A 7 Day intensive with Paola Wales
September 29 - October 5, 2026
Arrival Tuesday September 29 between 4 and 6:00 PM.
Departure Monday October 5 after morning circle.
(English - Danish translation if requested)
From sharing to genuine connection!
This immersive introduction to Life-Centric Dance explores how movement, play, rhythm, presence, and shared ritual can strengthen trust, participation, and belonging in communities.
Participants will experience — and, if they wish, learn to facilitate — a range of adaptable practices for community building, wellbeing, and group culture. Rooted in the values of ecovillages, co-housing, and collaborative living, these approaches can be used in retreats, workshops, festivals, schools, and local community spaces.
The training offers both practical tools and a lived experience of embodied community, with space to engage at whatever level feels right for you.
Expect movement, music, laughter, reflection, rest, conversation, and collective discovery grounded in:
Participants will experience and learn practices including:
All activities are designed to be highly adaptable and accessible.
Expect feel-good music, lovely people, nourishing food, and the calming presence of sea and sky — all the ingredients for a truly relaxing and inspiring getaway.
You are warmly welcome whether you are a facilitator, educator, community organizer, or simply someone longing for more connected ways of living — or if you are simply drawn to 5 days of movement, presence, and shared experience without any expectation to teach or facilitate.
No advanced movement experience is required.
Most importantly, you will gain direct lived experience of the kinds of relational environments many people are longing to create.
9am: Morning circle
9:30-11 am: Participatory workshop 1
11:30-12:30: Theory
2:30-4 pm: Participatory workshop 2
4:30-5:30 pm: Methodology
5:30-6:00 pm: Recap/preparation
7:30-9 pm: Student facilitated practice (Arrival day: Welcome session – Day 3 break)
Schedule may be subject to change as it is a living program that may shift slightly in response to the needs and dynamics of the group
Together, these elements create a dynamic learning journey that balances experience, reflection, theory, and practice.
Morning Circle
Begin each day in a shared space for connection, reflection, and exploration of the unique process alive within each participant.
Participatory Workshops
Learn by doing. Through a wide range of interactive exercises, participants gain direct experience.
Recap & Preparation
Pause to reflect on the day’s discoveries, integrate key learnings, and prepare for the evening practice session.
Theory – Why
Explore the principles and concepts behind the exercises, deepening your understanding of why they work and what they can support.
Methodology – How
Learn how to design and structure effective sessions by combining different exercises. We explore best practices, key considerations, and common pitfalls.
Student Facilitated Practice
Apply your learning in practice. Participants who wish to develop their facilitation skills are invited to lead exercises and receive feedback in a supportive environment.
Accommodation
Each room has a private bathroom for your comfort and convenience.
You may choose single or shared room.
Food:
We provide healthy macrobiotic food throughout the course. Herbal teas & other drinks are available throughout the day — please note that coffee won’t be provided, so feel free to bring your own.
What does it cost?
Single room: DKK 5.800 | € 780 | £ 675
2 person room: DKK 4.800 | € 650 | £ 562
What to Wear?
Attendees are encouraged to wear comfortable clothes that allow for ease of movement and are advised to bring a yoga mat if they prefer not to lie directly on the floor.
Life-Centric Dance is a movement-based approach to wellbeing, personal development, and human connection. Through the integration of music, movement, creative self-expression, and group experience, Life-Centric Dance supports the development of physical, relational, and expressive capacities.
The sessions are held in groups and combine playful movement to music games with dances and exercises designed to awaken vitality, stimulate creativity, deepen connection, invite authentic expression, and cultivate a sense of meaning and belonging. Facilitators guide participants through a structured framework informed by the life and human sciences.
Staying longer or coming earlier?
If you wish to arrive earlier or stay longer you’re welcome to do so as either a recreational guest or a contributing guest.
Imagine a space where music becomes a guide, movement becomes a language, and your body becomes a source of wisdom. Life-centric dance uses carefully selected music to awaken natural movement, positive emotions, and a deep sense of aliveness. More than a dance practice, it is an invitation to reconnect with yourself, others, and the living world around you.
Through movement, we rediscover the intelligence of the body, access our authentic feelings, and give space to our unique expression. In a culture dominated by screens and sedentary habits, this practice offers a return to both joyous connection and calm, embodied presence. Life-centric dance helps us listen more deeply—to our bodies, our emotions, and each other—creating the conditions for more authentic relationships and thriving communities.
Come as you are. Move, feel, connect, and discover what emerges when music, movement, and community meet.
Paola is a dynamic facilitator who creates transformational spaces that stimulate emotional vitality, deep embodiment, and authentic human connection. Rooted in both timeless wisdom and contemporary research, her work is creative, responsive, and grounded in the belief that movement can restore wholeness, enhance wellbeing, and support meaningful personal and collective transformation.
Her work has been featured at conferences and universities across Europe—including the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, England, and Wales—where she has spoken and facilitated on topics such as dance as a pathway to holistic health, a tool for community psychology, a person-centred therapeutic practice, an approach to dementia care, and a means of empowerment for refugee women.
Paola is the founder of an international peer-learning initiative that has brought together facilitators from more than 20 countries, fostering a vibrant global community of shared inquiry, collaboration, and professional development. A passionate educator and communicator, she also develops educational resources, writes articles and blogs, and authors eBooks that make embodied learning accessible to diverse audiences.
Her multidisciplinary background spans music, education, community arts, integrative counselling, and a lifelong engagement with Eastern philosophy, psychology, and spirituality. These diverse influences enrich her approach, bringing depth, sensitivity, and a holistic perspective to her work.
Blending discipline with play, structure with spontaneity, and tradition with innovation, Paola creates safe, inclusive, and soulful environments where people can move beyond words, reconnect with their innate heart-wisdom, and experience the transformative power of dance and embodied expression.
Avnø Oasis is more than just a venue. It’s a living, breathing ecosystem. A home. A space built with intention, care, and the spirit of togetherness. While you participate you become part of the regenerative field we hold.
Hvis du rejser fra København starter din rejse typisk med et tog fra Københavns Hovedbanegård (København H) til Lundby eller Vordingborg. Der er som regel afgange hver time.
Når du ankommer til stationen, kan du benytte vores afhentningsservice: Fra Lundby Station tilbyder vi tre gratis opsamlinger kl. 15.20, 16.20 og 17.20. Hvis du ankommer på et andet tidspunkt, koster afhentning 77 DKK ≈ 10 euro.
Avnø Oasis Ecovillage & Højskole
Flyvervej 10
4750 Lundby
Denmark
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