Wintergreen Creative
Time to Realign
Bios & session details
Daniel Allan
Session title: Reconnecting to Play
BIO
Dan is an actor, director, writer, and drama teacher from Ōtautahi Christchurch. He has taught secondary school drama for many years in and around work as a professional actor, and has more recently concentrated on teaching drama to adults at the Court Theatre and NASDA at Ara Institute. He recently completed an MFA at University of Otago entitled 'The Coaching Codes: A new approach to improvised theatre. Dan lives in Avonside with his wife Lisa and son Joe, and likes to go for runs along the Ōtaakaro. He stays up too late more often than not.
RECONNECTING TO PLAY
This workshop will draw on many years experience with improvisation and drama games to help us reconnect with our inner child and sense of play. Sometimes the best realignment is to have some organised silly time trogether in good company. This will be a non-judgemental, non-performative use of drama, you need only bring yourself and a willingness to surrender to the rules of the games. Did you know, the only creatures on Earth that indulge in organised games are humans and dolphins? To celebrate our playful comrades of the sea, we will play at least one game based on dolphins.
Lisa Allan
Session title: Yoga & Reiki
BIO
Lisa Allan is a practitioner and teacher of Reiki, Yoga and Theatre. She weaves skills from all of these fields together to support others as they navigate this life. Lisa is currently based in Ōtautahi Christchurch where she lives with her husband (and soon, their first child!) growing fruit and vegies, making preserves, and offering her creative and wellbeing services to the community.
YOGA & REIKI
In this gentle yoga session, we will connect with each of our chakras. We will take time to meet ourselves where we are at and then invite Reiki to assist in realigning us with our calling and deepest selves. We will channel Reiki for ourselves, with a partner, and finally, as a whole group. Participants do not need to have Reiki training to attend this session.
Munirah Burrah
Session title: Creating a Balm
BIO
Munirah Burra is a yoga teacher, Reiki master teacher, registered school teacher, and a recently graduated student in the traditions, art and science of Herbal Medicine through Isla Burgess at Viridatis - Centre for Plant Directed Learning and Participatory Science.
CREATING A BALM
We will orient ourselves at the Wangapeka Study and Retreat Centre by walking around the grounds. Munirah will then offer the sharing / doing of how to make a simple balm.
Debbie Cuffe
Session assist title: Chair Pulsing
BIO
Debbie moved to Nelson in 2004, after growing up in Florida, and has been working as a massage therapist ever since. Over the years, she has honed her skills as a therapist, specializing in trauma release, reiki and end of life doula work. She loves living in a country where she can experience all four seasons while exploring New Zealand's natural beauty. She volunteers for Hospice and hosts a monthly Death Cafe. She can also be found at regular yoga classes, kirtan and sound healings.
CHAIR PULSING
Join Claire Taylor assisted by Debbie Cuffe for a Holistic Pulsing taster. You will experience and give a short chair pulse. Chair pulsing is wonderfully relaxing and can be used almost anywhere, as all you need is a chair. You will be able to offer this to friends and family later.
Karolina Gorton
Session title: Returns
BIO
Karolina Gorton is an artist, activist, and cultural animator with many years of experience in theater. She has been involved with several festivals, including the New Zealand Fringe Festival (Wellington), the Victoria Fringe Festival (Vancouver Island, BC), the Luma Light Festival (Queenstown), Theatre-Action (Suwalki, Poland), Masks (Poznań, Poland), and the Nelson Arts Festival. Additionally, she is a co-creator of the Nelson Fringe Festival. Throughout her life, Karolina has trained and collaborated with various theater and performance groups, such as the Body In Space Physical Theatre Company (2012-2017), Inside Out Physical Theatre Company (2017-2022), The People’s Republic of Improv (2019), Raspberry Productions, Zen Zen Zo, and the Umbrella Project. Her theatrical training includes techniques such as Viewpoints, Suzuki, Butoh, contact dance, improvisation, and mask work. Karolina is passionate about storytelling, enjoys collaborating with others, and is dedicated to co-creating projects that aim to make the world a better place. Originally from Poland, she now lives with her family in beautiful Whakatū Nelson.
RETURNS
A physical theatre workshop, during which we will search for different forms of theatrical expression of our “returns”. Returns to what was once known, returns to places, people and to ourselves. Throughout the workshop, we will employ different theatre techniques and engage in journalling to discover the expressive forms that emerge from our experiences of returning.
Loren Griffin
Session title: Playing with Paint
BIO
With a paint brush in her hand playing with paint and mixing colours, Loren is in her happy place. She believes everyone is an artist and would like others to feel the freedom and create their own pieces of art through play. Just like when we were kids!
PLAYING WITH PAINT
Everyone is in Artist! I'd like to propose a 1-2 hour painting session, playing with colour, texture, different mediums including paint, pastels, pencil, charcoal, India ink. My intention is for everyone to feel freedom and play. To begin I will facilitate some direction and give prompts on what to paint, then we will continue on our own journey and do what feels good! Play with mixing colours, learn about value (light & dark), draw without looking, have fun! I will provide all materials. Could do rock paintings to if there's some small rocks at the retreat and play music while we're creating.
Chrystal Nathal
Retreat Cook
BIO
Chrystal's passion for healthy food started after several health issues. As she was always busy praying and meditating, she did not pay attention to her food, she thought that she was eating healthy, not knowing that she had candida and sugar was not healthy for her. She met Dr. Amy Rachel in Bali and she was her first teacher who helped her understand what kind of food is healthy for her. After an intense year of detoxing her strength and energy came back. She lived at the New Earth cooking school in Bali where she learned different ways of cooking. For Chrystal, food needs to be a medicine, and preparing the food is a meditation. Not too complex or difficult, and made with love.
Trish Sullivan
Session title: Crafting
BIO
Trish spends most of her time relaxing in her own wee slice of paradise in Takaka, having moved there just 5 years ago after retreating from a busy life in Nelson. The peace and tranquility there lend themselves to the life of an artist. With many creative strings to her bow, Trish can be found with a crochet hook, knitting needles or a paintbrush in hand. This year she's also been on the stage in a run of fringe theatre performances as an eccentric, retro-sexy cleaning lady!
CRAFTING
A low-key creative group project that continues throughout the retreat and people pick up each time we sit for a cuppa or chats.
Claire Taylor
Session title: Chair Pulsing
BIO
Claire is a Holistic Pulser, Massage Therapist and Reiki Practitioner and Teacher. She combines these aspects in her healing sessions and works with what each person needs at the time and what her intuition says. She loves the healing space that opens up by simply being with, nurturing and allowing relaxation to occur.
CHAIR PULSING
Join Claire, assisted by Debbie Cuffe, for a Holistic Pulsing taster. You will experience and give a short chair pulse. Chair pulsing is wonderfully relaxing and can be used almost anywhere, as all you need is a chair. You will be able to offer this to friends and family later.
Donna Tiwaiwaka Thompson
Kaimahi
BIO
Donna is a retired AoD counselor. Donna has worked in the social sector over 25yrs. Donna is a mix breed of Māori, Chinese and European... Donna has a green thumb and uses the ngahere for medicine.
