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Vocal De-Armoring Community GATHERINGS
Vocal Transformation meets Vacation in
Upstate New York
VO-DE COMMUNITY WEEK
Ancram, New York
2025 Dates TBD
Come for the day, or stay the night. Stay for the night or stay for three nights. Stay for three nights or stay for the week (you get the idea!)
VO-DE COMMUNITY WEEKENDS
Friday evening to Sunday afternoon
Approximately every other month
Private lessons and observing lessons, group singing, hot tubbing, swimming, connecting to the ancestral lands of the Mohican people
Limited to 6 participants per weekend
"Vo-De was the kind of week I've been dreaming of for years but didn't know existed. As a professional performer and singer, vocal tension and anxiety is something I've struggled with my entire career. I left the retreat feeling unburdened by years of tension and filled with freedom, ease, and a rekindled love for singing."
- Mia Pak, Three Houses, Suffs, Your Own Personal Exegesis
The Vocal De-Armoring community of teachers gathers together to give lessons in person, in community
We gather together through our shared mesmerization (it’s a word!) around all things singing, voice, breath, soma, life-force, creativity and play
When witnessed, the work has the power to take on epic proportions. Through being witnessed and witnessing, we expand inside of this approach.
Why?
Because so much of this work is experiential and not mechanical, in principle we do not typically TELL people where they might be going. We allow the process to unfold. But witnessing others farther along the path opens up new possibilities in the observing psyche. This new awareness of what others are experiencing, or how others are allowing their bodies to respond, or what permission looks like inside someone else, all this imprints into the consciousness of the observer.
New possibilities open up inside of the body, merely from witnessing.
This week felt like an absolute reset for my body, soul, and nervous system.
To get to spend a few days in nature singing and being surrounded by like-minded, creative individuals was such a gift, and I have been feeling so much gratitude to have had the opportunity to come. This past year, after graduating from college, moving to the city, and beginning to attempt to pursue musical theatre professionally, I’ve been struggling immensely with my relationship to myself as an artist, and this is the first time I have entered a space where I felt like I didn’t have to prove that I was worthy of being there."
Olivia Bloch, performer
Details
2024's Community Week Included:
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Private lessons and sessions with Marisa, Margo, Sarah Beth and Meryl Yecies
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An optional sweat lodge
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Swimming, hiking on 75 acres of trails, cedar hot-tubbing (no chemicals)
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Simple self-serve local, organic lunch each day
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Group improvisation
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Sound bath with Glendy Yeong
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Embodied Musical Practices
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Circling/Authentic Relating
For specifics about the next Vo-De Weekend, click below
Vo-De week taught me a new way of being and existing. Held by the land that Marisa stewards and surrounded by other humans with deep, sincere curiosity to explore their voices, I found myself melting into the void. The void has been calling me, but I was always either too busy or too stressed to take the leap.
Inside this void, I'm a different version of myself. I take my time. I let myself feel the truth of sensations. I am sometimes small, other times larger than I've ever felt. I am whoever I am in the moment: a shapeshifter who's in love with the world.
There was something magical about the seemingly mundane acts of singing with and in front of others, sharing meals, laughing, carpooling, and being tired together under the July sun. I noticed something unusual about this group – people didn't seem to be scared of one another. It was easy to be me around everyone. It was easy to experiment with other ways of being around everyone.
I have always been craving this experience.
Jonathan Koe, pianist, podcaster, astrologer
FAQ
What are the accommodations?
There are various options for lodging including camping, renting a home next door to Marisa's, staying in Marisa's home, or renting a magical room at Mettabee Farm nearby.
wHat do i eat?
During Vo-De Week, delicious prepared lunch is included each day. Vo-De Weekends are more casual with everyone cooking together as desired.
How Many Private sessions do I get?
During Vo-De Week, you may choose how many lessons/sessions you'd like - as many as one each day!
During Vo-De Weekends each participant receives one private session.
How much does this cost?
For Vo-De Week, cost depends on number of lessons, length of time you decide to stay, and housing.
For Vo-De Weekends, the cost for the weekend will also depend on housing and will be somewhere between $400 - $650.
Vo-De Weekends are intended to be price accessible for Marisa's private students.
We do our best to work with you as needed.