History and Acknowledgements
HISTORY OF TOUCH PEACE
Touch Peace is a new community project, started as a Landmark Education Leadership project, and initiated by Blue Heart Planet under the fiscal sponsorship of Moving On Center, in collaboration with local artists and activists.
Our mission is to create moments of being with each other in public spaces, and a place on the web where change makers share ideas and information to create Touch Peace projects in their communities and make a difference in the world. We believe that by collaborating and communicating in a sustainable way we are creating a possibility for appreciating our diversity and enjoy our common humanity, and that by acting from this awareness we bring forth the opportunity of peace and harmony in the world.
The community is holding a workshop, performance, and Opening Benefit in June 2008 to kick-start a global movement to bring moments of being with all around the world. Plans are underway for similar workshops and performances to be held in various locations around the world. The next scheduled event is taking place in Venice, Italy in August 2008.
In her own words- a story of inspiration from Touch Peace creator Rita Venturini
My name is Rita Venturini, i was born in Italy almost 46 years ago. I live in Berkeley, CA. I have been married for 10 years to a wonderful man, and i have a 6 year old boy. I am trained as a neurologist, neuroscientist, movement analyst, massage therapist, improviser and facilitator and i improvise myself as an event organizer, dream maker, mom, lover, friend, wife, contact dancer, cook and community organizer. A few months ago, as my Self Expression and Leadership project for Landmark Education, i started the seed of Touch Peace.
When i was a kid i had two dreams: being a ballerina and having everybody get along, i was the youngest of a mildly dysfunctional family...
Serendipity wanted that which seemed the total failure of my first dream (i was a terrible ballerina at age 9 and later on i had started medical school) brought me years later to find my way to the second. First of all i had to see what my first dream really was. I wanted to be a dancer, not particularly a ballerina.
So i started to dance and in 1998, via Body Cartography, i met Contact Improvisation. It was a love at first sight, that never really left me since, and that was nurtured by my encounter with Moving On Center in 1999. Dancing Contact, practicing Authentic movement, meditation and improvisation, using my hands often to touch people i started to feel how much effort i was putting in not really being there with them. How much energy i was putting into hiding from them, or not seeing them, or wanting them to see me different from who i was, or wanting to see myself different from who i was.
Just being with someone, even myself, has proven so far the hardest challenge i ever took on, and the most rewarding! Be present to who i am and who others are, without judgment, without being attached to the stories that spring in my mind like water, without wanting to look good. Hard as hell and sweet as ambrosia. In the moments in my life in which I set my intention at simply being with, many times i fail, i think of something or move, and some times, my heart touches peace, and i can fully see myself and others as the beautiful unfolding of our humanity. In those moments i would never shout at the car in front of me or at my kid....
Together with a group of wonderful people from the larger bay area, we started a project, called Touch Peace sponsored by Blue Heart Planet and Moving On Center, with the intention of creating moments of being with in world. We started with an event in San Francisco, last Saturday June 7th, and we would like to continue with many more.
The event was very powerful, had great impact on all the participants and facilitators, and touched and inspired people in the street.
We all now want more time for being with.
TOUCH PEACE WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE
Improv Everywhere
Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 70 missions involving thousands of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City. www.improveverywhere.com
"Touch Peace" is inspired by a delightful short performance from Improv Everywhere, an endlessly creative community that "causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places". What we see in their public performance is the power to connect directly to the people in the street by bringing a moment of stillness into a world filled with constant movement and chaos.
Blue Heart Planet - Promoting Integration
Blue Heart Planet is a value-based organization devoted to create, design and produce events aimed to empower cooperation and creativity. We offer tools to support the integration of ideas, research projects and people. We create a stimulating and supportive environment where your team, business, organization or research group can be empowered to be cooperative and creative together. We work from principles based on somatic awareness, coaching, diversity training and improvisation. We have worked with organizations including Cold Spring Harbor Research Laboratories, Mission Art Performance Project and ICG Research Institute in Lisbon, Portugal, were we lead an ongoing annual workshop on cooperation and creativity. For more information about Blue Heart Planet: www.blueheartplanet.org
Moving on Center School for Participatory Arts and Somatic Research (Touch Peace fiscal sponsor) has offered programs bridging somatics and the performing arts for social change for the past twelve years. Our training programs embrace a holistic view of the body and engage the whole body/mind through cooperative learning and an interdisciplinary focus. The curriculum draws on dance, theater, voice, and a wide variety of somatic research to activate creativity and health in both the individual and the community. Our faculty has included many of the finest educators in the San Francisco Bay area, as well as master teachers and visiting artists from around the world. We offer individual workshops, intensives, and a full Participatory Arts and Somatic Research Certification Program. For more information: www.movingoncenter.org
Landmark Education
A fundamental principle of Landmark Education's work is that people — and the communities, organizations, and institutions with which they are engaged — have the possibility not only of success, but also of fulfillment and greatness. The ideas, insights, and distinctions on which Landmark's programs are based make Landmark a leader and innovator in the field of training and development.
Landmark Education is a global educational enterprise offering The Landmark Forum and graduate courses that are innovative, effective, and immediately relevant. Landmark’s leading-edge educational methodology enables people to produce extraordinary results and enhance the quality of their lives. Landmark Education’s courses and seminars are offered in more than 125 cities via 52 major offices around the world. More than 200,000 people participate in Landmark's courses each year. www.landmarkeducation.com
Project Director, Event Designs and Production Leader: Rita Venturini
Events Consultant, PR, Marketing and Fundraising Coordinator: Amy Kingwill
Catering: Z Living Food, Maurizio Benazzo, Alicia ?, also Jenn Hoff
Initial Words, Comments, Discussions: Satu Palokangas, Carol Swann, Keith Hennessey, Denzil Meyers, Mona Caron, Susan Bauer, Maurizio Benazzo, the Applied Imprivisation Network family and many more.
Supporting Family Members: all of them!
Videographers: Carolina Stankiewitch and Brooke Armstrong.
Web design: Raliza Stoeva
Pioneer Facilitators: Denzil Meyers, Beloved Campbell, Simone Bloch, Valentina Emeri, Diana Lara, Maica Folch, Peggy Hackney, Paul Loper, Laura Maguire and Rita Venturini
Pioneer Coaches: Paul Bush, Erin Kelsey and Roxane Schrek.
Opening Benefit Organizers: Pato Draves, Mark Peterson-Estrada
Security, Support and Kindness: Tim Witter
AND a Special Thanks to the pioneer participants of June 7th 2008 and to the countless growing Touch Peace Community Members
Touch Peace is a new community project, started as a Landmark Education Leadership project, and initiated by Blue Heart Planet under the fiscal sponsorship of Moving On Center, in collaboration with local artists and activists.
Our mission is to create moments of being with each other in public spaces, and a place on the web where change makers share ideas and information to create Touch Peace projects in their communities and make a difference in the world. We believe that by collaborating and communicating in a sustainable way we are creating a possibility for appreciating our diversity and enjoy our common humanity, and that by acting from this awareness we bring forth the opportunity of peace and harmony in the world.
The community is holding a workshop, performance, and Opening Benefit in June 2008 to kick-start a global movement to bring moments of being with all around the world. Plans are underway for similar workshops and performances to be held in various locations around the world. The next scheduled event is taking place in Venice, Italy in August 2008.
In her own words- a story of inspiration from Touch Peace creator Rita Venturini
My name is Rita Venturini, i was born in Italy almost 46 years ago. I live in Berkeley, CA. I have been married for 10 years to a wonderful man, and i have a 6 year old boy. I am trained as a neurologist, neuroscientist, movement analyst, massage therapist, improviser and facilitator and i improvise myself as an event organizer, dream maker, mom, lover, friend, wife, contact dancer, cook and community organizer. A few months ago, as my Self Expression and Leadership project for Landmark Education, i started the seed of Touch Peace.
When i was a kid i had two dreams: being a ballerina and having everybody get along, i was the youngest of a mildly dysfunctional family...
Serendipity wanted that which seemed the total failure of my first dream (i was a terrible ballerina at age 9 and later on i had started medical school) brought me years later to find my way to the second. First of all i had to see what my first dream really was. I wanted to be a dancer, not particularly a ballerina.
So i started to dance and in 1998, via Body Cartography, i met Contact Improvisation. It was a love at first sight, that never really left me since, and that was nurtured by my encounter with Moving On Center in 1999. Dancing Contact, practicing Authentic movement, meditation and improvisation, using my hands often to touch people i started to feel how much effort i was putting in not really being there with them. How much energy i was putting into hiding from them, or not seeing them, or wanting them to see me different from who i was, or wanting to see myself different from who i was.
Just being with someone, even myself, has proven so far the hardest challenge i ever took on, and the most rewarding! Be present to who i am and who others are, without judgment, without being attached to the stories that spring in my mind like water, without wanting to look good. Hard as hell and sweet as ambrosia. In the moments in my life in which I set my intention at simply being with, many times i fail, i think of something or move, and some times, my heart touches peace, and i can fully see myself and others as the beautiful unfolding of our humanity. In those moments i would never shout at the car in front of me or at my kid....
Together with a group of wonderful people from the larger bay area, we started a project, called Touch Peace sponsored by Blue Heart Planet and Moving On Center, with the intention of creating moments of being with in world. We started with an event in San Francisco, last Saturday June 7th, and we would like to continue with many more.
The event was very powerful, had great impact on all the participants and facilitators, and touched and inspired people in the street.
We all now want more time for being with.
TOUCH PEACE WOULD LIKE TO ACKNOWLEDGE
Improv Everywhere
Improv Everywhere causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 70 missions involving thousands of undercover agents. The group is based in New York City. www.improveverywhere.com
"Touch Peace" is inspired by a delightful short performance from Improv Everywhere, an endlessly creative community that "causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places". What we see in their public performance is the power to connect directly to the people in the street by bringing a moment of stillness into a world filled with constant movement and chaos.
Blue Heart Planet - Promoting Integration
Blue Heart Planet is a value-based organization devoted to create, design and produce events aimed to empower cooperation and creativity. We offer tools to support the integration of ideas, research projects and people. We create a stimulating and supportive environment where your team, business, organization or research group can be empowered to be cooperative and creative together. We work from principles based on somatic awareness, coaching, diversity training and improvisation. We have worked with organizations including Cold Spring Harbor Research Laboratories, Mission Art Performance Project and ICG Research Institute in Lisbon, Portugal, were we lead an ongoing annual workshop on cooperation and creativity. For more information about Blue Heart Planet: www.blueheartplanet.org
Moving on Center School for Participatory Arts and Somatic Research (Touch Peace fiscal sponsor) has offered programs bridging somatics and the performing arts for social change for the past twelve years. Our training programs embrace a holistic view of the body and engage the whole body/mind through cooperative learning and an interdisciplinary focus. The curriculum draws on dance, theater, voice, and a wide variety of somatic research to activate creativity and health in both the individual and the community. Our faculty has included many of the finest educators in the San Francisco Bay area, as well as master teachers and visiting artists from around the world. We offer individual workshops, intensives, and a full Participatory Arts and Somatic Research Certification Program. For more information: www.movingoncenter.org
Landmark Education
A fundamental principle of Landmark Education's work is that people — and the communities, organizations, and institutions with which they are engaged — have the possibility not only of success, but also of fulfillment and greatness. The ideas, insights, and distinctions on which Landmark's programs are based make Landmark a leader and innovator in the field of training and development.
Landmark Education is a global educational enterprise offering The Landmark Forum and graduate courses that are innovative, effective, and immediately relevant. Landmark’s leading-edge educational methodology enables people to produce extraordinary results and enhance the quality of their lives. Landmark Education’s courses and seminars are offered in more than 125 cities via 52 major offices around the world. More than 200,000 people participate in Landmark's courses each year. www.landmarkeducation.com
Project Director, Event Designs and Production Leader: Rita Venturini
Events Consultant, PR, Marketing and Fundraising Coordinator: Amy Kingwill
Catering: Z Living Food, Maurizio Benazzo, Alicia ?, also Jenn Hoff
Initial Words, Comments, Discussions: Satu Palokangas, Carol Swann, Keith Hennessey, Denzil Meyers, Mona Caron, Susan Bauer, Maurizio Benazzo, the Applied Imprivisation Network family and many more.
Supporting Family Members: all of them!
Videographers: Carolina Stankiewitch and Brooke Armstrong.
Web design: Raliza Stoeva
Pioneer Facilitators: Denzil Meyers, Beloved Campbell, Simone Bloch, Valentina Emeri, Diana Lara, Maica Folch, Peggy Hackney, Paul Loper, Laura Maguire and Rita Venturini
Pioneer Coaches: Paul Bush, Erin Kelsey and Roxane Schrek.
Opening Benefit Organizers: Pato Draves, Mark Peterson-Estrada
Security, Support and Kindness: Tim Witter
AND a Special Thanks to the pioneer participants of June 7th 2008 and to the countless growing Touch Peace Community Members
About
Blog Posts
Social Improvisations in July: this week, Downtown San Francisco
Come join a group of Improvisors to move, experiment and play at noon this coming Wednesday the 16th.
We will meet at the little park on the corner of Bush and Market. We'll warm up, move for half an hour or so, share some discoveries and then either explore this particular urban space some more or decide to move on to something different. The idea is to simply take space and reveal moments of spontaneous social collaboration amongst ourselves and the city about us. These social improvisations,… Continue
We will meet at the little park on the corner of Bush and Market. We'll warm up, move for half an hour or so, share some discoveries and then either explore this particular urban space some more or decide to move on to something different. The idea is to simply take space and reveal moments of spontaneous social collaboration amongst ourselves and the city about us. These social improvisations,… Continue
Posted by Amy Kingwill on July 15, 2008 at 2:26pm — 1 Comment
TOUCH PEACE...
Greetings,
I just wanted to post on the site just how amazing Thursdays June 19th 2008 was in many ways something many of us never imagined.. I know some of how I embody success was re-framed that night.
The coming together of worlds all for the collective good of the event... very little ego, lot's of heart, music, spoken word and music vocals..... Awesome organic foods that were tasty, fresh, beautiful and a treat to all ,the senses.
I'm looking towards July 10th and the holistic alternativ… Continue
I just wanted to post on the site just how amazing Thursdays June 19th 2008 was in many ways something many of us never imagined.. I know some of how I embody success was re-framed that night.
The coming together of worlds all for the collective good of the event... very little ego, lot's of heart, music, spoken word and music vocals..... Awesome organic foods that were tasty, fresh, beautiful and a treat to all ,the senses.
I'm looking towards July 10th and the holistic alternativ… Continue
Posted by Mark Peterson-Estrada MA on June 22, 2008 at 2:39pm
This morning in my inbox
I wake up, check my email and find this post from Lisa Jones, it touches me how this message is starting to be everywhere......are we so close to the tipping point?
Lisa, thank you!
************************
The choice to judge rather than to know
is the cause of the loss of peace.
You have no idea
of the tremendous release and deep peace
that comes from meeting yourself and your brothers
totally without judgment
Judgment always imprisons
because it separates segments of reality
by the unstabl… Continue
Lisa, thank you!
************************
The choice to judge rather than to know
is the cause of the loss of peace.
You have no idea
of the tremendous release and deep peace
that comes from meeting yourself and your brothers
totally without judgment
Judgment always imprisons
because it separates segments of reality
by the unstabl… Continue
Posted by YOU on July 16, 2008 at 1:08am
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