Coming Soon: Upcoming Workshops
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Workshops
This is our ‘menu’ of inspiring, life-changing workshops on art, creativity, and spirituality we can bring to your spiritual center, theater, community space, or private home.
If you are interested in offering a workshop, lecture, or facilitating a discussion around a theme within our shows, please Contact Us.
Also, please see Now Playing: for currently scheduled workshops near you!
Rising Sun Dance & Theater:
Classes, Workshops, & Conversations
Offered to Communities, Artists of All Levels, People of All Walks of Life
Workshops are open to all ages unless specifically stated otherwise. Most workshops are two to three hours in length. Special school age workshops are designed to fit classroom schedules. Week-end and week long retreat workshops are also available.
Creativity Courses
Wisdom Courses for Personal Transformation
Engaged Creativity & Wisdom Courses
Community Conversations
Creativity Courses
These courses are designed to awaken your whole being through art and creativity. All levels of experience are welcomed in these non-judgmental, supportive, comfortable courses.
“Wordless Storytelling”
-a dance and theater workshop for bodies of all kinds-
Rivera Sun Cook shares the physical theater techniques, tricks of pantomime, juiciness of character dances, in this fun exploratory workshop on storytelling with the body. Open to all ages, bodies, and levels of experience. Wear loose comfortable clothes, no shoes necessary. (2hrs)
“The Story in Your Heart”
-Solo Performance for Every One-
Stretching the performer in you into an unlimited storyteller. Acting experience not necessary, enthusiasm required. Take the story in your head and heart and transcribe it from page to stage to embodied telling. Learn the techniques and tactics of dynamic character switches, vocal ‘toggling’, building an imagined world, and playing with invisible friends, all in a safe, every-experience-level-friendly environment. Wear loose comfortable clothes. (3hrs)
“Write On!”
Writing Workshop with Rivera Sun Cook
Rhythm, poetry, prose, monologues, dialogues, description...tap into the inner muse, find a message, voice, characters, learn to play in this writing world. Intended to empower, develop, and strengthen your writing voice. Beginners welcome. Bring writing device (paper, pen, laptop, typewriter if preferred). 3hrs)
Wisdom Courses for Personal Transformation
These life-changing courses offer spiritual wisdom from many faiths to people of all faiths, encouraging sharing of insights to help us all grow.
“It’s Just Rain”
-the liberation gate of emptiness-
Learn to apply this life-altering, mind-changing, spirit-liberating radical wisdom from the Buddhist tradition to every day irritations, intense life-challenges, addictions, inner psychology, inter-personal relationships and more. Through a series of exercises, journalings, meditations, and conversation, explore this powerful wisdom that can change your whole life. Open to people 16 and up (children or inter-generational versions can be offered separately). (3hrs)
“Inter-connected Everything”
-a visual, visceral, practical connection to the One-
Want that ‘Oneness’ experience? In this workshop, we explore the imagined lines that create our ‘selves’ and dissolve them gently, using a series of exercises to peer into our tangible connection to all of creation. We will use movement (for every body), art (for every hand), sound (for every voice), and writing and meditation (for every mind). All people of adult ages (or disposition) are welcome. Bring notebooks, markers, pens, crayons. Wear comfortable clothes. (3hrs)
“Step Into the River of Impermanence”
-floating in the stream of change-
“The only constant is change.” Embrace change. Make love to it. Learn to rejoice even in the most challenging aspects of change...illness, loss, sorrow, aging, and more. This workshop focuses on seeing the processes of change as an integral part of life. We use story, meditation, and discussion as methods to explore the concepts and pervasiveness of change. Through movement and voice, we find experiential ways to merge with the stream of change. Wear comfortable clothes and bring a notebook. (2hrs)
“Death as Transformation”
-a transformative workshop around death-
We’re all going to do it. Die. We all know someone who has. This workshop explores our beliefs about the nature of birth and death, body, self, and the continual process of transformation we call Life. Using wisdom stories and teachings from around the world, we shift our image of death from a ghoulish skeleton to an omnipresent shape-shifter that enables all of life to arise and subside. We examine the constant ‘death’ of our selves as we transform and evolve, and begin to envision the ‘death’ of our own body/beings quite differently. NOTE: This is a workshop that could transform your entire life and perceptions of reality. Please come unprepared. All are welcome. (4hrs)
“True Story: Now”
-dropping folktales and fairytales of our past and future-
Learn to examine your collection of personal stories through exercises, discussion, retelling, and...revising! Then explore how to let them all go to simply be here now, free of story, totally present to the “True Story: Now”. A blend of story-telling, self-exploration, spiritual wisdom, and meditation, this workshop gives you a pantheon of every day techniques to take home that will change the entire story of your life. Bring notebooks, markers, pens, crayons. Wear comfortable clothes. (3hrs)
“My Secret Power is Gratitude”
-Thank you for sharing it with me!-
Recommended by every saint or sage in history, encouraged by every spiritual leader on the planet, embraced by practitioners of all faiths; Gratitude is magic. It is stronger than a love potion, an atomic bomb, or iron bonds. It is the secret weapon that hurts no one, and liberates the wielder. This workshop is a training on how to draw out your gratitude in the best and worst of times...how to deepen, share, and use it as a method of social change...and lean on it for spiritual liberation. Thank you for bringing your enthusiasm, notebooks, and comfortable clothes. (3hrs)
Engaged Creativity & Wisdom Courses
These courses are intended to connect our art, insight, and selves with our societies, nations and entire world to promote beneficial change for all beings.
“Stories In Service of Humanity”
-Your Voice Changes The World-
For novelists, journalist, bloggers, public speakers, teachers, parents, storytellers, filmmakers, poets and more...you’ve got the whole word in your mouths and the whole world in your hands. This workshop heightens our sense responsibility and affirms our commitment to writing in service of all of creation. Learn to listen to the hidden messages in stories, consider their implications, and craft your own stories to work powerfully for the greatest benefit of all. Bring your writing devices, and a good sense of humor. (3hrs)
“Change Your Story to Change the World”
-The Improvised Earth and what you can do to save it!-
You are the artist in the most common creative process: life! The world story is painted, written, and sung through the vehicles of our own lives. This workshop develops tools and skills for examining how your life story affects the entire world story. We also look at the world story currently being told, and explore shifting and retelling that story. Wear loose comfortable clothes. Bring a notebook. (3hrs)
“Use Your Imagine-a-nation to Imagine A Nation...”
-a visioning session for our country-
In times when we are taught despair and apathy, this workshop centers around creativity, empowerment, engaged activism, and imagination to envision the homes, communities, and nation we would like to live in. As Lala says, “somebody had to imagine it first, or else none of ‘em woulda come to be!” What would the world be like if you could dream it up? Open to people of all ages, educations, and walks of life. (2hrs)
Community Conversations – our most popular ‘workshops’.
Rising Sun Dance & Theater also hosts and facilitates group conversations as learning processes. Using the World Café Community Conversation model, we create a structured, safe environment of receptivity and listening to delve deeply into sensitive topics, often, though not always emerging from thematic material of our performances. In small, rotating groups, each person’s reactions and thoughts are heard as we explore several angles on a main question. A whole group ‘harvesting’ at the end reveals an inspiring diversity of insight and wisdom guaranteed to bring a sense of meaningfulness to the participants’ experience.
Discussions currently being used with churches and spiritual centers:
“Discrimination Among Us”
-a companion discussion to-
Rising Sun Dance & Theater’s: “The Imagine-a-nation of Lalachild”
“Bible Tearing?! Questioning Your Way to God”
-a companion discussion to-
Rising Sun Dance & Theater’s: “The Education of Lala Girl”
“What Happens At the End? Culminating Spiritual Quests.”
-a companion discussion to-
Rising Sun Dance & Theater’s: “The Emancipation of Lala”
Other Companion Discussions to “The Imagine-a-nation of Lala Child”
- “Discrimination: Imagine-a-Nation WITHOUT It”
-A visioning session for the end of division-
Other Companion Discussions to “The Education of Lala Girl”
- “Tradition of Rebellion”
-the evolution of religion-
- “Heretics at Home”
-how to embrace spiritual differences within family-
- “Bible Rippers and Thumpers Living in Harmony”
-how to walk the talk of freedom of religion-
- “Freedom to Worship”
-protecting the personal path toward the divine-
- “Emergent Ritual”
-the evolution of ritual within our lives-
Other Companion Discussions to
“The Emancipation of Lala”
- “Lynching My Soul”
-a spiritual response to atrocity-
- “Drop the Story”
-releasing the folktales and fairytales of our past and future-
- “Ole Massa Suffering & the Freedom Run”
-the spiritual journey to end suffering within your faith-
- “Not A One of Us Is Free Alone”
-how we cultivate or destroy societal freedoms-