A Retreat of Story Work and Play To Transform Our Work and Our Communities
with keynote leader Julie Portman*
September 22-24, 2006
Camp Eder Retreat Center - Fairfield, PA
Moving Stories, Healing Stories is an opportunity to explore spiritual enrichment and community renewal processes through exciting forms of interactive drama, movement and other creative arts. Activities include:
working with specific storytelling tools, exploring personal stories*
sacred times for telling our stories
forums for sharing our skills, ideas, media and findings
"getting into our bodies" with quietness and play
personal and group devotional time
sharing meals and supportive fellowship
unstructured "free" time!
Why Stories? During the Jubilee Troupe tour of communities across the U.S., we saw how universal stories and storytelling could be. When introduced in workshops or worship services, we almost always heard murmurs of appreciation from people deeply hearing each other. The meaningfulness was unmistakable. And so was the enthusiasm. We decided to explore the story further. How do we draw on the full power of our stories? What do we gain from witnessing each other's stories? How do we learn and share this ancient ritual in our own community?
* Keynote leader Julie Portman brings her Life Stories Workshop to this weekend,
a unique method of unlocking the potential for all of us to discern and tell our empowering stories -- and to witness the power-full stories around us. An Obie Award winning theater performer and founder of Ki Theater, Julie has developed Life Stories Workshops for both individual storywriting and collective community building. She brings over thirty years of professional theater experience to the weekend as director, performer, playwright, story-teller and story-eliciter. Julie is the author of five plays, the latest of which was made into a PBS television broadcast directed by Academy Award winner Paul Wagner. The Jubilee Troupe welcomes her as keynote leader, artist, facilitator and teacher during the weekend to share these valuable skills and tap our most sacred possessions. For more on Julie Portman, click here.
Interplay Workshop with Judith Reichsman will provide us with improvisational and playful tools to further explore the stories generated with the Life Stories Workshop. From Southern Vermont, Judith brings to this retreat over fifteen years of Interplay experience and leadership, her background of studies in arts and religion and her overflowing enthusiasm. For more on Judith and her work, click here.
The Jubilee Troupe is hosting and providing additional leadership for this special weekend. Begun as an ensemble of improvisational artists in the Anabaptist peacemaking tradition, the Jubilee Troupe has combined improvisational arts, social activism and spiritual growth in performances, workshops and worship services since 2004. Planning and hosting members for this retreat include Joy Hodges, Christina Cruz, Jessica Eller, Arlene Kiely, Chris & Tabea Steinbeisser-Fitz and others. For more about who we are, click here.
Sponsors: Unity in the Community (Manassas, VA) is the principle sponsor of this event with underwriting from the Virginia Council for the Arts and co-sponsorship from the York Friends Meeting (PA)
and the Jubilee Troupe, an independent project sponsored by On Earth Peace, the New Community Project and the Brethren Peace Fellowship.
On: September 22-24, 2006
Friday, 6:30 PM to Sunday, 1:30 PM
At:Camp Eder Tree of Peace retreat center in Fairfield, Pennsylvania (8 miles west of Gettysburg, 75 northwest of Washington, DC).
Registration: pre-registration due Thursday, September 7 with $65 deposit. Total costs of $115 or $175 pay for the weekend's accomodation, leadership and meals in a contemplative and lush stream-side wooded setting.
Accomodations: $115 covers all costs with covered wagon "camping." $175 covers a comfortable shared hotel-style stay in the Tree of Peace lodge. Rustic or relaxed, your choice!
Contact:email us with questions, call us toll-free at 888-715-4510 or use the form below.
The Moving Stories, Healing Stories retreat weekend is part of the expansion of the Jubilee Troupe from its inception as a group of traveling performers and workshop leaders to a wider community and network of artists, seekers and activists mutually supporting each other's creative work and lives. We hope this weekend might be a step toward -- and an invitation for you to join this wider community.
Why Stories? During the Jubilee Troupe tour of communities across the U.S., we saw how universal stories and storytelling could be. When introduced in workshops or worship services, we almost always heard murmurs of appreciation from people deeply hearing each other. The meaningfulness was unmistakable. And so was the enthusiasm. We decided to explore the story further. How do we draw on the full power of our stories? What do we gain from witnessing each other's stories? How do we learn and share this ancient ritual in our own community?
The Jubilee Troupe is hosting and providing additional leadership for this special weekend. Begun as an ensemble of improvisational artists in the Anabaptist peacemaking tradition, the Jubilee Troupe has combined improvisational arts, social activism and spiritual growth in performances, workshops and worship services since 2004. Planning and hosting members for this retreat include Joy Hodges, Christina Cruz, Jessica Eller, Arlene Kiely, Chris & Tabea Steinbeisser-Fitz and others. For more about who we are, 