Deep listening, meditation and laughter with Laraaji

About

Nestled in the French Pyrenees at 750m altitude, 10km from the Spanish border and surrounded by snowcapped peaks, waterfalls and forests, is the picturesque thermal town of Aulus-les-bains. In the town, housed in a beautifully renovated 19th century hotel, is CAMP - the first of a new breed of arts residency. In 2018, CAMP will run a series of arts, music, writing and arts-activist sessions. These are no ordinary courses - they are intense, artistic catalysts run by internationally acclaimed practitioners; creative flashpoints designed to change the lives of everyone involved. The courses combine work in our well equipped facilities with projects carried out in the mountains.

CAMP houses advanced facilities available to all residential students - a Pro Tools studio, digital video and photography editing suites, rehearsal and performance spaces, fine art studios, a cinema and an arts library. Accommodation is provided at the centre in peaceful, private rooms, and all catering is included - this is one of the most celebrated regions of France for cheese, wine and other local produce. It's a place where great art is made, new movements are formed, new ideas are explored and groundbreaking people are nurtured. It's about generating revolutions, incubating creative minds and bringing the best emerging practitioners in all artistic fields to their full potential.

Laraaji is synonymous with ambient music, meditation and cosmic energy - his Laughter workshops, deep listening performances and yoga tours have become a program highlight at some of the worlds finest arts institutions, festivals and clubs. Awakened to mysticism in the 70's, Laraaji bought a second hand zither and began busking around Manhattan and Brooklyn - he was playing in Washington Square Park when Brian Eno heard him, resulting in Laraaji recording the third release of Eno's seminal "Ambient" series. Forty years and almost fifty albums later, Laraaji is at the forefront of deep listening and ambient music - he has collaborated with Bee Mask, Ela Orleans, Motion Sickness Of Time Travel, Blues Control and Sun Araw, released on Stones Throw subsidiary Leaving Records, produced Boiler Room sessions and toured worldwide.

Laraaji's course at CAMP will be an idyllic immersion into ambient music, meditation, laughter and deep listening. Surrounded by the peaceful mountain peaks, waterfalls and forests of the Haute Couserans, with courses taking place indoors and outdoors, participants will enjoy a variety of activities including:

> Musical performances. Laraaji will perform using electric zither, voice, percussion, kalimba and synths, exploring textures, tones, chordal drones and rhythms.
> Laughter: The Best Medicine (A playshop). Focusing on the health benefits of heavy laughter, through a series of hilariously playful laughter-cises. All leading into deep relaxation and meditation.
> Gong with the wind: a tone journey. Laraaji invites gong tones to carry us into light and sound immersion
> Guided relaxation with spoken word and live musical accompanyment - guided deep relaxation for body, heart, and soul
> Nada Yoga: hearing inner music as a yogic practice. It's about identifying your inner cosmic sound current and focusing upon it, cultivating a lighter personal energy field and an expanded cosmic self-integration.
> I Am Dance: a 2 hour movement meditation with love and live music.

The sessions will be accompanied by optional outdoors activities led by CAMP crew, including guided mountaineering, sound recording walks, visits to local beauty points, and downtime to hang out, relax, enjoy the local food and wine, and learn informally from Laraaji, the CAMP crew, and your fellow students.