During our upcoming Teachers’ Training taking place at Earthdance, we will be offering 2 free classes for parents and kids guided by the founder of the method, Itay Yatuv.
ContaKids is a unique and fun activity for parents and their children (age 2 to 5). Through playfulness, movement and touch parents and children develop a new physical form of communication, which is enjoyable for both; children enhance and improve their motor skills and self-confidence and parents develop a sense of trust in their child and themselves.
When:
1st class on Sunday, February 2nd, 2025 at 5:30pm 2nd class on Saturday, February 8th, 2025 at 10:30am
You are welcome to attend both!
About the Offering:
The classic setting that we recommend is one parent and one child working together but we are open to any other combinations as long as there’s at least one child and one adult working together. There can be two parents and one child or one parent with two children.
The adults can also be someone who is not the parent, like a grandmother or an aunt or a good friend who knows the child very well.
Age Range:
Regarding the ages of the children (2-5yrs) there is also some flexibility there. If you’d like to come with your 6 or 7 year old it’s okay, but it might be too simple or slow for them. We do not accept toddlers under 20 months old.
Class Expectations:
Length: 45 min Before the class: The space will be available for them half an hour to 15 min before the class for welcoming. After the class: We’d ask the parents to stay with us for a talk and exchange about their experience in the class (short: 20 min +-).
To register, please fill out and submit this form:
This class is designed to give participants a sampling of material that will be offered at the full workshop on April 10-23, 2025. It will delve 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.
After class we will transition into a potluck, then practice what we’ve learned during our sweet jam after. Later, we can relax together in the sauna while we rest our bones.
Registration not required.
Schedule
Class: 5:00 – 6:00PM
Potluck: 6:30 – 7:30pm
Jam: 7:30 – 10:00PM
Pricing
Class & Jam: $25 – $125
Class: $15 – $125
Jam: $15 – $125
Sauna: $10 with use of 2 Earthdance towels.
Potluck Dinner: We HIGHLY encourage you to please bring your favorite dish! (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.***
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.
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 Summer Jam participants.
To be alive is to be in constant, reciprocal relationship with our environment. We shape and are shaped; we move and are moved by our landscapes.
In this immersive workshop we ask the question- what happens when we consider this relationship as a dance? How do we dance a landscape? How are we danced by a landscape? How do we practice moving with and through the world with elements we might search for in any partner dance- listening, sensing, responding, give and take, composing, witnessing and being witnessed? And most importantly, what arises from that kind of attention?
In the flush of early summer we will work indoors and out, drawing from our primary movement sources of Qigong and Butoh dance, Body Weather, Fighting Monkey, and Contact Improvisation. We will also become intimate with some of the plants, geology, and animals of the Earthdance landscape through animal track and sign, plant identification, and land stewardship tasks. We will expand upon the many definitions of “landscape” (physical, internal, psychosocial, geological, political); we will explore the role of time, rhythm and cadence within our dance, and we will traverse the spectrum of practical to poetic implications of what it means to dance and be danced by our landscapes.
All of this juicy depth will be integrated with amazing meals, sauna and quarry plunges, and sleeping with the bountiful stars of Western Mass.
“Dance, dance, otherwise we are lost”. -Pina Bausch
Dance is a universal common language that belongs to us all, regardless of age, ability or experience level. All bodies are welcome, no prior ‘dance’ experience required.
Arrival, Onsite Check-In, Opening Circle, and Departures.
Arrival/Check-In for Full Week and 1st Half Week Retreat: on Friday, May 23rd from 4-7pm front of the Farmhouse. Dinner is at 6-7pm.
Opening Circle: Saturday, May 24th at 10am.
Departure for 1st Half Week Retreat: Monday, May 26th by 2pm sharp.
2nd Half Retreat Arrival/Check-In: Monday, May 26th at 4-7pm, Dinner is at 6-7pm.
Final Clean: Thursday, May 29th at 2-3pm. Lunch 1-2pm.
Departure for Full and 2nd Half Week Retreat: All participants will depart after the final group clean at 3pm on Thursday, May 29th.
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.
We are excited to offer up to 3 FULL 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 May 16th, 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.
Refund available up to 14 days (May 9th) before the event less a $75 processing fee.
No refunds available less than 14 days (After May 9th) 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!
Frieda Kipar Bay is a weaver of plants, movement, parenting, and the written word. She has found many of the deepest wells of this body of knowledge through non-linear, non-academic pathways, including performing as a dance artist for 8 years professionally, mentoring with Daoist medicine pulse diagnostic master William Morris and herbalist Matthew Wood, unschooling two incredible kids, and reading Ursula K. LeGuin at a ripe young age alongside a high alpine lake, 10 miles in. Find her full bio at www.friedakiparbay.net., but essentially, she’s simply learning to live like a landscape.
Dana Iova-Koga
Dana Iova-Koga began dancing at the age of 4, and her first role was a cloud. Over 40 years later, her research in being cloud continues.
She is a multi-disciplinarian creature practicing performance, writing, teaching, gardening, creative midwifery, and listening.
She studied Experimental Theater at NYU, danced and farmed with Min Tanaka in Japan for many years, had the deep privilege of working with dance legend Anna Halprin, and has been a member of dance/theater company inkBoat since 2005. She is 17th generation Wudang San Feng Pai lineage holder through her Shifu David Wei of Wudang West, is certified in Holden Qigong and Mov Nat, and is an “Inspired by FM” teacher in the Fighting Monkey Practice. She currently teaches with Frieda Kipar Bay under the name “Elemental Vessel” and works one on one with folks in her choose-your-own-adventure style program called “Unfolding.”
“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.
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: Sliding Scale
Gratitude Lodge: $400.00 to $950.00 Camping: $375.00 to $925.00 Commuter: $350.00 to $900.00
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.
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!
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
“Skimming the Surface” Movement Healing Retreat will support adults that may be overcoming diverse forms of stress and trauma through somatic based expressive movement exercises. These workshops will help participants release blocked and repressed energy causing stress or discomfort in one’s life by integrating movement, feelings, and emotions.
Each movement journey is handcrafted to best support the participants. Green serves as a guide to help open doorways where each individual will do their personal work, leading them to a heart centered and intuitive place, finding a physical expression and release of emotions and energy whereby a healing process can begin.
Ms. Green’s approach helps participants confront emotional wounds and bring them to the surface in a gentle and compassionate way. When using the language of movement rather than words, different images or emotions may arise, which bypass the controlling and censoring mind. This experience leaves participants feeling expanded and curious about their emotions, with new insights to move forward from.
Offerings will integrate creative movement, improvisation, body reading, energy and breath work, body/mind embodiment and consciousness exercises, shamanic journeying, somatic experiencing, parts work, use of voice, free writing prompts, intuition and Core Energetics.
The weekend will also allow time in sauna and nature to journal, reflect and integrate, and create community connection among participants.
*This retreat experience is open to adults of all bodies and abilities.
Arrival, Onsite Check-In, Opening Circle, and Departures.
Arrival/Check-In: Friday, May 2nd from 4-7pm front of the Farmhouse. Dinner is at 6-7pm.
Opening Circle: Friday, May 2nd at 7pm after dinner.
Final Clean: Sunday, May 4th at 2-3pm. Lunch 1-2pm.
Departure: All participants will depart after the final group clean at 3pm on Sunday, May 4th.
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: $375.00 to $925.00 Camping: $350.00 to $900.00 Commuter: $325.00 to $875.00
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 April 25th, 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.
Refund available up to 14 days (April 18th) before the event less a $75 processing fee.
No refunds available less than 14 days (After April 18th) 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!
Valerie Green is a Certified Practitioner in Core Energetics, CCEP, and Body/Mind Fitness and is a Movement Healing Coach who has traveled the world as a performer, choreographer and teacher. Combining more than 30 years of movement and healing work, she has developed a new modality for stress relief and transformation called Skimming the Surface. She also leads a series of movement workshops for non-dance populations rooted in the philosophy that all bodies can benefit from movement. Whether it’s working with the professional or aspiring dancer or leading workshop and performance residencies for trauma survivors, older adults, persons with differing abilities or at-risk youth, Green fosters creativity, physicality, and healing beyond the stage.
She is the Artistic Director of the professional dance company Valerie Green/Dance Entropy and founder of Green Space Studio, an unparalleled dance hub in Queens. She has been an active dancer, choreographer, and movement educator in the New York City dance community since 1995.
ContaKids Teacher Training – Coming to the USA for the First Time!
After over a decade of successful work in Europe, with more than 400 trained teachers from 35 countries, we are thrilled to bring ContaKids Teacher Training to Earthdance!
ContaKids is a unique method that enhances parent-child connection through playful movement and contact improvisation. This training offers you the opportunity to start working immediately with families and join our growing American teacher community. Don’t miss out!
If you have any questions regarding this offering, please email contakids.worldwide@gmail.com or click the link below for more information.
