Each year, Wassa Dance offers retreats at several inspiring facilities who steward the connections between land and spirit. These immersions in specific environments and movement studies provide enrichment on many levels.
(If you have a favorite place or know of a situation where you think Wassa Dance could create a new intensive, please let us know!)
Here’s the first of the sweet bits from Wassa Dance and Village Volunteers‘ 11th Annual Dance by Donation Fundraiser. We had a most wonderful time with 70+ dancers raising $3,600 in an hour’s class for this year’s micro lending partner SISI FUND in Kenya.
Yes indeed! We will be returning for our 15th beautiful year of dancing at
Kalani Oceanside Retreat Center on the Big Island, Hawaii.
The dates are February 7-13, 2016
Lodging options are limited this round.
Please contact Lara at lara@wassadance.com
Join us this winter in seeding a new season of our potential for ease and joyful vitality.
Come as you are, let the rhythms dance you deeper.
We will be
– cultivating fresh vibrancy in our physical wit and wisdom.
– immersing ourselves in afro-infused dance inspired by some of the best music the world has to offer.
– engaging our senses in the complex natural and cultural beauty that IS the Big Island. Ocean meets lava, mongoose, wild pigs, tree frogs, bird song, hula, solar power, compost, and not so far away strip malls all co-existing while Pele makes the newest earth in the world.
This sweet 6 night island style intensive features daily sessions of movement meditations and personal tuning leading into spirited dance segments in Wassa’s unique ways. Most afternoons and evenings are purposefully left open for participants to enjoy their own experience of the many delights and resources of Kalani and the island
Delicious daily buffet style meals, accommodations and use of Kalaniʼs grounds, pool and spa are included.
* Spontaneous offerings for group or individual sessions TBA.
LODGING OPTIONS / RATES*:
Lodge Rooms: sold out, contact Lara for wait list.
Bungalow: $1,770 single / $1,410 double
Lofts and Treehouses: $1,890 single/ $1,500 double
Tropical Cottages: $2,340 single / $1,710 double
A deposit of $300 holds your space.
Second installment due by Oct. 31 and final payment by December 31, 2015.
*Prices subject to change without notice for unregistered participants.
For island residents or vacationers wishing to attend the daily dance intensive without Kalani lodging or meals, drop-in rates per class and weekly options are available as space allows. Pre-registration is strongly suggested for this option–which also includes a Kalani day pass with each class/series purchased. Lodging and meal options at Kalani may be purchased separately through Kalani.
Kalani Honua Retreat Center: Kalani means Harmony of Heaven and Earth and is located on 19 coastal acres of tropical beauty on the SE coast of Hawaii. Dramatic lava cliffs provide a haven for sunbathers, stargazers, whale watchers and those seeking a deep connection with the earth and sea. Other offerings at Kalani at additional cost include: Hawaiian and Thai massage, Yoga, Bodywork, Watsu (water-based bodywork) and Hawaiiana/Hula Classes.
For more info on Kalani: www.kalani.com
To book airport shuttles, please call Kalani’s Guest Services at 800-800-6886 at least a week prior to travel.
WASSA DANCE – SPRING TUNING
March 28 – April 2, 2015
Kalani Oceanside Retreat Center – Big Island, Hawaii
Join us in seeding a new season of our potential for ease and joyful vitality.
Come as you are, let the rhythms dance you deeper.
We will be
– cultivating fresh vibrancy in our physical wit and wisdom.
– immersing ourselves in afro-infused dance inspired by some of the best music the world has to offer.
– engaging our senses in the complex natural and cultural beauty that IS the Big Island. Ocean meets lava, mongoose, wild pigs, tree frogs, bird song, hula, solar power, compost, and not so far away strip malls all co-existing while Pele makes the newest earth in the world.
This sweet 5 night island style intensive features daily sessions of movement meditations and personal tuning leading into spirited dance segments in Wassa’s unique ways. Most afternoons and evenings are purposefully left open for participants to enjoy their own experience of the many delights and resources of Kalani and the island
Delicious daily buffet style meals, accommodations and use of Kalaniʼs grounds, pool and spa are included.
* Spontaneous offerings for group or individual sessions TBA.
To inquire or register contact Lara McIntosh: lara@wassadance.com
EARLY BIRD SPECIALS AVAILABLE!
Spaces are limited. Early registration is advised.
Registration requires $250 non-refundable deposit.
LODGING OPTIONS / RATES*:
Ocean Cottage: $1,999 single / $1,499 shared
Bungalow: $1,675 single / $1,350 shared
Lodge Room (private bath): $1,475 single / $1,225 shared
*Prices subject to change without notice for unregistered participants.
**For island residents or vacationers wishing to attend the daily dance intensive without Kalani lodging or meals, drop-in rates per class and weekly options are available as space allows. Pre-registration is strongly suggested for this option–which also includes a Kalani day pass with each class/series purchased. Lodging and meal options at Kalani may be purchased separately through Kalani.
Kalani Honua Retreat Center: Kalani means Harmony of Heaven and Earth and is located on 19 coastal acres of tropical beauty on the SE coast of Hawaii. Dramatic lava cliffs provide a haven for sunbathers, stargazers, whale watchers and those seeking a deep connection with the earth and sea.
Other offerings at Kalani at additional cost include: Hawaiian and Thai massage, Yoga, Bodywork, Watsu (water-based bodywork) and Hawaiiana/Hula Classes.
For more info on Kalani: www.kalani.com
Please call Kalani’s Guest Services at 800-800-6886 to book airport shuttles at least a week prior to travel.
It’s rare that I get this sort of thing but today I received this really lovely piece from one of my beloved long time students. Darryl is a wonderful human being with a large heart and a wicked fun sense of playful adventure. I am honored by what he has to say here:
About Wassa Dance
I’m a runner and 63 years old. I had never taken a dance class, except for square dancing in my entire life. Then, more years ago then I dare to count, I decided to take a risk and walk through the door to an African dance class taught by Lara on the second floor of the Physical Culture dance studio. My wife was taking Lara’s class and said I would love the music. She was right. I loved the music and did my best to imitate Lara’s moves. The music pulled me in and to my amazement I believed I was learning the movement and the dance. At least I was moving in the right direction most of the time and even my feet occasionally seemed to follow Lara’s pattern and rhythm. But when I took a moment to observe amidst the excitement of of a new experience, I seemed to be moving in dancing in a dimension different than the one Lara and the other dancers were dancing in. During classes Lara described bowls of light, johnny jump-ups, lava flows, internal rubberbands, sugar cane harvesting, star fish and Bamako club dancing. Lara kept describing the experience of moving from the center and letting the movement begin internally and flow, shimmy, warble and wisp out to the fingers, toes and crown of the head and beyond to the sky and earth and then loop back for another go. I loved the class and just wanted it to go on for hours. Somehow over the years the watching, imitating and listening seemed to sink into this runner and I would begin to experience brief moments of pure joy and ecstasy when somehow I would sync in with Lara’s moves, the spirit and beat of the music and the moves of the other dancers. I just wanted that fleeting moment to last forever. I am still running long distances and have now gotten bit by the trail running bug. When I’ve consumed my initial burst of energy in the first couple of miles and have many more to go, I find that center for running and try to relax and settle into it with legs, arms, body and energy moving from the center, connecting and reconnecting to the earth and moving through space. Thanks Lara!
Darryl Eastin