events and offerings: past.

Summer 2026

Breath by Breath: Exploring Ashtanga

Spring Series - 2 weekends; 4 sessions; 2.5 hours per session (10 hours) –
CE hours available

Friday, May 29 & Saturday, May 30; Friday, June 5 & Sunday, June 7
@Be Unlimited Yoga, Wilmington, NC.

A ten-hour progressive series spanning two weekends, designed for practitioners ready to delve into the Ashtanga Primary Series with depth and intention. Whether you are coming to Ashtanga for the first time or returning with fresh questions, this series offers a structured entry into the sequence and the principles that animate its transformative power.

Over four sessions, we will build the primary sequence, honoring tradition while making space for experimentation, creative play, and thoughtful adaptation to increase accessibility. While offering a physical challenge, Ashtanga, at its core, is about moving with the breath and using breath as a means of awareness in the present moment.

Ashtanga is a moving meditation that asks us to face ourselves: to see our patterns, examine the stories we hold, and do the work of being safely uncomfortable. It is in that process that we transcend perceived limitations and move toward more authentic versions of ourselves—rewards of which extend far beyond the mat. Each session includes a lecture, physical practice, and a space to workshop postures and concepts.

This is a progressive series; drop-in is not available, and attendance at all four sessions is strongly encouraged. Continuing education hours are available. Sign up early; space is limited!

Schedule:
Session 1 – Living Lineage: Tradition, Chants, and Theme & Variation
Friday, May 29, 5:30–8 pm

Session 2 – Energetic Enlivenment: Ujjayi, Bandha, & Oppositional Extension
Saturday, May 30, 4:30–7 pm

Session 3 – Inward Looking: Drishti, Transitions, and the Closing Sequence
Friday, June 5, 5:30–8 pm

Session 4 – Moving Meditation: Full Primary and Inversions
Sunday, June 7, 4:30–7 pm

Embodied Metta: Embracing Everythingness

Sunday, May 3rd, 7:30 - 11:30 am

SOLD OUT!
Part of the Connect | Create | Cultivate Series: Half-day (4-hour) Retreat, Rocky Point, NC

Metta—lovingkindness—is not passive acceptance. It is a force that holds complexity without flinching, that calls out what needs to change while continuing to express love. It is at once ferocious and all-nurturing. Metta is the energy of the mother: ecological, relational, and evolving.

In this second gathering of the Connect | Create | Cultivate Retreat Series, and in honor of Earth Day and Mother’s Day, we turn toward that mother-energy as a lens for examining how we care, how we ask to be cared for, and what it means to be in mutual relationship with ourselves, each other, and the earth.

Together, we will explore the roles we play in those relationships and practice the particular courage it takes to be honest within them. Be nurtured through indulging the five senses in nature, mindful movement, collaborative art, writing, and creating your own sugar-scrub ritual to honor and carry forward into the season. Cultivate the grit to grow. Embody benevolence toward yourself and others. Gather in community. You'll leave with something made by your own hands, a sense of connection, and an open heart.

Within this retreat container, we will: - Engage in guided, mindful movement (all levels welcome) - Indulge the 5 senses in nature - Challenge notions of perfectionism through art, introspection, and collaboration - Nourish through intuitive grazing and awareness - Write and explore our inner landscape - Gather as a community and create - Curate personal ritual

TRAVEL COLLAGE

March 2 through April 13
Mondays 9:30 - 11:30 am

Celebrate past travels, plan future adventures, or dream up trips yet to come through the creative process of collage. Using personal memorabilia, magazines, and found materials, we’ll explore image, language, and memory—shaping them into meaningful works that capture experience, intention, and possibility through layered, hands-on composition.

CRAFTING THE COMPRESSED: FLASH FICTION

March 24 through April 28

Tuesdays10 - 11:30 am

Explore the art of flash fiction—stories under 1,500 words that use brevity to powerful effect. This class draws on craft excerpts, key techniques, and discussion of published stories to examine flash both as its own genre and as a tool for understanding longer fiction. Open to new and experienced writers ready to read, reflect, and experiment with creating bite-sized stories.

Emergence Through Ritual: From Roots to Reach

Half-day Retreat

Connect to nature's rhythm and personal intuition to build a clear and grounded intention for the coming shift of season.

In this half-day retreat container, we will use mindful movement, guided time in nature, artful creation, and gathering to foster community and tap into personal strength. We will focus on transforming routine into sacred practice—not just for special occasions, but as a woven part of daily life, developing awareness and a sense of our aliveness.

Like a tree, we must root deeply to reach high, trusting the unseen, internal work that paves the way for outward change.

Together, let us tend to this internal work, which enables the slow, intentional unfolding of possibilities and fresh perspectives.

Sarus Festival: for Site-specific & Experimental Art 2025

SARUS FESTIVAL

Wilmington, NC

August 8 - 10, 2025

SARUS SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

The 2025 SARUS Festival marks its 8th iteration as a site-specific, experimental arts event in North Carolina. It features non-commercial, professional performances and outreach, bringing together national and international artists—both established and emerging—for collaboration, teaching, and inspiration. SARUS showcases diverse art forms including dance, theatre, visual art, installations, film, workshops, youth programs, and social events. The festival is organized and presented by Alban Elved Dance Company.

WHQR Interview: Around Town With Rhonda Bellamy

FLOW & DRIFT

Mini Contact Improvisation Retreat

Wilmington, NC

August 9 & 10, 2025

This mini-retreat offers a chance to engage in two days of contact improv jams, with opportunities to experience the Sarus Festival for Site-Specific and Experimental Art (see full festival schedule: https://sarusfestival.weebly.com/festival-schedule.html), while allowing free time to lounge and play on the beautiful Wrightsville Beach or explore Wilmington’s historic downtown.

Accommodations and food are not included and must be acquired individually by participants.

As part of the Sarus Festival's mission to showcase site-specific and experimental work that fosters community and exposes people to new art forms, the latter part of Sunday’s jam will be open to public viewing and will include a post-jam discussion with audience members (jammers are welcome to participate in the discussion).

ITINERARY:

Saturday 8/9 @ Hope Recovery (3403 Winston Blvd, Wilmington, NC 28405)
11:15 am - Arrival and Check-in
11:30 am - 12 pm: Opening Circle
12 - 2 pm: Warm-up & Jam

Sunday 8/10 @ Hope Recovery
1:30 pm - 2 pm: Arrival and Circle
2 pm - 2:30 pm: Warm-up
2:30 pm - 4 pm: JAM
4 pm - 4:30 pm: Continue jamming into the improvisational round-robin-style performance

4:30 PM - 4:45 pm: Audience Discussion
4:45 - 5:15 pm: Closing circle

7 - 9 pm: Sarus Closing Party @ Barzaar (1610 Castle St)