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september 20-26, 2020, France
Vojta stolbenko
7 Days filled with workshops, fire spinning, cinema nights, music, yoga, great food, and other amazing activities… Boost your poi spinning and stay at a luxurious castle in South France. Learn new tricks and techniques, get personal help, play together, and get inspired.

 

Every morning Vojta Stolbenko will provide intensive poi lessons. Adrienne Zest will give the warm-ups and Yoga/stretching. After a delicious lunch, the afternoon will be more playfully. If you want to learn to spin other props like fans, hoop, iso/double hoops, double staff, acro staff, contact staff, staff spinning, dragon staff, buugeng, sword or contact ball that’s possible! There will be several 30-minute workshops every afternoon by Vojta, Adrienne, and other guest-teachers.
Or if you want to relax, chill by the pool, spin some more poi or stand on your head, that’s also perfect.

 

This retreat is suited for all levels of poi spinners.
For beginners; get a good foundation by understanding how the different elements are constructed.
For intermediate to advanced spinners; for every exercise we do, you will get a more advanced version that suits your personal level.
learn, Play & Relax
poi at the castle
Learn how to become limitless when spinning poi from an internationally renowned artist and acrobat! Integrating patterns and transitions, stops, and turns at any moment, so you can get into your flow and express yourself freely with your poi.

 

You won’t only learn poi moves and tricks from Vojta, he’ll also talk about how to incorporate these moves into performance and how to achieve a good stage presence. Footwork, dance moves, and some light acrobatics will be covered.

 

We will have Chateau Montjoi already for the 3rd time as our private accommodation for the Poi Retreat! Come, and experience the magic of this enchanting 18th-century castle with us…
To make sure you can focus on training and relaxation during the Poi Retreat, we will take care of the rest!
A delicious continental breakfast, lunch with fresh salads from the garden, and a two-course dinner are included in the price, as well as coffee & tea.
daily 5+ hours
Workshops

– 2,5 hours poi workshops by Vojta
– 2 x 30 min warmup/ yoga /
cooling down
– 3 x 30 minutes workshops: staff, double staff, fans, hoop

ACTIVITIES &
The castle

– Private pool of 20 meters
– A billiard table
– An outdoor cinema where we’ll watch movies
– fire spinning (fuel provided)

everything
is included

– 6 nights of accommodation in a luxurious private castle in the countryside
-3 delicious meals a day
– coffee, tee, and mint-water
– pick a room based on your preferences

get a discount, get an early bird ticket!

ALL LEVELS ARE WELCOME

All levels from beginner to advanced are welcome. We’ll offer beginning, intermediate and advanced options for most techniques. In other cases, we might split the group so different levels of poi spinners can work on different moves.

Also for the workshops in the afternoon, all levels are welcome with staff, double staff, fans, and hoop. These workshops will be smaller so they will be even more catered to individual needs and wishes.

To benefit the most from this retreat, be sure to know the basic poi moves, such as; 3-beat weaves (forward & backward) windmill, watermill, hip-reels & turns, butterfly (same-time, split-time), buzzsaw.
If you can’t do some of the moves listed above, don’t worry! We will teach you that. However, if you want to be prepared, look up some tutorials (we recommend to have a look at Playpoi.com – those tutorials are great!)

a day at the retreat

This is what a day at the retreat looks like;

8:30-9:30 Breakfast
9:30-10:00 warmup/mobility with Adrienne
10:00-11:30 poi workshop with Vojta
11:30-12:00 coffee break ( or keep practicing to nail that trick ; )
12:00-13:00 poi workshop with Vojta

13:00 Lunch
15:00, 15:30 and 16:00 several workshops of 30-minutes based on interest with fans, hoop, iso/double hoops, double staff, acro staff, contact staff, staff spinning, dragon staff, buugeng and contact ball
16:30 stretching/yoga with Adrienne

19:30 dinner
21:30 optional fire-jam, or watching a movie in the outdoor cinema

WEEK SCHEDULE
– 20th of September: start of the retreat at 18:00 with an introduction meeting and dinner
– 21st to the 25th of September: 5 Workshop days
– 26th of September: end of the retreat, breakfast, and departure

poi, acro staff, double staff
vojta stolbenko

Vojta is a Czech poioneer who excels at combining tech tricks with dance and acrobatics. With a style and approach all his own, he has created some innovative new poi techniques.
Vojta has shared his poi enthusiasm all over the globe and has taught already more than a hundred workshops worldwide. In addition, he’s filmed many inspirational poi videos, including the world’s most watched poi video “The Future Is Now”. Check out Vojta’s videos and personal website to learn more about this talented Artist. Just click on the icons below.

yoga, fans, iso hoops
Adrienne zest

Hello, my name is Adrienne. I am a dancer and a performer, as well as a teacher of yoga and movement. I conducted my formal dance education at the conservatoire of Dusan Nebyla in Slovakia and later continued broadening my skills by attending different workshops around the globe.

In my early twenties, I discovered object manipulation – also known as ‘flow arts’, which led me to a new and exciting world of performing with fire and light. My favorite tools to spin are mini hoops, fire fans, and poi. In 2018 I started a conscious community center With The Flow focused on movement and well-being. We host classes, jam sessions, community events, and monthly Sound Healing Moon Ceremonies.

I enjoy sharing my passion for movement with others and discovering new ways to reach the ultimate body-mind connection.

fans, hoop, staff, double staff, poi
nana devi

Nana will be giving workshops fans and hoop. She started spinning poi at the age of 16, and since then, the flowarts and dance have been a journey into expressing, discovering, learning, and healing herself. An eternal journey into expanding body awareness and expressing through movement and dance.
“Spin more things!” by trying different props, you won’t get bored, and it’s fun to learn new things.

Nana is also the organizer of the Poi Retreat, and working as a manager at the castle where the retreat will be held “Chateau Montjoi”. Further, she’s a fire performer, and makes costumes and performs as a stilt-walker with her company Street Theater& Co.

sword, staff, dragon staff, qi gong
tom hora
Tom is a Czech Full-Combat Fire-Artist who has studied with many different teachers across the globe to learn a whole range of combat techniques and meditative body work practices. He has a lot of experience as a teacher and is an amazing fire-performer, Tom cooperated with many artists and fire companies and he did more than one thousand performances!
Tom started with the Fire-Art in 2000 and he is fire-performer since 2002, he has founded the fireshow group PALITCHI in Prague with friends.
In 2005 he started to study traditional Indian fire art Banethi with his teacher in Varanasi (after this first visit he came every winter to study Banethi & Yoga and to perform in India for 6 years). Tom has been working as the Fire-Art teacher (long staff techniques and acrobacy) in Prague New Cirque Centre for 4 years (2012-2016). His artistic way was also influenced by Dance, Taiko Drumming, Capoeira and of course Chinese martial arts…:
– student of Shaolin kungfu since 2002
– student of Chen taiji and Qi gong since 2005
– member of Shaolin kungfu performance group (2008 – 2013)
– 2nd place winner of Czech national wu-shu competetion with long staff 2013
– kungfu teacher (for kinds and adults) since 2011
– studying in Wudang mountains in China – internal cultivation, Qi gong, Taiji and kungfu in 2015, 2016, 2018…for a total of 6 months
– since 2016 he is a student of Li shifu (abott and master in Five immortals temple and also good friend..;)
– Qi gong and Taiji teacher since 2016

Have a look at

the castle

See the room choice at the ticket page!

Get inspired by vojta

this is what our

past attendants say

details poi retreat at the castle

Start: Sunday the 20th of September 2020. Start at 18:00 with an introduction meeting and dinner

End: Saturday the 26th of September 2020. Breakfast, and departure at 10:00

Don’t want to go yet? You can stay for another week at the castle, there will be the Wave Retreat ; ) http://waveretreats.com

The retreat will be held at Chateau Montjoi.

The address is: route de Quercy 815, 82400 Montjoi, France

Classes are ideal for both beginners and advanced spinners. We won’t only focus on tricks, so even if you aren’t familiar with some poi or staff moves yet, you will still benefit from the body movement workshops, and you will be taught the moves you miss.
Workshops will be held in a group and also individually (for some moves we might make small groups depending on the skill level and your interests).
To benefit the most from this retreat, be sure to know the basic moves.
Poi basic moves:  3-beat weaves (forward & backward) windmill, watermill, hip-reels & turns, butterfly (same-time, split-time), buzzsaw.
If you can’t do some of the moves listed above, don’t worry! We will teach you that. However, if you want to be prepared, look up some tutorials (such as those on Playpoi.com – those are great!)

Prices range from 560 to 760 euro per person, per week for the full retreat. Accommodation, food, and workshops are all included in the prices below. The difference in price is the room sharing option.

– Early Bird Retreat price per week, per person.
Sharing one (or more) bedrooms, and one bathroom with 4 to 6  persons: 560 euro
Sharing a bedroom with en-suite bathroom with 3  persons: 630 euro
Sharing a bedroom with en-suite bathroom with  2 persons: 680 euro
Private bedroom with en-suite bathroom: 760 euro
– Lazy Bird prices after 01/09/20 are + 100 euro

POI:
– increasing our ability to learn fast by practicing coordination and hand independence
– beautifying and exploring possibilities of the moves you already can do
– becoming free with movement and expression, thoughts on improvisation and “flow”
– incorporating our body into the motion
– contrast moves, transitions between different planes, cross-points
– anti-spin based moves
– pirouettes, tracers
– contact poi, tosses
– under the legs, jumps
– hyperloops (basics or advanced)
– wraps (spiral wraps, body wraps)
– stalls, transitions between all the moves
– behind the back moves
– optional: triple poi and meteor basics (from one-handed weaves to one-handed anti-spin patterns)

* note that we might not be able to do all of this, however, if we lack enough time the classes will be adapted to your preferences

You won’t only learn poi moves and tricks – we will talk about how to incorporate these moves into a performance, how to achieve a good stage presence, you will be taught some light acrobatics, footwork and dance moves you can use in flow arts. Moreover, we’ll play some theatrical games that will help us to explore more body movement possibilities.

You can see this event on Facebook here;

https://www.facebook.com/events/2350823025227541

FAQ

Chateau Montjoi is a private rental holiday destination in South France.
In spite of the modern luxury the chateau provides, it remains a throwback to centuries past. The rustic and romantic authenticity has been preserved after thorough renovation and redecoration.

This picturesque Chateau is equipped with a private pool, outdoor cinema, and billiard.
You can have a look at the website http://chateaumontjoi.fr

The retreat will be held at Chateau Montjoi. The address is: (Lieu dit) Coty, route de Quercy 815, 82400 Montjoi, France

BY CAR: When you are at the A62 (toll way between Bordeaux and Toulouse), take exit Castelsarresin. It will take around 25 minutes to reach the Chateau from here. The address of Chateau Montjoi is: (Lieu dit) Coty, route de Quercy 815, 82400 Montjoi. Montjoi is located in Tarn et Garonne, department Midy Pyrenees.

BY PLANE: The closest airport is Toulouse Blagnac (90 km). And then there are Carcassonne and Bordeaux (200 km)
From the airport, you can take a train to Moissac. There is no public transport going near to Chateau Montjoi.
We can pick you up from the train station (ask for availability!). There will be an extra fee (around 10 euroS depending on how many persons can be picked up together). Please note this is the application form.

TRAIN: https://www.sncf.com/en we can pick you up from the train station “Moissac”, as there is no further public transport. There will be an extra fee of 10 euros for the service.

TRAIN long distance in France, discounted tickets https://www.ouigo.com/destinations

COMPARE cheap transport options https://kiwi.com

Start: Sunday the 20th of September 2020. Start at 18:00 with an introduction meeting and dinner

End: Saturday the 26th of September 2020. Breakfast, and departure at 10:00

Don’t want to go yet? You can stay for another week at the castle, there will be the Wave Retreat ; ) http://waveretreats.com

Don’t want to go yet? You can stay for another week at the castle, there will be the Wave Retreat ; ) Learn Wave Dance & Object Manipulation  http://waveretreats.com

Attend the Poi Retreat & Wave Retreat to get a 5% discount, one night at the castle, and the 4 meals in between both retreats for free!

(If you want to attend both retreats, you don’t have to register twice. Please just register at one of our websites, and add the comment that you want to register for both retreats)

get a discount, get an early bird ticket!

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