Wattle Hollow Event
A one-day silent Vipassana retreat, for both beginners and sangha members.
This is a chance to slow down, renewing your commitment to silence and spaciousness in the sanctuary of Wattle Hollow.
Dharma Day – Sunday, April 19th 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. Meditation and yoga will be guided by Joy Fox.
Cost: by dana (donation)
Wattle Hollow Event
Joe Neal (a.k.a. Baba Joe the Birdman*)
Yes, our dear Joe has retired, and decided to “spice up” his image a bit 
But he’s still the recognized NWA expert on birdwatching and birdcalls, in particular. Everyone is invited to join us at the top of the Wattle Hollow driveway at 8 a.m. Or, if you don’t wish to arrive that early, at the main classroom at 10 a.m. before we head down into the creekbed.
No charge, everyone is welcome. Bring binoculars if you have them, but not necessary, and a potluck dish to share at noon, if you like.
Wattle Hollow Event
Celebrating the Warrior Goddess Oya
…. Heather says: “The Orisha Oya is associated with cemeteries as well as marketplace transactions! She can transform into a buffalo. She calls tornadoes and forked lightning. She is sometimes called “the tearer.” Kind of a scorpio-esque character. And her colors are dark maroon and a rainbow of 9 colors together.”
About Heather Chappell
Heather Chappell teaches popular and folkloric Afro-Cuban dance. Along with rhythm and correct placement, she draws her students attentions to the contrasting elements of controlled/free, feminine/masculine, and joyful/aggressive expressions in dances including the orishas, pal, rumba, conga and son.
In Cuba, she apprenticed under Cuban cultural historians, playwrights, actors, musicians and professional dancers at Cutumba Ballet Forlkorico.
After studying dance at Duke University, Lakota Indian Reservation, the University of Washington and Los Angeles, she found her true match in the eclectic Cuban mix of French, Spanish, Haitian and West African heritages. (And she adds, there is a bit of Scottish and Tahitian flavor that she cannot do without.) A Master of Arts degree in Cultural Anthropology helped her to make sense of all of this.
Herself a product of an Arkansas cotton farmer and a theater director, Heather has combined the earthy and the dramatic in perhaps unlikely places. She took oral histories of wacipi dancers and studied with yuwipi prayer-song musicians. She has taught dance in Compton, CA’s middle schools and worked with South Asian immigrant teens to create dance works in Seattle, WA.
Heather presently serves as the dance instructor at Benton County School of the Arts.
Cost: $100 includes food and lodging.