Embodiment Foundations
Embodiment Foundations is a personal development program offered as either 50-hours (with classes online and in person), or can be taken as 25-hours online only. Class content is designed to help you discover and cultivate new embodiment practices, deepen your 'body connectivity', expand creativity and embrace a more deeply embodied way of living as a resource for life. This unique program guides you on a transformative journey that can positively impact your personal and professional life.
Embodiment Foundations is offered 2 times per year: January through March, and August through November (depending on sufficient enrolment). Our intention is that you leave this course feeling rejuvenated, inspired, clearer on your life’s path/goals, more connected with your body and more expressive, confident and knowledgeable as a moving being. We invite you to destress and have lots of creative fun! Come join us on your own personal embodiment journey, gaining new tools and ideas for body awareness and movement activities that you may also wish to share with others if you are a movement or embodiment professional.
The Tree is our EF program mascot, as a metaphor for the human body-mind. Come explore rooting, grounding, oscillating core flow and connection, spiralling, pulsing, yielding, pushing, reaching and integrated movement. Using experiential anatomy we will also map our body-brain connection and harness our body systems support for movement expression. What if more ease, pleasure and support for movement and being can be found? This is our exploration.
Testimonials: A recent graduate of the 50 hour program had this to say about their experience in Spring 2025:
“The Embodiment Foundations course with Hana has provided me with new ways to center, physically and mentally. I now have many tools for getting in touch with and listening to my body, and for creating meaningful and functional movements in both dance and everyday life. The experiential anatomy component of Embodiment Foundations has been especially powerful for me. Through guided visualizations, verbal and hands-on support, and movement prompts, Hana helped me begin to understand the complexity and beauty of my own Body Systems. I felt very rejuvenated by our journeys into the cellular level, fluids, bones, organs, and other systems. Learning too about neuro-developmental movement patterns has informed my relationship to myself as well as my work with children.
My best work was in the retreat portion of the class, where we gathered in person on Salt Spring Island for four days to practice embodiment in dance and movement. I created a “life dance,” in which I used movement phrases to express significant moments, experiences, and ways of being throughout my life so far. I applied many aspects of what I’ve learned so far to this creation, including Laban’s Dimensional Scale and Efforts. This was a profound and moving experience, and I look forward to using it again as a way to reflect on my life, relationships, challenges, growth, and accomplishments. It was powerful to be witnessed in sharing my dance that was created totally by me from my own experiences. It’s so exciting to be now more connected with my body every day! “
A.J., university student from Washington State, Embodiment Foundations Spring 2025
FEES: $1875.00 plus GST 5% tax for total of $1968.75 Canadian dollars ($1425.00 USD)
Next Course: 25hours of online classes span September-November, 2025.
Intensive retreat in person can be taken either August 22, 23, 24, 25 2025 (at Honest Farms movement studio on Saltspring Island, BC) or as follow-up to online classes in March 2026 on Saltspring (dated to be decided in early fall with group members).
HOURS: 50 total ~ 25 hours of online classes plus 25 hours in-person during a four day intensive/retreat. Next retreat is August 22, 23, 24, 25 (2025). Next retreat will be in March 2026.
(Optional: just attend the 25 hours in person OR online for reduced fees of $975.00 CAD plus 5% gst tax for total of: $1023.75
TIME: Online classes are weekly on Wednesdays 5-7pm Pacific Time Zone. In person retreat days are 9:30am-4:30pm (with one hour lunch break).
LOCATION: Online classes are by Zoom, and in person retreat is on Saltspring Island BC, Canada at Honest Farms.
INSTRUCTOR: Hana Kamea Kemble and/or other members of The Movement Arc’s teaching staff.
DEADLINE to register for the August intensive/retreat is June 30, 2025.
Fall 2025 Program online class dates are September 3, 10, 17, 24, October 1, 8, 15, 22, 29, Nov 12, 19, 26 (2025) . Plus 3 asynchronous hours of videos and films and a 1/1 hour personal meeting with course instructor is included in tuition.
Benefits of the Program
- Discover greater functional and expressive movement potential
- Harness your body connectivity as a neuromuscular organizer through neurodevelopment movement patterns and Bartenieff Fundamentals
- Understand basic principles of somatic theory and inquiry
- Learn about introductory aspects of Laban/Bartenieff Movement Studies
- Explore your felt sense of the inside of your body (interoception) using experiential anatomy
- Connect with the layers and beauty of your body’s systems as a resource
- Play with other movers in fun, movement-oriented expressive activities
- Learn how to harness your body-sourced creativity
- Experience more joy, comfort in your body, and ease of movement and wellbeing
Who is this course for?
The course is open to new movers as well as those with some movement and dance background, and is for people interested in deepening their own embodiment as a personal development and creative journey. This gives a foundation that may lead as desired to next steps of enrolment in another of The Movement Arc’s training programs, or just provide a stand-alone enriching experience.
Please note: We are not teaching you to be a facilitator of somatic expressive movement in this program (that is the focus of our other Expressive Movement Facilitator program), nor is this a therapy group; rather the focus is on using somatic education to enliven your connection with your own moving body and self and harness your embodied understanding, knowledge and creativity. We welcome people of all gender orientations, cultures, religions and body types/sizes.
- Have curiosity and interest about somatic movement practice.
- Have good capacity to work well in a group learning environment.
- Have an open mind to learning through embodied experiential processes.
- Have energy, time and commitment to fulfilling the course hours and participating in earnest.
- We recommend all students applying to this program have taken our introductory workshop Dipping Your Toes In as a way for instructors and students to meet and get to know each other through movement. This is not a pre-requisite however to joining the Embodiment Foundations program.
- Students are asked to submit a short letter of intent that includes information about their current interests and background in movement and goals for taking this program. You can also just fill in the Contact Form on this site and write a bit more details in that.
- Schedule a free 20 minute conversation with program director Hana by phone or Zoom to answer any questions you may have. www.calendly.com/hanakamea
All questions and application submissions can be sent to:
Monica Hernandez, Administrative Coordinator info@themovementarc.com
or call Hana at 604-781-6040
Expectations
Students can arrive ready to move and dress appropriately. Students will also need good internet connection and to have uploaded the latest available version of Zoom for online classes. Together, we will create working group agreements. Students will need to make any special needs, including learning differences known to any instructors before the program start. We welcome students of all abilities, gender identifications, ages etc.
For those students enrolled in the full 50 hour program, you are expected to attend the intensive in person. We are not able to accommodate hybrid learning by filming the intensive. If you were to miss the intensive due to illness or other emergency, you would be welcome to attend the following year’s in person intensive and would receive your course completion certificate after all classes are completed. Students need to attend 80% of the classes live in order to receive a completion certificate.
**In-person courses are dependent on COVID safety protocols; if we cannot meet in person due to any new government regulations regarding any new pandemics we will meet online, likely with revised schedule. Our sick policy is that if sick with any symptoms, please do not attend the intensive days, you can return for any of the following two years for intensives free of additional charge.
All tuition payments are final and non-refundable unless a course enrolment cancellation is made at least 30 days prior to course start date, in which case a $300 CAD admin fee/deposit is kept.
Registration Process
