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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..
Live Classes
Live Classes
People of all ages, shapes and states come. They come alone or with friends, gathering to create a rich and diverse dance floor of adventure and possibility. And you will be welcome - from the most tentative step to the boldest leap.
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: 2, 16, 30 Mar; 6, 20, 27 Apr 2024
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
Online Classes
Online Classes
Now might be a good time to invite that person who said they're too shy 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 if you can, 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
Ongoing Groups
Ongoing Groups
Drop into community.. in person & online. 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
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
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.
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".
And The Beat Goes On
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
PERSPECTIVES 2024
An 8-week closed, ongoing group online with Sue Rickards for anyone who holds people, individually or in groups.
When: Wednesdays: 6 Mar - 24 Apr 2024
Where: online (zoom code sent near the start date once registered)
Time: 6-8pm (UK time)
Cost: £/€ 290 (240 lower cost - if you need to request a lower rate to make the group accessible, email Sue)
Info & Booking: susanrickards@blueyonder.co.uk
An adventure through movement and enquiry, curiosity and support, and in good company, we’ll bring freshness, pleasure, simplicity, freedom, and gravitas to our work. Who knows what will turn up when we turn up?
These sessions might sometimes require a little courage and humour - you will only dive as deep as you want to go and will be supported. It's not about learning skills, although you might. It's more about the sometimes astonishing freedom that a different perspective can bring.
For people with a conscious movement practice/experience, as we will include dance and movement.
This is a particular series for people who run groups, or hold others in 1-1 settings. We'll get curious about what gets in the way of our natural excellence as teachers, therapists, facilitators. We'll value what we do well, and grow. Dropping problem based attention we'll hand over to our particular genius and presence. We'll likely be surprised and possibly liberated. We'll become better at our jobs of holding others
Residential Workshops
Residential Workshops
A chance to immerse yourself completely..
EVERYTHING IS INTERESTING 2024
An Open Floor Workshop with Sue Rickards assisted by Frie Lavelli
When: 11-18.00 Sat 23/3/24; 11.00-17.00 Sun 24/4/24
Where: Atheneum Deurne, Jan Brochovenstraat 15, 2100 Deurne
Belgium
Cost: € 160
Info & Booking: https://www.owc.be/course/2915/everything-is-interesting
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.
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
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