Pippa Arnold

“One of the most beautiful lessons I have learned from working with plants and nature over the years is the importance of giving enough time to observation and listening before making any interaction or change in the space. If we simply take time to contemplate how nature behaves in that space, how life manifests and interacts with itself, its cycles, and how everything is seeking its own balance and equilibrium in different ways, then the action that can emerge after that time will be much more aligned with what is actually there, not just with what we would like it to be. Opening the possibility of working in cooperation with nature, in a bond of care and mutual abundance. Instead of acting to obtain personal benefit, we can learn to nourish and care for the earth as an extension of ourselves. The harvest, then, will come, as a natural consequence of that bond.” ~ Maximiliano Bonacquisti 𝑻𝑶 𝑩𝑬𝑮𝑰𝑵 𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑯 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑨𝑪𝑻 𝑶𝑭 𝑮𝑰𝑽𝑰𝑵𝑮 Deep Ecology, Poetry and Contact Improvisation Experiential Study Program 7 - 30 June 2026 Chiang Dao, Thailand With Dolores Dewhurst Marks, Maximiliano Bonacquisti, Philippa Arnold and Fern Sripungwiwat Info pack: /GIVINGCI54 When you post on IG, can you add hashtags at the end of the post #contactimprovisation #contactdance #deepecology #ecosomatics

Recently while traveling, dancing and sharing the practice I have been reflecting on the influence of consumerism, how we bring in unconciously into our dances and relationships. Often our desire to be satisfied by a particular kind of dancing, or to be a satisfying partner to dance with becomes the engine for our movement or action, and we loose the possibility of finding true appreciation in each encounter and moment. How can we invite ourselves to approach each encounter, and ourselves, as a unique, unrepeatable, sacred experience? How can we give time and space for each encounter, so that something unknown to both of us can arise? At the same time, how can we empty ourselves of intention, so that the search for depth does not itself become an obstacle to the unknown? Impermanence and transience remind us of how important and profound each moment can be. And at the same time there is a lightness of knowing that it is just one more encounter. How does the ephemeral hold the unknown and the acceptance of what is? How can we invite ourselves into a state of appreciation, so that in the ephemeral, in the small, in the simple, we may find the sacred? These are some of the questions I am with and look forward to exploring in the upcoming Towards CI54 Summer Residency. 𝑻𝑶 𝑩𝑬𝑮𝑰𝑵 𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑯 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑨𝑪𝑻 𝑶𝑭 𝑮𝑰𝑽𝑰𝑵𝑮 Deep Ecology, Poetry and Contact Improvisation Experiential Study Program 7 - 30 June 2026 Chiang Dao, Thailand With Dolores Dewhurst Marks, Maximiliano Bonacquisti, Philippa Arnold and Fern Sripungwiwat Thankyou @alexander.dodgson and @daun.photos for the beautiful pictures..

B𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑠, 𝑰 𝒘𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒘 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅𝒔, 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒍𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒊𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑡𝑜 𝑒𝑥𝑝𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑔𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑜𝑓 @towards.contact 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑠. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 𝑹𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆. . Tℎ𝑜𝑠𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑜𝑢𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑑𝑖𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒, 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑊𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑜𝑟 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑎𝑠 𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑓𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔 -𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑏𝑜𝑑𝑦 𝑜𝑛𝑒ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡- 𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑟𝑖𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑓𝑡𝑠 𝑖𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑖𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑢𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝐴𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑠𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑒𝑑, 𝑟𝑒𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑒𝑑, 𝑛𝑎𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑖𝑛 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑐ℎ 𝑐𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑏𝑒 𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑘𝑒𝑛, 𝑇𝑜 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑜𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑑, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑤𝑖𝑡𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑢𝑛𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑑𝑦𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑟𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝐴𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑝𝑟𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑖𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑠 𝑊𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑤𝑒 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑖𝑛𝑔, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑠. . Soon the Summer program begins, with "𝑻𝙊 𝘽𝑬𝙂𝑰𝙉 𝙒𝑰𝙏𝑯 𝑻𝙃𝑬 𝑨𝘾𝑻 𝑶𝙁 𝙂𝑰𝙑𝑰𝙉𝑮" a 24 days 𝑫𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝑬𝒄𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒚, 𝑷𝒐𝒆𝒕𝒓𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝑰𝒎𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑬𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒕𝒖𝒅𝒚 𝑷𝒓𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒎 7-30 June 2026 held and proposed and watered by Dolores Dewhurst Marks, Fern Srip, Pippa Arnold, Maximiliano Bonacquisti. ... Followed by 𝑰𝑵𝑺𝑷𝑰𝑹𝑨𝑳, a 4 week Contact Improvisation Intensive Workshop 8 July - 5 August 2026 with Sasha Dødø and Dolores Dewhurst Marks . Amazing photos by @metta_life.force and @elihillfilm

A rare opportunity to join us in Chiang Dao for 8 days program in 7-14 June 2026. We know not everyone who would like to join our programs can commit to 3 weeks or longer, so we made it possible to join the first 8 days of To Begin With The Act Of Giving residency program about Contact Improvisation, poetry and deep ecology. For those who are genuinely curious to ask questions from the shared ground and deepen their connection with nature, its forces and wisdom. *This will be the only option this year to join us for such a duration* Find more information in links Photo 1 - 3 @kenbuslay Photo 4 - 5 @alexander.dodgson Photo 6 @altieam #contactimprovisation #contactdance #deepecology #poetry #embodiment

Joy! I want to share my joy for dancing! Feeling the movement of life as it lives in each unfolding moment. This is some kind of celebration... How miraculous to be alive in this body. Thankyou thankyou thankyou. Dancing contact improvisation we meet the skin the bones the blood in relation with gravity, space, time. We meet the unknown, finding the edge of our fears and the aliveness of our awareness. To meet you here is something raw and honest as life pulses through us. Dancing this dance, that has never been danced before, and, will never happen again. I am not moving this body. I am this body. Just as a plant, as a river as a wave. Fall out of the brain and into the body. What does it feels like to be alive! My gosh! Come dance, and eat and grow with us... Empowering our aliveness feels important right now. Photo 1: The joy bursting out after a long session of dancing in nature Photo 2: max and I inviting you to come dance Photo 3: contact improv jam by the river in chiang dao For more information for long CI dancing residencies in Chiang dao visit: https://towards.contact or follow links in bio of @towards The next program will begin in June where we will be exploring the dance as a life practice, deepening through deep ecology, embodied poetry, food, growing and contact improvisation. I am excited to share!! Link in bio. Photo cred to me and @alexander.dodgson

I used to work a lot with food. With natural curiosity, I travelled to places to learn about where food comes from, spending times in organic farms and producers, as well as meeting and talking with people. I baked, I cooked for friends, I told stories about food through videos and writings. Food was one of the languages I spoke. Yet when I started dancing I stopped talking about them. My curiosity didn’t die, it is still there and developing. It became a backdrop of my life, those years of learning are still informing me how I choose to live. It felt difficult to speak about food and sustainability with people outside of the fields. Funny enough as food is one of the most universal language that we come in contact with every day and multiple times a day. But slowly over time, and through meeting Max with our shared passion for food and dancing, and with my previous experience in food and storytelling. The language started to appear that brings together our dance practice, how we live, and how we eat. After all, how can I expect people to understand if I do not communicate? There are always hundreds of lives and stories, existing in a single meal. (music by Adriana Pages and Noy Raz) #contactimprovisation #sustainability #deepecology

I have been reflecting on my work in Chiang Dao, and it makes me want to share about Ladda. We have been working with Ladda for a couple of years now. She is from a local Karen village between our dance space and the hot springs. She told me once that the village is named after her great-grandfather, who first settled here years ago. Everyday, we serve wild honey that her husband collected from the forest. In the rainy season, she would forage fiddlehead ferns, metal leaves and wild mushrooms for our meals. She is not only a great cook but also a gardener at heart. Part of out food waste goes to her garden where she make compost and ferment natural fertiliser. Some days she would bring fresh cassava roots, avocados, papayas, and bags of sweetest dragonfruits to our kitchen. I spent more time with her last summer, over conversations in the kitchen, foraging and fishing in the nearby river. Beyond all the things she does for the space, it is through meeting her that I started (slowly) to feel what it means to live with the forest; all the beauty and hardship this life. Her way of living is, for me, a bridge to one of the deepest and most honest ways in modern society to feel oneself at nature. She is one of the most honest and generous persons I know, and for me, that is nature. Even though it is not so visible in the work that we do (yet), without meeting and building this relationship with Ladda, I don’t think I could fully step into this work. I also don’t think To Begin With The Act of Giving could be born in this way. Photos from last August, foraging fiddlehead ferns to make local salad dish with Ladda.

𝑀𝑒𝑒𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑇𝑒𝑎𝑚 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑻𝑶 𝑩𝑬𝑮𝑰𝑵 𝑾𝑰𝑻𝑯 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑨𝑪𝑻 𝑶𝑭 𝑮𝑰𝑽𝑰𝑵𝑮 Deep Ecology, Poetry and Contact Improvisation Experiential Study Program 7 - 30 June 2026 in Chiang Dao, Thailand With Dolores Dewhurst Marks, Nikkom Putta, Maximiliano Bonacquisti, Philippa Arnold and Fern Sripungwiwat Find full bios in info pack in links 𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐭-𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 is an artist working with poetry, dance improvisation, performance. Co-directing and curating Art Continuum Nomadic Residency, Being Nature project, and Towards Centre for Embodied Arts and Transformative Learning. 𝐍𝐢𝐤𝐨𝐦 𝐏𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐚 is a deep ecologist originally from Chiang Dao. He has worked in the field of environmental activism for over 20 years as a forest ranger, researcher, journalist and educator in national parks and NGOs. 𝐌𝐚𝐱𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐨 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢 is a dancer, facilitator, organic farmer, chef, and bodyworker. His practice explores dance as a tool to understand life: how we relate to each other and to nature. Through his work with plants ,food, and farming, he finds inspiration for understanding movement and our intrinsic connection with the earth. 𝐏𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐚 𝐀𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐝 is a movement-based researcher, artist, facilitator, and poet whose work is rooted in improvisation and shaped by relationship with place and community. Constantly inspired by the inherent reciprocity of nature, she is curious about how we can come into a deeper embodied presence with the cycles of giving and receiving. This is explored through the practice of contact improvisation, hiking, farming, eco-somatics, poetry, and community living. 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐒𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐰𝐢𝐰𝐚𝐭 is a multidisciplinary artist and producer, working primarily with visuals, words, and spaces. Her current research is in creating alternative forms of education that offer different ways of being in the world. She is inspired and supported by the practice of movement improvisation, and inquiring into how this practice can inform the way we live. Photo @kenbuslay #deepecology #poetry #contactimprovisation #ecosomatics

Hihi! I have been doing this amazing improv, moving meditation, contact, embodied physics, dance thing for the past while throughout the world and I would love love love to share it with my Naarm community! I will be offering a 3 week introductory foundation series into contact improvisation in the coming weeks and you are all invited! This practice has been profound to say the least. You just gotta come feel it. To try and explain gets me all in a toss. I look forward to diving in and going for a swim through gravity with you! Check my bio for links and such. Photo cred @alexander.dodgson With love, Pip

To open all the windows and doors of your house and let the world in. The tip of the pen gathering the pieces you have been passing and tossing and catching and hiding and dreaming as your body moves through its seasons. 'I give these words back to you dear life, thank you for having me'. I have a huge box full of books of words that I have been scribbling since age 10, perhaps they are my most precious possessions. Friends and companions along the way to unravel and understand the complexities and wonders and strangeness of life with. In the last couple of years however my relationship with writing has shifted as I have studied, danced and continued to write in the mountains of northern Thailand with 'towards- centre of embodied arts and transformative learning'. Words and writing building momentum and 'weight' .. A Body... Dance as poetry, poetry as dance. Language as something that is embodied that can be seen and felt. Feeling the movement of life through words. And the simple realisation that we are all poets, if we choose to be. Feeling, seeing and writing ourselves into the world. Our curiosity to get involved - a muscle to be stretched and empowered. To run through the endless fields of our unfolding, wild and free and strong. In the program 'to begin with the act of giving' in June we will be working with poetry as an embodied language. Gathering our deeper understanding, reflections and beckoning out those quiet creatures and dusty treasures hiding/banished to the dark corners of our being. Writing not as a byproduct but something that is seen as vital to our living. We will also be studying the work of some profound and influential poets - support and guidance along the way. You are invited. For more information visit: https://towards.contact or follow links in bio of @towards.contact Beautiful photos by @alexander.dodgson Thankyou for reading Love Pip.

Each new hour holds new chances for new beginnings. Do not be wedded forever to fear, yoked eternally to brutishness. The horizon leans forward, offering you space to place new steps of change. ~ Maya Angelou To Begin With The Act Of Giving - 24 day Experiential Study Program about Deep Ecology, Poetry and Contact Improvisation 7 - 30 June 2026 in Chiang Dao, Thailand With Dolores Dewhurst Marks, Maximiliano Bonacquisti, Philippa Arnold and Fern Sripungwiwat An invitation to craft spaciousness for new beginnings, and the gifts of our inherent generosity towards oneself, others, and the space between us. To reverse the cycles of not giving that stop us from giving ourselves away as an offering to this world. More info on links. #beingnature #contactimprovisation #deepecology #poetry

Many years ago, I started asking myself what my relationship with food really was, where it came from, what was good for me, what wasn’t, how I could take responsibility for what enters my body, and what would happen if at least part of my food was grown by my own hands. Those questions are still alive for me after all this time, and I keep discovering new ways to connect with food, my work, and the land. I created this garden together with many helping hands in Thailand in 2024, as part of Towards Contact, with the intention of growing some of the food we would use in the kitchen for the retreats. And far from being just a productive space, it became a field of exploration into how we can embody the connection between land, food, and our bodies—and how we can find inspiration in the garden for relating to ourselves and the world from a place of non-separation. We explored this in depth in “To Begin with the Act of Giving”, a retreat of Contact Improvisation, poetry, and deep ecology. Information Pack: /GIVINGCI54 This Study Program is part of Towards CI54 Summer Residency. For more information visit: https://towards.contact Thanks to @alexander.dodgson @elihillfilm @altieam and @daun.photos for the pictures.