“All that you touch you change. All that you change changes you.” – Octavia E Butler
This workshop delves into the therapeutic potential of Contact Improvisation (CI), Authentic Movement (AM), and Restorative Contact (RC), as well as other somatic practices, demonstrating how their principles can enhance somatic intelligence, attunement, and co-regulation.
Areas of CI that will be covered include compression, reciprocal touch, bonding with the earth, spherical space, attunement, and weight-sharing. Sessions on AM will include embodied practice as well as historical and theoretical contextualization, highlighting how AM can be scaffolded to support emotional and psychological healing. Drawing from our unique career pathways combining movement, choreography, fascial bodywork, psychotherapy, and evidence-based mindfulness practices, we have developed therapeutic material that articulates safety, empathy, mutuality and agency through movement, touch, and verbal processing.
This workshop welcomes therapists, bodyworkers, and individuals interested in personal healing and wellbeing to explore these transformative practices.
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Arrival, Onsite Check-In, Opening Circle, and Departures.
- Arrival/Check-In: Thursday, April 10th from 4-7pm front of the Farmhouse. Dinner is at 6-7pm.
- Opening Circle: Friday, April 11th at 10am.
- Final Clean: Sunday, April 13th at 2-3pm. Lunch 1-2pm.
- Departure: All participants will depart after the final group clean at 3pm on Sunday, April 13th.
Our Fees Explained
Earthdance is a Public Charity that relies greatly on ticketing income to fulfill its Artistic, Cultural and Educational mission. We want to make our work available to folks with varying economic realities and offer a sliding scale payment for participation in most of our events. Please take a moment to reflect where you best fit on that scale. We ask everyone to stretch where they are able so that those who cannot may still have access to our events.
As you choose your rate please consider the following factors:
- Your access to income and wealth, as connected to family and partnership(s), past, present and future.
- The historical, systemic impacts of wealth accrual based on culture, race and other marginalized intersections for you and your family.
- The regional ease of your attendance, while some community members can drive to Earthdance, others will need to consider tuition based on their ability to travel longer distances.
PRICING
Equity & Access Tickets
We are excited to offer up to 3 FULL JAM Equity & Access Discounts to individuals who have a financial need. We know that for those who come from marginalized populations showing up to spaces filled with primarily privileged groups can be a challenge and prioritize such individuals when granting these discounted tickets.
Application coming soon! Deadline is March 27th, 2025.
Earthdance makes efforts to support Equity & Access at all its events, this event offers particularly strong support for diversity, equity, and inclusion through:
- Reduced pricing offered to people with a financial need and self-identifying as being underrepresented and/or marginalized.
- Classes and discussions that aim to presence awareness and inclusion at the event as a whole.
Housing Options
Gratitude Lodge at Earthdance Tickets
Includes a bed in the Gratitude Lodge, event offerings, and food.
The Gratitude Lodge (a.k.a. the Earthdance dorm) is the main lodging facility, connected to the Farmhouse by a short wooded trail. The lodge includes large and small rooms featuring dormitory-style bunks and beds (twin & queen size) and is included in the base event cost. Beds are available on a first come basis.
Camping Tickets
Includes a spot to camp at Earthdance, event offerings, and food.
Commuter Tickets
You will have access to the event offerings and food.
Commuter Health Care: We ask that you please use caution when commuting and limit, if possible, to just commuting to and from your home and Earthdance, staying away from large crowds to maintain the health and well being of the other event participants.
Nine Mountain
Nine Mountain is not available.
Cancellation Policy
Refund available up to 14 days (March 27th) before the event less a $75 processing fee.
No refunds available less than 14 days (After March 27th) from the start of the event.
Partial refunds might be given if a cancellation takes place under extenuating circumstances (e.g. a death of a 1st or 2nd degree family member, serious non-preventable illness or accident requiring hospitalization). Refunds in such cases remain at the discretion of the local organizers and will be decided on a case to case basis according to the timing of the cancellation and other factors. We do not offer refunds if you catch a cold, the flu or COVID after the cancellation date.
Health Precautions
No specific requirements on vaccination status are needed to attend this event. Please take adequate measures to limit your exposure in the days before arriving. If you are feeling sick, or have a known close exposure to someone with COVID in the past 5 days, please sit this one out to keep the community well.
COMMUTERS: We ask that you please use caution when commuting and limit, if possible, to just commuting to and from your home and Earthdance, staying away from large crowds to maintain the health and well being of the other jam participants.
Participant Community Support
Earthdance runs as a community, thus part of the participation is that all individuals contribute to 1-2 work shifts (typically meal cleans) throughout the event and participate in a final house clean on the last day of the event. These are great ways to connect more with your fellow participants and Earthdance staff, and to feel more at home in the Earthdance buildings & grounds. Your contributions to this collective caring of this space are invaluable!
Earthdance’s buildings are ADA accessible. More info here.
HOST BIOS
Aaron Brandes
Aaron Brandes (Brando), LCSW, M.Ed, is a movement educator, psychotherapist, and bodyworker dedicated to fostering healing and resilience through somatic practices. With over 20 years immersed in dance, yoga, and body-based therapies, Brando has both taught and performed internationally, sharing his passion for movement as a tool for emotional and physical well-being. Together with Gabrielle Revelock, Brando co-authored an essay on the therapeutic applications of touch is published in the book, Resistance and Support: Contact Improvisation @ 50 edited by Ann Cooper Albright, and presented at CI@50 at Oberlin College. His journey includes a two-year residency and yoga teacher training at the renowned Kripalu Center, which solidified his dedication to integrating mindful movement into his work.
As a nationally certified Structural Integration practitioner, Brando brings a unique approach to his body-based psychotherapy practice, blending extensive experience in Contact Improvisation (CI) and other somatic modalities. CI remains central to his research and professional evolution, inspiring him to explore how movement can serve as a deeply therapeutic practice for navigating the complexities of modern life. Brando’s work continues to innovate within the field, encouraging others to use movement as a pathway to self-discovery and resilience.
For more insights and links to Brando’s videos, visit his website: BodyandBeing.net.
Gabrielle Revlock
Gabrielle Revlock, MFA, is the creator of Restorative Contact, a mindful touch-based movement practice. She developed this form by synthesizing key elements of various somatic techniques including Contact Improvisation, Restorative Yoga, Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, Tai Chi, Klein Technique, Yin Yoga, Authentic Movement, and Deep Listening over her 20+ years as a professional dancer, choreographer, certified yoga teacher, and movement educator. Her research on the therapeutic applications of touch is compiled into an essay, co-authored with Aaron Brandes, and published in the book, Resistance and Support: Contact Improvisation @ 50, edited by Ann Cooper Albright. Revlock has been an invited speaker at CI@50 at Oberlin College, the Embodiment Conference, the Dance & Somatics Conference and the Future of CI Conference at Earthdance. Previously offered on Airbnb Online Experiences (2020-2024), Restorative Contact was one of the highest rated experiences in the category of wellness and is now an on-demand offering on Happily, a site dedicated to relationship-building. Revlock has been a practitioner of Contact Improvisation since 2003 and has taught the form at Movement Research, the School for Contemporary Dance & Though, Philadelphia Dance Projects, DNE Dance Camp, Soho Contact Improv Collective, Montreal Annual Jam pre-festival, Smith College, Hampshire College, and Salt Spring Island Contact Improvisation Festival. She will be teaching CI at Amherst College in Spring 2025.
As a choreographer, Revlock is the recipient of a New York City Bessie Award. Her work depicts complicated but relatable interpersonal relationships, developed through meticulous character study and improvisational structures. Presenters include The Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, New York Live Arts, JACK, The Flea, Joyce Soho, Gibney, Philadelphia Dance Projects, Center for Performance Research, ODC, FringeArts, Velocity Dance Center, Provincetown Dance Festival, Chop Shop and American Dance Festival. Internationally she has toured to Japan, Netherlands, Singapore, Hungary, Russia and India. Revlock holds a BA in Art History from Vassar College and MFA in Dance from Smith College. More at GabrielleRevlock.com