Bringing their many collective years of movement, music, and embodiment explorations together, collaborators Lara McIntosh, Chiara Guerrieri, and Marla Simms invite you to their Spring Tuning retreat at the Kalani Oceanside Retreat Center on the Big Island of Hawaii. Five days in paradise seeding a new season, with joyful dance, customized yoga and body mechanics, meditation, and non-violent communication.
We will:
- Cultivate fresh vibrancy in our physical wit and wisdom
- Root deeper dialogues of compassion and possibility in daily interactions within ourselves, our phsicality, and beyond.
- Establish healthy practices designed to take and grow at home to nourish an active longevity.
- Free our bones with Afro-indused dance inspired by some of the best music the world has to offer.
- Engage our senses with the complex natural and cultural beauty that IS the Big Island where ocean meets lava, mongoose, wild pigs, tree frogs, bird song, hula, solar power, and compost on the newest earth and in the cleanest air in the world.
About the Facilitators
LARA MCINTOSH is a performer, teacher, choreographer, and perennial student, Lara is also an active member of Seattle’s dance, public art, and cultural communities. Under the name Wassa Dance, Lara blends a mix of Afro-infused and American dance styles which are greatly inspired by lifelong studies and and travels to Brazil and Mail, West Africa. She explores rhythm, spirit, craft, and community to unlock the movement potential in each person. “Wassa Sangare” is the Bambara name Lara received during her first visit to Mali. “Wassa” means “one who acts for joy and fulfillment.” Her curiosity about movement, creativity, and cultures, combined with a feep lovefor music are livelong muses.
MARLA SIMMS started her love affair with the human body and its magic from the inside out. She experienced the boldness and explosive energy of a gymnast in her youth. She then turned to the focus of exploration of other’s bodies through the study and practice of massage. She has been a massage practitioner and massage educator for 20 years. As an educator, she pursues a better understanding of the soft tissues of the human body and how they react (however subtly) to the stresses and challenges of life and living. For Marla, the body continues to be a venue of art, joy, and discovery.
CHIARA GUERRIERI began studying Yoga to rehabilitate and strengthen her core after a car accident; she continues to practice and teach yoga as a way to heal the separation between body and mind. Chiara teaches us how to breathe, how to connect the breath with the body, how to track physical sensations from moment to moment, and how to find internal wisdom as body, breath, and mind work together to inspire our practice. Chiara’s classes are accessible to anyone with a basic background in yoga. She has a strong interest in injury evaluation and treatment, and welcomes students recovering from injury or other physical pain. She has studied Hypnosis and Neuro Linguistic Programming; she uses her language skills to weave trances that wake us from our routines, allowing us to explore new pathways. Chiara is a licensed massage therapist, practicing since 1983. She teaches yoga anatomy for Yoga teacher training courses, and the principles of non-violent communication.
About Kalani Oceanside Retreat Center
Kalani Oceanside Retreat Center is located in the district of Puna, which is on the southeast coast, surrounded by the mountains, jungle, sea and volcano — the natural elements give rise to the countless legends and myths within the Hawaiian Islands. Across the road from Kalani, dramatic lava cliffs which offer breath taking views of the sunrise, turtles, dolphins, whale watching and a short walk to the nearest black sand beach.
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