Event Type: Workshops & Trainings

Countertechnique® Class with Maya LaLiberté

 

The Countertechnique® class is a contemporary dance technique class. It stretches, coordinates and strengthens the body, making the dancer sweat, build stamina and really move.

The class starts with a recurring set of exercises, allowing dancers to investigate the Countertechnique® principles in detail. The second half of the class consists of changing components, working towards luscious movement combinations and jumping at the end.

The Countertechnique® class results in dancers using less energy, losing their fear of taking risks and gaining speed in changing direction.

What folks should be aware of for the class / dance levels: 

In Countertechnique® classes, dancers are introduced step-by-step to the various tools – making sure, however, that the priority always lies with experiencing and enjoying the difference in moving, rather than first having to understand the tools intellectually. Classes are therefore very accessible, and can be taught to participants of all levels. Even so, gaining a full understanding of the different tools and being able to apply them in complex movement, instantaneously and often simultaneously, involves a learning process of several years, even for professional dancers. Throughout this process dancers increasingly become their own teachers, allowing them to practice and progress even at times when a teacher is not available.

Countertechnique® encourages dancers to take control of their own training and accept full responsibility for their personal development. The Countertechnique® system offers the tools to do so, enabling dancers to get the maximum out of their career, while – of equal importance – continuing to enjoy it to the full! 

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Event Details

Class: 6 – 8pm

Potluck and Open Jam: 8 – 11pm

PRICING

Class: $30 – $100 sliding scale

Open Jam: $10 – $45 sliding scale

Potluck Dinner: Please bring your favorite dish or donation of $10-15

Sauna and 2 towels: $10

***If you find that you are struggling financially or there are other circumstances that are making it difficult to join this special workshop, please email programming@earthdance.net with your situation so that we can create a way to have you join us.***

If you wish to extend your visit and stay overnight: A dorm bed in our Gratitude Lodge is $40 (Rental of sheets and towel is $15) or $30 to camp* Includes access to the sauna and kitchen use but does not provide food. 

Register

Cancellation Policy

Refund available up to 10 days before the event less a $15 processing fee.

No refunds available less than 10 days 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.

COVID 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. 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. 

Earthdance’s buildings are ADA accessible. More info here.

Earthdance’s Jam Guidelines

Earthdance’s Nudity Policy

HOST BIO

Maya LaLiberté was born and raised in Boulder, Colorado, and now lives in Northampton, Massachusetts. She first connected with Countertechnique in 2014 during her undergraduate studies at Smith College, and subsequently participated in multiple workshops with various teachers in NYC. She attended One Body One Career (OBOC) intensives in Amsterdam in 2019 and 2022, and became a certified teacher after successfully completing the Countertechnique Teacher Training (CTTT) in 2022.

Maya studied at Smith College, and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Dance in 2018. Upon graduating, she worked in NYC as a freelance dance artist, collaborating and performing in many projects throughout the Northeast. Since returning to Western Massachusetts in 2020, Maya has deepened her creative practice and strengthened her commitment to building community through dance and collaborative art-making. She is currently a faculty member at the School of Contemporary Dance and Thought, and teaches classes within the Five College Consortium and in NYC.

An Intro to Somatic Healing with Parts Work with Mandy Snyder – SOLD OUT

Join others on the path of self-discovery in a supportive workshop for attending to our inner world. 

Drawing from IFS (Internal Family Systems), also called Parts Work, this workshop is about rooting into our centered self, that inner witness, and attending to the parts of us that hold difficult emotional and mental states, such as depression, anxiety, judgment, and jealousy, from a place of curiosity. 

Our aim is not to fix ourselves or to analyze, rather, our goal is to listen. When we turn towards ourselves with compassion, we find parts of us, who are sometimes frozen at a young age, are simply trying their best to help us and get their needs met. They want to feel safe, to be connected to others and to contribute to life in a way that is meaningful. We can help them to get these needs met and this is where lasting healing happens.  

In this introductory workshop, we will explore some of the foundational skills of Parts Work, get to know some of our parts, and connect more deeply with at least one part of us. 

Somatic skills such as breath, sensing and movement are woven in to help us to  regulate our nervous system, gain greater awareness of our feelings and nurture connections to each other. Writing and drawing are incorporated as well. Some practices are done alone, others in small groups and some in the big group. 

Come for personal insights and to grow in self-acceptance. Experience the joy of learning together and embracing our shared humanity. Bring a journal.

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Event Details

Workshop: 3 – 6pm

Potluck: 6 – 7pm

Jam: 7 – 10pm

PRICING

Workshop: $50 – $125 sliding scale

Jam: $10 – $30 sliding scale

Potluck Dinner: Please bring your favorite dish or donation of $5-10

Sauna and 2 towels: $10

***If you find that you are struggling financially or there are other circumstances that are making it difficult to join this special workshop, please email programming@earthdance.net with your situation so that we can create a way to have you join us.***

If you wish to extend your visit and stay overnight: A dorm bed in our Gratitude Lodge is $40. (Rental of sheets and towel is $15) * Includes access to the sauna and kitchen use but does not provide food. 

Register

Cancellation Policy

Refund available up to 10 days before the event less a $20 processing fee.

No refunds available less than 10 days 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.

COVID 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. 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. 

Earthdance’s buildings are ADA accessible. More info here.

Earthdance’s Jam Guidelines

Earthdance’s Nudity Policy

HOST BIO

Mandy Snyder is a Somatic Healer and group facilitator who is passionate about creating spaces for embodied self-discovery. With warmth and welcoming, she guides others to make contact with self-compassion, a balm that makes everything just a little easier. Her individual sessions, groups and workshops draw from her training in Somatic Experiencing, study in Internal Family Systems and 25 + years as in movement studies, including Authentic Movement, Body Tales and Contact Improvisation. A lover of nature and laughter, Mandy has spent many years in Vermont and California, and now makes Western Massachusetts her home.

Butoh and Noguchi Taiso Training with Julie Becton Gillum

Butoh History 

Originating in post WWII Japan, butoh is a potent and revolutionary dance form. Butoh uses the body brazenly as a battleground to attain personal, social or political transformation. In its early forms, butoh embraced and referenced Western artistic movements; German Expressionism, Dadaism, Surrealism, Existentialism and Fluxus, all of which pervaded the Tokyo underground and the avant-garde arts scene at that time. In fact, the co-founders of butoh, Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ohno trained in German modern dance, which was integral to the development of German Expressionism. But, eventually they took opposite approaches to their dance making. 

Hijikata’s work became known as ankoku butoh (dance of utter darkness); and, he embraced the grotesque and the absurd, exploring themes of sacrifice, struggle and death. 

Ohno’s butoh was playful, humorous and filled with light and life. Today’s butoh is influenced by both Hijikata and Ohno and wrestles to balance those contrary approaches. Philosophically, butoh slips between the cracks of definition in order to reveal the fervent beauty of the unique human spirit.

Noguchi Taiso 

“The materials that constitute our bodies are undoubtedly of this earth and have participated in and experienced the creation process . . . Our body, living here and now, includes the history of the earth.”  Michizo Noguchi

Michizo Noguchi, a gymnastics coach and founder of this method in post-WWll Japan, was confronted with a realization that when everything else is gone the body still remains alive and subject to gravity. He used the body as a primary source and tool for developing a new kind of movement practice based in principles of nature, the way matter moves in space and time. The human body is 70% water, the rest is earth materials. Noguchi proposes that natural effort free movement does not fight gravity but embraces it, using its force to assist the movement. A main principle of Noguchi Taiso is movement as a reaction. Instead of making a move intentionally the practitioner creates the conditions for the movement to arise as a natural response.

Noguchi Taiso has been adopted by many butoh, dance and theatre practitioners in Japan especially for its ability to empty the body of various learned, superficial and culturally derived patterns of behavior, making it more transparent, aligning it with the more universal forces that are at play.

“13 Aspects of Butoh”

“13 Aspects of Butoh” is an ongoing research project designed by Julie Becton Gillum in order to discover the essential nature of butoh and how it differs from other dance and theater forms. Gillum has been creating and sharing workshops based on her personal research since 2010. Some of the “Aspects: such as “Space”, “Time” and “Force” are basic to all forms of dance. However some aspects are more specific to butoh and Japanese aesthetics, such as: “Ma,” “Jo-ha-kyu,” “Ghost of Self”, “Dance Like a Child,” “Every Dance is a Prayer,” “Masculine and Feminine.” Many of the “Aspects” began as quotes from my butoh mentors during training sessions. It is these, more obscure body concepts, that we will delve deeply into during our training at Earthdance. Transformation, interior and exterior space, sensation and presence will be at the core of our butoh investigations. I will explain the concepts of “Ma” and “Jo-ha-kyû” to give examples as to how they will be used in the workshop. 

Guided explorations of concepts such as “ma” and “Jo-ha-kyû” encourage students to examine Japanese aesthetic principles through experience with movement timing, phrasing and forming.

Dancers, actors, martial artists, yoga practitioners and anyone interested in exploring their own personal capacity for movement expression is welcome to join Butoh and Noguchi Taiso Training. This training is appropriate for all levels.

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EVENT DETAILS

Gillum’s intention is to introduce Noguchi Taiso as a warm up and perfect companion to butoh; afterwards she will guide lessons selected from “13 Aspects of Butoh”. Dancers, actors, martial artists, yoga practitioners and anyone interested in exploring their own personal capacity for movement expression is welcome to join Butoh and Noguchi Taiso Training. This training is appropriate for all levels. 

Noguchi Taiso water body practice feeds and prepares the body, releasing unnecessary tension and creating the conditions for movement to emerge as a natural response for life, dance, performance and sports. The Noguchi Taiso system as well as butoh training help to eliminate socially and culturally derived habits and behaviors, creating a more open and fluid vessel through which natural and free impulses can flow with minimal resistance. The body learns to move using its own weight and to heighten its sensitivity in order to move efficiently from its most relaxed and receptive state. Noguchi and butoh practitioners discover how imagination, thoughts and mental attention can change the quality of the physical form. During the Butoh practice dancers will be guided to develop their own movement through explorations from “13 Aspects of Butoh.”

Arrival, Onsite Check-In, Opening Circle and COVID testing

  • Arrival: Participants may arrive starting at 4:00 pm on Thursday, May 11th.
  • Onsite Check-In: The welcoming will commence from 4:00pm-7:00pm on Thursday, May 11th, 2023. Please email site@earthdance.net if you think you cannot make it during the check-in times.
  • Opening Circle: Friday, May 12th at 10 am. All participants are asked to attend
  • COVID Testing: Please make sure that you have tested for COVID on the day of arrival. If needed, participants may purchase tests from Earthdance for $10 each.

Equity & Access Tickets 

Although we’re not able to offer any full scholarships this year, we’re excited to offer up to 10 highly reduced Equity & Access Tickets to individuals who feel part of an underrepresented and/or marginalized group in CI and have a relationship with CI.  We know that for those who come from marginalized populations showing up to spaces filled with primarily privileged groups can be a challenge, and can feel vulnerable. “Apply” and see more details here. For transparency and context, in the past, and we hope in the near future, we offered 3-5 full DEI scholarships.

For those who do not identify as marginalized and are in a represented group of CI, we invite you to stretch in your payment to help support those who cannot stretch and create a more diverse jam experience for all. 

Note: While Earthdance is making efforts to better support Equity & Access at all its events, the New Year’s Winter Jam offers particularly strong support for diversity, equity, and inclusion through:

  • Reduced pricing offered to people self-identifying as being underrepresented and/or marginalized in CI.
  • Classes and discussions that aim to bring up the level of awareness and inclusion at the jam as a whole
  • affinity spaces (jams, discussions, etc.) for particular groups of people to connect, share CI space together, and rest from the pressures of being in a minority status at the jam.

Our Fees Explained

Earthdance offers a sliding scale payment for participation in this event, please take a moment to reflect as you decide on where you best fit. 

Your level of contribution is self selected and does not need to be advocated for. However, we invite you to remember this contribution is currency and we ask that you stretch where you are able so that those who cannot stretch as far of a financial distance may also have potential access to community events. As you choose your rate please consider the following factors:

  • Your access to income and wealth, as connected to family and partnership, both currently and anticipated in the future.
  • The historical, systemic impacts of wealth accrual based on culture, race and other intersection marginalizations 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. 
  • Earthdance is a community and rental funded organization which recently, historically and uniquely through the Covid-19 pandemic has struggled to have viable income.

PRICING

DORM

$575 – Financially Wealthy

$500 – Financially Abundant

$475 – Financially Stable 

$375 – Financially Coping

$325 – Financially Strained

CAMPING

$550 – Financially Wealthy

$475 – Financially Abundant

$400 – Financially Stable 

$350 – Financially Coping

$300 – Financially Strained

Register

HOUSING

Gratitude Lodge at Earthdance Tickets – Include room at the Earthdance Dormitory and food for the weekend.

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 Jam cost. Beds are available on a first come basis.

Camping Tickets – Include a spot to camp on the Earthdance property and food for the weekend.

Cancellation Policy

Refund available up to 14 days before the event less a $75 processing fee. 

No refunds available less than 14 days 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.

COVID Precautions and Testing

No specific requirements on vaccination status are needed to attend the Spring Jam. However, ALL registrants are required to take an antigen test on the day of, before arriving on Thursday, May 11th at Earthdance. If you need a test, Earthdance will have them available to purchase for $10 each. 

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. 

Participation 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 jam/workshop and participate in a final house clean on Sunday. 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.

Earthdance’s Nudity Policy

HOST BIO

Julie Becton Gillum is the artistic director of the Asheville Butoh Festival (14 years running), has been creating, performing and teaching dance in the US, Europe, Asia and Mexico for over 40 years. Since 2019 she has been active in Turkey, Ukraine, India and other areas in Europe. Julie has received numerous grants and awards for her choreography. She was awarded the 2008-09 NC Choreography Fellowship and used the funds to travel to Japan to study Butoh, her primary form of artistic expression. Julie’s work has been influenced by extensive study with mentors: Mari Osanai, Diego Pinon, Natsu Nakajima, Anzu Furakawa, Yoshito Ohno and Seisaku.

Pa Kua… More than a martial art with Accem Scott followed by a CI Jam

Pa-Kua is an ancient knowledge that has served humanity, from ancient times to the present, in an attempt to understand the changes and adapt to them in order to live in a state of greater harmony. Pa-Kua is primarily about change. Constant and never-ending change!

Pa-Kua, is approached through the practice of one or more disciplines.

Commonly, I begin the learning process through a fun and powerful practice of “circle walking”. Through walking the circle we can do standing and moving meditation, sparring, full-out combat training or a fun and active dance which starts through setting intention, warming up, then simply letting the body flow with the moving energy.

A little history on Pa Kua

Pa-Kua knowledge began in Chinese mythology. The most well-known myth takes place about 5000 years ago. As Emperor Fu-Hsi was meditating on the banks of the Yellow River, a turtle emerged from the waters. In his shell, Fu-Hsi could glimpse the eight states of change or trigrams that make up the Pa-Kua symbol, which were intended to be used to understand the events of the Universe.

The long-time tradition of weekly Sunday CI Jams has returned to Earthdance! Come for a class beforehand, or just for the jam. Stay for the sauna and potluck dinner! Registration not required. 

Class Details

This life-style practice builds on many aspects of life dynamics:

Physical, mental, emotional, sexual, financial and many more.

In my class, I will be focusing on the physical, mental and spiritual aspects of the practice called, “Circle Walking”.

In circle walking there is a beginning, middle, and an end.

In the beginning we work on simply walking both clock-wise then counter-clock-wise around a large imaginary circle. This loosens the mind and body for the next development which includes:

1. Shaking the tree and opening the Chakras

2. “Banging the bones” a deeper activation of the 12 Chinese meridians

3. Pa Kua Push Hands and “bumping the Trees” – These are both ways to further experience the flow which we have cultivated with those around us.

4. We end with, “laying meditation” along with a clearing process called, “Chinese Energetic Medicine”.

*Sage and sweet grass are used to clear each person and the room.

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TIME

Class: 5:00 – 6:30PM

Potluck: 6:30 – 7:30pm

Jam: 7:30 – 10:00PM

PRICES

Class: $20 – $60

Jam: $10 – $30

Sauna: $10 with use of 2 Earthdance towels.

Potluck Dinner: Bring a dish to share or a suggested donation of $10 to $15

If you wish to extend your visit and stay overnight, cost of a bed in the dorm is $40 or camping for $30. Includes access to the sauna and kitchen use but does not provide food. (Rental of sheets and towels is $15)

Register

HOST BIO

Accem Scott – As a practitioner of energy therapies for over 15 years, I’ve worked with many approaches, including Reiki, kinesiology, homeopathy, acupuncture, therapeutic movement, bodywork, flower essences, light and sound therapy, Pa Kua and many others. However, working with the Pa Kua and Chinese Energetic Medicine (CEM) together is unique in that it has provided me with a way to understand how all of these therapies are, in fact, working with consciousness. Using Pa Kua & CEM gives us a way both to describe where energy is in or out of balance, and also to change that energy with conscious awareness. Comprehending how these therapies and practices work requires direct experience rather than just theories and words. Book link: American Barefoot Doctor’s Manual.

Breathwork Journey and Live Music with Jordan Grinstein and Char Malin followed by potluck integration.

Liberate your true nature and core connection to wellness through the brilliant power of breath. An active, heart-centered and body-informed meditation, breathwork invokes an ecstatic experience that strengthens your connection to the part of you that knows how to heal, beneath any patterns and chronically held tension in the body. Breathwork is an integration of body-mind-heart-spirit experiences that has the potential to radically transform your life in just a single session. It is a journey to a state of elevated consciousness, revelatory experience, somatic awareness, and energy attunement.

Breathwork activates your inner healer, reveals pathways of healing, and empowers you with life-affirming direction. Effects are multidimensional, touching upon the physical, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual aspects of oneself, ways of being, relationships, and life choices. Participants are supported in a trauma-informed empathic space rooted in community and authentic expression.

The power of live improvised music will amplify your inner journey, taking your breathwork experience to a new level. Sound healing artist Char Malin channels soundscapes of live-looped vocals and strings to create a container for transformation. Energies range from lush and ethereal, to energizing and empowering, to tender and nourishing. Live sound medicine augments all the amazing benefits of breathwork, and can profoundly assist the practitioner in reaching states of elevated consciousness and emotional release. Additional benefits include regulating the nervous system, creating harmony between body systems, aligning and clearing the energetic field, activating your creative channels, and so much more.

We look forward to being with you and supporting you on this journey into peace, well-being, and a sense of reclaimed freedom and vitality.

Breathwork Journey Workshop Details

Please arrive by 5:45pm to give yourself some time to prepare for the workshop.

We will begin by coming together as a group and discussing the process before breathing together.

The experience is followed by relaxation, and self care next steps.

Consider wearing comfortable, loose clothing, and bring water, a yoga mat, blanket and pillow(s) to support your journey. 

We will then move into a sweet potluck afterwards. Bring your favorite potluck dish to help nourish and integrate this rich journey together.

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PRICING

Workshop starts at 6pm. Please arrive by 5:45pm. Potluck to follow.

$85 – Financially Wealthy

$70 – Financially Abundant

$55 – Financially Stable 

$40 – Financially Coping

$30 – Financially Strained

Potluck: Please bring a dish to share for the potluck afterwards OR donate $10-$15

***If you find that you are struggling financially or there are other circumstances that are making it difficult to join this special workshop, please email programming@earthdance.net with your situation so that we can create a way to have you join us.***

Sauna with use of 2 Earthdance towels for $10  

If you wish to extend your visit and stay overnight in a dorm bed in our Gratitude Lodge is $40 (Rental of sheets and towel is $15) or $30 to camp* Includes access to the sauna and kitchen use but does not provide food.

 

Register

Cancellation Policy

Refund available up to 10 days before the event less a $20 processing fee for workshop. 

No refunds available less than 10 days 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.

COVID 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. 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. 

Earthdance’s buildings are ADA accessible. More info here.

Earthdance’s Nudity Policy

HOST BIOS

Jordan Grinstein is a multifaceted educator who has guided thousands of students over the past thirteen years in a range of healing modalities including breathwork, dance, meditation, and yoga.  His mission is to inspire people to be leaders in their lives by using education and wellness practices as tools for personal empowerment, and to support the healing journeys of individuals, families, and communities. As the mindfulness director of Shrewsbury Public Schools, he trains students to be wellness and meditation facilitators for their peers, and strives to create a more just and liberated education system while supporting the social emotional wellness of school communities. He is an Ayurvedic Practitioner, meditation coach, yoga teacher trainer, and a facilitator of racial equity workshops. Centering equity as a core value in his life and work, he develops culturally responsive, trauma-informed curricula rooted in community, authentic expression, vulnerability, rest, and social justice. To learn more about Jordan and his work in education visit wholeschoolmindfulness.org and ivychild.org.

Char Malin is a violinist, violist, singer/songwriter, teacher, and healer guiding people into direct, communal, and transformational encounters with music. She is passionate about bringing audiences, clients, and students into aliveness and authenticity through encounters with sound. Her offerings and projects include Holistic Classical concerts, sound healing journeys, vocal improvisation workshops & song circles, and compositional sound projects for dance, film, and podcasts. She is currently working on her first full album of original music, titled Welcome Home. Malin currently serves as the Viola Instructor at Amherst College and lives in Northampton, MA.