Emergence: CI retreat

Join us for “EMERGENCE”, a Contact Improvisation retreat on June 5 – 7th, at Dreaming Stone Arts and Ecology Center, in the mountains of NC! During this open-level retreat weekend, we will practice rooting into ground and our own centers to cultivate the capacity to emerge, fly, expand, and connect with others. 

Workshops led by Michele T. Hower and emily liptow will be themed around questions of emergence in contact improvisation practice, such as–  How do we access presence and ground amidst the complexity of improvisational dance? Can we stay with a sensation or choice just long enough to see/feel what is emerging in our personal and collective dance? What are strategies for radical responsiveness to the ever-evolving nature of CI?

With both structured workshops and open jam time, this potent container will nourish and inspire your movement practice and widen your CI community. 

This is an open-level event and would be a great opportunity and location for your first CI immersion experience or to deepen your engagement with the form. If you are brand new to Contact Improvisation, we encourage you to take a few classes first or sign up for our fall Fundamentals Intensive.

About Dreaming Stone

Dreaming Stone Arts and Ecology Center is a new home for Contact Improvisation, located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, in Rutherford County, NC. Joining institutions like Earthdance in Western Massachusetts and The Field Center in Vermont as a home for residential CI and related events. Founded by long-time CI dancer, performance artist, and activist Tevyn East, Dreaming Stone also embodies a strong commitment to cultural organizing for a just and sustainable future, with year-round programming for the local community and special programs serving social and environmental movements for the larger community. Dreaming Stone features a large round studio with windows on all sides, beautiful common areas for cooking, eating, and connecting, and is the steward of 50+ acres of land, including a swimmable river with rocks for lounging~ very inviting during this early-summer time of the year!

Meals

All meals are included from Friday dinner through Sunday lunch. We can accommodate your dietary preferences. Our meals are always a treasured part of this program as they are abundant, locally sourced, and delicious! 

Sleeping

Camping is included in the event registration costs. Campers have access to showers and toilets at the Mothership. There are guest bedrooms in the Mothership and additional residential dwellings on the land that carry additional costs. A list of available beds on site, as well as other local options, is available at this link.

After registering, you will be immediately invited to reserve accommodations on site.

Work-trade and Accessibility

We are available to set up a payment plan if needed.

Work-trade is available for additional kitchen support and facility cleanup at $15/hour.

We have a limited number of partial-scholarship awards, and you can view the scholarship application here. Scholarships are given on a rolling basis as funds allow, and priority will be given to those who belong to groups that have been, or are currently, systemically marginalized, racialized, or underserved.

Please be in touch at info@dreamingstone.org if you are interested in any of the above options.

Schedule

subject to change

Friday

• 3-6pm Arrival
• Opportunity for a tour of the land
• 6 – Dinner
• 7:30-9pm – Intro session

Saturday

• 8 Breakfast
• 9:30am-12pm Morning Session
• 12-3pm Lunch/Break – optional activities
• 3-5:30pm Afternoon Session
• 6 Dinner
• 8-10pm Open Jam with Guided Warm up

Sunday

• 8:30 Breakfast
• 10am-1pm Morning Session and closing circle
• 1-2pm Lunch
• 1:30-4pm – Goodbyes and Departure

Share on Social Media

The Instructors

emily liptow

emily liptow (she/they) is a multidisciplinary movement artist and facilitator originally from the Lake Erie watershed (Cleveland, OH) and currently based alongside the Eno River (Durham, NC). She was first introduced to contact improvisation while studying engineering in college and since then has been following a feeling to deepen her studies and widen her community, finding her way into CI communities on the East Coast, the Pacific Northwest, Oberlin OH, Costa Rica, Italy, and Germany. She recently earned her MFA in Dance at Duke University and has been teach CI through Living Arts Collective in Durham and supporting the Cleveland CI jam. Alongside CI, their practice is shaped by training in western contemporary dance, capoeira, Aikido, Tai Chi, circle singing and physical theater. For em, CI has been a container for research and play, nurturing intimacy with the body, gravity, the present moment, and neurodivergent ways of being. Moving with other bodies is one of their most favorite things to do, though dancing with trees comes in as a very close second. www.emliptow.com

Michele Torino Hower

Michele’s relationship with Contact Improvisation has evolved over the past 25 years alongside her study of Contemporary Dance and Somatic Practices.  As Michele followed her desire to dance (and unlock the meaning of life!), she studied in Boston with Debra Bluth, in New Mexico with Bill Evans and in NYC with KJ Holmes and Barbara Mahler.  Many other teachers have shaped Michele’s approach to dance, including: Kirstie Simpson, Jeanine Durning, Ruth Zapora, Anna Halprin and Nita Little, among others.  Michele teaches dance for a love of exploring and expressing what is beyond words.  She believes the world would benefit from more deeply embodied humans.  With an MFA in Dance, a 500-hr Yoga Teacher certification she has taught movement to children and adults and is currently practicing as a Somatic Therapist.