Movement and Sound

Terry Boyarsky

April 15-17, 2005

Come to an inspirational retreat exploring the self through music and movement. We will take Sacred Dance as a point of departure and use rhythm games to heighten awareness. We will enjoy the pleasures that come from singing and moving together.

This retreat is for all who feel inspired to relate with others through music and movement. No experience is necessary. The movement will be very natural, so everyone can do it. The singing involves coming into harmony with others, which is really fun. The toning is for vibrating and waking up the body’s energy centers. These games allow us to respond to music as well as create it; they help us pay better attention to others, as well as with ourselves, in a new way. Surrounding our activity will be moments of silence and stillness — you can’t have one without the other.

Rhythmic activity calls us to attend to This Very Moment. We will create soundscapes with the voice, reflecting emotional qualities; we’ll use body percussion to layer rhythmic patterns and then sculpt the sound into improvisations. We will play with different qualities of movement, learn a dance, sing a song, and listen with new ears. Rumi’s poetry will be the inspiration to create living tableaux. Found objects will become our musical instruments, and voices will be our accompaniment.

We will create Sacred Space, expand our awareness through rhythmic exercises, listen with the body, and observe ourselves in relation to music and movement. Sensitivity to others will be increased through mime, touch, observation, listening, and singing together. Participating in rhythmic activity calls us to be in the present.  Breathing life into sound and space, we find our own place and hear our own voice. We will culminate by creating our own processional blessing ceremony, which will emerge spontaneously and naturally from our shared experience together.

Terry Boyarsky brings infectious enthusiasm, responsiveness, and a delightful combination of compassion and rigor to her multi-faceted sessions.  Her training comes from many disciplines, including Dalcroze Eurhythmics, Ethnomusicology, Feldenkrais, yoga, international folk dance, and energy medicine with Rosalyn Bruyère.  As well as being an accomplished pianist, she has been a serious student and teacher of the Gurdjieff music and Sacred Dances since 1970. Ms. Boyarsky wishes to empower others to awaken, to express themselves fully, and to play with sound and rhythm.She will create, with those who come, a sacred happening, in which mind, body, and emotions revitalize the spirit and rekindle creativity.

“Her gift of insight, cultivated by her own rich background and experience, and her ability to communicate it, are extraordinary.” 

“Ms. Boyarsky’s ‘Movements in Spirit’ classes have helped me to find a way to truly nourish myself. She has an incredible talent to make these “movements” truly sacred -- an experience of real religion through dance. Everything becomes alive -- as she is alive...helping me to discover the special energy that is God-given in me... allowing me in some way to serve myself and others in a way that gives respect and kindness.”