Calendar

Calendar is continually updated. Scroll down to see all seasonal listings and workshop descriptions.

WINTER/SPRING 2012

For Adults: 
3.4 Visual Art for Expressive Arts Practitioners, Parts I & II
3.24 Creative Transition: Women in Midlife Converse Through Dance
3.31 Tamalpa Life/Art Process with Children
4.15 Mess Ups & Mistakes: Unpacking the Inner Critic
4.28 Everyplace Dances: Point Reyes, California

For Children:
Girls Night Out, monthly group for girls
Green Team

SUMMER 2012

For Adults: 
6.18-6.28 Tamalpa Institute Summer Workshop
6.24 Creative Transition: Women in Midlife Converse Through Dance
7.2-7.7 Interplay: Linking Life, Art and Professional Practice, Lake Constance, Switzerland
7.9-7.13 Everyplace Dances: Tuscany, Sequerciani, Maremma, Italy
7.31-8.4 Crosscurrents, Brittany, France
8.7-8.11 City Dance Edinburgh, workshops & performance, Festival Fringe, Scotland
8.11 Performance of City Dance Edinburgh, Scotland

For Children:
Girls Night Out, monthly group for girls

AUTUMN 2012

To Be Announced

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WORKSHOP DESCRIPTIONS

WINTER/SPRING 2012

For Adults:

3.4 Visual Art for Expressive Arts Practitioners, Parts I & II

Gain a basic understanding of visual art and experience basic art techniques that can be applied to your personal and professional expressive art practices. Part I of this workshop is a condensed ART 101 course! It includes fundamentals of visual arts, including lecture on art materials and techniques as well as experiential activities. It is highly recommended as a foundation for those who are not familiar with the study of visual arts, but seek greater understanding and ease. The focus of this class is art education; it is not intended for personal artistic expression.

When: 10:00AM-2:30PM, March 4
Where: To be announced
Cost: $45 plus $10 materials fee; cost includes art materials and a handbook of art information to take home.

Part II of this workshop is designed for those who have completed Part I. We will focus on specific materials and projects to be used in specific teaching situations. For examples: Materials and projects to be used with 'beginner' groups and materials and projects when teaching in nature. Participants are welcome to email Taira in advance with requests on what to cover.

When: 3:00PM-6:00PM, March 4
Where: To be announced (same venue as above)
Cost: $35 plus $10 materials fee; cost includes art materials and more information for your handbook.

These two half day workshops are designed for Tamalpa Institute students and graduates. If you are not a Tamalpa student or grad and you would like to take this workshop, please contact Taira.

3.24 Creative Transition: Women in Midlife Converse Through Dance 

Join Taira Restar MA, RSME and Marybeth Weinstock PhD, BC-DMT as we explore, dialogue, and celebrate the passage of a woman's body into and through midlife with verbal and non-verbal creative expression. Breath and somatic movement, improvisational dance, drawing, writing, and play will be used to communicate, enliven, and broaden creative expression.

This workshop is open to all women who are in mid-life. It is of particular interest to artists, dancers, therapists, educators, mothers, and anyone interested in living life more fully. Those with and without previous dance and arts experience are equally welcome.

Creative Transition is offered seasonally. Each workshop focused on a theme, which is relevant to the season.

10:30AM – 4:30PM
$95; two work exchange positions available, please inquire
Western Sky Studio, Berkeley, CA

e-flier on Marybeth's web site: http://creativetransition.net/Workshops.aspx

3.31 Tamalpa Life/Art Process with Children

Designed for Tamalpa Institute Level 2 Training students and graduates, this workshop is a day of experiential learning on using Tamalpa Life/Art Process with children.

Our day will include:

Experiencing scores for children-- put together as a sample class.
A slide show of children in Taira's classes enacting various scores.
Handouts and discussion on how to communicate with parents, props, reference books, and scores for children's classes.
Looking at examples of scores that children have created themselves.
Open Question/Answer.
If time allows, participants to create a score for children.

Taira has offered the Tamalpa Life/Art Process and the Halprin Approach to Movement & Dance to parents, families, and children ranging from infants to teens. Participants are welcome to bring their questions and to request in advance for particular topics to be covered.

When: March 31, 2012; 10:30AM-3:30PM
Where: Mountain Home Studio, Kentfield, CA
Cost: $60; includes art materials and handouts

4.15 Mess Ups & Mistakes: Unpacking The Inner Critic

All of us have an inner voice that judges in varying degrees of harshness. Professional artists experience blocks. Beginners are paralyzed by fears and cannot begin. What if you were able to view and appreciate the Inner Critic as a piece of art? What if you were able to get to know you Inner Critic and eventually treasure it? Sound impossible? Facilitator Taira Restar has done just that!

Using the Tamalpa Life/Art Process as a container, this workshop will include movement warm-ups, movement interludes, art making, reflection and writing. With respect, care, humor and a light touch, we will explore the Inner Critic and invite it into a new relationship. Along the way, we'll make a few mistakes …just for fun!

April 15, 10:30AM-2:30PM.
$45 plus $10 materials fee.
Held at O'Hanlon Center for the Arts, Mill Valley, CA. www.ohaloncenter.org
To reserve your place contact O'Hanlon office: 415-388-4331 or office@ohanloncenter.org.
Contact Taira for details.

4.28 Everyplace Dances: Point Reyes, California

Join Taira Restar and special guest Claire Peaslee for an immersion into the wild of Point Reyes! We will begin with opening the senses and interactive stories of Point Reyes told by local naturalist and improv artist, Claire Peaslee (www.clairepeaslee.net). We will continue with Taira for artistic play, and ensemble with trees, sand, sunlight, fresh ocean air, and local birds. We will embody Point Reyes through delicious local foods served for lunch.

How will the wild wisdom of Point Reyes gift you? What gift will you leave behind?

This is the first in the year-long workshop series, Everyplace Dances. Taira, who lives in Point Reyes, is delighted to open this series in the place she calls home. And equally delighted to collaborate with her wild and talented colleague, Claire Peaslee.

Out of love for their home and community, Taira and Claire will offer this workshop on a sliding scale from $35-$125, including organic lunch. No one will be turned away due to lack of funds. And for those with financial resources, feel free to pay tuition for those who can not afford to pay.

Saturday, April 28 10:00AM-5:00PM; outdoor location to be announced; pre-registration required.
Contact Taira for more information and to register.

Many types of lodging available in the Point Reyes Station area, including the Point Reyes Hostel http://norcalhostels.org/reyes/

Beautiful synchronicity: April 27, 28 & 29 is the Point Reyes Birding And Nature Festival. Check www.pointreyesbirdingfestival.org for information.

For Children:

Girls Night Out: A Monthly Group for Girls.
Join Taira and a group of lively girls for Saturday night fun—cooking, art making, self-portait making, creative writing projects, walks, games, friendship skills, and discussion. "My intention for this group is to provide a fun, creative, safe space for girls to express themselves in a variety of ways. My hope is that the girls will find support within themselves, in one another, in me, and through their creativity as they move into the challenges of adolescence."

For girls 9-11 years old.

One Saturday night per month; 5:00PM-8:00PM; $25 per night.
Participants commit to six months at a time. For more information, contact Taira.

Green Team And The Action Of Stewardship

Green Team, created by Madeline Hope and co-facilitated by Madeline Hope and Taira Restar, focuses on environmental awareness and the practice of stewardship at WMS and around the town of Point Reyes. Offered on minimum school days, Green Team includes green art and fun movement activities. It is open to all students at West Marin School. For more information, contact Taira.

SUMMER 2012

6.18-6.28 Tamalpa Institute Summer Workshop

A special one-time workshop bringing together the two co-founders of Tamalpa Institute, dance and expressive arts pioneers Anna Halprin and Daria Halprin, in a summer workshop with Dance And Life/Art Dialogues. The culminating 2 days, based on the work of Lawrence Halprin on scoring and movement in nature, will be led by Tamalpa Institute core faculty member, Taira Restar.

Held at Anna Halprin's Mountain Home Studio in Marin County, CA.
$1,200.00, including art materials. Accommodations list provided.

For more information and to register, contact the Tamalpa Institute: www.tamalpa.org

6.24 Creative Transition: Women in Midlife Converse Through Dance 

Join Taira Restar MA, RSME and Marybeth Weinstock PhD, BC-DMT as we explore, dialogue, and celebrate the passage of a woman's body into and through midlife with verbal and non-verbal creative expression. Breath and somatic movement, improvisational dance, drawing, writing, and play will be used to communicate, enliven, and broaden creative expression.

This workshop is open to all women who are in mid-life. It is of particular interest to artists, dancers, therapists, educators, mothers, and anyone interested in living life more fully. Those with and without previous dance and arts experience are equally welcome.

Creative Transition is offered seasonally. Each workshop focused on a theme, which is relevant to the season.

10:30AM – 4:30PM
$95
workshop venue or outdoor location TBA
To see workshop e-flier visit Marybeth's web site: http://creativetransition.net/Workshops.aspx

7.2-7.7 Interplay: Linking Life, Art and Professional Practice, Lake Constance, Switzerland

What is the interplay between inner and outer awareness? Between awareness and quality of experience? Between personal and professional life? Between life and art?

Interplay is a residential summer workshop designed for those who work in the helping professions, such as therapy, education and the healing arts. Facilitators, Ken Otter and Taira Restar, will introduce the Tamalpa Life/Art Process, an inter-modal expressive arts approach created by dance pioneer Anna Halprin and developed at the Tamalpa Institute.

For personal and professional enrichment, participants will engage in:

sensory awareness and movement
dance in and as nature
poetic writing
drawing and painting.

These experiences will be placed in the context of working with others through:

lecture and discussion
inquiry and creative reflection.

Away from the demands of daily life, Interplay offers personal creativity and rejuvenation through art and movement practices as well as professional development. Interplay invites us-- and those we serve-- to live life more fully.

Interplay will be assisted by Angela Niederer. German/English translation available.

Held at Glarisegg Schloss (www.schloss-glarisegg.ch) on Lake Constance, an ideal location amidst forests, waterfalls, and a private beach. Located only 25 miles/40 kilometers from Zurich. Costs for tuition and for lodging and food in Swiss Francs:

Tuition CHF 530. {CHF 480 early registration through April; CHF 480 for Tamalpa graduates.}

Lodging and food CHF 435-585 for organic vegetarian meals and 5 nights lodging.

For questions and registration: niederer.angela@gmail.com
For additional information on the teaching team, contact Taira.
For information on Tamalpa Institute, www.tamalpa.org

7.9-7.13 Everyplace Dances: Tuscany, Italy

"The five senses are the ministers of the soul." ~Leonardo da Vinci

Imagine an ensemble of rolling hills and valleys, oak and olive trees, panoramic vistas, tranquil corners, fresh air, and golden light. Just beyond is a medieval village, Tatti, untouched by time. This place is Sequerciani, Land of Oaks, and it is inviting you to dance.

Taste the sensuality and enduring beauty of Sequerciani, Tuscany. Open your senses and immerse yourself in its rhythms. Listen deeply. Breathe fully. Reconnect to your human beingness. Allow this place to spark your creativity and story your life.

In this summer workshop, facilitated by Ken Otter and Taira Restar, we will explore self/place portrait making through movement, drawing and painting, land art, poetic writing, and dance with and as nature. We will engage in Tamalpa Life/Art Process®, a multi-modal approach created by Anna Halprin and Daria Halprin and developed at Tamalpa Institute.

No previous arts experience needed. Everyone welcome. €375 includes 5-day tuition, art supplies, and some meals of fresh local foods-- to savor! List of local lodging provided.

Everyplace Dances: Tuscany will be assisted by Julie Simonsen. Italian/English translation available. No previous arts experience needed; everyone welcome.

For questions, accommodations list, and registration, contact Taira.

7.31-8.4 Crosscurrents: A Summer Workshop with Dance, Art, Writing and Performance at the Sea

Join Taira Restar on the beautiful coast of Brittany, France, for an immersion into creative currents.

Participants will flow between:

Sensory Awareness and Somatic Movement
Moving Meditation
Dance with and as Nature
Sacred Play and Movement-based Ritual
Painting and Land Art
Ritual Performance
Poetic Writing and Reflection.

Participants will bring home resources to integrate into their:

Daily inner and outer life
Arts practice
Spiritual practice.

Crosscurrents is a flowing together of Taira Restar's Sacred Play work with the Tamalpa Life/Art Process®, an inter-modal expressive arts approach created by Anna Halprin and Daria Halprin and developed at Tamalpa Institute. Participants-- individually and as a group-- will add to the dynamic flow. We will work in an indoor studio that overlooks the sea as well as with beautiful outdoor locations. Those with and without previous arts experience welcome; returning participants also welcome.

When: Please note dates for this workshop are being determined. Dates will be July 31 - August 4 or July 30-August 3. Check back with Taira for dates. Thank you!
Where: Trégunc, Finistère, Bretagne, France
Cost: €315; €275 Euros for Tamalpa Institute graduates.
Lodging: local camping, dormitory and other lodging self-organized by participants at additional cost.
Registration: Marie Motais & Compagnie Alluna at www.compagniealluna.com

8.7-8.11 City Dance Edinburgh Workshops & Performance, Festival Fringe,  Scotland 
City Dance Edinburgh will return to the Fringe this summer! Based on Anna Halprin's City Dance (San Francisco, 1977), City Dance Edinburgh will claim the entire city as a "found" stage and its residents activities as "found" choreography. For information on these workshops and performance: www.citydance-edinburgh.org

8.11 Performance of City Dance Edinburgh
Please visit the City Dance Edinburgh web site for performance information: www.citydance-edinburgh.org

For Children:

One Saturday night per month; 5:00PM-8:00PM; $25 per night.
Participants commit to six months at a time. For more information, contact Taira.

AUTUMN 2012

For Adults: 
TBA Creative Transition: Women in Midlife Converse Through Dance
Join Taira Restar MA, RSME and Marybeth Weinstock PhD, BC-DMT as we explore, dialogue, and celebrate the passage of a woman's body into and through midlife with verbal and non-verbal creative expression. Breath and somatic movement, improvisational dance, drawing, writing, and play will be used to communicate, enliven, and broaden creative expression.

This workshop is open to all women who are in mid-life. It is of particular interest to artists, dancers, therapists, educators, mothers, and anyone interested in living life more fully. Those with and without previous dance and arts experience are equally welcome.

Creative Transition is offered seasonally. Each workshop focused on a theme, which is relevant to the season.
10:30AM – 4:30PM
$95 per workshop
Contact Taira for workshop location
More information: http://creativetransition.net/Workshops.aspx

Other Autumn Workshops and Classes for Adults TBA.

For Children:

TBA Girls Night Out, monthly group for girls
Girls Night Out: A Monthly Group for Girls.
Join Taira and a group of lively girls for Saturday night fun—cooking, art making, self-portraiting, walks, games, creative writing projects, and discussion. "My intention for this group is to provide a fun, creative, safe space for girls to express themselves in a variety of ways. My hope is that the girls will find support within themselves, in one another, in me, and through their creativity as they move into the challenges of adolescence."
One Saturday per month; 5:00PM-8:00PM; $25 per night; Participants commit to six months at a time; Point Reyes Station, CA. For more information, contact Taira.

Other Autumn Classes For Children TBA