BODY AND EARTH
an outdoor dance experience
with Nala Walla and Kristen Tsiatsios
at Fort Worden State Park
sponsored by Madrona Mindbody Institute

In honor of the Summer Solstice, we will explore the intimate relationship between Body and Earth. By connecting with our own bodies, we will deepen our ecological consciousness and gain inspiration for environmental stewardship. We will meet at the Madrona Mindbody Studios to communicate our outdoor movement scores for the afternoon, then move outside together in the forest and on the beach on the longest day of the year. BODY and EARTH is a community event for anyone with a desire to take their movement practice out of the studio, and into nature.

This event is a satellite of a larger festival called
SEEDS (Somatic Experiments in Earth, Dance and Science.)

SEEDS Festival is a unique interdisciplinary summer festival dedicated to arts and ecology. SEEDS cultivates innovative practices, by researching the connections between green, embodiment, justice, interconnectivity, reflection, investigation, art, science, and sacred.
SEEDS features workshops, collaborative design projects, live performances, films, panel discussions, and interdisciplinary investigations.

date/time:
WHERE: Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend WA
WHEN: Sunday, June 21st, 2009 / 1:30 - 3:30 pm
gather at Madrona Mindbody Insitute, Building 310

fee:
SUGGESTED DONATION: $10 (no one turned away)
www.madronamindbody.com

WATERHOUSE
a somatic workparty
with Nala Walla and Mark Lakeman
at the Bcollective Homestead

WATERHOUSE is a reunion of arts and architecture through place-based ceremony. Together, over a long weekend, we will weave a sacred water-house on the Bcollective homestead from materials we harvest from the forest. Mark Lakeman will offer the architectural "warp"to the natural building process, and dancer Nala Walla will shuttle the somatic "woof" to heighten awareness of our surroundings and the beauty of
bodies at work.

A main purpose of WATERHOUSE is to shift current notions of earth work and physical labor away from chores and drudgery, towards a reclaiming of the sacred linkage between play and village-building. DWELL with us in a neo-primitive place where village-building is an ongoing, embodied ritual, and a privilege of the Great Tapestry.

date/time:
WHERE: BCollective Homestead, Marrowstone Island, WA
WHEN: Saturday, August 22nd - Tuesday, August 25th

Space for this event is VERY limited. Please CALL Nala Walla for details. 360.643.3747

fee:
SUGGESTED DONATION: $10 (no one turned away)

For an exploration of the emerging field of ecosomatics, and an investigation on how we create (or fail to create!) boundaries with technology, please read the multimedia document below.

This report was compiled for Gaia University as part of my masters program in Integrative Arts and Ecology.

Click here to link to full report

date/time: May 2009

Body and Technology Questionnaire
compiled by Nala Walla | Gaia University | January 2009
click here to download survey (word Doc)

Conversation on Creating Boundaries with Technology-Nov 2008
Gaia University Masters Students in Integrative Ecosocial Design
LISTEN NOW, courtesy of Internet Archive Service


Background Information
In modern Western countries, even as we sit squarely in the center of the digital revolution, many of us can still remember a time, not all that long ago, when our livelihoods, our communication, and our recreation did not depend on digital technologies.
Both the pace and scope of change in our lives brought about by megatechnology are unprecedented in human history. While it is clear that millions of people, businesses and insitutions all over the world use and enjoy modern technology, many are unsure about how to create useful and healthy boundaries with this exciting and fast-moving world. While we are often well-informed about the benefits technology has to offer, an adequate assessment of the negative effects (both potential and real) upon our bodies and health at several levels—individual, social, planetary—has yet to be made.

•our INDIVIDUAL BODIES—eyestrain | back pain | racing heart | headaches | exposure to ElectroMagnetic Fields | advertising pollution | workplace monotony
•the SOCIAL BODY—slave labor conditions in building, maintaining, and dissassembling technology | cultural cloning—the homogenizing effect of technologies upon indigenous cultures | alienation from body, family, traditional skills, and the natural world.
•the GAIAC BODY of planet Earth—computer manufacturing byproducts polluting rivers, oceans, and even outer “space” | massive piles of cell phones and computers awaiting “recycling” | computerized weaponry, industrial and hospital waste | massive landscaping to make way for technology: roads, powerlines, cell phone towers, nuclear plants, etc.

I am interested in creating discussion and conducting research about this very relevant topic of Body and Technology. Below is a questionnaire about your relationship to and experiences with digital technologies. Please answer as elaborately or simply as you choose. I will keep all responses completely anonymous. Please email or snail mail your questionnaire to me as you prefer at the addresses below. Thank you for your participation in this timely research.

For further information:
book: In The Absence of the Sacred: The Failure of Technology and the Survival of the Indian Nations by Jerry Mander
book: HighTech Wasteland by Elizabeth Grossman
film: Manufactured Landscapes by Jennifer Baichwal and Edward Burtynsky

Please turn on your ears! we are pleased to announce the arrival of the official full-length album for the Harmonica Pocket Children's Show--Ecoeducational performances by Bcollective Bees Keeth Apgar and Nala Walla. 16 musicians and 13 kids collaborated on this album under Keeth's direction. Give a listen!

Ladybug One is an album that kids and grown-ups can listen to together, and was recorded off-grid at the Bcollective homestead's solar powered studios. Get ready for some fun!

To order a copy of Ladybug one, please visit CDbaby

To sample some free mp3s from Ladybug One, click here

The Village Building Convergence 2009 (VBC9) is a 10-day event in which neighborhoods activate to build shared public places that they have envisioned, designed, funded, and will maintain for themselves. VBC9 will include hands-on education in permaculture design and construction, ecological building, and public art. All projects are built through collaboration, community conversations and commitment of a neighborhood to strengthen itself. Everyone is invited to attend evening events at a central location, to participate in workshops or listen to visionaries speak about various aspects of sustainable culture.

As part of this incredible 10days of activated world change, Nala Walla will offer a Bodyversity presentation and workshop: we will play bodybased games and improvisation exercises to which encourage a true embodiment of ecoliteracy and earth activism.

date/time: Entire 10 day festival: June 5 - June 14th, 2009
Evening presentation by Nala Walla: Sunday, June 7th, 7:45-8:45pm
Music with Harmonica Pocket (Nala and Keeth): Sunday, June 7th, 9-10pm
Embodied Activist Workshop with Nala Walla: Monday, June 8th, 2:30-4:30pm

locations: The New Day School Annex
1847 SE Clinton Street, Portland, OR 97202
LINK HERE TO CITY REPAIR WEBSITE

Ecology is at the heart of burgeoning creativity and interdisciplinary scholarship across the arts and humanities. This Symposium, together with the concurrent Festival, invites artists, scholars and activists to share their work, ideas, and passions with one another and with the larger community who attend the Festival.

The mission of "Earth Matters on Stage" is to nurture connection and collaboration among artists and scholars who share an ecological sensibility. Workshops and roundtables will address the question "How are theater artists responding to the current ecological crisis?"

As part of this innovative festival, Bcollective members will offer three workshops. Nala Walla will present a Bodyversity Curriculum, Maureen Freehill will lead a Butoh Adventure, and The Harmonica Pocket will play ecothemed music for kids.

In these sessions, we will learn to recognize our bodies as microcosms of Earthly processes, and affirm our somas to be the gateway to paradigm-shifting change. These sessions reaffirm our innate capacities to reconnect with our own bodies--zone zero-- including the social body, the bodypolitic, and the greater Gaiac body.

date/time:
Ecodrama Playwrights Festival
Entire Festival: May 21 - 31, 2009
Bcollective Offerings: May 19, 20, 21

location: University of Oregon Campus
Eugene, OR
LINK HERE TO ECODRAMA WEBSITE

As part of Gaia University's annual Gather-In for strategic world change, Nala Walla will present a daily bodyversity curriculum. As we share experiences and strategies for shifting towards a sane, just, and thriving culture, Nala will offer bodybased games and exercises to help us fully integrate this evolutionary material, encouraging a true embodiment of ecoliteracy and earth activism.

In these sessions, we will learn to recognize our bodies as microcosms of Earthly processes, and affirm our somas to be the gateway to paradigm-shifting change. These sessions reaffirm our innate capacities to reconnect with our own bodies--zone zero-- including the social body, the bodypolitic, and the greater Gaiac body.

TOPICS: neuroplasticity / the kinesphere / embodied activism / action theater / ecosomatics / developmental movement / experiential anatomy / body and earth / applied improvisation

date/time:
10 days
March 7th-16th, 2009

location: Huehuecoyotyl Ecovillage
Tepotzlan, Mexico
www.gaiauniversity.com

HOOP FOR HEALTH
a family-style workshop
with Nala Walla
at Madrona Mindbody Institute


Have you heard? Hula Hooping isn't ONLY great fun, it's good for you too! Mind, body, and soul. Improves abdominal tone, coordination, flexibility, concentration, and even digestion! And anyone can learn to hula hoop, young and old.

In this afternoon workshop, we will begin with sizing, making, and decorating our own hoops. Then we will get down to learning basic skills and tricks, play hoop games, and learning how to dance with the hoop.

No experience necessary. This workshop is suitable for all levels, and all movement styles, from gentle sustainable flow, to raucous and wild! Come prepared to sweat and have some fun. Ages 7 and up.

date/time:
Sunday, February 22, 2009
2:00-4:30pm
Madrona Mindbody Institute
Port Townsend, WA

fee:
$35 --includes hoop to take home with you
family rates available.
register early. space is limited!
contact Madrona Mindbody Institute for details and registration.
www.madronamindbody.com

SIX WEEK SERIES with Nala Walla
The Somatics of Connection: Body, Community, and Earth

so•ma (soh•mah) noun. The experience of body from within, where we perceive mind/body integration. [from Greek SOMA: "the living body."]

Giving ourselves permission to tune deeply into ourselves, we recognize our bodies to be microcosms of Earthly processes. These sessions reaffirm our innate capacities to reconnect with our own bodies, and in so doing, to expand outward and heal the isolation from community and from nature. Through a series of simple movment exercises and games, we will focus on the sensations of healing connection offered by partnering with breath, with gravity, with Earth, and with community.

date/time:
6-sessions
Thursdays 6:30-8:15
January 29 - March 5

location: Madrona Mindbody Institute, Port Townsend, WA
for fees, registration, and other info, please visit www.madronamindbody.com

In January, the Bcollective's Keeth Apgar and Nala Walla are headed back East to bring their children's show to their hometown of New York. Expect to play along with music, dance and games at Symphony Space and the Massachussetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

click here for a complete schedule of our children's performances and projects.

schedule:
saturday january 17--two shows:
symphony space
2537 broadway
new york, NY 10025
show times: 11 am, and 2 pm
click here for tickets --->>>UPDATE! BOTH SYMPHONY SPACE SHOWS SOLD OUT!
CLICK TO READ THE REVIEW IN "NEW YORKER" MAGAZINE

saturday january 24
massachusetts museum of contemporary art
MASS MoCA Club B10
87 marshall st
north adams, MA 01247
1 pm
$6
call the box office at: (413) MOCA111
or click here for tickets

For their current issue on Activism and Community, Contact Quarterly Magazine has published a article by Nala Walla entitled "The Embodied Activist: Where Permaculture Meets the Arts."

"Contact Quarterly: A Vehicle for Moving Ideas" is wonderful magazine, independently published by a dedicated group of dancers, artists and improvisors for over twenty years. Its commentaries are extremely relevant, placing moving artists squarely in the center of cultural, ethical and social change. Subscriptions help to support this important indie project. Go to www.contactquarterly.com

download as PDF

date/time: Summer 2008

location: Contact Quarterly Magazine

In collaboration with The Harmonica Pocket, the Bcollective is offering participatory performances especially for kids, sponsored by The Library Friends College. Expect to play along with music, dance and games, and get cozy at our local libraries all over Washington State, including King, Jefferson, Snohomish, Island and Clallam counties.

click here for a complete schedule of our children's performances and projects.

date/time: november 13-23, 2008

locations: libraries, bookstores, and festivals all over the Northwest Region.

Please join us for a night of butoh and butohesque performances in honor of the 102 anniversary of the birth of Butoh Master Kazuo Ohno. Performers will include Yuko Ota (Japan) Maureen Freehill (Port Townsend, WA), Vanessa Skantze and Alex Haverfield (Seattle), Nala Walla (Marrowstone Island, WA). Soundscapes will be crafted by Keeth Apgar (Marrowstone Island, WA).

date/time: Sunday October 26, 2008

locations: Masonic Temple, Port Townsend, WA

In collaboration with The Jumping Off Place (Portland, OR), The Bcollective is honored to bring a treasured teacher to the Northwest for some intensive study. This workshop will be small, and intimate, so please register early to assure your spot.

Action Theater: A Workshop in Embodied Presence

The practice of Action Theater incorporates the disciplined exploration of embodied exercises that lead to increased skills of strong, clear, spontaneous, and artful communication.

Action Theater is a tool to examine one's perceptive and responsive process, bringing awareness to and thereby disempowering distracting thoughts of self obsessions, fears, judgments and analysis. Students increase their ability to hold and express emotion, dance with their own poetry and recover lost personal material. Composition, listening and relationship are deconstructed to be reassembled with greater awareness.

Acting from a sense of play, students are encouraged to venture into transpersonal realms, accessing intelligence more encompassing and boundless than their personal experience.
Awareness and play are fundamental to the practice, as both are portals to spontaneous imagination.

TO REGISTER, CONTACT: nala@bcollective.org

For more on action theater, go to www.actiontheater.com

date/time: October 10, 11,12, 2008
Friday 5-9pm
Saturday 1:30-6:30pm
Sunday 2:30-7:30pm

location: Dance Underground
340 15th Avenue Seattle WA, 98122
www.dance-underground.com

program fee: $350 ($325 if paid by September 1st)

registration: nala@bcollective.org

scholarships: We have reserved a few slots for low-income students. Please consult the scholarship policy below, and contact Nala if you qualify.

Bcollective scholarship policy:
the Bcollective works very hard to make low-cost improvisation and expressive arts training available to everyone, regardless of income level. Please help to support this important work by considering our fee policies carefully.......

Our base fee for this workshop is $350USD. Please remember, each person who pays in full enables someone else to participate at a lower cost, where we have a few slots reserved for low-income students.

We operate on the honor system and do not require proof of income, so if you earn LESS THAN $850-$1000 per month, please contact us with a proposal for how much you can afford to pay for this workshop. If you earn above this amount, and have other circumstances which make this workshop prohibitively expensive for you, please contact us with a proposal.

Portland Workshop: for more Action Theater in the Northwest, Ruth will offer a workshop in Portland,OR, OCTOBER 15-19. Contact Mary Rose for more info.

zambonirose@gmail.com

www.thejumpingoffplace.com

•SEEDS Festival invites a diverse group of artists, movement practitioners, architects, scientists, spiritual leaders, and activists to creatively research ecology and experiential arts. At SEEDS, we will explore how physicality, practice, and science-based inquiry inform one another, through collective experimentation. The festival, itself an ecosystem, will provide a rich nexus for dialogue, reflection, and action. download SEEDS flyer here.

•"DWELL" is an transdisciplinary collaboration which will involve a week-long construction of a Teahouse Dwelling by a group of dancers, led by dancer/activist NalaWalla and visionary architect and community-builder Mark Lakeman. The week will culminate in the performance of a sacred tea ceremony in our collectively built teahouse on the Earthdance Campus.

•A main purpose of DWELL is to shift preconceived notions of “work” away from chores and drudgery, towards a more wholistic understanding of the sacred nature of community-building, play, and ceremony. Likewise, we seek to debunk current views of dance as self-indulgent or irrelevant to real-world challenges like creating sustainable society. In this merger of conventionally separate disciplines, the mcving arts will demonstrate their practicality by facilitating a lasting physical impact upon the landscape, and architecture will take on a kinetic aspect, deeply rooted in place-based ceremony instead of the mere cold abstractions of straightedges and numbers.

•Both disciplines will explore a rediscovery of their roots in village life, where no lines between dance, song, storytelling, and the daily labors of shelter and sustenance were drawn. Also, by offering efficient understanding of body ergonomics to the building process, dancers' somatic expertise will extend beyond the confines of the studio or theater, and apply to the project in a pragmatic manner. Throughout the creative process of construction, we will recall the all-too-often forgotten connection between earth and dance, between art and activism.

related websites:
www.earthdance.net/SEEDSfest
www.cityrepair.org
www.communitecture.net

date/time: 9 august - 17 august 2008

location: Earthdance Retreat Center, Plainfield, MA.

Nala will be offering an introduction to the Bodyversity as part of the sixteenth-annual Seattle Festival of Dance Improvisation. We will be infusing principles of permaculture and deep ecology into the body through presentations and bodybased games, creating community and a sense of empowerment in activism.

The festival will include intensives led by the legendary Nancy Stark Smith of Contact Improvisation fame, and author of "Body and Earth" Andrea Olsen as well as a variety of classes, jams and performances. Come take part in this amazing local opportunity to study with world-class teachers from around the world!

for more information, go to the Dance Art Group Website.

date/time: july 27- august 3th 2008

location: various studios and theaters around Seattle, WA.

Nala Walla will be back at the VBC again this year to offer presentations and workshops as part of this fabulous 10 day event of hands-on experience in creating a liveable, sustainable city. Other featured presenters and performers this year will include Starhawk, Art Ludwig, Kat Steele, Alpaca, and many, many more.

The Village Building Convergence 2008 (VBC8) is a 10-day event from Friday, May 23rd – Sunday, June 1, 2008 in which neighborhoods activate to build shared public places that they have envisioned, designed, funded, and will maintain for themselves. VBC8 will include hands-on education in permaculture design and construction, ecological building, and public art. All projects are built through collaboration, community conversations and commitment of a neighborhood to strengthen itself. Everyone is invited to attend evening events at a central location, to participate in workshops or listen to visionaries speak about various aspects of sustainable culture.

please go to the CityRepair website for more information, directions, and locations.

date/time: entire event -- may 23 - june 1, 2008

evening presentation -- sunday, may 25th, 7pm
@ Bossanova 722 E.Burnside St. Portland, OR

bodyversity workshop with Nala -- monday, may 26th, 2:30-4:30pm
@ Bossanova Ballroom 722 E. Burnside St. Portland, OR

In THE BODYVERSITY, we will consider body-based practices as a University--a place where we come to deepen our understanding and seek Unity in our education. Since our body is our primary link to the Earth, a variety of mindbody disciplines will inspire our work. Simple games based in movement, sound and story will be used to create dialogue around the pivotal Earth activism of our time: "The Great Turning" of humanity towards a just and sustainable culture.

This weekend workshop will include a presentation on the fundamentals of permaculture design by Jenny Pell, morning yoga warmups with Michael Suzerris, somatic arts and discussion facilitated by Nala Walla, as well as optional ecstatic dance, hikes, beachwalks and feasting. Many of our explorations will be loosely based around the "Reconnecting Work" of Joanna Macy and other groundbreaking whole-systems theorists.

All events will take place in spectacular Fort Worden State Park, and are accessible to every-body, welcoming a spectrum of experience and physical ability levels. The only requirement is a spirit of openess and curiosity towards our ever-evolving community. Come participate in this affordable weekend full of ecology, dance, and nature!

SCHEDULE:
May 2/3/4
Fri: 7-9pm permaculture and bodyversity introduction
Sat: 10-11 am yoga • 11am-12pm lunch
• 12-4pm bodyversity and discussions
Sun: 8:30-9:45am yoga • 10-11:30 ecstatic dance (optional/$9)
• 12:30-4 bodyversity and discussions

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

NALA WALLA merges the expressive arts with deep ecology in service of community and sustainability. She is a founder of the Bcollective, an off-grid, arts-based permaculture project on Marrowstone Island, WA.
see www.bcollective.org
MICHAEL SUZERRIS is a practicing yogi and yoga therapist, and is founder and director of the Yoga Life studios in (Greenlake and Queen Anne) Seattle.
see www.yogalife.com
JENNY PELL is a permaculture teacher and founder of THE WILDER INSTITUTE, offering hands-on permaculture education in Port Townsend, regionally, and internationally.
see www.permaculturenow.com

date/time: weekend of may 2/3/4. begins 7pm friday and runs through 4pm sunday. see aboveschedule for specific offerings.

contribution: $75 for Olympic Peninsula Residents ($65 if deposit received by April 15th)
$150 for non-residents ($125 if deposit received by April 15th)
NO ONE TURNED AWAY - please contact us if you have special financial circumstances
NOTE: FRIDAY NIGHT INTRO is open to the public. Admission $10.

pre-registration recommended:
send $35 deposit along with name, address, email address and phone # to:
Madrona Mindbody Institute (MMI)
200 Battery Way, Bldg. 310
Port Townsend, WA 98368
360.344.4475
www.madronamindbody.com
please contact MMI with questions and suggestions for accomodations.

location: Madrona Mindbody Institute (MMI), Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend, WA

so•ma•tic (soh•mah•tick) adj. Of or pertaining to the psycho-biological system [from Greek SOMA: "the living body in its wholeness."]

As the pace of techno-industrial society races along, the needs of our bodies are often overlooked, creating disconnection from our own flesh and from our communities. This class reaffirms both our basic rights and our innate capacities to feel our bodies deeply. Through a series of simple exercises and games, we will focus on the sensations of healing connection offered by partnering with breath, with gravity, with earth, and with other humans.

A deep exploration of fundamentals makes this class suitable for both first-timers seeking basic safety skills in contact dance, and experienced practitioners seeking to expand their practice, as well as anyone seeking to feel more "in their body."

Please bring comfortable clothing (no sharp buckles, clasps, zippers or spangles) and a willingness to experiment and play. A chance to test out your new skills after the final class on February 8th at the first FRIDAY NIGHT JAM at Madrona Mindbody Institute.

date/time: a six-class workshop series, friday evenings, 6-8:15pm
SPECIAL friday night jam after class February 8th, 8:30-10:30 with DJ Angelfire

cost: $18 per class. discount for MMI class card holders.
feb 8th jam- sliding scale $5-$15

location: Madrona Mindbody Institute (MMI), Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend, WA
www.madronamindbody.com

the Bcollective bees Nala Walla, Maureen Freehill, and Keeth Apgar will be performing their Scarecrow and Mister Xylobones participatory dances and music for the Halloween Parade and Blaine Street Festivities. Be on the lookout for jangly bones, and weak-legged scarecrows dropping hay all over Water Street and come play with us!

date/time: 31 Octobrrrrrrrr, 2007, 4pm, free!

location: Water Street Halloween Parade, Port Townsend, WA

dancers Maureen Freehill and Nala Walla team up with Becca Brenner and Corinne Cappelletti of University of Utah Integrated Movement Studies will for a week in the woods at the BCollective, sharing resources and preparing material for performance works on the subject of Bodybased Activism. our research will explore topics including "the body as home," "the expressivity of health," and creation of a "wellness curriculum." there will be a public showing of our material on Thursday, October 11th. stay tuned for finished works to come!

special thanks to the University of Utah modern dance department for their generosity in funding this important work.

date/time: october 6-12, 2007
public showing, thursday october 11th, at the Zen Dome on Marrowstone Island, time TBA

location: The BCollective, Marrowstone Island, WA

Permaculture Activist Magazine will include a feature article written by Nala Walla in their November "Art of Permaculture" issue. The article demonstrates how committment to localism begins with our own bodies and shows why the bodybased arts must be included in our designs for new villages.

read article or download as PDF

date/time: jan 2007

location: Permaculture Activist Magazine

the culmination of a six day intensive training in Butoh Ritual Mexicano with Diego Pinon will be a Full Moon Ritual Performance. cast members will include such misty northwest luminaries as Sheri Brown, Maureen Freehill, Alan Sutherland and Nala Walla.

this show is one night only, so mark your calendars!

date/time: 26 september, 2007, 7:30pm, $15

location: Chapel Theater, Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave, Seattle, WA

nala will be offering a three-day Bodyversity intensive at Earthdance's beautiful Berkshire Hills setting in rural Massachusetts. we will be infusing principles of permaculture and deep ecology into the body through presentations and bodybased games, creating community and a sense of empowerment in activism. the festival will include intensives led by KJ Holmes (NYC) and Ishmael Houston Jones (NYC) as well as a variety of classes, jams and performances.

meals, sauna, and bodywork are all available onsite. beautiful cabin and camping accomodations can be arranged by contacting Earthdance directly.

for more information, go to www.earthdance.net

date/time: august 2nd- august 5th 2007

location: Earthdance, Plainfield Massachussetts

the bcollective is putting together a smorgasbord of talent to provide family-style activities, music, and performances for Finn River Farm's annual blueberry season. come play with acro-balancing, make a scarecrow, listen to music in the grass and fill up a bucketful of organic blueberries to take home. dates and times for specific musicians are listed below:

for tickets, directions & questions, go to www.finnriverfarm.com

july 15th
Main Act: Gretchen Yanover / cello / gretchenyanover.com
Opening Activities and Music: Keeth Apgar & Jon Ryser / guitar & sax / face painting

july 22nd
Main Act: Dwyer Family Band / old-tyme folk/grass / jackdwyer.com
Opening Activities and Music: harp music with Paula Lalish /
r ecycled origami paperbooks with Loran Scruggs

july 29th
Main Act: Victor Johnson / roots children's performer / victorjohnson.com
Opening Activities & Music: African Drumming & Music with Rob and crew / african-inspired body painting with Annie, Dava, Maureen and Nala

aug 5th
Main Act: George Rezendes with Dave Meis / local Port Townsend favorites
Opening Activities & Music: Rin / Vancouver politico-folkie wonderwoman /
Japanese Kirgami (paper cutting) with Thaddeus / paper making with Lisa Doray

aug 12th
Main Act: Charlie Spring / sweet & soulful family-style singalong / charliespring.com
Opening Activities & Music: Nanda / juggling, theatrix, and other circus antics / acrobalancing and yoga with Sweethome / juggling lessons with Joe the Juggler / opening music by Caveman Cyborg.

aug 19th
Main Act: Harmonica Pocket / kidpop, interactive games, theatre/ harmonicapocket.com
Opening Activities & Music: Native American flute & other indigenous instruments by Raven / Support native bees! Hands-on Bee and Insect Hotel Construction with Nala and Tosh

august 26th
Main Act: Sara Tone / a live experience in organic acousto-dub: deep beats and heart song
Opening Activities & Music: scarecrow making--bring clothes and fabric of all sizes to stuff (doll clothes, kids clothes, big people clothes, hats, scarves, bandannas)

september 2nd
Local Musician DayI! (U-Pick depending on crop availability)

date/time: every sunday july 15th-- august 2nd, 2007
u-pick blueberries 10 - 4pm
music & activities 11-2pm

location: Finn River Farm, Chimacum, WA

cost: $10 per carload ---pack 'em in! carpooling encouraged!
parking is limited, so reservations are strongly recommended!

Nala's Article, "The Yoga of Gardening: Expanding the Boundaries of the Body" was written for The Village Builder, City Repair's annual magazine. City Repair is an organization, originally based in Portland, OR, and now spreading to cities nationwide, with a mission of "Educating and inspiring people to build community by creatively transforming public space into neighborhood gathering places." For more information, please visit the City Repair Website.

download article as PDF

date/time: may 2007

location: City Repair's Village Builder Magazine

nala walla will be back at the VBC again this year to offer presentations and workshops as part of this fabulous 10 day event of hands-on experience in creating a liveable, sustainable city.

on friday, may 25th, nala is pleased to be part of a night of presentations on urban sustainability, which will include well -known mycophile Paul Stamets of Fungiperfecti as well as community-building games, music and a groove-a-thon. join us at 5pm for local, organic dinner, followed by presentations at 7pm, and jugband music to finish off the night!

***NOTE CHANGE***
on saturday afternoon, may 26th , nala will be teaching a free workshop at Awakenings Wellness Center in Southeast Portland.

please go to the CityRepair website for more information, directions, and locations.

date/time:
friday 25 may 7pm until---->>>>
saturday 26 may 2-5pm

location:
friday night@ Disjecta, 230 E. Burnside, Portland, OR
saturday afternoon@ Awakenings Wellness Center, 1016 SE 12th Avenue.

in conjunction with The Harmonica Pocket, the Bcollective will be offering a participatory performance for all ages in honor of the first annual Sustainable Living Festival, sponsored by Huxley College for the Environment and Built Green of Clallam County. expect to play along with music, dance and games, and spend the day at the festival!

please visit the Harmonica Pocket's Children's Project on the web for more information on our children's performances and projects.

date/time: mar 31st, 2007----festival begins at 10am---Bcollective show at 3:15pm

location: Peninsula College Campus, Port Angeles, WA

the Bcollective will be appearing, disappearing and reapprearing many times as Me, Myself and I at the Children's Festival of Art. we will offer participatory games, creative movement, roving-human PaintMe sculpture as well as a Harmonica Pocket performance and starfotos with the Queen of Art.

please visit the Harmonica Pocket's Website for more information on our children's performances and projects.

date/time: mar 11th 2007

location: Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend, WA

as part of the Portland International Initiative for Leadership in Ecology, Culture, and Learning (PIIECL), Nala Walla will give an experiential presentation and workshop on the importance of transdisciplinarism and the bodybased arts to the sustainability, permaculture and community building movements. no experience necessary. just bring comfortable clothing and a playful, open spirit.

date/time: friday & saturday, february 9&10, 2007

friday: lecture/demonstration 7-9pm......free

saturday: workshop 12-4pm ...................fee: $20-$30

location: Student Rec Center, Portland State University, Portland, OR

spend the weekend in a hilltop yert learning a wholistic permaculture curriculum that stimulates the body and spirit as much as the brain. we will introduce fundamental permaculture principles, then utiliize arts various arts practices and games in order to integrate this knowledge. intellectual knowledge will be transformed into deep understanding and body wisdom. activities will run the gamut between yoga sessions, meal sharing, visual and lecture presentations, improvisational games and a slumber party saturday night. space is limited to 20 participants, so register early!!!

PLEASE NOTE: this will be a rustic gathering in a yert where we will all share responsibilities for cooking, cleaning, camping chores, etc. participants will bring food items from a preorganized list, and we will assemble the ingredients into delicious meals-dinner on saturday, breakfast and lunch on sunday. your participation in these tasks helps keep these workshops affordable to all, so thank you in advance for your cooperation!

accomodations will also be rustic. bring a sleeping bag and pad to get cozy in the yert, or bring a tent if you want more privacy. also, bring flashlight, warm layers and boots.

facilitators: Marisha Auerbach and Nala Walla

cost: sliding scale $100 to $60 or trade. please contact us to arrange.

date/time: january 27/28, 1pm saturday to 4pm sunday.

location: High Grove Yert, Oakville, WA (40 minutes south of Olympia)

the Bcollective and the Harmonica Pocket team up to provide an afternoon of interdisciplinary arts education for kids ages 5-10 years. A participatory performance—comprised of music, movement, theatre, story, games and songs—is much more than the sum of its parts. This type of performance encourages active participation in the Arts, rather than passive “watching.” The usual lines between performer and audience are creatively blurred, and kids are empowered to explore their artistic selves thereby establishing their own relationship to the arts, and to the world.

date/time: 10 january 2006, 1 - 3:15 pm

location: OPEPO School, Port Townsend, WA

Nala Walla will give a presentation and workshop on using the bodybased arts and transdisciplinary teaching to usher in the era of sustainability. this will be a experiential workshop, so wear comfortable clothing and be prepared to move, make sounds and have some fun.

date/time: saturday, dec 9, 2006

location:City University Extension Campus, Port Townsend, WA

please join us at dusk on thursday november 2nd for a day of the dead community ceremony, participatory performance, and procession through redmen's cemetery in port townsend, WA.

this event will include the extended Bcollective family of artists incorporating genre-crossing dance performances, live music by a "bones band," storytelling, and a participatory parade to honor the dead of all species and all eras.

PLEASE BRING WITH YOU: a biodegradable offering for the dead, photos and names of the dead, a flashlight, warm clothing, and a potluck dish to share at the after party.

this is a rain or shine event.

volunteers are being sought to assist with setup on the day of this event. please get in touch via the contact page to offer your support.

date/time: thursday, november 2, gather at dusk.

location: Redmen's Cemetery, Port Townsend, WA. click here for a map to the site.

cost: free -- donations are welcome to off-set costs of producing this event.

The Bcollective is happy to welcome our circus artist friends from the San Fransisco Bay area for the first and only Renegade Kitchen of the Season. The Carpetbag Brigade will bring their stiltwalking physical theater show "The Vanishing Point" to the Dragon's Nest as part of their NorthAmerican tour. Come early to get seats for the show, and stay late to enjoy Jerry's fabulous indian food feast and music around the fire.

date/time: tuesday, 26 sept, 2006. show begins at 6:30 SHARP!!!!!!

location: Dragon's Nest, 1620 S. Discovery Road, Port Townsend, WA

cost: $10 for the show, plus another $5-$10 if yer eatin'

as part of the Wilder Institute's two-week permaculture design certification course, Nala Walla will offer a bodybased method of learning the permaculture curriculum through game-playing. A short presentation will begin the evening, then we will transform this intellectual understanding into wholistic bodymind knowledge by using community-building games.

date/time: monday, 25 september, 2006

location: Ecovillage, Port Townsend, WA

this summer, the Bcollective will be working intensively on raising a small barn on the homestead. please come swing a hammer and join us for dips in the bay, cookouts and and music around the campfire.

date/time: august 1st thru october 15th 2006

location: Marrowstone Island, WA.

the Bcollective and the Harmonica Pocket team up to offer some good wholesome fun---music and dance that will entertain both kids AND their parents.

date/time: 24 september 2006

location: Sunfield Farm, 1903 Rhody Drive, Port Hadlock, WA

yoga twice a day, beachwalks, cooking over an open fire, naps in the grass, community building games. the BODYVERSITY curriculum synthesizes body-based art forms with principles of deep ecology in order to move beyond the rational, and facilitate a wholistic, wholebody understanding of permaculture.

more information

date/time: june 23-25, 7pm friday - 2pm sunday

location: Marrowstone Island, WA

cost: sliding scale $120-$60 (what is this?)

in this workshop, we will begin with the premise that our own body is our most direct link to the earth. beginning with a brief presentation to engage our sense of ethics and activism, we will explore various improvisational and body-based art games derived from such diverse techniques as yoga, contact improvisation, action theater, butoh and many others. through these physical practices, we initiate the process of learning permaculture principles directly through the body. this work is intended to restore the arts to their rightful place at the center of a healthy and sustainable community. no experience necessary--just bring a spirit of playfulness.

potluck immediately following workshop.

registration and scholarship info: 360.643.3747

date/time: fri, may 26, 4-7pm

location: Jackson Wellsprings, 2253 hwy 99, Ashland, OR

cost: $35 - $75

Nala Walla will be offering BODYVERSITY presentations and workshops at the 6th annual Village Building Convergence in Portland, OR, sponsored by the fabulous "wizards of wonder" at City Repair.

www.cityrepair.org/wiki.php/projects/vbc

date/time: sunday, 21 may, 8-10pm

and monday, 22 may, 1-2:30pm

location: DISJECTA, Portland, OR