Members of the community are welcome to come participate in the meetings and share their ideas and thoughts about the Dance Palace programs.

Beginning English classes offer student instruction in reading, writing, and speaking. Free textbooks, educational materials and childcare are provided. The classes are a collaborative project of the West Marin Literacy Program, Marin Head Start, Marin County Free Library, and the Dance Palace.
Instructor: Brian Kirven
For more information, call West Marin Literacy 663-1849

We begin with a 40-minute silent meditation, followed by a Dharma talk and discussion. Meditating together and sharing the teachings of compassion and wisdom, we encourage one another’s lives. Everyone is welcome, whatever your spiritual orientation. No prior experience with meditation is necessary.

Are your meetings endless and unproductive? Do you dread the approach of your next board or committee meeting? Are commitment, creativity, and attendance dropping? This workshop will provide you with simple tools for making your meetings more constructive and fun. Nonprofit consultant Carol Friedman works to promote thriving, sustainable nonprofits in the areas of fundraising, board development, organizational assessment, and problem-solving.
Taught by Carol Friedman – 663-9512, cjay@horizoncable.com, http://friedmanconsulting.blogspot.com/
Thursday, March 1, 7-8:30 p.m. / $35

Folk dances from all over the world, including Serbia, Turkey, Rumania, Armenia, Bulgaria, Greece, and Israel. Beginners and newcomers are always welcome; no partner is necessary. The dances are fun, great exercise, and danced to a wonderful assortment of world music.Instructor Carol Friedman has been teaching folk dancing since 2000.
Taught by Carol Friedman – 663-9512, http://carolfriedmanfolkdance.blogspot.com

Sicilian-born Maria Mankin is a Stott Pilates certified instructor, and with her background in circus arts, brings fun and creativity into her classes. Her classes focus on body awareness, strength-training, core and stamina building, balance, and well-being. She has worked with a variety of clients at different levels of fitness—from the fittest athlete to the injured and recovering individual. Teaching with many Pilates props while keeping a good pace for the group, Maria can adapt exercises, suggesting appropriate modifications if needed.
Instructor: Maria Mankin www.beginpilates.com

Meetings are the second Thursday of each month at 7:00pm in the church space
Meeting cancelled on 1/12/12

In this seven-session class you will make unique ceramic saucers, working with a variety of techniques in both hand building and glazing. The focus of the class will be creating unique and functional saucers. No previous clay experience is necessary; class size limited to 12 people. The instructor is a professional ceramic artist.

An encounter with our voice and our body as an instrument, for sharing the feeling of being, and for remembering that all that happens is for giving and receiving. Ceremony and communion through simple songs from different parts of the world which take us to the time when magic ruled the Earth, making us feel that it is still present, waiting for us to give it permission to manifest.
We sing:
~ to enter the present, where creation happens
~ to tune into our individual vibration and recover our power
~ to feel the pleasure of hearing our own voice
~ to expand our sonic perception
~ to share, by discovering the beauty of Oneness
~ to remember that sound transforms everything, and that everything is vibration
~ to be Love
~ to heal
~ for the right to be a musical being
~ to remember who we are
And for so many other reasons that we will discover while singing...We invite you to sing!

We begin each class with warm-up exercises and qigong breathing. New students learn the Tai Chi Chu’an form at their own pace, and are individually taught. Long-time students practice the set together, and also learn weapon sets and shaolin. Instructor Ellen Serber was trained by Sifu Kuo Lien Ying, who in 1978 certified her to teach. Ellen is assisted by Celeste Woo and Barbara Cellers.

We keep the dance floor talk-free, come early or stay late to share with your new and old friends, but during dance time it’s an opportunity for all of us to just dance. There is no specific form, it’s all about how You feel like dancing in the moment. We’ll open and close with a brief circle to create an intentional, unified space. Music will be awesome, varied and DJ’d by a professional, feedback before and after is welcome. Your whole self is welcome here. Come as you are, and dance your own dance. This is an experiment. YOU are a key element. If you feel something is missing, you may be just the person to bring it. At the moment, I (Eden) am organizing this, but that’s only until a group of inspired folks each decide to step in and collective-ize it. That’s my vision.

For the winter and spring sessions, we will continue to read the early gems of mystery fiction. Our intent is to compare and contrast these classics with some recent books selected from the Annual Best Mystery Awards from the Agatha, Anthony, and Edgar Conferences. In writing a mystery novel, what has changed and what has remained the same over these many years?

Experience the music of 12th century Abbess Hildegard von Bingen the way she shared it with the women and men who sang with her—as a gentle, contemplative practice of listening and singing together. Her songs are made of beautiful melodies and images that carry profound wisdom teachings deeply into the heart of the singer. Devi has been teaching Hildegard’s music in the medieval oral tradition for 15 years. She guides weekly song gatherings in Santa Rosa and offers weekend Song and Silence Retreats.

This moderately paced, all-levels class emphasizes waking up the body’s inner intelligence through breath awareness, and careful attention to alignment. The practice is deep, mindful, and precise … oh yeah, and fun.

Elizabeth Barnet teaches this mixed-level class on Friday and Sunday mornings. Elizabeth’s classes includes gentle warm ups that help integrate body and breath; flow yoga that elicits the fluid nature of movement; Iyengar training that offers precise and exacting instruction for careful alignment; and restorative poses for rejuvenation and rest.

Zhi Neng Qi Gong, a self-healing practice developed by Professor Pang He Ming has benefited millions of practitioners since its introduction in 1981. Zhi Neng's slow movements, accompanied by visualization, can benefit our emotional and physical health.
Will Fudeman, Acupuncturist and Counselor, has practiced Qi Gong and Tai Chi since 1983. Rene Navarro and Armando Santa Ana are two of his most influential teachers.