Jun 7-13 San Luis, Costa Rica
Healing music & dance immersion
What to Expect
land-based healing music and dance, sacred ecology, and ecosystem restoration in a tropical forest
Dance with your feet on the Earth and your hands in the soil
June 7-13 in san luis, costa rica
We blend guided music and dance classes, ecosystem restoration, ceremony and sacred rest —so the experience feels focused, educational, healing, and fluid. We will cultivate a sense of play and discovery as we connect in a tropical forest.
❋ Afro-Brazilian, Samba & Creative Dance Classes
Dance, sing and play in rhythm, in collaboration with beautiful land and a group of open-hearted people. All movement experiences are accompanied by live music & voice.
❋ Brazilian Percussion & Song Classes
❋ Reconnecting with Land
This immersion takes place on a 40-acre forest with a river running through it. This previous farm land is being healed and restored with intention and ceremony. Be part of the process of repairing this ecosystem, with artistry.
❋ A Nourishing Experience
Three farm-to-table meals are provided each day, with local ingredients prepared by an on-site chef.
why we created this experience
When we gather in harmony and connection to make music, dance with our feet on the Earth, and dig our hands into the soil, the mycelium in the soil responds. The trees witness our return to the land. The Earth comes rushing in.
This land-based music and dance immersion is a chance to reconnect: with yourself, with the land, and with your innate, playful sense of rhythm and artistry.
In modern society, we have forgotten we are part of nature. This immersion is a chance to return to the land and remember that through music-making, movement, and connection, we have the power to heal together, with the land.
We are dancers, vocalists and musicians with over 80 years collective experience studying and teaching Brazilian music and dance forms. These forms are rooted in Afro-Indigenous wisdom - rhythms and dances that call us home and teach us how to embody the natural elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water. These art forms teach us how to connect our feet to the Earth.
After years of study, instruction and performance on stages and studios, we are taking this work outside, to dance with the land, sing with the river, make music with the wind, and play songs around the campfire.
THIS IS NOT A RETREAT.
We are not running away from our lives. This is a return - a chance to immerse yourself in the rich biodiversity of a tropical cloud forest while engaging in a deep art form that leads back to indigenous and ancestral wisdom. It’s a chance to to engage in sacred ecology, build ceremony and belonging, and remember you are a dancer, a music-maker, and an Earth healer.
This daily flow is subject to change - we are moving with the Earth, so scheduled activities and timing may change.
Daily flow
We have created a thoughtful itinerary that includes healing movement, artistic instruction, three farm-to-table meals, land engagement and sacred rest each day.
Morning Yoga
7:30-8:30am
Breakfast
8:30-9:30am
Dance Class
9:30-11:00am
Lunch
12:00pm
Afternoon Siesta
1:00-2:00pm
Outdoor Dance Activity
2:00 - 3:00pm
Brazilian Percussion Class
3:30-5:00pm
Dinner
6:00pm
Songs Around the Campfire
8:00pm
ACCOMMODATIONS
Participants will be guests at the beautiful Rancho De Lelo, a short walk away from our ceremonial and class space known as “Aurora.” Once you arrive to the immersion site, you will not need to drive or ride in a vehicle for the entire week.
DANCE classes
Daily dance classes with Lorin Hansen, founder of Samba Fogo and Return Dance Project. Dance classes will be rooted in the Samba and Afro-Brazilian dance lineage, a lineage that leads us back to the land and teaches us how to embody the Earth’s natural elements. Each day we will have one samba class in a stunning studio, and one land-based creative movement practice out on the land. Feeling our awe and our grief, we will dance with our bare feet on the Earth, create dances in the river, feel our bodies as part of the forest, and move with the wind. All dance activities will be accompanied by live music, with musicians Chiny Naranjo, Mason Aeschbacher, and Francisco Marques accompanying our dance journey with various instruments and vocal techniques.
No previous dance experience is necessary - all dance ability levels are welcome and encourage to explore, discover, and feel. What takes place is a moving of emotion and energy, through the body, in community. This is dance geared toward healing and rooted into the land.
BRAZILIAN music classes
Brazilian percussion, song, and music classes will be held each day, with instructor Francisco Marques. Learn to play various Brazilian percussion instruments like Pandeiro, Agogo, Tamborim, and Surdo, and learn some simple call-and-response songs. Classes will be lighthearted, joyful, community-based and designed to include everyone.
Francisco “Fran” is known for his lighthearted ability to teach musical skills to beginners and intermediate players alike. Everyone, regardless of previous percussion or musical experience, should plan to pick up a new instrument and learn new musical skills during this immersion!
MEALS
Three farm-to-table meals will be provided each day, prepared on site by a local chef. Meals will be made with your dietary needs in mind.
ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION & SACRED ECOLOGY
Aurora sits on former farmland. This formerly degraded land is now a biodiverse jungle-forest full of life, due to the intentional work of landowner, restoration ecologist Karen Gordon. Karen refers to herself as a “Sacred Ecologist,” as she finds soul, purpose and spirit in connecting with the land under her feet. Together, we will help Karen in her quest to restore this landscape, sequester carbon, and bolster biodiversity, We will use dance movements, song, live music and ecosystem restoration techniques to to create habitat for a wide array of birds, insects and animals. We will help Karen sing this land back to life, using our voices, our instruments, and our dancing bodies.
MEET THE FACILITATORS
CULMINATING CELEBRATION
We explore the possibilities beyond this moment, making space for growth, action, and forward momentum. As we end our time together, we honor the experience, the growth, and the connections made along the way, with a night of music and dance performance and connection.