Celebrate Thanksgiving with Village Volunteers and contribute to a woman’s opportunity for economic freedom and independence.
Wassa Dance’s 10th Annual Thanks-Giving Dance by Donation
featuring some Seattle’s finest percussionists and Lara’s joyful moves
(please plan to dance barefoot at this event!)
Thursday, November 28, 2013
9:00 – 10:30 a.m.
ARC School of Ballet – 9250 14th Ave. NW Seattle WA 98117 (Ballard)
This year we will be dancing for the “Ndori Banana Women’s Fund” which helps women access micro loans to start businesses or enhance their small enterprises in a small village in Western Kenya. Our goal is to sponsor as many women as we can with $100 seed loans.
All loan recipients receive training and assistance with becoming economically stable. The loans are administered locally and when the funds are paid back, they are reinvested with more local women’s projects.
This kind of fundraising alliance has touched many people’s lives through the amplifier effect of resources and expertise being passed hand to hand. On the women’s meeting days, their camaraderie is palpable when they dance and sing greetings to one another. Let’s join that spirit this Thanksgiving!
We invite you to also keep it local by contributing part or all of your donation to the operational expenses of Village Volunteers, the organization that keeps all of these programs going throughout the year. If you’d like to support both Ndori Banana Fund in Kenya and Village Volunteers in Seattle, you can designate the amount you’d like to go to each on the memo line of your check or a note with cash donations. We are very grateful for your support!
All donations are tax-deductible and eligible for company matching funds. If you can’t attend and want to contribute, send a check with Wassa Dance on the memo line to:
Village Volunteers
5100 South Dawson Street, Suite 202,
Seattle, WA 98118
ASANTE SANA!!
For more event information contact Lara at: lara@wassa.realbasicsbuilder.com
For more information about Wassa Dance: www.wassa.realbasicsbuilder.com
For more about Village Volunteers’ great work: www.villagevolunteers.org or contact shana@villagevolunteers.org or call 206-683-6681
Bringing their collective years of movement and music explorations together, collaborators Lara McIntosh and Marla Simms invite you to
WASSA DANCE – SPRING TUNING
March 9-15, 2014
Big Island, Hawaii
Kalani Oceanside Retreat Center
Shake out your winter bones and seed a new season of your body’s potential for ease and joyful vitality through dance and movement exploration. Come as you are and let the rhythms take you deeper!
Included in this six day sweet island style retreat are daily sessions of image rich movement meditations, floor work and stretching along with spirited dance segments in Wassa’s unique style. Spontaneous offerings for group or individual sessions TBA throughout the week. Portions of each day are purposefully left open for participants to enjoy their own experience of Kalani’s offerings along with the many other delights and resources of Kalani and its neighborhood. Delicious daily buffet style meals, accommodations and use of Kalaniʼs grounds, pool and spa are also included.
We will
- Cultivate fresh vibrancy in our physical wit and wisdom.
- Establish healthy practices designed to take and grow at home to nourish an active longevity.
- Free our bones with Afro-infused 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, compost, and not so far away strip malls all exist with the newest earth and cleanest air in the world.
To register contact Lara McIntosh: lara@wassa.realbasicsbuilder.com
Registration requires a $250 nonrefundable deposit
.
| RETREAT FEES (per person) | Single Occupancy | Double Occupancy |
| Lodge Room (shared bath) | $995 | $1240 |
| Lodge Room (private bath) | $1225 | $1475 |
| Tree House Room | $1350 | $1675 |
| Bungalow Room | $1350 | $1675 |
Lara McIntosh has studied dance all her life and is an active member of Seattle dance, music and public art communities.
Lara is the originator of Wassa Dance which is inspired by dances and music from the African diaspora. She has been teaching independently in this Afro-fusion style since 1997. Travels to Brazil and Mali, West Africa and ongoing study with locally based teachers are great influences in her work. “Wassa” is the Bambara name Lara received during her first visit to Mali. It translates as “one who acts for joy and fulfillment.”
Lara’s curiosity about movement and cultures are combined with a deep love for music and community building. She has a long history of collaboration for performance, event production and movement education which include ten years with THREAD DANCE, multiple collaborations with artist Cameron Anne Mason and the Fremont Arts Council for parade and pageant presentations. During her six years on the Board of Directors of the
Seattle World Percussion Society (SWPS), she helped oversee the production of the World Rhythm Festival at Seattle Center, which is one of the largest free percussion festivals in the country.
Lara is an adjunct faculty member of the ARC School of Ballet. She also offers school residencies and conducts annual intensive workshops in Washington State and Hawaii.
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. Later, she studied modern dance and performed in the Southwest and the Pacific Northwest (Pat Graney & Co. and THREAD DANCE). She then turned to focus on the exploration of other’s bodies through the study and practice of massage. She has been a massage practitioner and massage educator for 20 years. She teaches continuing education classes for massage practitioners in the greater Puget Sound area. 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. marlasimms.massagetherapy.com,
The time has come for me to discontinue our current Wednesday evening classes at SHIFT, sigh. I love dancing at night, especially in the warm summer months where we open the big garage door and let the light pour in. And, I’m very grateful to the devoted folks who have been supporting this “after work” option for so long.
While June 5th will be our last of the this round, I’m looking forward to discovering what comes next. I’d be very happy to co-invent the next version, so stay tuned! I’m open to suggestions and requests.
Meanwhile, let’s dance into the evenings, May 8, 15, 22,29 and June 5!!
This was a wonderful event! Our musical all star musical team was Denny Stern, Mark Lilly, Thierno Diop, Caxambu, Mohammed Shaibu, Larry Swanson and Makeda Wilborn. Twenty dancers strong and beautiful! We raised $230 for Mary’s Place. It was a good day indeed.
Our next live music session is April 21, 2013. I’ll be donating 25% of the door from this event to MARY’S PLACE: a day center in Seattle for homeless women and children. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to support this vital local organization.
This benefit is in partnership with a 3 day event at Casita International. This great little shop on Capital Hill is bringing in fair trade accessories made by women in Malawi and India. April 19-21, 25% of the sale of these goods will be donated to MARY’S PLACE.
Casita and Wassa’s benefit for Mary’s Place
Shop, dance and give locally-with a global twist.
This piece just came my way for the third time and is so worth sharing:
Angelique Kidjo is one of the powerful female artists from West Africa who caught my ear way back. Her music has inspired so much for me. Here’s an 18 minute interview with her that shows why she’s the force she is. ASHE!
http://www.npr.org/2013/02/04/171065166/kidjo-urges-malian-musicians-to-fight-ban
WE HAD A WONDERFUL TIME!
Greeting the new day at Kalani.
Bringing their many collective years of movement, music and embodiment explorations together, collaborators Lara McIntosh, Chiara Guerrieri and Marla Simms invite you to:
SPRING TUNING
March 18-23, 2013
Kalani Oceanside Retreat Center – Big Island, Hawaii
5 days in paradise seeding a new season with joyful dance, customized yoga and body mechanics, meditation and nonviolent communication the aloha way.
We will:
- Cultivate fresh vibrancy in our physical wit and wisdom.
- Root deeper dialogues of compassion and possibility in daily interactions within ourselves, our physicality and beyond.
- Establish healthy practices designed to take and grow at home to nourish an active longevity.
- Free our bones with afro-infused 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, compost, and not so far away strip malls all exist on the newest earth and cleanest air in the world.
Included in this five day sweet island style retreat are… daily sessions of morning meditation, yoga, body mechanics, dance/movement intensives and time spent with the art of the of nonviolent communication. Spontaneous offerings for group or individual sessions TBA throughout the week. Portions of each day are purposefully left open for participants to enjoy their own experience of Kalani’s offerings along with the many other delights and resources of Kalani and its neighborhood. Delicious daily buffet style meals, accommodations and use of Kalaniʼs grounds, pool and spa area are also included.
Early registration is encouraged!
Registration requires $250 deposit
Final payments are due February 21, 2013
RETREAT FEES
| (per person) | Double Occupancy | Single Occupancy |
| Lodge Room (shared bath) | $995 | $1240 |
| Lodge Room (private bath) | $1225 | $1475 |
| Tree House Room | $1350 | $1675 |
| Bungalow Room | $1350 | $1675 |
Cancellation Policy: All cancellations include a $100 fee. No refunds for cancellations within 6 weeks of the workshop (unless we can fill your space).
To register contact Lara McIntosh: lara@wassa.realbasicsbuilder.com
About the Facilitators
LARA MCINTOSH: Performer, teacher, choreographer and perennial student, Lara is also an active member of Seattle 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 travels to Brazil and Mali, 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 deep love for music are lifelong muses. www.wassa.realbasicsbuilder.com
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, 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, teaches Anatomy for Yoga Teacher Trainings, and the principles Non Violent Communication. www.chiarayoga.com
download as a PDF: SPRING TUNING: Seeding fresh embodiment with dance, yoga and meditation, the aloha way!
For our Thanks-Giving Fundraiser with Village Volunteers for the Sisi fund in Kenya.
Lara celebrates 20 years of teaching dance with her original live
musical crew, the Meerkats – Caxambu, Eric Johnson, Phillep Page +
special guests.
Join us for a special legacy edition of this unique blend of
cross-cultural percussion and Wassa’s Joyful Afro-fusion style moves.
It all started with a berimbau, congas, and marimbula…
Sunday, Nov. 18, 2012
SHIFT Movement and Healing Arts
3517 Stone Way N
Seattle, WA 98103
$15 at the door – or pay as you can.
(Contributions for musicians are always welcome)