2026 Dates are 26 January – 1 February for the bilingual retreat,
and 4-8 February for the Deepening retreat. Registration is not yet open.We offer two retreats each year, with a two and a half day break between them. The first is a bilingual Dance leader training with Senior Mentor Darvesha and other mentors. Staff leaders are Elizabeth Dequine, Ishtar Cynthia Valenzuela and Luis Vizcaino, with leaders, Dancers and musicians from Canada, the US, Latin America and beyond. This is an opportunity for training if you are a leader, and for supporting newer leaders in the circle if you aren’t.
The second retreat is a Deepening Retreat, taking the energy and prayers from the first week and going into that space more deeply, a retreat facilitated by mentors Sky Roshay, Shivadam Adam Burke and Jen Friedman, with guest leaders and experienced musicians.Both retreats are a chance to practice your Spanish, or English, whichever (or not; a second language is not mandatory because everything is translated.)
ZIH is an easy international airport, and Troncones is an easy taxi ride (30-40 minutes) from there. People generally arrange to share taxis from the airport; we set up an arrivals spreadsheet to facilitate that.
Troncones is a small quiet town with no large loud music venues or loud partying tourists. Only the two main streets are paved.
There are a number of small tiendas (shops) to buy fresh produce and other food (yogurt, eggs, milks – including soy, oat, almond, rice, etc. – granola, peanut butter, cooking oils, herbal teas, bath supplies and medicinals), as well as a local pharmacy and a produce truck that comes by twice a week. There are also farmers market on specific days of the week.
Restaurants include small cafes frequented by the locals, as well as more up-scale tourist restaurants. (vegan friendly restaurants, too!). The town has lots of local musicians who play in a variety of styles and appear in several of the restaurants nearly every night. One often has a fun dance floor. (And if you haven’t heard Hassan Raven Wolf sitting in with the blues band, or watched the Latin Americans dance, you’ve missed out.)
There are many lodging options, from budget to expensive. Most are within easy walking distance of Casa Escondida, the retreat center.
Casa Escondida offers a secluded retreat space, with grass to dance on under tall palm trees. We watch the whales spouting and breaching offshore (this is their migration time along the Pacific) and bask in gorgeous sunsets (and sunrises if you get up that early). There is a covered Sala (living room area) with couches for hanging out or napping, as well as hammocks, a gazebo and a swimming pool and some kitchen use. Some lodging is available at the retreat center for the second retreat (they are scholarship rooms for the first retreat.)
Uncrowded beaches with great sunrise and sunset photo ops, and waves for boogie boarding (they can be rented) or body surfing or just dancing in, are just out the gate from the retreat center, and most hotels are along the same beach. Swimming is possible if you are a strong swimmer; there is an undertow. The water is pretty warm!
A turtle refuge is located just a little ways down the beach; they release baby turtles to the ocean. If we are there when this is happening, we can go help! It has been a memorable experience in the past.
You can book a sweet kayak tour to an estuary with lots of birds, turtles and iguanas, and/or a boat tour with snokeling. And whale watching. Somebody organized a hike uphill to a cave last year.
You can hear the sounds of the waves at night, and watch lines of pelicans flying along the water, and see whales spouting and breaching out in the distance.
ZIH is a lovely small city to spend time in before or after the retreats, with lots of hotels, restaurants and calm beaches.
We have a staff that helps with lodging and registration, answers questions, helps you arrange shared rides from the airport and more. If you need your questions answered or your hand held (metaphorically speaking), we will do that!
For photos from previous years, see https://skyness.net/home/