Movement, Tarot, Kabbalah, Community

Whether you need to lighten your heart, tap into your wellspring of inner peace—or just have a fantastic vacation—I welcome you to the Dance into Ancient Wisdom retreat! In a magical setting in Tuscany, you’ll explore the deep wisdom of your own body and connect to the Kabbalah (Jewish mystical) Tree of Life. You’ll experience joyful body-mind-spirit classes and prompts for reflection and creative expression. Discover how this ancient way of knowing will enrich your life. 

Your exploration will take place in the sacred space of the studio at Terzo di Danciano and in the Tuscan landscape—amid olive groves, in an underground Etruscan city, and on the just-opened Path of Art and Soul, with benches designed by 28 artists. 

Plan to have fun! You'll feast on locally sourced meals prepared by our private chef, accompanied by lively conversation and laughter. There will also be ample contemplative, restorative time to relax in the spa and rainwater pool, take walks in the stunning setting, and, in the words of poet Mary Oliver, “let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”

"I left the retreat with a much, much lighter heart and with my soul and spirit restored and reenergized."

                                                                                  Denise, 2024 retreat participant

Janice Steinberg draws on an extensive movement background—Nia, modern dance, authentic movement, and yoga (including yoga nidra)—and deep study of the Kabbalah Tree of Life. She is also a novelist—her  latest is The Tin Horse, published by Random House—and writing teacher. She loves building community.

She'll be teaming up with Kriszti Van Slyke, a beautiful mover, magic-maker, and director of Terzo di Danciano, for a program that weaves time in the sacred space of the studio and visits to 

Located 2 hours southeast of Florence, Terzo di Danciano is a small medieval villa that has been lovingly restored, retaining the unique character of its history while offering the comforts of a graceful country home.  Known since Roman times for its breathtaking panoramic position, the property is surrounded by serene and pristine nature. 

•  The terraced garden has ancient mulberry and olive trees which are harvested to produce their own cold-pressed olive oil.
•  The swimming pool uses filtered rain water and is surrounded by a sunbathing deck oriented towards the rising sun.
•  The private spa center provides a serene place to unwind and offers a large whirlpool bath, Turkish bath, infrared sauna, cold shower and massage/facial treatments.
•  The elegant bedrooms and living areas are made of natural handcrafted materials decorated with colors that maintain the patina and charm of centuries past.
•  Movement sessions will be held in the spacious theater, which boasts high ceilings, aged wooden floors, bare stone walls and lovely natural light. 

The Main House, a magnificent 16th century construction, has 10 bedrooms with super-comfortable beds and 8 bathrooms. Floors, stairs, plasterwork, paint and vaults have all been renovated to preserve their unique character. Rooms on the upper floors have stunning views of the surrounding countryside, while the ground room floors have direct access to the terrace and garden. Providing the best of both worlds, this setting with Old World charm also has high-speed WiFi.

 You may have met the delightful Kriszti Van Slyke when she was part of our San Diego dance community. Kriszti now directs Terzo di Danciano and will give us an especially warm welcome. 

Your stay includes three meals/day prepared by Terzo's superb chef from locally sourced ingredients. There will be lovely local wine available for purchase at meals.

Special diets—vegetarian, gluten-free, dairy-free, etc.—can be accommodated as long as the chef receives advance notice. On your registration form, you'll have the chance to list any special dietary needs. 

We highly recommend purchasing travel insurance, which covers such things as trip interruption or cancellation, medical care abroad, and emergency medical evacuation. We, as your retreat guides, are purchasing travel insurance for ourselves. 

A friend who does a travel blog (she's also a nurse!) has written a fantastic blog on Demystifying Travel Insurance.  

Some general information on what travel insurance can cover: 

https://www.planetjanettravels.com/demystifying-travel-insurance-what-you-really-need-to-know/

Some options for travel insurance that she recommends are:

• Allianz Travel Insurance
• CSA Travel Protection
• AIG Travel Guard

In addition, there are several online Travel Marketplaces where you can enter your specific information and receive a quote: Squaremouth, Insuremytrip, and travelinsurance.com.

Safety

If you are a U.S. citizen, we recommend that you register your trip with the US State Department. This is an easy process and can be helpful in making it easier for the U.S. embassy or consulate to contact you in a national or international emergency.  

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/step.html   

Health

In the following link you will find helpful information and questions to consider regarding your health and medical coverage while abroad: 

https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/before-you-go/your-health-abroad.html 

Covid

If Covid is still a problem at the time of the retreat, we recommend you bring two tests with you. And we suggest masking while traveling. Janice finds the Kimberly-Clark N95  quite comfortable, even though it makes her look like a duck.

•  €400 non-refundable deposit reserves your spot. A next payment of  €1000 is due by March 1, 2025. Remaining balance/fees are due no later than April 1, 2025.

•  If you cancel your reservation before March 25 2025: you will be refunded fees minus your non-refundable deposit.
•  If you cancel your reservation after March 25, 2024: all fees are non-refundable, unless your space can be filled by someone else.

*Bookings made within 40 days before Retreat will require full payment at the time booking.

"I want to be at Terzo with my partner, but they'd like to just hang out during the day rather than participate in retreat sessions."

Your partner is welcome to come. Both of you need to register at the shared-room rate. 

Your partner will be able to use all Terzo di Danciano amenities such as the pool, spa, etc. Their registration covers all meals, activities, and excursions. And Terzo staff can suggest fantastic things for your partner to do in the area.

For excursions:

• Charming Italian cities are hilly! And there are cobblestone streets. So make sure to have good walking shoes, and if you like to use a walking stick, bring it!

For our sessions at Terzo:

• Comfortable clothes to move in for a variety of dance explorations.

• We typically dance barefoot, but if you're more comfortable in shoes, it's fine to wear jazz shoes or tennies.

• An object that represents where you are in your spiritual journey, that you can put on our community altar.

• A journal and pen. 

• A tarot deck. 

• We'll provide colored pencils and Cray-pas, but if you have favorite art supplies, you may want to bring them.

We will provide a comprehensive packing list upon registration. 

Joyful body-mind-spirit practices and prompts for reflection and creative expression: Movement practices will be adaptable to all levels—it's fine to use a chair.

Exploring beautiful Tuscany: We're doing excursions to Orvieto and Pienza (the Path of Art and Soul). We're also looking forward to visits with two master artisans—a potter and a jewelry-maker. 

Chilling! We look forward to relaxing in the spa and pool, taking walks, and feasting on locally sourced meals prepared by a master chef ... accompanied by lively conversation and lots of laughter. 

Yum! There will also be ample contemplative, restorative time, to “let the soft animal of your body love what it loves” (to quote the poet Mary Oliver). 

Plan on laughing a lot! 

Janice fell in love with modern dance in her teens and has been exploring body-mind-spirit practices ever since—modern dance, yoga, tai chi, improvisation, tap, ballet, and authentic movement, as well as delicious tastes of 5 Rhythms and gaga. 

She began teaching Nia in 2009 and holds a Black Belt in this rich dance-lifestyle practice. She founded Nia at Dance Place San Diego, offering in-studio classes for eight years (until the pandemic) and currently teaches four classes/week—three over Zoom and one in-person.

Her interest in Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) began in the mid-1990s when she was researching a mystery novel set in Safed, Israel (Death in a City of Mystics, published by Berkley). That began a process of deep study that included having a Bat Mitzvah at age 49, co-leading a women’s New Moon group for several years, and acting as a lay service leader. Her novel The Tin Horse (Random House) dove into the Jewish history of Los Angeles.

She’s woven her love of dance and Jewish practice into movement classes based on the Kabbalah Tree of Life and routines for Jewish holidays.

Judaism has an ancient tradition of exploring hidden meanings in sacred texts and creating mystical practices to commune with the divine. During the Golden Age of 13th century Spain, this body of wisdom developed into Kabbalah—a Hebrew word whose root means "to receive." 

Kabbalah flourished during the 16th century in the city of Safed, Israel. From the  Safed Kabbalists came the concept of sefirot—emanations representing "the flow of energy from the Mind of the Creator into the universe" (Rabbi Yonassan Gershom). The sefirot are qualities like lovingkindness and humility. They're often mapped onto the Tree of Life and  on the human body. For instance, the left shoulder is associated with strength and discernment.

The ten sefirot are:

* Keter / crown: pure energy, similar to the crown chakra

* Hokhmah / wisdom, oceanic consciousness

* Binah / understanding, egoless awareness

* Chesed / lovingkindness, expansiveness, boundless giving
* Gevurah / strength, justice, setting boundaries, discernment
* Tiferet / compassionate heart, beauty, balance of lovingkindness and justice
* Netzach / eternity, endurance, victory—what carries us forward
* Hod / splendor, humility, gratitude
* Yesod / foundation, sexuality, a channel for bringing blessing into the world
* Malchut / physical reality, groundedness; also called Shekinah, the divine feminine

During the seven weeks after Passover (which begins April 12 ), there's a tradition of focusing on the seven lower qualities in a process of spiritual refinement. We'll be in this seven-week period during our time at Terzo and will be dancing with the seven lower sefirot in our practice there.