Movement as a Metaphor in Life and Art

Movement as a Metaphor in Life and Art is a five-day creative workshop at Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, led by Daria Halprin with guest faculty Natan Daskal and guest musician Miles Lassi. It draws on the Halprin Life Art Process™, an expressive arts approach that brings together dance, drawing and poetic writing. It suits anyone drawn to movement, art-making and writing as ways to explore personal story and healing, including people who want models for facilitating this kind of work with others.

What to Expect

The workshop begins from a question: what if everything you have experienced could be danced, and what if a dance could inspire a drawing, a drawing spark a poem, and the poem turn a difficult story into something beautiful? The teaching rests on Anna Halprin's conviction that whatever we live, we carry into our art.

Each day opens with somatic awareness and movement to awaken and attune the body. From there, participants work with their own material through a model that interweaves movement and dance, visual art, poetic narrative, performative ritual and witnessing. Two central tools are Body Part Mapping and the Self Portrait Process, visual and narrative maps that lead into the themes, memories and dreams shaping a life. Individual and shared life stories become the ground for encounters and for embodied models of change.

Participants can expect to explore models of practice for embodied art-making with individuals and groups, examples of movement and art as a healing force, and a communication tool for giving and receiving feedback. Live music accompanies the work throughout.

The week begins on Monday with the How to Drop Into Esalen orientation, followed by an evening opening session that introduces the Life/Art Process. Tuesday through Thursday follow a rhythm of a morning session from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm and an afternoon session in the late afternoon. Work moves from somatic attunement and body mapping through self-portrait and narrative development to ritual work and community witnessing. Thursday also offers an optional evening session. The group closes on Friday morning with final sessions and integration.

About Daria Halprin

Daria Halprin is a dancer, poet, teacher and author, and one of the leading pioneers in movement and dance centered expressive arts education and therapy. With Anna Halprin she co-founded Tamalpa Institute and helped develop the Life/Art Process, an approach to dance as a healing practice. Her book, The Expressive Body in Life, Art & Therapy, describes the approach and its practice, and it is the recommended reading for this workshop.

Natan Daskal and Miles Lassi

Natan Daskal, guest faculty, guides the somatic warm-ups. Miles Lassi, guest musician, provides live music across the days.

The Setting

Esalen Institute sits on the Big Sur coast, and the workshop can be taken with an on-site stay, with an off-site stay, or as an individual day pass. On-site stays include housing, three meals a day with vegetarian options, coffee, tea and snacks, access to the hot springs and campus features, and the classes on Esalen's open schedule. Rooms range from shared sleeping bag space and bunk beds to standard shared rooms, private queen and two-bed rooms, and premium rooms with ocean or forest views, including a yurt.

Highway 1 travel into northern Big Sur has been managed through twice-daily Caltrans convoys, at 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., so it is worth confirming current road conditions and planning your arrival around them.

Before You Go

Bring a writer's journal and a box of varied, well-supplied Craypas pastels. No dance or art training is mentioned as a prerequisite. Healing arts sessions such as Esalen massage, specialty drinks from the bar and bookstore purchases are not included. A scholarship application is available for those who need it.