the dates are september 24-30, 2024! aileen lawlor, flowbonacci, Thibault Michel, pre-lanch before may 13!
october 1 to 7, 2023
montjoi, south France
LEARN, ENJOY, AND RELAX AT A PRIVATE CASTLE!
This is the perfect retreat if you want to give your performance skills a boost, learn new tricks and techniques, and of course, have an amazing time together at a luxurious private castle! You can learn from the most inspiring instructors, meet new friends, and enjoy the peaceful surroundings of the French countryside and the stunning beauty of an 18th-century castle.
7 Days filled with workshops, music & dance, fire spinning, delicious food, playing together, and lots of inspiration. The workshop program is fully packed with a mix of flow arts, dance, and mindful movements from the most skilled artists!
Poi & Acrobatics and Jumps with Vojta Stolbenko
Hoop & Rope Dart with Michelle Verhoeks – Flowmies
Contact Staff & Double staff with Kevin Arleri – SuperCho
Juggling and Movement with Asaf Mor
Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced spinner, this retreat is the perfect way to hone your skills, recharge your batteries, and create memories that will last a lifetime.
one more retreat at
Nana moved from Chateau Montjoi, but she is still doing the website, so that allowed us to rent Chateau Monjoi with a discount for one more retreat! It’s quite a challenge to find a private castle that can provide what we’re looking for and is also not too expensive, so we don’t have to raise our prices too much…
We know there aren’t enough private rooms available, but this is the best we can do for the moment. So if you want a private room, be sure to book fast, they will probably run out very soon.
We’re super happy to have Michelle Verhoeks, aka Flowmies coming to teach! We think she’s a super inspiring artist who gives amazing, energetic performances. There’s much to learn from her with Hoop and Rope Dart. And Kevin Arleri is also coming back to teach at the Castle! He taught in 2018 at the Poi & Flow Retreat, and we’re super happy he is coming back to teach you all the secrets of Contact Staff.
– 7h+ of workshops every day
– super amazing teachers
– time for individual questions
– try a new prop
– borrowing props included
– 6 nights of accommodation at a Luxurious Private Castle
– 3 delicious meals a day
– coffee & tea included
– all workshops, activities
– Private 18th-century Castle, Luxurious rooms
– Relax at the private pool
– Unwind and recharge your batteries in nature
– lots of fire jams
– music and Dj’s
– shows
– full workshop program
– private billiard
POI & FLOW RETREAT AT THE CASTLE 2023
All levels of Poi, Staff Spinning, Contact Staff, Double Staff, Hoops, Rope Dart, etc. are welcome to join! We’ll offer beginning, intermediate and advanced options for most techniques. For the Poi workshops, we split the group into different levels.
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!)
flow freely with poi
Learn Poi from Vojta Stolbenko. Get inspired by this amazing artist and acrobat! He won’t only focus on tricks, but also on how to incorporate the moves you already know into your own flow, and how to beautify them. Poi isn’t only about tricks… It’s a state of mind, and liberty of expression. For those who don’t have their own Poi, it’s possible to borrow them.
juggling and movement
Juggling and Movement with Asaf Mor. His workshops will focus on juggling and movement in solo and group work, inspired by partnering and contact dance. We will learn how our objects can create movement, how to use the space around our body, and different ways to juggle and dance with a partner. All levels can join, these workshops are mostly about the movement! The workshop will be with balls, but these concetps can be used for all props. You can borrow juggling balls if you don’t have those.
CONTACT staff secrets
Learn Contact Staff from Kevin Arleri. Kevin is already a professional Contact Staff artist for over a decade, so there are quite a few things to learn from him! For beginners; you’ll make sure your you’re learning the basics in the right way. For intermediate or advanced Contact Staff players; you can learn new moves and advanced techniques to level up.
Please bring your own Contact Staff
double staff manipulation
Learn Double Staff from Kevin Arleri. With these Double Staff workshops, you can learn some pretty patterns and tech moves.
Kevin created amazing choreographies for Double Staff duos and trio’s with his company SuperCho! Even with passing, and juggling three Staffs… That might be a bit too advanced for the workshops, but if you want to get into that, just ask him for an exercise.
If you don’t have Double Staffs, you can borrow them.
hoopiness for everyone
Learn Hula Hoop from Michelle Verhoeks. Hooping is a fun and engaging activity that can provide a full-body workout. For beginners, you’ll learn the basics of hula hooping such as waist hooping, hand hooping, and basic tricks. For intermediate hoopers, you can learn more challenging techniques like chest hooping, leg hooping, and various off-body tricks. You can develop your own style and creativity by learning to incorporate your own unique movements and ideas into your hooping practice.
If you don’t have a Hoop, you can borrow one.
Rope dart – Unleash Your Inner Ninja
Learn Rope Dart from Michelle Verhoeks. Rope dart is an ancient Chinese weapon used for hunting and self-defense, which recently gained a lot of popularity in the Flow Arts world, and as a fire performance art. The classes are suitable for people of all skill levels, from beginners to intermediate, and also to learn advanced ninja tricks. Don’t hesitate to follow these classes and unleash your inner ninja!
If you don’t have a Rope Dart, you can borrow one.
the shedule is packed with value
We have sooo many great teachers, that our schedule is fully packed with workshops to give you the maximum opportunity to learn from them! We didn’t schedule long breaks in between the workshops, as probably you won’t follow all the workshops, so skipping a workshop now and then will give you the time to relax near the pool. Of course, you can follow all the workshops, but it might get intense after a few days of following workshops full-on and doing fire jams in the evening…
(Tentative schedule)
There might be a different schedule every day. This is what an example day at the retreat looks like;
8:15 – 9:00 Yoga
9:00 -10:00 Breakfast
10:00-11:20 Poi Beginners, Vojta AND Alternating Flow Arts Workshops
11:40-13:00 Poi Intermediate, Vojta AND Alternating Flow Arts Workshops
13:00-15:00 Lunch
15:00-16:30 Juggling and Movement, Asaf
16:45-17:45 Hoop, FlowMies
18:00-19:00 Contact Staff, Kevin
20:00 Dinner
Alternating Flow Arts Workshops: Staff Spinning with Vojta, Double Staff with Kevin, Rope Dart With FlowMies, Fans
WEEK SCHEDULE
– 1st of October: arrival starting at 15:00. Start of the retreat at 19:00 with dinner and an introduction meeting
– 2nd to the 6th : 5 full Workshop days
– 7th of October: end of the retreat, brunch, and departure at 13:00
the fire tornado – zenith
Experience the magic of Zenith – Tornade de Feu. This is a real miracle of nature, brought to us by the one and only tornado tamer, Ima! What more to say, just watch the video, and come to the retreat…
prop shops
If you’re looking to buy some new props, you can get orders from Juggling Calling, and the Manda Lights Shop will be at the retreat. If you want to have a specific prop, please send a message upfront to the Manda Light Shop, to be sure they’ll take it. Also, if you have broken props, or you need new wicks, take them for repairs!
Vojta is a Czech pioneer who excels at combining tech tricks with dance and acrobatics. With a style and approach all his own, he has created innovative new poi techniques that enriched the poi world.
Despite being famous for his poi spinning, Vojta also excels in spinning other props too. He’s been a professional fire performer for over 10 years now and is frequently performing with many high-level artistic companies and groups at various events worldwide. Nowadays he mainly works with his ex-Cirque du Soleil colleague Srikanta Barefoot and the company Fusion Arts, as well as the French companies Supercho, Mandalights, and Cercle de Feu. You can also often see him on stage with Phoenix Fire Dancers, or his Czech co-performers Tom Hora and Kri stina Zebrova.
Vojta has shared his poi enthusiasm all over the globe and has taught many in his workshops and retreats worldwide. He’s filmed many popular inspirational poi videos (thanks to being a professional videographer, besides poi), including the world’s most-watched poi video “The Future Is Now”. In 2020 (with the arrival of Covid) he got fully into creating poi tutorials that also gained a lot of popularity. On his Patreon channel, you’ll find 150+ poi tutorials. Check out Vojta’s videos and personal website to learn more about this talented artist. Just click on the icons below.
hoop, rope dart
FlowMies aka Michelle Verhoeks is a flow artist based in the Netherlands who dances
with hulahoops, fire, and lights. She developed her own energetic flow style which
results in unique freestyle and choreographed performances.
Michelle discovered her love for hooping in 2015 at a festival. From the moment she
experienced the hoop flow it changed her life. Hooping to her is a way to express
herself and experience it as an intuitive art form as well as a movement meditation.
By giving hoop workshops she guides people around the world to discover their flow
and dance freely.
As a graduate artist, she is a visual thinker who likes to create colourful concepts
with a story. From designing programmed light shows, conceptual performances, and
unique body art.
While performing internationally she shares these spectacular flow arts in immersive
shows. She performed at events like TEDx Eindhoven, Burlesque Amsterdam (Boom Chicago), Motion Experience GLOW, Phoenix Fire Convention (GE), Elements (DK), SWhoop (UK), and performing at concerts like My Baby (Tivoli Utrecht).
contact staff, double staff
In 2005, Kevin discovered the new art of fire performance. Immediately he catapulted onto the stage and started busking in the streets, in front of the great Parisian monuments. They founded the SuperCho company that same year. Thanks to his innovative and original ideas, and his training as a sound engineer, his shows quickly became a huge success.
He has been performing all over the world, and is now also very active behind the stage, growing his company and doing a lot of organization. He’s designing acts and choreos, and programming LED props. Programming LED props is another one of his specialties, having made some of the first iconic shows like Concerto Chromatique. With his strong entrepreneurial spirit, he intends to take this company to the end of the dream!
Kevin is a master with Contact Staff and Double Staff. He’s also professionally performing with Poi, Buugeng, and Dragon Staff.
juggling and movement
Asaf started doing Flow Arts in 2003, first specializing in poi spinning, before discovering, and delving into contact poi. He got famous under the name Poiboy, and he created Poi Tech Blogs and tutorials that were quite popular in the early Youtube days.
He has continued his journey into other juggling objects and is specializing now in clubs.
Since early in his juggling journey, Asaf draws inspiration from different disciplines, trying to blur the lines between juggling and dance, or between different juggling objects.
His workshops will focus on juggling and movement in solo and group work, inspired by partnering and contact dance. We will learn how our objects can create movement, how to use the space around our body, and different ways to juggle and dance with a partner.
this is what our
past attenDEES say
THE PRICES BELOW ARE FOR THE FULL RETREAT;
INCLUDING WORKSHOPS, THREE MEALS A DAY, AND YOUR ROOM OF CHOICE
Retreat prices are based upon which kind of room-sharing options you would like.
See the different room sharing choices below, and buy your ticket at the bottom of this page.
LAST YEAR, WE WERE SOLD OUT, SO BE SURE TO BOOK FAST!
- Occupancy: up to 7 people
- Two bedrooms
- Shared bathroom
- Single beds (double for a couple)
- Same-gender bedrooms available
Premium Sharing, price per person: 690 euro
Early Bird price; book before the 7th of July and get a discount of 15 euro!
Lazy Bird prices after the 1st of September are +50 euro
- Bedroom: 4 people
- En-Suite Bathroom
- One bedroom
- Single beds (double for a couple)
- Give your preferences to share
Quadruple sharing, price per person: 790 euro
Early Bird price; book before the 7th of July and get a discount of 25 euro!
Lazy Bird prices after the 1st of September are +50 euro
Give your preferences to share the room with the same- or another gender.
- Private Bedroom
- Private Bathroom
- Double bed
- Choose your room!
Private Bedroom, price per person: 1150 euro
Early Bird price; book before the 7th of July and get a discount of 25 euro!
Lazy Bird prices after the 1st of September are +50 euro
LAST ROOM AVAILABLE! SOLD OUT!
These private Bedrooms are not located in Chateau Montjoi, but are in an apartment nearby, at a 5-minute drive from the chateau, as the ones in the chateau are already sold out. There will be a taxi service included when you book this room! You don’t need to have your own car. “Gite” is the French word for a holiday house.
The advantage of sleeping nearby is that you’ll be able to sleep without any noise from the firespace, and people stumbling through the hallway! You’ll be picked up in the morning, when you want, to go to the chateau, have breakfast there, and follow the workshops. You can leave all your props at the chateau, so that’s easy. If you want to change, you could go back to your room again, or use a bathroom in the chateau. At night, you’ll be brought back to your room when you want, to have a quiet sleep.
- Private Bedroom
- Private Bathroom
- Double bed
- Choose your room
Private Bedroom, price per person: 1070 euro
Early Bird price; book before the 7th of July and get a discount of 25 euro!
Lazy Bird prices after the 1st of September are +25 euro
2 ROOMS AVAILABLE!
These Private Bedrooms are not located in Chateau Montjoi, but are in an appartment nearby, at a 5-minute drive form the chateau. There will be a taxi service included, when you book this room!
The prices of the different room-sharing options all include:
– 6 nights of accommodation
– 8+ hrs of workshops per day
– 3 meals a day (meat, vegetarian, and vegan options are available)
– coffee, tea, and mint-water
– fuel for fire jams
– borrowing props if you don’t have them
– the beds are made, and towels, soap and shampoo will be provided
– Aloholic beverages are not included, but can be bought on-site
– Transport to the retreat location
Buy the (deposit) ticket at Flow Arts Shop for your room of choice. You will receive your order confirmation message and a second email
containing the Info PDF with all info about the retreat.
Didn’t get your order confirmation message? Check your spam for
If you would like to bring your partner, friend, parent, or child who will not be participating in the workshops, there will be a 30% discount on the retreat fee.
The person will not participate in the Flow Arts workshops, but all the other things will be included: 6 nights of accommodation, all meals, and drinks. Taking part in yoga classes is included. After buying your deposit tickets, please note that your partner, friend, parent, or child doesn’t take part in the workshops, and the remaining fee will be edited.
WEEK SCHEDULE
– 1st of October: arrival starting at 15:00. Start of the retreat at 19:00 with dinner and an introduction meeting
– 2nd to the 6th : 5 full Workshop days
– 7th of October: end of the retreat, brunch, and departure at 14:00
The retreat will be held at Chateau Coty, in Montjoi. This picturesque Chateau is equipped with a private pool, outdoor cinema, and billiard. You can have a look at the website https://chateaucoty.fr/
The address is: (Lieu dit) Coty, route de Quercy 815, 82400 Montjoi, Tarn-et-Garonne, 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 around 10 euros for the service.
TRAIN long distance in France, discounted tickets https://www.ouigo.com/destinations
COMPARE cheap transport options https://kiwi.com
You don’t need to know other attendees to share a room!
If you want to share a room with other attendees, we’ll try to make a match. Room sharing options are of course depending on how many other people are wanting to share the same type of room. You can give us your preferences, and we’ll try to find matching room-mates!
If you want to share a room with friend(s) or a partner, you don’t have to buy all the tickets at the same time.
You can reserve separately, and all buy only your own ticket. When buying the ticket, leave a note that you want to share the room with friend(s) or a partner.
All levels of Poi, Staff Spinning, Double Staff, Iso Hoops, and Dance are welcome to join. We’ll offer beginning, intermediate and advanced options for most techniques. For the Poi workshops, we might split the group so different levels of poi spinners can work on different moves.
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!)
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.
At the moment of writing we’re happy to say that there are no restrictions at all in place, in France! (Updated, June 2023)
We will refund the Deposit paid for your Ticket if government regulations prevent you from travelling. If France will go into lock-down, we will refund your deposit up to 1 month before the start of the event, minus an administration fee of € 25. After one month before the start of the event, we can’t make any refunds.
These rules only apply if travelling will be forbidden in France, and the official government website(s) confirm this.
In principle, the deposit is non-refundable. Please make sure you have travel insurance, so in case you get ill, you can get the deposit refunded from your insurance.
We advise you to take personal travel insurance, that covers;
– Reimbursement of any pre-booked events or excursions
– Coronavirus cancellation cover
See an example here https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/quote
WEEK SCHEDULE
– 1st of October: arrival starting at 15:00. Start of the retreat at 19:00 with dinner and an introduction meeting
– 2nd to the 6th : 5 full Workshop days
– 7th of October: end of the retreat, brunch, and departure at 14:00
The retreat will be held at Chateau Coty, in Montjoi. This picturesque Chateau is equipped with a private pool, outdoor cinema, and billiard. You can have a look at the website https://chateaucoty.fr/
The address is: (Lieu dit) Coty, route de Quercy 815, 82400 Montjoi, Tarn-et-Garonne, 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 around 10 euros for the service.
TRAIN long distance in France, discounted tickets https://www.ouigo.com/destinations
COMPARE cheap transport options https://kiwi.com
You don’t need to know other attendees to share a room!
If you want to share a room with other attendees, we’ll try to make a match. Room sharing options are of course depending on how many other people are wanting to share the same type of room. You can give us your preferences, and we’ll try to find matching room-mates!
If you want to share a room with friend(s) or a partner, you don’t have to buy all the tickets at the same time.
You can reserve separately, and all buy only your own ticket. When buying the ticket, leave a note that you want to share the room with friend(s) or a partner.
All levels of Poi, Staff Spinning, Double Staff, Iso Hoops, and Dance are welcome to join. We’ll offer beginning, intermediate and advanced options for most techniques. For the Poi workshops, we might split the group so different levels of poi spinners can work on different moves.
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!)
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.
Yes, you can still use a discount code after you’ve paid a deposit. The discount amount will be subtracted from your final payment 😉 Please send your code to Nana’s WhatsApp +336 3456 0233, to take advantage of the discount after you’ve paid the deposit.
At the moment of writing we’re happy to say that there are no restrictions at all in place, in France! (Updated, June 2023)
We will refund the Deposit paid for your Ticket if government regulations prevent you from travelling. If France will go into lock-down, we will refund your deposit up to 1 month before the start of the event, minus an administration fee of € 25. After one month before the start of the event, we can’t make any refunds.
These rules only apply if travelling will be forbidden in France, and the official government website(s) confirm this.
In principle, the deposit is non-refundable. Please make sure you have travel insurance, so in case you get ill, you can get the deposit refunded from your insurance.
We advise you to take personal travel insurance, that covers;
– Reimbursement of any pre-booked events or excursions
– Coronavirus cancellation cover
See an example here https://www.allianztravelinsurance.com/quote
get a discount, get an early bird ticket!