Weekend Residential Workshop:
Exploring Nature through Mettler-based Dance Improvisation and Noyes Rhythm
co-sponsored by Mettler Studios and Noyes School of Rhythm
Friday, August 11 – Sunday August 13, 2023
At the beautiful Shepard's Nine of
Noyes School of Rhythm
245 Penfield Hill Rd. Portland, Connecticut
Fee: $250
(includes 3 overnights 5 pm Friday through 11 am Monday)
Friday 7:30 pm Welcome and Orientation
Saturday 9 am to 3:30 am Mettler-based Dance (taught by Mary Ann Brehm)
Sunday 9 am to 3:30 am Noyes Rhythm (taught by Patricia Carhart Collins)
There will be a mid-day break for lunch and
plenty of time to explore the natural environment of Noyes School of Rhythm
Housing is in rustic cabins-- most without electricity--and platform tents.
Full kitchen facilities available, bring your own food, bedding, flashlight or electric lantern, toiletries etc.
To register click Here Payment can be made electronically via PayPal.
If you prefer to pay by check or money order made out to Noyes School of Rhythm, please fill out the form (click next and send). Then mail your payment to
Mary Graham, Noyes School of Rhythm
610 St. Andrews Drive Media PA 19063
For information contact: mabdance@aol.com or p.carhart@verizon.net
Teachers Mary Ann Brehm and Patricia Carhart Collins
are both veteran teachers in Mettler-based Dance or Noyes Rhythm respectively.
The workshop offers an experience of these distinct approaches in a natural environment
that supports the integral relationship to nature that each embodies.
Mary Ann Brehm, PhD is a dance teaching artist/author focusing on creative, somatic approaches to dance. President of Mettler Studios, she co-directs their Mettler-based Dance Apprentice Program and Teacher Trainings in Tucson and for students in Indonesia and Vietnam via Zoom. She is the author of Foundations of Barbara Mettler’s Approach to Dance: Principles and Teaching Guidelines (2021) and co-author of Creative Dance and Learning: Making the Kinesthetic Link. (2008, 2015).Mary Ann is also past president of the International Association for Creative Dance. She has taught dance courses for several universities, was a dance teaching artist in public schools for 20 years, and offers intensive workshops throughout the United States or on Zoom. Her doctoral researched focused on teaching principles of Margaret H’Doubler.
Patricia Carhart Collins is a Certified Noyes Teacher. She currently serves as a Rhythm Director and teacher for the Noyes School summer program. A past member of the Board of Directors for several terms, Patricia is currently a member of the Noyes Faculty Steering Committee. Her outreach work includes presenting on Noyes Rhythm at NDEO and NAEYC Conferences, and workshops at colleges and universities, and in community settings. Patricia was the Rhythm Director for the Noyes children’s program, where she taught theatre and Noyes Rhythm. Patricia holds a BA in the Performing Arts from Hampshire College, where she created and performed a one-woman show about the painter Georgia O’Keeffe.
Staying at Shepard's Nine, Noyes School of Rhythm
We view this weekend as a retreat and a chance to connect with nature. Therefore we ask that you limit your screen time with electronic devises to what is necessary. Consider limiting their use to outside on the green near the schoolhouse, in the dining room during non-meal hours, inside in the cellar area in the front of the Farmhouse, or in your sleeping quarters. Please be mindful, also, that sound travels so that your cellular conversations do no affect others.
Photography: A limited amount of photos will be taken of the dancing by instructors for documentation and educational/promotional purposes. Students are not to take photos during class time. Photo releases will be provided at the workshop, and participants may opt out of having their photo used.
Please note: Smoking is prohibited on Shepherd’s Nine grounds.
Our tents have thick canvas walls and sturdy platform floors. Our few cabins are of varying sizes and have screen windows. They are provided with shelves, beds, wastebaskets, basins, cups, and buckets.
Campers living in tents or cabins mainly use the the “Little House” down the hill towards the Pavalon, or “The Baths” nearer to the Farmhouse. There is also a small bathroom in the Farmhouse. Personal items such as towels, soaps and shampoos are to be carried in and carried out of the bathrooms by each camper. You may do hand laundry at the Little House.
Mettler-based Dance in relation to nature
Noyes Rhythm at the Pavilion
at Shepard's Nine, Noyes School of Rhytm
What to Wear for Movement Sessions
Mettler-based Dance and Noyes Rhythm each have customary dress. We encourage you to bring and wear dance clothing that reflects these traditions.
Saturday--Mettler-based Dance Please wear solid black or dark colored garments that are easy to move in without designs or lettering. This allows the movement form to be more easily be seen. No jewelry. Dancing is done in bare feet unless health conditions or the dance surface require otherwise.
Sunday--Noyes Rhythm Florence Fleming Noyes established the tradition of wearing tunics of varying lengths and colors. This costume reflects the Greek ideals of simplicity and beauty from which Noyes Rhythm takes its inspiration. The tunic is graceful in movement and can be as simple as two lengths of flowing material tied at the shoulders. There are tunics that can be borrowed on site, although they are easy to make. For movement classes, please wear a leotard or similar underlayer with a tunic and, if cold, leggings and “woppity” (soft poncho). Solid, hand-dyed and non-patterned fabrics are preferred as they help us to feel more part of our natural surroundings. We shed our jewelry before movement classes to encourage freer movement, prevent injury, and protect the dance floor.
Where to Get Food
Adams Hometown Market (4 miles away) Portland
Super Stop and Shop (5 miles away) East Hampton
Its Only Natural (6 miles away) Middletown
Whole Foods (11 miles away) Glastonbury
Several restaurants in Portland
Directions and Transportation
Take 91 South to Hartford and 84 East (left exit); or take 84 South from the Mass. Pike (Sturbridge exit). Take Rt. 2 East. (left exit) Take RT. 17 South (left exit) towards Portland. Stay on RT 17 through junction at 17A to the intersection to Rt. 66 at light. Turn left onto Rt. 66. Go about 3 miles to the intersection of 66 and 151 (center of Cobalt.) Continue with local directions from RT 66 and 151.
Take 91 North; or Merritt Parkway to 91 or 84 to 691 to 91. Take Rt. 66 into Middletown and continue on 66 across the bridge to Portland. Stay on RT. 66. Just past the Esso Gas Station on the right, turn Right onto RT 66. Stay on Rt. 66 for 8 miles until you reach a light at the junction of 66 and 151 in the center of Cobalt. Continue with local directions below.
On Rt. 66, at the junction of RT 151 you are in the very small town of Cobalt (grocery store, gas station and post office on the corner). Turn left onto Depot Hill Rd. Bear left at next little intersection onto Old Middletown Rd. Bear right at the next intersection and go uphill onto Penfield Hill Rd. Go approximately 1 mile. Just past Pepperidge Rd. on your left you’ll see a white house with a white picket fence on the right. That is the Shepherd’s Nine—the Noyes School, #245. Drive in the second gate. You are at the right place! Welcome!
GPS has been helpful for most guests, though not always directly to our gate. Check the address!
Parking is available in the campers’ parking area located on Penfield Hill Road halfway between Shepherd’s Nine and Shepherd’s Green. Parking alongside the farmhouse is for staff and just-arriving guests only.
You may reach the area via bus, train or plane. Amtrak to Meriden, CT is the closest but you may also choose a bus to Hartford or New Britain, a train to New Haven or a flight to Hartford. Please buy round-trip tickets if possible, as stations in these locations are not always open for ticket purchase.
To arrange for pick-up and/or drop-off: please make arrangements directly with our local taxi services such as uber or lyft.