Join us in the beautiful Berkshire hills of Western Massachusetts to learn construction skills, build community, and dance!
Over four days here at Earthdance, you’re invited to help construct two simple A-frame structures that will provide housing for workshop instructors, staff, and visitors. This is an opportunity to gain practical experience in tiny home building while forming meaningful connections, sharing nutritious meals, and celebrating with music and movement.
What You’ll Learn
- Construction Basics: Tool safety, site preparation, framing, and roofing.
- Sustainable Building Techniques: Working with rough-sawn lumber, and wood protection without toxic chemicals.
- Tiny Home Design & Construction: Building elevated platforms (yurt-style), running layouts for floor joists and roof rafters, A-frame roof construction, and installing doors & windows.
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Schedule
📍 Thursday, July 24 – Arrival & Orientation
- Arrival & Onsite Check-In: 4–7pm (Front of the Farmhouse)
- Dinner: 6–7pm
- Intro Session: 8–10pm
📍 Friday, July 25 – First Full Build Day
- Self-Organized Breakfast with ED Staff: 8–9am
- First Session: 10am–1pm
- Lunch: 1–2pm
- Second Session: 3–6pm
- Dinner: 6–7pm
- Contact Improv Basics Class & Jam (with ED Staff): 8–10pm
📍 Saturday, July 26 – Drop-In Day & Celebration
- Self-Organized Breakfast with ED Staff: 8–9am
- First Session: 10am–1pm
- Lunch: 1–2pm
- Second Session: 3–6pm
- Dinner: 6–7pm
- Ecstatic Dance with DJ TreeJ: 8–10pm
📍 Sunday, July 27 – Final Build & Departure
- Self-Organized Breakfast: 8–9am
- Final Build Session: 10am–1pm
- Lunch: 1–2pm
- All House Clean with ED Staff: 2–3pm
- Departure: After 3pm
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: Sliding Scale
Gratitude Lodge: $151 to $495
Camping: $111 to $444
Saturday Drop-in Day: $61 to $151
***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.***
Housing Options
Gratitude Lodge at Earthdance Tickets
Includes a bed in the Gratitude Lodge, event offerings, and food arrangements.
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 on Earthdance land, event offerings, and food arrangements. You will need to bring your own camping gear.
Drop-In Day Tickets
You will have access to the event offerings and food arrangements, no overnight accommodations.
Cancellation Policy
Refund available up to 14 days (July 10th) before the event less a $40 processing fee.
No refunds available less than 14 days (After July 10th) 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.
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.
PERMATOURS INSTRUCTORS
Brendan McBrier
Brenden McBrier grew up in Denver, Colorado and always dreamed of building his own home and living surrounded by nature. In his younger years, he spent an ample amount of time outdoors having connection with the Earth in his mother’s garden. He started his building career learning about different natural building techniques after high school.
Attending the Earthship Biotecture Academy in Uruguay, South America was a catalyst towards that dream. Permaculture became his main focus years later as a lifestyle and career choice: uplifting and putting energy toward a life of growing food in symbiosis with the surrounding ecosystem. Combining the two passions with building livable greenhouses brought Regenerative Retrofits LLC to life in 2020. Now based in South Burlington, the green dream continues forward for him, sharing innovative ways and building with nature. (Yestermorrow, Regenerative Retrofits, & Permatours)
Scott Guzman
Scotty is a natural builder, compost educator, inventor, and farmer with a degree in chemical engineering from W.P.I. and 10 years of experience in the world of cooperative business. He is the founder of Diggers Cooperative, a local Maine compost and permaculture design business, and a co-founder of Permatours, a permaculture education non-profit organization.
Through collaboration with Permatours and several other highly skilled educators, Scotty is helping build an online education platform to share educational content on various topics such as building science 101 and Hempcrete. With a current focus on yurt construction professionally, Scotty is bringing his yurt energy to this A-frame design/build workshop by being a voice for simplicity, strength and function.
PERMATOURS EVENT AGREEMENTS
We value active participation in all facets of Earth Care, People Care, and Fair Share.
We treat the land and all beings with love and respect.
We do not tolerate hate language, discrimination, or violence of any kind.
We support an accessible and equitable environment for all beings.
Equality is not an assumption, and we strive to promote equitable access.
Consent is required for all: commitments (including time/energy expectations),
verbal interactions, physical contact, emotional support, desire for intimacy, etc.
We encourage curiosity to be a leader against assumptions.
We support the use of the acronym FRIES to share concisely that consent is:
F – freely given
R – reversible
I – informed
E – enthusiastic
S – specific
Permatours is dedicated to holding containers (intentional spaces) that remain free of alcohol, powders, pills, and gasses. Your presence, in times of joy and difficulty, is welcome here!
We support a space of interdependence, and mutual aid. We trust that when we arrive and are able to do for ourselves what we can, with the interstanding we may not be able to do everything, we are better aligned to receive the aid we truly need, and aid others in areas of their needs. Building mutually beneficial relationships and working together in symbiosis are key aspects of being able to thrive physically, emotionally, and spiritually, as a community.
We support a space of radical self-reliance, encouraging everyone to show up able to meet most, if not all, of their own needs. The community is here to support them when/if needed.
We observe the 4 Agreements, with the inclusion of the 5th agreement, by Don Miguel Ruiz.
1. Be impeccable with your word.
2. Don’t take anything personally.
3. Don’t make any assumptions.
4. Always do your best.
5. Be skeptical, but learn to listen.