SURPRISE FARM RETREAT CENTER
Dance and Movement- From the Inside Out
SOTOMOTION
WEEKEND WORKSHOP
Sat., Sept. 21, 10:00am - Sun., Sept. 22, 5:00pm
We are proud to host world-known somatic practitioner and guide Gary Hoffman Soto, for a two-day SFRC workshop of Sotomotion. With Awareness in movement, from moment to moment, we will explore and improvise. In the surround of nature, we will embody MuShin, no mind.
Please see Sotomotion.com for description of workshops he is facilitating in Europe this summer.
We are a part of Nature and not separate from it. This course will introduce exercises and practices to open and cultivate our internal environment, our human nature, and how we can translate and blend with the Nature around us.
The course will include Somatics (Aware and Mindful movement and dance); Improvisation, both in the inside space and the outdoor space; and The Dance of MuShin.
The term MuShin is used in the Japanese Martial Arts to describe the state of embodiment.
After you learn something through the BodyMindSpirit, you own it in your body, not your thoughts. It becomes part of one’s unconscious mind. Once you learn to ride, you just get on the bike and ride.
“Nature just is. A tree is not trying to be a tree-- it is a tree. That is what we are practicing in MuShin. A practice in being human, a human being, and not a human doing. Not an easy task!”
IMPORTANT WORKSHOP INFO
-- Workshop limited to 20 participants, register early
-- Please bring, re-fillable water bottles rather than plastic
ones.
-- In addition to Movement clothing, shoes for hiking, long
pants. Bring layers for after sunset, and a flashlight.
Facilities
-- Amenities include bathrooms and full kitchen, shaded areas.
-- Overnight accommodations:
Glamping yurt tents with queen mattresses ($80.00/ tent)
Or, bring your own sleeping bag for a comfortable cot in
Kodiak stand-up tent (double occupancy, $25.00/person)
more info under glamping and tenting
-- Morning coffee and breakfast makings available.
INCLUDES 2 LUNCHES and Sat DINNER
$220.00/person or
$330.00/2 friends
G Hoffman Soto has been involved in Movement Arts for over 48 years, including post-modern dance, African and Brazilian Dance, Japanese Butoh, and various movement disciplines. In parallel, he has studied Martial Arts for 47 years
Soto’s study includes an array of Movement and Dance disciplines-- Martial Arts, hands-on Body Work systems, and NeuroMuscular Re-Patterning techniques.
In 1979 Soto began teaching and performing throughout Europe. Additionally, he has taught in Canada, Lebanon, Japan, New Zealand, Hong Kong, South Korea, China, and Australia.
Soto was a member of the team that created and shaped the Tamalpa Life/Art Training. He developed and taught both Somatics and Experiential and Embodied Anatomy at New College of California for 25 years.
He conceived and presented five three-year training programs in Germany in Movement Awareness, Ideokinesis, and The Fighting and Talking Sticks (a Martial Art and Dance System based on the Filipino Martial Arts, rhythm and dance). Additionally, he presented two-year trainings in the Talking and Fighting Sticks, Chinese Fan and Tai Yi Chuan Swimming Dragon, an unique Tai Qi/Qi Gong form. He has led two-year training programs in Somatics and the Creative Process in Australia, Austria, France and Switzerland.