April 4 - 10, 2012

Creativity Workshop in Dubai

Program Overview

Dubai is a vibrant international city of fascinating contrasts. You will see ancient marketplaces and ultramodern malls side by side. There are pristine beaches where you can swim to your heart's content and stretches of desert, where you can ride camels or picnic under the moon. Overnight safaris let you sleep in the desert under the stars at Bedouin-style campsites. Meanwhile, back in town, you swim in the sea, linger at outdoor cafes, and go to concerts, plays, art galleries, artisan stores or shop at one of the largest malls in the world.

What will you learn?

The exercises and talks by the instructors will focus on ways to:

Learn practical techniques to stimulate creativity, imagination, and innovative thinking
Get over creative blocks, writers block, and paralyzing self criticism
Find new sources of inspiration in everyday life

Daily Schedule

Here is a sampling of just some of the exercises and techniques we will be working with in class. Participants tell us the time in workshop seems to fly by. The order and kinds of exercises and the instructors' talks may vary. Some exercises are done individually while others are collaborative.

Wednesday April 4, 2012: Arrival. Free day

Time for you to settle in and relax.

Thursday, April 5: First day of workshop

Introduction to the hows and whys of the Creativity Workshop. Exercises in relaxation technique and guided visualization.
Relaxation: Exercises in relaxation techniques to help your imagination flow.
Guided Visualization: Calling forth the vocabulary of your imagination using the myth of the hero's journey as a framework.
Automatic Drawing: Finding your hidden imagery,
Show and Tell: Retrieving and sharing childhood memories to spark new ideas. This exercise will sharpen your storytelling skills.
Instructors' talk: How some famous writers, scientists, and artists found their inspiration, and how you can use some of their methods to find yours.

More on Daily Schedule

Friday, April 6:

Relaxation.
Guided Visualization: Map-making as a way to find, chart, and communicate your creative process and projects.
Automatic Writing: How automatic writing (also known as “free writing”) can help you create in new and surprising ways. How you can use automatic writing to outrun your inner judge, get over creative blocks and discover new ways of developing and editing written work. How alternating between writing and drawing can help you develop creative flexibility and mind dexterity.
The Interview: Listening to and experiencing a life outside your own. How listening is as important as doing in creative work.

Saturday, April 7:

Guided visualization: Letter writing as a way to express voice, character and audience.
Miniature Theatre: Storytelling with found objects.
Automatic Writing: Writing in Groups. How writing and/or drawing with others can stimulate your imagination and expand your point of view.

Instructors' talks may include:

The importance of play in creative work
Valuing creative process over product
How to do on-going creative work in short modules of time
How to use luck and coincidence to jump start creative projects

Sunday, April 8:

Guided Visualization: The Myth of the Other. Imagining yourself living a parallel life. What would you do that you aren?t doing now?
Trips to the Past: Using a foreign environment to invoke memory and inspire transformation.
The Close-Up: Using photography and drawing to focus on details and change the way we see.
Instructors' talks may include:

Following your innate creativity and listening to its intuition
How to rekindle fearless imagination
The Power of the Magic phrase: “What If”

Monday, April 9:

Guided Visualization: The Legend of the Hand.
Automatic Drawing and Writing continues with a new twist.
Cafe exercise: Writing, drawing, photographing people you find in local cafes.
The Illuminated Manuscript: A collaborative exercise in combining mediums and perspectives.
Instructors' talk may include:

The Gift of the Amateur
Creativity is a Muscle: Use it or Lose it
Making your home and work environments inspiring
How to stay creative after the Creativity Workshop ends

Tuesday, April 10: Departure

Tuition and accommodations packages

Our tuition and accommodation packages include a wide range of possibilities.

SHARED ROOM (4 STARS): $1,800
This package includes tuition, 6 nights hotel (with A/C) and breakfast. You'll be sharing a room and bath with another workshop participant at the Arabian Courtyard Hotel & Spa (4 stars). If you are coming alone and register for a shared room, we will assign you a roommate of the same sex.

PRIVATE ROOM (4 STARS): $2,010
This package includes tuition, 6 nights hotel (with A/C) and breakfast in a private room with private bath at the Arabian Courtyard Hotel & Spa (4 stars).

We have special hotel prices for participants bringing a spouse, friend or family members. Check with us for details and pricing.

TUITION ONLY: You can register for the Creativity Workshop and make your own housing arrangements. Check with us for details and pricing.

To reserve your place: full payment is required.

By registering you agree with our Terms and Conditions.

The Creativity Workshop in Dubai will take place at the Arabian Courtyard Hotel & Spa (4 stars). The hotel is in the historic center of Dubai opposite to the Dubai Museum and a few blocks away from many historical, cultural areas such as Heritage Village, Bastakiya, Meena Bazaar, and the Textile Market.

NOTES

1- We cannot guarantee the quality, cooling level, or functioning of the hotels' air conditioning. Air conditioning in Europe is seldom up to American standards of cool.
2- European hotel rooms tend to be smaller than American ones.

DISCOUNTS

$500 off for participants taking the workshop for the third time or more.
$300 off for participants taking the workshop for the second time.
$150 off each participant for groups of 4 people or more registering together. (Prague, Dubai, Crete, Barcelona, Provence and Florence workshops only).
$100 off Bring a friend to one of our Prague, Dubai, Crete, Barcelona, Provence or Florence workshops and get $100 off.
$100 off each participant for groups of 3 people registering together. (Prague, Dubai, Crete, Barcelona, Provence and Florence workshops only).
$50 off each participant for groups of 2 people registering together. (Prague, Dubai, Crete, Barcelona, Provence and Florence workshops only).

Share a double room with another workshop participant and save on the package price.
Special offers and discounts cannot be combined.

Spouses/companions who would like to travel with their partners but do not want to attend the workshop may share a room for an additional fee.
Vacancies are limited and hotel rooms will be assigned on a first come, first served basis. We encourage early registration in order to obtain the level of accommodations you seek.

By registering you agree with our Terms and Conditions.

“I only wish that more people could experience what you have to offer. You gave me a feeling a freedom that I NEVER felt before. Shelley and Alejandro have a great gift to share with others. They give of themselves in a way that is incredibly beautiful. Thank you for touching my soul, for helping me soar!”

Dianne Stuckey, Teacher, American School of Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Upcoming Workshops
2012

New York March 16 - 19
Prague March 24 - 30
Dubai April 4 - 10
New York June 8 - 11
Crete June 26 - July 3
Barcelona July 5 - 12
Provence July 15 - 22
Florence July 24 - 31
New York August 17 - 20

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The Creativity Workshop is inspiration for the creative heart, mind and soul. It gives you tools that will creatively guide you wherever your road takes you.”

Nathalie Habib, General Manager, Blink Studios, Dubai

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in just 15 minutes a day

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Creativity Workshop in Dubai

Program Overview

What will you learn?

Daily Schedule

Tuition and accommodations packages

Jumpstart your Creativityin just 15 minutes a day

About Us

Special Information

Take a Workshop

On-Site Training

Testimonials

Pricing

Register

Contact us

Jumpstart your Creativity
in just 15 minutes a day