Retreats
Supporting Deep Personal Inquiry
The retreat environment allows us the time to immerse ourselves in different techniques and extended explorations in a variety of settings, whilst also allowing structured space for rest and replenishment. For more indepth information about our retreats and when they are scheduled to run please read below.
If you have further questions or wish to make a booking please contact me.
Somatic Movement Retreat
with Mary Abrams & Penny Collinson
Moving from the Inside Out: Somatic movement for learning, play, and discovery
Friday 29th – Sunday 31st May 2026
This new 3 day retreat is specifically designed for movement and somatic-informed practitioners and movement and dance enthusiasts who work within teaching, in therapeutic, creative or performative contexts.
Our practices will draw on principles from Continuum, Authentic Movement, movement improvisation and touch. Practices will involve learning, playing and discovering through solo moving, sounding, mover-witnessing in partners and as a group, and explorations through writing, drawing and speaking. Each day will be structured to encourage rest and replenishment.
Duration: 3 half day course - 5 hours each afternoon
Fee: £200 - £250 (includes refreshments and fruit)
* This is a sliding scale please pay according to your income
Location: The River Room, Halton Mill in Lancaster
Dates: Friday 29th – Sunday 31st May 2026
- Friday 29th May 13:00 - 18:00
- Saturday 30th May 12:00 - 17:00
- Sunday 31st May 12:00 - 17:00
Somatic Movement Retreat
with Mary Abrams & Penny Collinson
Dancing our Dream Bodies: Moving, Feeling, Manifesting
Saturday 6th – Tuesday 9th June 2026
During this 4-day workshop we will use a variety of somatic movement methods which support deep personal inquiry. Our practices will draw on principles from Continuum, Authentic Movement, movement improvisation and touch, including the significance of symbols and metaphor. Practices will involve embodying our dream life through solo moving, sounding, mover-witnessing in partners and as a group, and explorations through writing, drawing, speaking, and creating aesthetic dreamscapes with tangible and intangible objects. Our days will be spaciously structured to support rest and replenishment.
Duration: Saturday to Tuesday
Fee: £325 - £400 (includes lunch each day & refreshments)
* This is a sliding scale please pay according to your income
Location: The Soul Space Studio, 1 Townley Street, Morecambe LA4 5JQ
Dates: Saturday 6th - Tuesday 9th June 2026
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Biographies​
Penny and Mary have known one another for 19 years, and taught together on the MA Dance & Somatic Wellbeing programmes, which ran in UCLan, Preston and in New York, until 2021. They look forward to reconnecting with graduates, colleagues and practitioners on this retreat, offering a depth of expertise in holding creative processes and supporting personal and collective inquiry with care and compassion.
Mary Abrams - www.movingbodyresource.com
Mary brings passion, skill, and an inquisitive spirit to her work with clients, group classes, and workshops and is founder/director of Moving Body Resources in New York City. Mary recently launched a 6-module program The Odyssey of Embodied Spiritual Learning; and teaches on the Continuum Teacher Training at the Somatic Academy of Berlin (Germany). From 2007-2020 Mary taught and was USA course leader on the Masters in Dance & Somatic Well-being course at the University of Central Lancashire (UK) and in the NYC.
She comes from a lifelong dance background and 20 years of Continuum with Emilie Conrad and Susan Harper, and ongoing work with epistemologist Gary David, Ph.D.
Penny Collinson - www.pennycollinson.com
Penny is a movement artist and registered Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist in private therapeutic, community and educational settings. Penny also works extensively with professional movement practitioners, therapists and teachers as a collaborator, mentor, consultant and supervisor, and has recently co-created the Community Interest Company, Shoreline Health in Motion, CIC, which will collaboratively create dance for health initiatives in and around Morecambe Bay. Penny has studied with Linda Hartley (IBMT), and Miranda Tufnell for over 20 years.
Her publications on the application of somatic practice in health and wellbeing contexts can be found at https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2869-7132
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