What make us move and sound?
Memory, images, the ever awake senses…
What is our source for creation?
Can we hear music in silence?
Could silence be our dance partner?

Dharma Nature organizes a retreat from 6 – 16 of august 2012 in which dancers and musicians have the possibility to explore the impact which silence and meditation can have on their art. And likewise, to discover how music and dance can benefit their meditation practice.

Experience
No experience is required, but there will not be music classes, so musicians should have their own practice. This isn’t the case for the dancers, as there will be improvisation, contact improvisation, butoh and other movement classes in nature and in the dance hall. People with a curiosity of movement and little dance experience are welcome too. No meditation experience is needed.

Program
Silent mornings, periods of meditation, teachings and group discussions on the theme ‘meditation and creativity’, dance classes drawing from different movement research techniques, guided vocal improvisation sessions and a lot of free time for your own practice, or to jam with others. Being with both musicians and dancers, some magic might happen on the playground!

Teachers
Denis Robberechts (www.dharmanature.org) will teach meditation
Kristien Sonnevijlle (http://sansville.wordpress.com/) will teach dance and vocal improvisation
Teachings will be in English, with French and Dutch translation available if necessary…

Place
Everything will take place at the dojo yourt ‘La source’ (see www.lempreintedutao.org for pictures), a wonderful space lost in the heart of nature in the South of France. We will sleep in tents, and the big and beautiful yurt will be our meditation, meeting and moving place. Meals will be vegetarian, organic and local as much as possible.

Note
We will not have electricity, so you can only come with acoustic instruments.

A warm welcome to join us in this exploration!