and performed across USA, Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico, Europe and Israel. My teachings emphasize the importance of cultivating a deep and embodied sense of presence, as well as developing a compassionate non-judgmental relationship with oneself. My workshops and classes offer a space for individuals to explore movement and embodiment in a supportive and non-competitive environment, and are open to people of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of experience. Over the last 15 years in my desire to integrate communication and intimacy skills in teaching and life I have studied Non-violent communication, Tantra, Butoh, Byron Katie’s “The Work” and Betty Martin’s “Wheel of Consent”. I have been both a teacher and a board member at Earthdance Retreat Center in Plainfield, MA where I co-directed the Touch&Play Festival for 6 years. I am a featured dancer in Sanford Lewis’ documentary film about CI “An Intimate Dance.” I also design and moderate the international Contact Improv resource website www.contactimprov.com.
Retreat Location
WildHeart is located on 46+ beautiful acres in the Hudson Valley. Retreatants will have the option to stay in a single room, double room, dorm, or camping in either our main retreat center or in private two-bedroom cabins. All options have access to shared kitchens and bathrooms. Daily events will take place in the studio, shared common spaces, and outdoors. Retreatants are welcome to enjoy the lawns, walk in the forest, and swim and boat in the lake during their stay! More info about directions and transportation options HERE.
A note on food
We are able to accommodate most diets. We serve meat and dairy daily, and always have vegan and gluten-free options available. If you send us your dietary preferences in advance, we will do our best to make sure there is good food for you at each meal! All living accommodations have access to a full kitchen (separate from the main/commercial kitchen). We will provide breakfast groceries for you to prepare and eat on your own. Lunches and dinners are communal shared meals (participants usually help with prep or clean). Drinks include: coffee and tea, dairy and non-dairy milk, lemon and lime juice for water, red and white wine.
Registration
By offering a variety of housing options, and two free BIPOC spots, we hope to make this retreat financially accessible to all! Beyond that, please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need financial assistance to attend: contact@wildheartcenter.art
These prices are all inclusive! You receive all retreat content and facilitation, housing, food and drinks, and access to the land, lake, and studio spaces.
$765 Single-occupancy (private room in a shared house)
$645 Double-occupancy bedroom (per person)
$555 Dorm (for a bed in our spacious 5 person dorm)
$555 Camping (bring your own tent and equipment)
$495 Commuter (meals included)
$995 Support Price (for those who can pay extra to help us build the dream!)
Early Bird Price- $30 discount before Aug 1st
Refund policy
In advance of 2 weeks – full refund (less processing fee)
Within 2 weeks – no refund
Covid policy
To protect the group, please don’t come if you have any symptoms of illness or had contact in the last 3 days with anyone who has COVID
BIPOC spots
We are offering 2 free spots for BIPOC folx. Please email contact@wildheartcenter.art to get the registration code for one of these spots.