Coast Festival of Somatics & Dance is a weekend of movement exploration and connection on Wadawurrung Country in beautiful Torquay on the Surf Coast. An invitation to come together in community to dance, discover, and delight in the intelligence of our living bodies.

Featuring workshops and classes by (mostly) local teachers and innovators in dance, yoga, somatics, voice, and other mind-body practices, the weekend invites you to explore a variety of indoor and outdoor workshops and embodied experiences.

Friday 2pm through Sunday 1:30pm
Full schedule below (subject to change)
Click through to see the range of ticketing options.

Please note if you want to book individual sessions: Choose 'single session' tickets for the length of the class(es) you want to attend (60, 90 or 120 mins), and then email us at coastfestival2025@gmail.com to let us know which ones you're planning to attend.

Workshops will take place at the Torquay Improvement Association, Torquay Community House, and nearby outdoor locations.

Camping and cabin stays are available at the Torquay Foreshore Reserve, just a short walk from the festival venues.

Questions? Contact Kim and Sarah at coastfestival2025@gmail.com.

COAST Festival of Somatics & Dance, 5-7 December

SCHEDULE
Please note there are many moving parts and the schedule is subject to change

FRIDAY

2-4pm

SCORES: Inhabiting A Floating Piece of Space
Amaara Raheem

This movement laboratory explores the score as a dance object—both an artefact and a conceptual scaffold. Drawing from long histories of making, learning, and performing with scores, the lab invites participants to activate scores as (states of) play; catalysts for composition; new ways of listening, looking, and perceiving; wider possibilities to the virtuosic; and as forms of experimental documentation. The lab is best suited to practitioners with some experience in dance improvisation, instant composition, and an interest in text. We will practice performance.

Amaara Raheem is a Sri Lankan-born Australian independent dance-artist, researcher, educator and writer based between Naarm/Melbourne and Gariwerd/Grampians, where she balances creative practice with learning about bush regeneration. Amaara’s practice spans solo, collaborative and gallery-based works exploring choreographic ‘scores’ and movement research. Her doctoral research at RMIT University examined dance in spatial contexts. She continues to share site-responsive, somatic methodologies across dance, art and academia. At the heart of all her diverse projects lies an inquiry into the relationship between movement and language, and how their entanglement continually generates new understandings of why dance matters. amaararaheem.net

4:30-6pm

Connecting: Body-Mind Centering® and Dance
Kim Sargent-Wishart

Explore some of the connecting tissues of our bodies - skin, fascia, bone, and muscle - through self-touch and movement. Enliven your dancing through a Body-Mind Centering® somatic approach to experiential anatomy. All are welcome.

Kim Sargent-Wishart is an artist, researcher and educator living on Wadawurrung Country, Bellarine Peninsula. She specializes in somatic movement and dance education, embodied anatomy, somatic writing, contemplative photography and dance improvisation. A certified Teacher of Body-Mind Centering® (BMC) and BodyMind Dancing™, she co-directs the BMC® certification program at Somatic Education Australasia. Her practice-led PhD in Performance Studies explored somatics, experiential embryology and Tibetan Buddhist philosophies in creative practice. Through in-person and online classes, Kim creates generous and generative spaces for moving, thinking and collaboration. kimsargentwishart.com

6:15-6:45pm
Opening circle
Hosted by Kim and Sarah
Say hello, make new friends, get oriented to the spaces and the schedule.

7-9pm
Studio open for dancing
Following the circle we’ll share some light refreshments, and then the main studio will be open for dancing for the evening.

SATURDAY

8:30-9:30am
Morning Yoga
Sophia Lamb

Sophia Lamb first began her yoga journey 15 years ago when travelling India. She returned 5 years later to complete her yoga teacher training and has been teaching and immersing in different trainings alongside motherhood for the last 10 years. Sophia founded BeKind Studio, a donation based studio on the Surfcoast with the intention to allow yoga to be more accessible to the community. She has specialised in pregnancy and postpartum yoga as well as Hatha, Yin, vinyasa and meditation. She believes yoga is the journey home to our hearts and innate Wholeness. She teaches with warmth, simplicity and from the heart. Her classes weave gentleness and strength alongside each other with the intention to bring awareness to our thoughts and connection to our bodies bringing you home to yourself. @bekindstudio

10am-12noon
Sensory Exploration and Embodiment
Alice Robinson

In this workshop, Alice invites participants to explore sensory experiences as a way to connect with their bodies and expand their awareness of self, other and the environment. Drawing on her work in play therapy and informed by interpersonal neurobiology and nervous system integration, participants will notice how they and others sense, perceive, and respond to the world around them. Through gentle movement and mindful awareness, we will explore modulating between states, attention, and energy levels, widening our capacity to be present. The session offers a supportive space to engage curiosity, tune into sensation, and discover pathways to embodied presence.

This workshop will take us beyond the studio, down the street, across varied terrain, and possibly into the water. You might want your walking shoes, rain jacket, bathers and towel, depending on the conditions and how you choose to engage.

Alice Robinson is a Play Therapist with a playful and embodied approach to her movement practice. With a background in contact improvisation and circus, her practice draws on Body-Mind Centering (BMC), Body Weather and creative arts therapy. Through her work as a play therapist, Alice has developed her interest in sensory exploration, recognising the variety of ways that we experience, interpret, and respond to the world through our senses. She is interested in nervous system integration, recognising the connections between sensory and emotional experiences and regulation. This informs her understanding of how sensory experiences shape our experiences of ourselves and the environment. Alice invites participants to a place of curiosity, embodiment, and authentic expression.

10:30-11:30am
Qi Gong
Cam Mcintosh

Cam Mcintosh: My passion is connecting to fellow humans on a heart to heart level. I am fascinated with the power and wisdom that comes with living in a state of heart awareness and the positive impact this has on our health and others around us. Through the power of Qi Gong, I endeavour to create space for others to move their body through their heart, so that they can experience who they truly are beyond their mind and stories. That is where our magic resides. sanarecovery.com.au

1:30-3pm
The Mighty Yawn: Yawning, Dancing and the Nervous System
Sarah Rosenberg

"I’m convinced yawning is so much more than it seems"!

With significance for our vestibular and orienting systems, relational fields, and vagal tone and regulation, yawning offers a rich entry point into our lived experience, including our dance — opening space for discovery, reflection, and shared conversation.

In this workshop, Sarah will share a gentle mind–body touch practice from her psychotherapy work that coaxes the brain into a soothing delta-wave state. This practice has many applications — from sparking creativity and easing sleepless nights to supporting emotional processing. In this workshop, we’ll use it to activate and amplify the yawn reflex, turning yawning into a springboard for exploring developmental movement patterns, nervous system intelligence, experiential anatomy, expression, and improvisational scores.

Sarah Rosenberg is a somatic psychotherapist, dancer, Body-Mind Centering® educator, poet and mumma. Her work brings together the threads she loves most —nervous system intelligence, developmental psychology and dance. Sarah creates living laboratories where play, curiosity and somatic investigation meet. Her interdisciplinary approach weaves science, art and lived experience into spaces for connection and change — where movement becomes research and the body a site of ongoing discovery and joy.

1:30-3pm
Heart Coherence
Petra Read

Step into a transformative 90-minute Somatic Yin Yoga session designed for all levels—no experience needed. Join us as we tap into the vibrant element of fire, awakening heart connection and authentic expression.

This unique class blends gentle Yin postures with somatic movement and guided exploration. You’ll be supported in connecting to your breath, your body, and the joyful energy of the festival. Modifications are offered for every posture, so everyone feels welcome.

Ignite your inner fire, open your heart, and discover new ways to move and express yourself—together in a warm, inclusive space.

In 2002 Petra Read discovered the practice of Yoga for the first time and was ever since inspired and curious to explore this field of ancient practices which led her to her first Yoga Teachers Training in 2008 in Zurich, Switzerland. Many more Teacher Trainings, Intensives and Continuing Education followed as she loves being also a student. Her trainings include combined over 1500 hours in Embodied Flow™ Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Anusara Yoga, Embodied Yin™ Yoga, Pranayama and Kriyas, Body-Mind Centering®, Free Movement, Yoga Nidra, Tibetan Buddhism and Meditation. Her classes are informed and inspired by nature and its rhythms, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Daoism and Tantric Philosophy. Petra believes that Yoga is accessible to everyone who is interested and open to explore the terrain beyond the familiar, as a gateway and potential to rewire our own beliefs and structures to evolve closer to our highest self. Through showing up and stepping into the slip-stream one can re-rememeber and find the way home to a wholesome, empowered, peaceful and kind state of being. Her classes are created with intention, purpose and in tune with what may be present in the collective. She speaks from the heart, shares her knowledge generously and welcomes everyone with warmth and kindness.

In her free time, she loves getting out on the farm with the animals, the garden, getting creative with art and cooking and swimming in the beautiful bodies of water all around the Surf Coast.

3:30-5pm
Dancing Contact Improvisation (CI): Co-creating a dance conversation, through sensing and responding to weight
Catherine Magill

In this session we will use whole body sensing to tune into ourselves, and our partner. We will “listen” for connection, sense into weight and support, creating a dance conversation through the rolling point of contact. This session is open to all levels, experience and abilities…anyone wanting to know more about CI.

Catherine Magill has been dancing Contact Improvisation (CI) for over 30 years. Her teaching practice spans some 25 years, in community, tertiary and mixed abilities settings, both locally and abroad. Catherine’s practice and teaching is grounded in the traditional principles of CI and is informed by her studies in ballet, contemporary and modern dance, Body-Mind Centering, Laban, Pilates and Authentic Movement. Her teachers include Helen Clarke Lapin, Alice Cummins, Kim Sargent-Wishart, Martin Hughes, Nancy Stark Smith, and Martin Keogh. Catherine enjoys sharing in the spontaneous and varied dance conversations that emerge in CI, through whole body listening and sensing, and playing with weight.

3:30-5pm
Exploring the Threshold of Fascia: Conscious Informed Touch
Steven Goldstein

Fascia is rich in mechanosensory receptor innervation which allows for a myriad of processes to interface on a physical, emotional, energetic and metaphysical level.

Simple touch techniques engaging the autonomic nervous system and the superficial fascia can have long lasting and profound effects. Join Steven as we explore this powerful interface with theory and practical application. Available to all levels.

Steven Goldstein (B.A. Education 1984, B.H.Sc. Musculoskeletal Therapy 2007) is an American émigré to Australia residing in Melbourne since 1999. An innovative massage educator, Steven has taught his unique blend of direct myofascial, indirect osteopathic releasing methods and somatic approaches internationally since 1995, now known as Fascial Therapy (FT) Steven is director of the Fascial Therapy Institute Australia and a frequent presenter at conferences and workshop masterclasses worldwide. www.fascialrelease.com

6:30-7:45pm
Voices Together
Tess Duddy

Join Tess from New Swell Choir for a voice and body percussion workshop. No experience needed. Through rhythm, movement, and playful exercises, we’ll discover how the body supports the voice and how simple rounds can build harmony. This workshop is about connection, expression, and the joy of creating shared sound. Classically trained and community-focused, Tess creates relaxed spaces where everyone feels welcome to explore sound and singing together.

Tess Duddy lives and works on Wadawurrung Country. She is inspired by the life she chooses, the natural environment, and the people she meets. She is a classically trained opera singer with Masters degrees in Opera Performance and Teaching. Her current practice focuses on teaching and sharing the knowledge she’s gained through training, performance, and a continuing curiosity about how we can be more authentic in our voices and ourselves. Tess is interested in how community and connection can create an embodied awareness which has the capacity for great joy. @newswellchoir

8-9:30pm
Open Floor
Yael Appelboom

Open Floor Movement Practice is a lively, full-bodied fusion of freeform dance and mindful movement. A safe, judgment-free space for embodied exploration, creative expression and to connect to self and community. Guided through light facilitation & luscious soundscapes, we move with what is present in our body and mind, our heart and soul, transforming the inner spectrum of human experience into creative fuel. For joy, for play; to sweat, process, release and integrate. Dance wild or gentle. Come as you are.

This session will be pitched to adults; ages 12-16 welcome with adult companion.

Yael Appelboom is an emerging dance facilitator and Open Floor Teacher in Training, dedicated to the transformative power of freeform movement. She has been curating conscious dance gatherings in Birregurra since 2020, creating a space for deep connection, authentic expression, and embodied awareness. With over 15 years’ experience in conscious dance modalities—including 5Rhythms, Open Floor, 360 Emergence, and Dancing Freedom—Yael’s facilitation is thoughtful and invitational, guided by universal embodiment principles and rich, immersive soundscapes. Her background in medicine, biomedical science, and music informs her holistic approach, blending scientific understanding with the intuitive wisdom of the moving body. When not dancing, Yael finds inspiration in nature, permaculture, and raising her two young children.

SUNDAY

9-9:45am
BodyMind Dancing
Kim Sargent-Wishart

BodyMind Dancing™ is a rich and open-ended movement class based in the foundations of contemporary dance and improvisation – weight, space, rhythm, balance, breath, fluidity – with a focus on how the movement feels from the inside out. Every class is different, and you are encouraged to adapt the movement to your own needs, interest and energy. All are welcome.

Kim Sargent-Wishart is an artist, researcher and educator living on Wadawurrung Country, Bellarine Peninsula. She specializes in somatic movement and dance education, embodied anatomy, somatic writing, contemplative photography and dance improvisation. A certified Teacher of Body-Mind Centering® (BMC) and BodyMind Dancing™, she co-directs the BMC® certification program at Somatic Education Australasia. Her practice-led PhD in Performance Studies explored somatics, experiential embryology and Tibetan Buddhist philosophies in creative practice. Through in-person and online classes, Kim creates generous and generative spaces for moving, thinking and collaboration. kimsargentwishart.com

10am-1pm
The Underscore

Catherine Magill

The Underscore was created by Nancy Stark Smith, who was one of the leading founders and teachers of Contact Improvisation (CI). The practice is guided by a series of symbols / glyphs that notate the journey of a CI jam. These “landmarks” create a focussed container, a landscape within which to dance with others. Catherine loves the group mind and listening that the practice creates, and has been sharing and practising The Underscore since she learnt from Nancy Stark Smith in 2000.

Open to those with some previous experience of CI.
New to CI? Come to Catherine’s class on Saturday for an introduction.

Catherine Magill has been dancing Contact Improvisation (CI) for over 30 years. Her teaching practice spans some 25 years, in community, tertiary and mixed abilities settings, both locally and abroad. Catherine’s practice and teaching is grounded in the traditional principles of CI and is informed by her studies in ballet, contemporary and modern dance, Body-Mind Centering, Laban, Pilates and Authentic Movement. Her teachers include Helen Clarke Lapin, Alice Cummins, Kim Sargent-Wishart, Martin Hughes, Nancy Stark Smith, and Martin Keogh. Catherine enjoys sharing in the spontaneous and varied dance conversations that emerge in CI, through whole body listening and sensing, and playing with weight.

10:30am-12:30pm
Field trip: practising and composing with site
Emily Bowman

This two-hour excursion invites us to explore how dancing emerges in relationship with place as an active collaborator. We will extend principles from contact/improvisation, somatics and choreographic practice into an outdoor environment, attending to how we move with human and more-than-human materialities such as rock, wind, seaweed, sand, birdsong, and air. We will explore simple movement explorations grounded in listening and sensory tuning, whilst allowing time to dwell, wander and attend to your own practising. Later we venture into more choreographic provocations and compositional strategies that work to get us dancing and composing with site as collaborator. We will dance in solo, in partners and in groups, with time to observe and simply be in practice attending to what emerges in the moment.

Please bring: comfortable outdoor layers, water bottle, and a notebook.
Exact site confirmed on the day

Emily Bowman is a Djilang/Geelong-based contemporary dance artist, choreographer, and improviser whose practice moves between live performance, site-responsive works, movement research, and choreographic exhibition. She creates work that foregrounds improvisation as both ecological and compositional, often developed through long-term collaboration and dialogue with place and more-than-human materialities. Emily is currently completing a practice-led PhD at Deakin University (2022–25), where she theorises contact improvisation, site dance, and improvisational composition as “practising” in relation to ecological thought. She holds a BA in Dance from the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) and First-Class Honours in Creative Practice from Deakin University. Emily teaches and shares her dance practice nationally and internationally.

Contact the host of COAST Festival of Somatics & Dance