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First of all I'd like you to know that you are welcome.

The reason we are calling you is not just to dance. It's because of all that dancing brings.

It's to reclaim the qualities of life that are so precious, vital and easily missed in our day to day lives.

Our vibrant and often subtle life force can drain away as we grow older, through sitting in school, sitting at desks, in cars, sitting in our armchairs. Or through being shown what to think, what to feel, who to be, by people around us and constant advertising. So while we don't have to throw ourselves around like wild banshies (although that is welcome too), we move - and in doing so we begin to reclaim more and more of our own life-force, which never really disappeared, but sometimes gets buried.

There are no steps to learn, it's more natural than that.

Come and join us, and see if this is for you.

 

Sue Rickards

Learn more about Open Floor and 5Rhythms dance movement practices

What’s On Offer..

Saturday Live Pop-Up Classes

7.00 - 9.30pm - United Reformed Church

United Reformed Church, Pond Square N6 6BA Parking on the street

Not Weekly: Saturdays: 4, 18 & 25 May; 1, 15 & 29 June; 13 & 27 July 2024

(taking a break for August)

Drop In - Pay On Door: £20 Entrance, £16 Concession, £12 Unwaged

15 Minutes walk from Highgate or Archway tube

Drop in dance; all welcome, however and whoever you are. No experience needed. These evenings are about allowing ourselves to be alive and real, however we feel. Come and give it a go

Click to join whatsapp for a reminder on the week when the dance is happening

Phoenix Dance - Starts 7 May

From the ashes of A Call To Dance Tuesdays

7.30 - 9.15pm - St Mary’s Primrose Hill, 2 Elsworthy Rd, NW3

Weekly on Tuesdays

Drop In - Or Pay In Advance: Advance Tickets

7 May with Sue Rickards
14 May
with Audrey Boss
21 May
with Felix Oram
28 May
with Mira Schauble

Cost: Supporter Ticket £40 (one month of dancing at a discounted rate of £10 per week); Generosity Rate £20 (makes it possible to offer sponsored rates to those that have less); Fair Price £15 (what we need to make a living); Sponsored Rate £5 (struggling financially but need to dance)

Tuesday & Saturday Classes On Zoom

7.00 - 8.30pm - Weekly

TUESDAY CLASS held by Richard Jerram

TUESDAY ZOOM LINK: https://zoom.us/j/970060735 payment link shared in class

SATURDAY CLASS held by Sue or Richard

SATURDAY ZOOM LINK: https://zoom.us/j/374997307

Please pay £10, or if you need to pay less in order for this to be accessible, pay what you can

PAYPAL: https://www.paypal.me/SueRickards

BANK TRANSFER: Ms S A Rickards, SC: 07-04-36, ACC: 43788875

EUROSWISE: BAN BE67 9671 0835 1487, Bank code (SWIFT / BIC) TRWIBEB1XXX, TransferWise Europe SA, Avenue Marnix 13-17, Brussels 1000 Belgium

VILLAGE 2024

A year-long, monthly online moving village gathering to include losses as part of our vibrant living.

When: Mondays monthly online: 5-6.30pm;
22 April, 20 May, 24 June, 22 July, 19 Aug, 23 Sept, 21 Oct, 25 Nov, 16 Dec, 13 Jan, 17 Feb, 17 March

Where: online (zoom code sent near the start date once registered)

Time: 5-6.30pm (UK time)

Cost:  £140 (€165) for the year

£100 (€117) early bird until 19th March  


There are 2 places available at £40(€47) for people for whom the cost would otherwise be prohibitive

Info & Booking: susanrickards@blueyonder.co.uk

Holding ourselves, together

We need to be able to hold ourselves when grief and sorrow wash through our lives.  We also need a village, to acknowledge our grief and loss, the big and the small, so that it can colour, but not define our lives.  

For most of us this place and 'process' has been lost or ignored so that we are left in the cold of grief, rather than being alive to it.  The difference, the cost, is our vitality.  Which is a waste of our life while we have it.   As Elizabeth says in The Last Devil to Die  "I'm grieving, not dead".

So this group - 1.5 hours a month, is a village for our aliveness whilst acknowledging loss.  Holding ourselves, together, as we include what's true; that sorrow is a healthy response in our vibrant life.  It's not what we carry, but how. We'll dance, of course.  We'll laugh, maybe cry, we'll be delighted, we'll be together and that's healthy.

I have been training as a grief-tender with Frances Weller, author of The Wild Edge of Sorrow, who names a few gates of the grief that we all live with, and that are often unacknowledged.  This work will gently inform our times together.  

An on-going closed dance group with Sue Rickards. Assisted by Angela Griffiths - in person & online

Each Term: 1 x Weekend SAT 11.00am - 6.00pm SUN 10.30am - 5.00pm + 5 x Thursday Evenings 7.00pm - 10.00pm

251 Hungerford Rd, London N7 9LD, UK

And The Beat Goes On is an ongoing group intended to accompany us through our lives. We dance, we use words and other means of expression to explore our relationship with ourselves, with each other and in community, using movement as our bedrock. It is a closed group.  New comers are welcome and invited only at the beginning of each term. We're a movement based community of dancers who practice dancing and exploring deeply, playfully, and seriously, expanding our ability to be spontaneous, honest, responsible and real. 

The next term starts with a weekend on 11/12 May 2024. The minimum commitment is 2 terms to allow time for new participants to arrive and to have a sense of continuity for the group.

To join or find out more information email Virginia: info@acalltodance.com

Body Of Knowledge

An In-person Open Floor Movement Workshop with Kathy Altman & Lori Saltzman in London

When: July 28, 2024

Where: Somers Town Community Centre - Dance Studio, 134 Chalton St, London NW1 1RX

Time: 11am-5:30pm / arrivals from 10:45am

Cost:  Early Bird Price: £95, before 30 June;

Full Price: £115; Alternatively, pay a £50 deposit to hold your place

Info & Booking: https://www.openfloordance.org/body-of-knowledge

Contact: Ann Shuptrine / ann@bemovedforchange.com

Everything we have ever lived lives in our body. We are filled with stories, passions, sorrows and dreams. Infinite gold nuggets wait for retrieval just below the surface.

 We begin with dance, where we speak body language: feet that remember leaving home, hips that sway with ease (or not), joy in our belly, caution wrapped like a scarf around our neck. As we join with each other these conversations ripen. We learn the many languages of being human.

Then we weave in words. We allow ourselves to be messy, wild and unpolished. We read to each other, listen, laugh, shed tears, and fumble— until we are struck silent by unexpected truths that leap forth.  

 There is nothing to make up. There are no skills required.  You already have everything you need.

Already Alright

An annual retreat and gathering in Orval, Belgium

5 Days: 28/07/2024 - 2/08/2024

Already Alright is an annual summer retreat and gathering. The week is both unique for each of us and also deeply supported by our coming together. We dance and create space to be curious, excited and surprised by what is actually ready to emerge and be included.  We don't need to know in advance what we need or what might happen.  This simple yet radical practice of exploring and being curious can change everything.

Connected to ourselves and to each other, we find ourselves much less interested in thinking there is something wrong with us, or anyone else.  We can stop fighting with the underlying fear that we are not truly ok and therefore we can relax and become available to delight and spaciousness. Freedom and freshness come through us, sometimes when we least expect it. 

Each year we build our confidence in what's ready to emerge. Fresh each year, and as a result of all our years of dancing together, this Annual Retreat and Gathering helps us to keep remembering the value of our unique contributions and our Alrightness. Oldtimers are as welcome as ever - we welcome each other!  And newcomers are always very welcome too.

Booking & Info: luc@owc.be www.owc.be

Five - 5Rhythms Waves Workshop

Led by: Jason RoweRichard WiltshireKatarzyna Kat PugowskaAjay Rajani

Teaching with Sue Rickards

When: 19 Sep 2024 - 21 Sep 2024

Time: 11am to 5.30pm each day. We will end at 5pm on Saturday 21st September.

Where: Location: St Luke’s Church, Hillmarton Road, London N7 9RE

Cost:  £230 Full Price; Secure a 10% discount by paying in full before August 2024; £195 Concession & 5RTA members.

Info & Booking: Ajay or Jason london5rp@hotmail.com

Let's spend the weekend together dancing and loosening any ideas or underlying beliefs that something might be wrong, either with us or with someone else or the world.  Let's have some fun and get curious.   One of my teachers said:  If nothing is wrong, everything is interesting.  So simple and so inviting as an exploration.  We have plenty of natural freedom to be remembered.  

The freedom to be who we are; to be curious about who others are, and see what life offers us moment by moment.   This isn't rocket science, and yet - dancing and taking the time to explore and practice the art of curiosity whilst in good company is probably as interesting as a rocket trip to the moon - and way more eco-friendly. 

Annual Rituals & Celebrations

Annual Rituals & Celebrations

Annual Rituals & Celebrations

Lost Souls, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve Oct - Dec 2024

A chance to dance together however we feel