WildHeart

Solstice Workshop: SOMA SOMA SOMA
2025-06-28 13:00 - 17:00 (America/New_York)
Join us for a Summer solstice workshop celebrating embodiment, community, and creative expression. In this 4-hour workshop, participants will experience the power of somatics, an intentional change process by which we realize transformation, individually and collectively.

This retreat offers space for contemplative movement + joyful play. Held in the nourishing environment of WildHeart, we’ll move, meditate, draw, journal, and practice politicized somatics. Our practice will invite the softening of bodies and breath while staying rooted and engaged with the present moment. Through this work, we will consider and embody new ways of being together in liberation and care.

Contact Improv Sundays @ WildHeart
2025-07-06 16:00 - 18:30
Contact Improv Sundays @ WildHeart

First and Third Sundays

4:00-6:30pm (2nd and 4th Sundays in Kingston!)

BYO dinner for a studio-floor picnic afterward

CI Lab 4-5pm (with rotating teachers)

Open Jam 5-6:30pm

Facilitator: Raffles

Register in advance

Or if you prefer to pay cash at the door, send us an email to let us know you’re coming, so we can help you find your way to the studio.

Overnight guests welcome (with advance notice). Let us know if you want to make a longer visit to WildHeart… email contact@wildheartcenter.art

Weeks that we’re not Jamming @ WildHeart, Hudson Valley Contact Improv continues in Kingston. Email Hudsonvalleycontactimprov@gmail.com for more on the Kingston Jam

Location- This workshop will take place in the Barn. If you’re coming to WildHeart for the first time, please visit our Directions page for arrival info. Refund policy No refunds, no transfers

Shake with Niki
2025-07-13 16:30 - 17:30, 2025-08-10 16:30 - 17:30, 2025-09-14 16:30 - 17:30
Shake with Niki (in-person only)

4:30 – 5:30pm Second Sunday of every month, starting November 10th (60-75 mins)

Group Shake – A somatic movement practice during which we will shake to music or sometimes, silence. Shaking, individually but as part of a group to ground us, can be healing as it is a natural way to relieve tension. You may choose to shake standing, seated, lying down or alternating between those depending on what your body needs in the moment. You can choose your own intensity, when to stop or when to keep going as you listen to your own body. While it is important to keep ourselves open to what, if anything, may arise emotionally, please only engage to the degree that you can still care for yourself. This is not a therapeutic space. The practice will start with a demonstration and it will end in silence. Dress comfortably and stay hydrated!

$10-$25

Sonic Immersion
2025-07-13 18:00 - 19:00, 2025-08-10 18:00 - 19:00
Come experience a multi-instrumental Sound Bath with composer-performer Sasha Bogdanowitsch. This full body listening experience will draw from Sasha’s extensive instrument collection of original and global winds, strings and percussion and his background of intensive musical studies of the world’s musics from countries such as India, Indonesia, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. Sasha will couple this with his unique vocals and electronics to create an ever evolving sonic tapestry that will immerse the listener in resonance and overtones; aiding all in their own sonic journey, relaxation, stress reduction and/ or meditation.

Participants will be free to recline (savasana pose), sit or stand as needed. Some yoga mats and blankets will be available but please bring whatever materials you need to feel warm and relaxed.

The event will last 60 minutes.

Come just for the Sonic Immersion or come early for Shake with Niki, and stay for both.

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Eros in Motion – A Sensory Journey Through Landscape
2025-07-14 08:00 - 2025-08-13 17:00
3 Weeks of Devising + 2 Public Showings

From July 14 to August 13, WildHeart artist-in-residence Pascal Buyse will lead a group of participants through a unique process of building performative installations in nature. This residency explores eros as a life force – a queer, sensual energy rooted in desire, connection, and creation. The installations are not static objects but embodied performances of the labor and movement that created them. Participants lift, crawl, stretch, and reach – the act of building becomes choreography. Later, these forms invite the audience to move through them and reawaken those gestures intuitively.

Core Research QuestionCan an installation—built and physically experienced by its creators—invite visitors, without words, to move in specific ways? How can the maker’s intention be felt purely through material, shape, and landscape?Theme: ErosEros here is not about sex, but about the drive to create, connect, and feel. It’s the energy that pulls us toward another body, a tree, a thought. It is soft, curious, powerful – never aggressive. It is what moves us.

Authentic Movement
2025-07-15 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-07-22 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-07-29 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-08-05 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-08-12 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-08-19 18:00 - 19:30
Authentic Movement is a contemplative dance practice where a mover explores the unconscious mind through self-directed, expressive movement while being witnessed with compassion and non-judgment. This relational practice of “seeing and being seen” fosters trust, self-awareness, and a deeper connection to one’s inner experience.

Contact Improv Sundays @ WildHeart
2025-07-20 16:00 - 18:30, 2025-08-03 16:00 - 18:30, 2025-08-17 16:00 - 18:30
Contact Improv Sundays @ WildHeart

First and Third Sundays

4:00-6:30pm (2nd and 4th Sundays in Kingston!)

BYO dinner for a studio-floor picnic afterward

CI Lab 4-5pm (with rotating teachers)

Open Jam 5-6:30pm

Register in advance

Or if you prefer to pay cash at the door, send us an email to let us know you’re coming, so we can help you find your way to the studio.

Overnight guests welcome (with advance notice). Let us know if you want to make a longer visit to WildHeart… email contact@wildheartcenter.art

Weeks that we’re not Jamming @ WildHeart, Hudson Valley Contact Improv continues in Kingston. Email Hudsonvalleycontactimprov@gmail.com for more on the Kingston Jam

Location- This workshop will take place in the Barn. If you’re coming to WildHeart for the first time, please visit our Directions page for arrival info. Refund policy No refunds, no transfers

Infant Developmental Movement Education
2025-07-22 15:00 - 2025-08-04 11:00 | Wildheart, 183 East Road, Wallkill, NY, 05156, United States
with Amy Matthews and Sarah Barnaby

The Infant Developmental Movement Educator program is a child-centered and relationship-centered approach to observing and facilitating infants, and educating parents and caregivers about touch, movement and handling in the first year of life.

This program is designed to train people to evaluate and facilitate normal development in infants using an embracing, child-centered approach.

In this training, participants will learn:

the layering of movement patterns that leads to typical ‘developmental milestones’

how to observe infants and see ‘normal movement pattern’ development

how to hold and handle infants, to support their movement experiences

how to identify ways to support infants who might be having movement difficulties

how to support parents and caregivers in learning new movement patterns with their infants

MORE Info is available at https://www.sondermsma.com/idme

Eros in Motion – Opening Performance
2025-08-08 18:00 - 19:30
OPENING PERFORMANCEFriday, August 8, from 6–7:30 PM (doors at 5)Join us for a multimedia dance performance unfolding through the stunning natural surroundings of WildHeart. Expect an embodied experience shaped by the queer force of eros: creation, connection, and curiosity. Eros here is not about sex, but about the drive to create, connect, and feel. It’s the energy that pulls us toward another body, a tree, a thought. It is soft, curious, powerful – never aggressive. It is what moves us.

Eros in Motion – Afternoon Queer Party
2025-08-09 14:30 - 18:30
EROS IN MOTION AFTERNOON QUEER PARTYSaturday, August 9, from 2:30–6:30 PMSaturday afternoon we shift into party mode. Expect music, open installations, spontaneous performances, and the joy of moving together. Bring a swimsuit and towel – water is part of the experience! Let’s celebrate eros not as spectacle but as energy: playful, sensual, communal. Come feel it for yourself.

Clown & Voice Retreat
2025-08-14 12:00 - 2025-08-17 18:00
The Clown and Voice Retreat is a 4 day heart-first, deep dive into serious play! Songs, movement, games, improvisation, creative exploration, and much more will fill our days as we explore the ridiculous and wondrous world of the clown, and our capacity for play and resonance through the voice. Wholesome meals, outdoor nature walks, swimming, collective dinners and singing ‘round the campfire make up this restorative and connected weekend of FUN!

The Moonstone Covenant - a book launch
2025-08-24 15:00 - 19:00

Pop-Up Contemporary Dance Class
2025-08-27 18:00 - 19:30, 2025-09-03 18:00 - 19:30
Mid- level intermediate class
Two Wednesdays;
August 27 + September 3
6- 7:15 pm
In depth warm up, musically driven phrases, somatic approach.
Classes lead by Jerylann Warner
Pay what you can. For questions or to register reach out to jerylannwarner16@gmail.com

Community Contemplative Practice
2025-09-04 10:30 - 11:00, 2025-09-11 10:30 - 11:00
10.30am to 11am 🙂 FREE Community Contemplate Practice (online)-

A weekly 30-minute silent unguided space. Feel free to bring your own practice (sitting/ moving/ meditation/ writing/ journaling/ drawing etc.) along with any props to make yourself comfortable. We will start and end in silence.

Join Zoom Meeting https://us05web.zoom.us/j/86265272473?pwd=[REDACTED] ID: 862 6527 2473Passcode: [REDACTED]

No need to register, just show up.

Contact Improv Sundays @ WildHeart
2025-09-07 16:00 - 18:30
Contact Improv Sundays @ WildHeart

Facilitator: Nicole Bindler

First and Third Sundays

4:00-6:30pm (2nd and 4th Sundays in Kingston!)

BYO dinner for a studio-floor picnic afterward

CI Lab 4-5pm (with rotating teachers)

Open Jam 5-6:30pm

Register in advance

Class Description:

CI and Attunement: consent as an embodied practice

In this class we will practice our CI communication skills with an emphasis on identifying and going for what we want in our dances while finding common interests with our partners by dialing up our listening. We will cultivate curiosity about our partners, and approach consent as a playful, embodied practice. We will attune to ourselves, our partner, and the ensemble by enlivening our senses and clarifying our perceptual awareness.

Bio:

Nicole Bindler is a dance-maker, writer, activist, and Body-Mind Centering® practitioner and Yoga teacher. She is a Registered Master Somatic Movement Therapist with the International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association. Her teaching and performance work has been presented at festivals and intensives on four continents. Conference presentations include The Future of CI Conference, Body-Mind Centering Association Conferences, International Conference on Disability Studies, Arts & Education, Conney Conference on Jewish Arts, Women in Dance Leadership Conference, Jews and Jewishness in the Dance World Conference, Bodily Undoing Symposium, and the Dance Studies Association Conference where she was a conference fellow. Recent projects include curating an evening of Palestinian dance films; co-producing the Consent Culture in CI Symposium at Earthdance; somatic research on the embryology of the genitalia from a non-binary perspective; and a solo dance, The Case for Invagination, in which her scars speak candidly about trauma and desire. Her writing on dance, somatics, and politics has been published in numerous journals, and she will be included in the forthcoming Embryo Book Project. She is collaborating with Kristen Smiarowski and Ben Spatz on a new book, Gathering Sparks: Jewish Arts and Somatics that will be published by punctum books. She is currently enrolled in the Polestar Pilates Teacher Training.

Or if you prefer to pay cash at the door, send us an email to let us know you’re coming, so we can help you find your way to the studio.

Overnight guests welcome (with advance notice). Let us know if you want to make a longer visit to WildHeart… email contact@wildheartcenter.art

Weeks that we’re not Jamming @ WildHeart, Hudson Valley Contact Improv continues in Kingston. Email Hudsonvalleycontactimprov@gmail.com for more on the Kingston Jam

Location- This workshop will take place in the Barn. If you’re coming to WildHeart for the first time, please visit our Directions page for arrival info. Refund policy No refunds, no transfers

An Evening of Acoustic Music with MacS
2025-09-12 19:30 - 21:00
Join The MacS Band for an evening of acoustic live music. Elena, Joe, and Vinny will be performing classic to modern covers of your favorite artists as well as some original compositions.

Joe and Elena P. McLaughlin have been performing locally, and nationally, for more than 30 years in various musical projects and together as a duet. They are both accomplished vocalists and multi-instrumentalists and both teach music.

Vinny Sardo, as well, has been performing in various musical projects for more than 30 years and is also an accomplished vocalist and multi-instrumentalist.

Joe and Elena met Vinny at an outdoor open mic in 2020 during the height of covid where The MacS Band was born. The MacS Band name is an acronym for Mclaughlin and Sardo. The musical chemistry between these three artists is unique and enjoyable.

www.macsband.comwww.facebook.com/MacSBandNJwww.instagram.com/macsbandnj/MacS Band – YouTube

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Performance Location

WildHeart is located on 46+ beautiful acres in the Hudson Valley at 183 East Road, Wallkill, NY. This event will take place in the Barn, the large building at the end of the driveway. You can park in either of the two parking areas on the right side of the driveway before you get to the Barn. There are also a few spots in front of the Barn. More info about directions and transportation options HERE.

Get Tickets for MacS

Refund Policy

In advance of 2 weeks – full refund (less processing fee)

Within 2 weeks – no refund(This policy stands even in case of sickness so we encourage participants to plan accordingly)

Advance ticket sales have closed. You can purchase tickets for $10 at the event.

The Body as Threshold: A Practice of Return and Departure
2025-09-13 10:00 - 15:00
This workshop examines the body as a threshold—a space where what is known meets what is waiting to emerge.

We start by returning home—to breath, sensation, and presence—before moving toward movement and creative discovery. Through guided improvisation, structured frameworks, and attentive presence, we explore how form and constraint can unlock freedom, expression, and transformation.

This practice encourages you to deepen your presence, expand creative resources, and discover movement that feels both new and deeply personal. It provides tools to support choreographic inquiry, the creative process, and embodied exploration.

Together, we experience cycles of arrival, departure, and return—each time discovering new territory. This workshop features live music by musician and composer Lisa DeGrace. We invite you to join us; the only requirement is a willingness to begin.

Sonic Immersion with Timothy Hill
2025-09-14 19:00 - 20:00
This sonic immersion will be a soulful, intimate journey with our most primal and organic musical instrument, the human voice. As a pioneer in the art of harmonic singing (aka: overtone, or throat, singing) and a lifelong student of Hindustani vocal music (raga) as well as being a composer in his own right, Timothy has gone deeply into the interior frontiers of expression. He will accompany himself on tanpura, acoustic guitar, and lyre. To conclude, Timothy will offer a song for two to bring our expansive meditative state into a renewed, grounded awareness.
