Hero Journeys Workshops and Beyond
Not all of my residencies or workshops are in elementary or middle schools. I have also worked for universities, for summer dance and educational programs, as well as offering workshops and classes for the general public. Here are a few examples:
Personal Growth/Creative Process Classes
In October of 2010 I offered a series of evening classes for the general public at Art & Soul, titled “Stoking the Fire.” Our group used creative writing and movement to explore our passions and dreams, and reconnect to and nurture what inspires us. Many of us were deeply moved by our personal discoveries and those of other members of the group. Here are a couple of the personal visions that were created during the last class:
What has awakened in me feels like a river voyage.
What matters is nearer than near….
Physical symptoms.
Authentic discovery.
A taste of the sacred truth
Giving birth to the music inside, creating love-play…
My soul’s expression.
~
From the Cosmos
Came the perseverance of a most magnificent struggle
The kind that imagination longs for,
a deep unfolding of a soul growing.
The staying power that only courage brings.
As I step off the threshold of all I have ever known
I have enormous affection for the one I know
as me.
In January I offered a class series entitled “Filling the Cup” at Art & Soul, in which we utilized movement, visual art and writing to explore our communities, boundaries and our personal sanctuaries. I thoroughly enjoyed going on this journey with the participants.
Vanderbilt University, Consecration of North House, The Commons, August 2008
Dr. Gregory Barz, ethnomusicologist and Faculty Head of House of North House, hired me to collaborate with him and help facilitate an experience which would introduce the seven principals of the Commons Creed to the 175 freshmen students living in North House, associate those principals with the architecture of the building, introduce and establish a rite of passage ritual and consecrate the space as sacred ground. We were joined by my respected colleague, Lynne Bachleda, and Greg’s brilliant wife Mona Barz. This was an interactive experience in which students created tangible representations of their dreams for adventures, participated in a ritual of accomplishment, discussed and created a permanent display of the symbolism of the architecture, and created the first ever “North House Music” using the most indigenous instrument known to humans – their bodies.
Hero Journeys Workshops, an ongoing, collaborative project
After working
and creating together for nearly a decade, writer F. Lynne Bachleda; visual artist Rising Moon Bishop; director, composer, and performer Jill Massie; and choreographer and dancer Amanda Cantrell Roche formed Hero Journeys Workshops. With almost 60 years of combined teaching artistry experience, this happy tribe has inspired, guided, prodded, surprised, and enlivened learners of all ages through playful, meaningful, and transformative aesthetic experiences. To do the heavy lifting they confidently rely on the power of multiple arts disciplines, everyone’s instinctive creativity, and life’s great themes.
Hero Journeys Workshops are personal growth, arts workshops designed for adult learners. They are offered to the community at large, but also can be commissioned by corporations and organizations. We launched our first day-long workshop, “The Hero’s Journey,” at Art & Soul on January 16th, 2010 and received enthusiastic response and feedback.