Nia Dance, Alexander Technique and Vocal Immersion Weekend!
Join us from 12 pm Friday 26 till 2 pm Sunday 28 April 2019
Immerse yourself in a nourishing weekend of movement, stillness, sound and song in the beautiful seaside village of Inverloch.
Nia with Black Belt Jacinta Birchall and Blue Belt Santha Press
Alexander Technique with Jane Coker
Vocal Mind Movement with Santha Press
Each day will include a session each of Nia, Voice and Alexander Technique, each session building on or enhancing the previous.
Classes can also be taken as drop in or as a series – Eg: if you want to come for the weekend but only want to do Alexander Technique, you can book and pay for just that. A class schedule will be released closer to the date.
Basic accomodation twin-share mostly, good food and workshop fees for the weekend: $340 – $380
(Limit of 12 places – only for those wanting to do the full program).
Or manage your own accomodation and food and come along to classes (there’s a great caravan park next to the hall and plenty of AirBNBs in the area).
The hall is on the beautiful Inverloch waterfront and it is a short walk to the accomodation and town centre.
Early bird prices will be available until 17 March.
| Early Bird | Full | |
| Full weekend – includes accom & catering | $340 | $380 |
| Full weekend – workshops only | $130 | $150 |
| 3 session pass | $50 | $60 |
| Drop in class $20 |
Draft schedule:
Friday 26 April
12:00pm Arrive and settle in
1:00pm Lunch
2:00 pm Intros and expectations
3:00 pm Arvo tea
3:30 pm Singing
4:45 pm Intro to Alexander & Voice
5:15 pm Walk to Hall
5:30 pm Intro to Alexander & Voice
6:30 pm Classic Nia class
8:00 pm Dinner
Evening Board games, cards & music making
Saturday 27 April
9:00 am Alexander
10:30 am Morning tea – light!
11:00 am Classic Nia
1:00 pm Lunch
3:00 pm Sing
5:00 pm Break
7:00 pm Dinner
Evening Board games, cards & music making
Sunday 28 April
9:00 am 5 Stages / Alexander
10:00 am Morning tea – light!
10:30 am Classic Nia
11:45 am Sing (merge straight from Nia)
1:00 pm Lunch and goodbyes
2:00 pm Clean & depart
Workshop Facilitators:
Santha Press
Last year I travelled to Inverloch to participate in one of Jane Coker’s Alexander Technique retreats. I had a wonderful, relaxing, fun time staying in this beautiful town, with great people, enjoying good food and learning much about how much more I could do to feel well. Alexander Technique is a foundation of Nia and Jane is a singing colleague from way back, so the plan was hatched to collaborate and here we are six months later!
I have always wanted to bring Nia together with my vocal work and this weekend presents that opportunity. My focus is always first and foremost on relaxation and inclusive participation and EVERYONE is welcome to join in. Especially those who think they can’t!
Jacinta Birchall
I have been practicing Nia for over 14 years and have completed a number of levels of training, including White, Green, Blue, Brown and Black Belts, plus Moving to Heal and Nia 5 Stages. I am excited to be bringing you my love and knowledge of Nia and the Nia 5 Stages to our weekend retreat.
The 5 Stages was designed to take our bodies through the elemental stages of human development: Embryonic, Creeping, Crawling, Standing and Walking. Each stage holds the potential for healing on many levels. Through this work I have personally brought healing to my hips and spine, psoas, posture and alignment to name a few. The work is subtle and is designed to make incremental improvements to the whole body. We will be using methods to measure these improvements and to track our progress. I will also supply support material so you can continue to use the 5 Stages at home. I feel this will be a lovely addition to the body of work Santha, Jane and myself will be sharing with you.
Jane Coker
My passion for getting people singing and making music together has been strong since my teens, and I have been leading singing workshops and teaching singing for a long time, but only since learning Alexander technique have I really been able to offer people effective tools for improving their singing and playing, as well as their speaking and their confidence in doing it in front of others.
The added bonus for me (and the reason I began to learn Alexander Technique) has been an end to 20 years of severe and debilitating back pain and a new found capacity both to exercise and to relax.
I have been deeply involved in developing leadership programs which enable ordinary people to get group singing and music activities happening in their own communities, with nothing more needed to get started than a love for singing and music and a belief that everyone has the capacity to participate if the activity is designed with inclusiveness as its guiding principle.
Vocal Mind Movement 