Basking in Beauty

ElaineNews, Newsletters

Dear Friends,

I am basking in beauty after spending a week in retreat with other Continuum movers at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, followed by presenting Continuum at the Somatic Dance Conference and Performance Festival in Geneva, NY. 

This excerpt from Omega participant Susan Kushner’s poem “Refuge” captures the essence of these experiences for me…

Find a space where your muscles can relax and unfurl; 
Where the ground is solid and strong beneath you and the sky cradles you from above. 
Find an inner sanctum where your breathing can soften and your heart can become warm and 
full and open; where all creatures around you will care for you. 
Where you are safe. 
Where you can dance and feel joy. 
And sway in the wind. 
Where you are not alone. 
And you can feel the rhythm of life run through you.

In a future mailing, you will be introduced to more of Susan’s poetry, along with other artists joining our virtual galleries.

In this newsletter, we share with you a Continuum Water Blessing filmed at Long Pond Lake on the final morning at Omega, along with photos capturing the Watermark Arts performance and the inaugural book reading of The Elemental Body: A Movement Guide to Kinship with Ourselves and the Natural World. 

I am already looking forward to our next opportunity to gather and immerse in Continuum and the natural world. I invite you to join me for Fluid Anatomy, Fluid Movement, Fluid Life: A Continuum Retreat  at the immaculate Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing high in the Shawangunk Mountains of Cragsmoor, NY from September 15 -18. We will enjoy the fresh Fall season as we move together in the outdoor practice pavilion on the mountainside. Wishing that your heart be warmed by your joyfully moving body,

Elaine and the Watermark Arts Creative Team

Elaine Colandrea, Artistic Director

Prue Jeffries, Creative DirectorSandra Capellaro, Galleries AdministratorRori Smith, Editor & Writer

Read the newsletter here.

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A Book is Born!

ElaineNews, Newsletters

Two years ago, in preparation for our annual Continuum workshop at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY, we shared with you a series of online exhibits of art, poetry and somatic explorations inspired by the elements: Air, Earth, Fire and Water. When the pandemic cancelled our plans to gather at Omega, our creative energy was redirected to create a movement guide expanding on the elemental exhibits. 

We are now pleased to announce the publication of our book, The Elemental Body: A Movement Guide to Kinship with Ourselves and the Natural World. The pages of which are filled with Continuum explorations from authors Elaine Colandrea and Rori Smith and elemental art and poetry from Watermark artists. This project is a multimedia endeavor. The book is accompanied by a library of short films to inspire your relationship with the elements and enrich your practice. 

Our first book signing will be held during our much anticipated return to Omega for the weeklong retreat “Elemental Movement for Creative Wellbeing,” June 26 – July 1, 2022.

View the newsletter here to learn more about the book and the upcoming workshop.

With great excitement,

Elaine and the Watermark Arts Creative Team

Elaine Colandrea, Artistic Director

Prue Jeffries, Creative DirectorSandra Capellaro, Galleries AdministratorRori Smith, Editor & Writer

A Body of Peace

ElaineNews, Newsletters

The Spring 2022 newsletter begins with a message from Elaine:

“Peace, not only the absence of war.”

This line from ‘Making Peace’ by poet Denise Levertov gave me pause to consider, How does peace live in me? How does war live in me?”

As a person who has lived in relative safety much of her life, I have little reason to direct aggression outwardly. Nonetheless, I have experienced conflict within me, as self-hatred and shame. These war-like feelings have diminished over my years of Continuum practice – not from a direct approach at resolution – more as an outcome of growing other qualities in what I name as my “self.”

I name some of these qualities as a felt experience of peace: A golden thread of tranquility bringing ease within. I sense peace as a movement that allows me to dissolve boundaries between myself and others. I sense peace through the act of communion with the world around me. Even when I am frustrated and angry, this vein of peace flows in me, at times only a subtle glimmer, at other times like a radiant sun. Becoming a body of peace – even when disturbed, even when unwell – I still sense the possibility of peace within. 

Where else can peace begin if not in my own being? 

I don’t feel virtuous or noble in this investigation, nor do I feel like I know what I am doing. My efforts are a drop of water in a peace-parched landscape, like tears of grief while bearing witness for others’ pain. Yet, the pursuit of peace – embodied within and with others – feels like a sacred inquiry. 

To this end, with Watermark Arts, we create opportunities for somatic explorers to join together in peaceful communion with self, others, and the world. Please join in these embodied explorations of discovery. We create them to be shared with you. 

Read the newsletter here.

Elaine and the Watermark Arts Creative Team

Elaine Colandrea, Artistic Director

Prue Jeffries, Creative DirectorSandra Capellaro, Galleries AdministratorRori Smith, Editor & Writer

Fluid Artistry ~ World Water Day

AdminNews, Newsletters

World Water Day is March 22, 2022. 

In honor of the myriad life supporting qualities of water, we share with you My Body, The Wetland, a video with narration from the Watermark Arts Journal, WaterSense.

In addition, we bring you artfully captured water imagery by photographer Tuan Pham and Cosmic Blue from poet Noelle Adamo, an ode to the potential of our fluid artistry.

On World Water Day, as well as every day, may we commit to protecting water sources, from the waters within us to the waterways worldwide.

Read the newsletter here.

Elaine and WM Arts Creative Team

Elaine Colandrea, Artistic Director

Prue Jeffries, Creative DirectorSandra Capellaro, Galleries AdministratorRori Smith, Editor & Writer
 

Dharmakaya Retreat

Sandra CapellaroComing workshops, Coming Events, News

Fluid Anatomy, Fluid Movement, Fluid Life: A Continuum In-Depth Retreat

September 15 – 18, 2022

Elaine Colandrea, Continuum Guide

Fluids are the primary life supporting substances within our bodies as well as in all living systems on the planet. In this program you will use the Continuum process of breathing, sounding, and fluid movement to work with your own health and wellbeing, connecting with nature’s life force; it’s the perfect antidote to today’s overly programmed and homogenized world.

To highlight our connection with the natural world, this workshop will be offered in the covered Outdoor Pavilion at Dharmakaya, therefore space is limited to 16 participants. Continuum experience encouraged.

The somatic practice of Continuum lays the path to the direct sensory experience of our fluid anatomy. The breath and sound explorations cultivate fluid movement, opening us to greater physical and psychological freedom. Continuum empowers a deep knowing of how to live with fluid grace in a mutable world – whether we are adapting to cultural shifts, health concerns, the aging process, or the changing circumstances of a pandemic world.

The self-guided pace of the workshop develops inner authority. In an atmosphere of rest and renewal, participants let their own biological awareness be the template for self-healing and self-growth.

Continuum is of interest to many fields of inquiry, including but not limited to, health care practitioners, activists of all kinds, educators, artists and all those who choose to thrive in a co-creative process with the earth itself.

The natural landscape and serene beauty of the Dharmakaya Center and its outdoor pavilion offers the perfect setting for this personal exploration.

Information & Registration

 

Creative wellbeing in community: Omega gathering, Summer 2022

ElaineNews, Newsletters

A message from Elaine:

Megan Bathory-Peeler, my cherished colleague and collaborator, has eagerly joined me in planning “Elemental Movement for Creative Wellbeing,” a 5-day retreat at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY:
June 26 – July 1, 2022. 

Elaine: After a two year hiatus due to the pandemic, I am thrilled to have you collaborate with me to facilitate our return to Omega

Megan: It feels more necessary than ever to gather in community with our colleagues and fellow lovers of Continuum.

Elaine: For our fifth retreat at Omega since 2016, the faculty will fluidly guide participants in the sensate experience of the elements. Air, Earth, Fire and Water are well represented throughout the restorative Omega campus, providing us with the ideal environment to connect symbiotically with nature.

Megan: Yes, it’s that grounding into a deep connection with nature that brings participants back to Omega. People are called to return because of the alchemy that occurs during our communal workshop explorations, along with the nurturing interactions at meals, on the trails, at the lake, at the bookstore and cafe, which inspire and sustain us through the rest of the year.

Scroll down to meet the illustrious faculty. We all look forward to welcoming you to Omega 2022. Registration is limited to allow for a spacious and safe workshop environment – indoors and outdoors on the covered porch. Omega has made many adjustments to keep us healthy and comfortable, as our relationship to the pandemic continues to evolve. Please register early to secure your place.

Looking forward to the warmth of summer and your smiling faces,

Elaine

Read the newsletter here.

Waves of Gratitude

ElaineNews, Newsletters

This month we share a wonderful short film, The Artistry of Water, 
in which Continuum is shown to nourish our relationship with nature.

As we take our first breaths in 2022, please join me on January 1st for 
Waters Within: Continuum Breath, Sound & Movement Meditation. Rebirth is the theme of this free 90-minute online workshop.

I wish to send three waves of gratitude to mark the spirit of the season.

Thank you to all Watermark Arts artists:

Your somatic artistry is a source of inspiration.

Thank you to the Watermark Arts Creative Team: 

Your talents make Watermark Arts flow with beauty and grace.

Thank you to all viewers and participants:

 You make us whole.

May we continue to move together – and be moved by each other,

Elaine

Elaine Colandrea, Artistic Director

Prue Jeffries, Creative DirectorSandra Capellaro, Galleries AdministratorRori Smith, Editor & Writer

Read the newsletter and watch the video here.

Somatic Movement Summit

AdminPast Workshops

Note: Due to COVID, this event was cancelled.

Somatic Movement Summit

Choosing a path of opening in the face of global crisis and personal adversity begins a journey inward to connect with the most primordial movements of nature and with the elemental self to reveal our inherent biological capacity for innovation.

Through the somatic awareness practice of Continuum, this restorative retreat investigates the vital chemistry of all life. Embodying the qualities of earth, air, fire, and water awakens the body’s fluid capacity for healing, insight, and creative engagement.

Meeting our intrinsic selves through movement, breath, and sound leads to a sense of wholeness, refreshment, nourishment, and belonging with the natural world. From this inner space of knowing, we can access the empowerment, creativity and courage that leads to manifesting meaningful contributions in the world.

Movement sessions, periods of silence, and opportunities for artful expression, personal reflection, and community exchange combine to offer a fresh model of alive, sensory presence pertinent to educators, health-care practitioners, artists, activists, and all who wish to learn skills for life-force growth.

Featuring Elaine Colandrea of Watermark Arts with Megan Bathory-Peeler, Cory Blake, Ellen Cohen, Suzanne Wright Crain, Melanie Gambino, Bonnie Gintis, Rebecca Lawson, Elisabeth Osgood-Campbell, Linda Rabin, Kori Tolbert, Lauren Wadsworth, and Sharon Weil.

Enrollment is limited for this program; register early. Teachers are subject to change.

Register on the Omega website here.

Recommended readings

Faculty recommends the following books to enhance your workshop experience:

  • A Moving Inquiry: The Art of Personal Practice by Beth Pettengill Riley and Priscilla Stanton Auchincloss
  • ChangeAbility: How Artists, Activists, and Awakeners Navigate Change by Sharon Weil
  • Engaging the Movement of Life: Exploring Health and Embodiment Through Osteopathy and Continuum by Bonnie Gintis
  • Life on Land: The Story of Continuum, The World Renowned Self-Discovery and Movement Method by Emilie Conrad
Schedule

SUNDAY
4:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m. Check In (Rooms available after 5:00 p.m.)
7:30 p.m.–7:50 p.m. Welcome & Orientation

MONDAY
8:00 a.m.–8:45 a.m. Commuter check-in (if not checked-in the previous evening)
9:00 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Workshop
2:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m. Workshop
7:30 p.m.–8:30 p.m. Workshop (Optional)

TUESDAY
8:45 a.m.–9:15 a.m. Workshop (Optional)
9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Workshop
2:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m. Workshop
7:30 p.m.–8:45 p.m. Workshop (Optional)

WEDNESDAY
8:45 a.m.–9:15 a.m. Workshop (Optional)
9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Workshop
2:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m. Workshop (Optional)

THURSDAY
8:45 a.m.–9:15 a.m. Workshop (Optional)
9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Workshop
2:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m. Workshop

FRIDAY
9:00 a.m.–Noon Workshop
1:00 p.m. Check Out

The above schedule is subject to change at the discretion of the faculty.

The Children’s Program is generally available during standard workshop hours only. Contact Omega registration at 877.944.2002 for details.

Dining Hall Hours (Meals begin with dinner on arrival day and end with lunch on departure day.):
Breakfast: 7:00 a.m.–8:45 a.m.
Lunch: Noon–2:00 p.m.
Dinner: 6:00 p.m.–7:15 p.m.

Daily Open Classes in meditation, yoga, tai chi, or movement (subject to availability):
7:00–8:00 a.m., 12:15–1:00 p.m., 5:30–6:15 p.m., 5:30–6:30 p.m.

Somatic Movement Summit Presenters

Elaine Colandrea

Elaine Colandrea explores how the somatic arts shape consciousness, inform and inspire the creative process, and foster connections with nature, organically creating a more humane world. Elaine is the artistic director of Watermark Arts. She is also a movement artist, Continuum teacher, somatic educator, and massage therapist. Her work has been deeply influenced by her association with Emilie Conrad, founder of Continuum. Her abiding passion is bringing people together to directly experience the body’s transformative capacity. watermarkarts.org

Megan Bathory-Peeler

Megan Bathory-Peeler is a somanaut, fully engaged in a moving inquiry of what it takes to thrive in a human body and within the human experience. For 27 years, Megan has explored the frontiers of embodiment and human relationships. Megan shares her ongoing discoveries through her interdisciplinary work as a Certified Somatic Therapist and educator, performance artist, activist, and mother. She has trained in a number of modalities, including Continuum, craniosacral therapy, Matrix Repatterning®, Somatic Experiencing®, Maya Abdominal Therapy®, Pre- and Perinatal, Birth, and Attachment Therapy, and more. somanautiko.com

Cory Blake

Cory Blake is a musician, music therapist, educator, Duke Certified Integrative Health Coach, and authorized Continuum teacher with a lifetime fascination of mystery. He is coauthor of Overcoming Post-Deployment Syndrome. coryblake.org

Ellen Cohen

Ellen Cohen’s experience as an improvisational dancer developed her respect for the sacredness of the moment and the wisdom that can emerge from the unconscious. Her passion is deepening one’s perception of the creative intuition and nature’s magic. continuumteachers.com/

Suzanne Wright Crain

Suzanne Wright Crain, MEd, is an artist and Continuum teacher. Her passion is engaging with water from a living source and cocreating textiles that are intended for interactive ceremony. Each piece emerges through and then becomes the container for her Continuum practice. Suzanne is gifted in guiding others in hooking up and growing the neurology to be in dialogue with body processes, accessing the latent power of the imaginal realm, and allowing them to work collaboratively and shift physiology. She has been a Continuum teacher since 2004, after being mentored by Emilie Conrad and Susan Harper. She is also a U.S. veteran and lives and works on Otter Bend Farm in Woodford County, Kentucky. thecosmicbody.com

Melanie Gambino

Melanie Gambino is a founding member of Watermark Arts and the Continuum Teachers Association and is a seasoned master teacher in the practice of Continuum. She holds several credentials, including BFA, MA, OMH, ISMETA Board Member, and RSMT/E. Melanie brings 30 years of Continuum experience to her vast background in teaching, performing, choreographing and directing. Melanie assisted, studied with, and was authorized to teach Continuum by its founder, Emilie Conrad. Melanie teaches Continuum on faculty at SUNY Purchase Dance Conservatory and is the resident choreographer, director of dance, and somatic movement, mindfulness, and meditation teacher in the Performing Arts Department at the Harvey School. continuumteachers.com

Bonnie Gintis

Bonnie Gintis’ approach to Continuum is informed by her experience as an osteopathic physician, 25 years of explorations with Continuum, and her meditation practice. bonniegintis.com

Rebecca Lawson

Rebecca Amis Lawson, MA, R-DMT, synthesizes 20 years of studies with Emilie Conrad and Susan Harper in the field of Continuum and exploratory consciousness with 38 years of extensive somatic trainings, psychological mindedness, and dance profession. She facilitates discoveries that are revelatory, expressive, and creative. evolvingtherapies.com

Elisabeth Osgood-Campbell

Elisabeth Osgood-Campbell is an expressive arts therapist and educator who cherishes the body as an ongoing, creative process. As a member of the Continuum Teachers Association and the Tamalpa Institute faculty, she facilitates creative, embodied awareness practices for groups and individuals in Boston and New York. Elisabeth also presents internationally on somatic movement therapy and education. elisabethosgood.com 

Linda Rabin

Linda Rabin is a Continuum teacher in Montreal. Her love of movement and teaching is informed by a lifelong career in contemporary dance, as well as her training in Body-Mind Centering® and other somatic practices. Linda is a Member of the Order of Canada and a Distinguished Member of the Quebec Order of Excellence in Education. lindarabin.com

Kori Tolbert

Kori Tolbert has been a licensed bodyworker since 2001 and is also a member of the Continuum Teachers Association. She has practiced Continuum since 2008 and began teaching after receiving approval from Emilie Conrad, the founder of Continuum, in 2013. She has also cotaught workshops for people living with chronic conditions, as well as several exploratory sounding/yoga workshops. Kori’s offerings invite her clients and students to dive under their layers of restriction and find places of flow and nourishment. myfluidnature.com

Lauren Wadsworth

Lauren Wadsworth has been in private practice as a somatic movement therapist and educator since 1985 and as a bodywork/manual therapist since 1980. She has been practicing Continuum since 2000 and it the exploration into inner landscapes continues to delight and inspire her. Lauren is registered as a somatic movement therapist/educator with ISMETA, is nationally certified as a bodywork professional with NCBTMB and is a certified mindfulness teacher with IMTA and a member of the Continuum Teachers Association.

Sharon Weil

Sharon Weil, RSME, is a healing artist, deeply engaged in the conversation about courage, change, and possibility as a writer, speaker, activist and somatic educator. An Authorized Continuum Teacher since 2000, she is the founder of The AgelessBody®. Sharon is the author of ChangeAbility: How Artists, Activists and Awakeners Navigate Change and ChangeAbility Playbook: How to Navigate Your Own Change, as well as the novel Donny and Ursula Save the World. She is founder and host of the podcast Passing 4 Normal: Conversations about Change.sharonweilauthor.com

 

Watermark Arts returns to Omega!

AdminComing workshops, Coming Events, News

Elemental Movement for Creative Wellbeing: A Continuum Retreat

Workshop Organizers: Megan Bathory Peeler & Elaine Colandrea 
Co-faculty: Robin Becker, Ellen Cohen, Melanie Gambino, Bonnie Gintis, Elisabeth Osgood-Campbell, Linda Rabin

June 26 – July 1st, 2022

Registration is now open!

Embody the qualities of earth, air, water, and fire through the practice of Continuum. Allow the primordial aspects of nature to unfold via movement, breath and sound practices, taking us on an expansive journey inward to discover the elemental self. Cultural patterns dissolve, liberating our innate biological capacity for innovation in the face of global crisis and personal adversity. 

During this restorative retreat, the practice of Continuum awakens the body’s fluid capacity for healing, insight, and creative engagement. Guided movement sessions, periods of silence, and opportunities for community exchange awaken our inherent interconnection with nature. Reclaiming this sense of belonging empowers the manifestation of meaningful contributions in the world. 

This weeklong retreat is suitable for educators, health-care practitioners, artists, activists, and all who wish to sustain themselves from a state of wholeness and well-being.

Workshop Facilitators:

Megan Bathory-Peeler: Workshop facilitator Megan Bathory-Peeler is an expert somanaut, fully engaged by the moving inquiry of what it takes to thrive in a human body and within the human experience in the 21st century. Her unique Somanautiko approach synergistically weaves together three decades of professional interdisciplinary study and practice as a teacher of Continuum, Certified Somatic Therapist/Educator, bodyworker, choreographer, performance artist, activist, and mother. Megan’s greatest pleasure comes from co-creating safe spaces that allow people of all ages to return home to themselves, reclaim the power of their own creativity, and find ease in the innate wisdom of their bodies.

Elaine Colandrea: Workshop co-organizer Elaine Colandrea explores how the somatic arts shape consciousness, informing and inspiring the creative process as well as fostering connections between self, others and nature that organically create a more humane world. Artistic Director of Watermark Arts, as well as a movement artist, Continuum teacher, somatic educator and massage therapist, her work has been deeply influenced by her association with Emilie Conrad, founder of Continuum. Her abiding passion is bringing people together to directly experience the body’s transformative capacity.

 

Robin Becker, MA, RSME, RSMT is an internationally recognized teacher, dancer, choreographer, and founder of Robin Becker Dance. Her teaching weaves together her lifelong experience in dance, 30-year study of Continuum with Emilie Conrad and Susan Harper, 40+ years of experience in meditation and contemplative healing practices, and study with Gary David in Epistemics and Affect Script Theory. Robin was selected by Emilie Conrad to be a Continuum teacher in 2001. She currently teaches at Hofstra University and leads movement workshops nationally and internationally.

 

Ellen Cohen’s experience as an improvisational dancer developed her respect for the sacredness of the moment and the wisdom that can emerge from the unconscious. Her passion is to welcome what is present for each student and synthesize that with Continuum’s rich and vast possibilities. There is always movement, even in stillness. The music of the spheres exists, even in silence.

 

 

Melanie Gambino is a Continuum teacher and a Registered Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist. Continuum is the basis of her work and life. A performer from age 3, Melanie combines the fine performing arts with the healing arts and education. She is Resident Choreographer and Director of Dance and Somatic Movement/Meditation in the Performing Arts Department at The Harvey School and teaches Continuum on the faculty at SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance.

 

Bonnie Gintis lives in northern Vermont. She has taught worldwide, addressing a wide variety of people interested in exploring embodiment through Continuum and Osteopathy. Bonnie’s approach to Continuum is informed by her experience as an osteopathic physician, 25 years of explorations with Continuum, and her lifelong meditation practice. She devotes herself to teaching, writing, and exploring new ways to foster health and wellbeing. She is the author of Engaging The Movement Of Life: Exploring Health And Embodiment Through Osteopathy And Continuum, as well as many popular articles.

 

 

Elisabeth Osgood-Campbell is an expressive arts therapist and somatic movement educator who cherishes the Body as an on-going, creative process. A member of the Continuum Teachers Association and the Tamalpa Institute faculty, she facilitates embodied awareness practices for groups and individuals across the lifespan, and across the world. Elisabeth also serves as the Co-chair for the Equity, Justice and Accessibility Task Force and the Research and Publications Committee of ISMETA. 

 

Linda Rabin teaches Continuum in her native Montreal, Canada. Her love of movement and teaching Continuum is informed by a lifelong career in contemporary dance, training in Body-Mind Centering® and other somatic practices.