Before art became something we consumed, it was something we participated in.
At the centre of every thriving village lived the arts; a place of integration, connection, meaning and soul ripening. Eclectica is passionate about returning to these inherent pathways of creativity, community and collective thriving.
In many ancient cultures, when sadness, depression or disconnection arose, the shaman would ask,
"When did you stop dancing? When did you stop singing?"
These fundamental expressions of our humanity have been lost, forgotten and abandoned within a westernised culture that has forgotten how to live through the lens of meaning, togetherness and intention.
The arts hold an intrinsic key to our wellbeing. They have the capacity to reconnect us with ourselves, with one another, and with something greater than the individual. Through creativity we remember, through ritual we make meaning, and through collective expression we find our way home.
At Eclectica, we are passionate about carving out pathways of return—inviting people back into relationship with their innate creativity, their authentic expression, and the ancient wisdom of creating in community.
RITES is a One-Month Artist Development Programme
with Eclectica Hub; that creates a pathway home to the soul's innate capacity to thrive through kinship, connection and creativity.
Throughout the programme, participants will be guided through a 100-hour immersive journey that explores our relationship to initiation, rites of passage, and the natural cycles of birth, life, death, decay, rebirth and renewal.
Through the mediums of theatre studies, visionary dance training, ritual-based practices, family constellations and shadow work, participants will be invited into a rich process of artistic, personal and collective development.
This immersive process is designed to refine and develop your inner artist, cultivating meaningful expression in service of your personal evolution, creative potential and soul ripening
The programme will culminate in a full-scale ritual theatre production, performed before an audience of up to 500 people.
This original work will emerge from the creative process undertaken throughout the residency, drawing together the choreography, theatre, rituals and creative explorations developed over the course of the month into a cohesive and meaningful performance.
This container is open to all levels of dance experience. Eclectica is committed to creating a diverse and supportive learning environment that meets each participant where they are. While no previous dance experience is required, participants are encouraged to embrace the challenge of stepping beyond their comfort zone. The willingness to meet the threshold of uncertainty, vulnerability and creative growth is central to both the residency and the theatre production itself.
The Approach
Eclectica's ethos extends beyond the conventions of the mainstream dance and theatre industry. We are not driven by perfection, but by authenticity.
Rather than asking participants to fit a particular aesthetic or performance standard, we seek to cultivate individuality, meaningful expression and artistic integrity. We honour the unique stories, experiences and lineages that have shaped each participant, recognising that these are not obstacles to overcome, but essential ingredients in the creative process.
At Eclectica, artistry is viewed as a pathway of personal development. Through creative practice, participants are invited to deepen their relationship with themselves, expand their capacity for authentic expression, and contribute to a collective work that is enriched by the diversity of every individual within it.
We believe compelling performance is not born from technical perfection, but from presence, courage and the willingness to be fully seen.
RITES is an original ritual theatre production that explores the human experience through seven gates of transformation, tracing the life cycles of descent, surrender, renewal and becoming.
Over the course of the One-Month Artist Development Programme participants will collaboratively devise, rehearse and perform an original work, bringing together movement, theatre, ritual and storytelling into a professionally staged public performance.
By the End of This Programme
By the end of this one month artist development programme, you are likely to experience:
A deeper relationship with the natural cycles of life, death, renewal and transformation.
A greater sense of integration with who you are, the experiences that have shaped you, and the contribution you are here to make.
Increased confidence in your path as an artist, creator, visionary and leader.
A stronger sense of community, belonging and creative collaboration.
A more grounded perspective on life's challenges, transitions and periods of uncertainty.
Greater trust in your creative voice and the confidence to express it authentically.
A renewed capacity to create with courage, curiosity and conviction.
The rare experience of devising and performing an original theatre production as part of a committed creative ensemble.
Who this programme is for
This programme is for those who feel called to deepen their relationship with creativity as a pathway of meaning, artistic excellence and personal transformation. Whether you are taking your first steps into movement or have years of artistic experience, this residency meets you where you are and invites you into deeper relationship with your creative potential.
Anyone seeking greater meaning, fulfilment and creative enrichment.
Artists, movers and creatives who wish to deepen their practice and expand their expressive capacity.
Those who are curious about the transformative potential of dance, ritual, creativity and performance.
Experienced practitioners seeking to decondition habitual patterns and access new dimensions of artistic expression.
People aged 16 years and over (participants under 18 must attend with an enrolled adult).
Interstate and international participants who have been unable to commit to Eclectica's previous 16-week training format.
What's Included
Over 100 hours of immersive artistic training, mentorship and creative development.
Live online orientation one month prior to commencement.
Four immersive residency weeks of artistic development, rehearsal and creative refinement.
A professional theatre residency culminating in a public performance.
Behind-the-scenes documentary film.
Ongoing mentorship from Eclectica's artistic team.
Why a Residency?
Throughout history, artists have gathered in periods of dedicated immersion to refine their craft, deepen their creative process and produce meaningful work. Unlike weekly classes, a residency creates the conditions for accelerated artistic development by allowing participants to step away from the fragmentation of everyday life and enter a sustained creative field. Here, learning compounds, relationships deepen and artistry unfolds through continuity, repetition and shared experience.
Places are limited to 30 participants.
To preserve the intimacy and quality of the residency, places are intentionally limited. If demand exceeds capacity, we may consider offering one additional group container; however, this is not guaranteed. We encourage early enrolment to avoid disappointment.
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Residency Structure
Online Orientation
One month prior to commencement
A live online induction where participants meet the facilitators and fellow artists, receive an introduction to the residency, and prepare for the journey ahead.
Weekend One | Saturday and Sunday
The opening weekend is dedicated to learning the choreographic language of the production while establishing the foundations of the creative process
Weekends Two & Three | Thursday – Sunday
Artistic Development & Refinement
These weekends deepen both the work and the artist. Participants continue refining the choreography while exploring the deeper dimensions of creative expression, storytelling and personal development.
Focus areas
Choreographic refinement
Artistic development
Embodied storytelling
Creative expression
Shadow work and self-development
Performance preparation
Week Four | Thursday – Sunday
Theatre Residency.
The residency culminates in four immersive days within a professional theatre, where the creative process is brought to completion through technical rehearsals, dress rehearsals and a live public performance. This final chapter offers participants the rare opportunity to experience the full theatre-making process from rehearsal room to stage.
Focus areas
Technical rehearsals
Dress rehearsals
Theatre production
Public performance
Closing integration and celebration
Theatre is one of the oldest ceremonial spaces known to humanity. It has the capacity to transport both performer and audience beyond ordinary consciousness into a shared field of imagination, emotion and meaning.
Throughout history, ritual and performance have served as bridges between the conscious and unconscious, inviting transformation through embodied storytelling.
Performing within this residency is not simply about presenting choreography. It is an act of creative initiation. A profound opportunity to expand your capacity for presence, vulnerability and authentic expression while participating in an experience that deeply impacts both performer and witness.
THE THEATRE EXPERIENCE
Meet the Team
Be guided into the depths of multidimensional facilitation and ceremonialism. Receive codes of wisdom and training from facilitators who have travelled the world, guiding hundreds, if not thousands of participants.
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ADVANCED CHOREOGRAPHER, PLANT DEVOTEE FACILITATOR, TRANSPERSONAL COUNSELLOR:
Lahni has been deeply woven into the Eclectica Tapestry across the past 8 years, sharing her compelling choreography codes and seeds of wisdom with hundreds of women on their journey of self reconciliation.
Lahni studied Contemporary Dance in one of Queensland North's Premier Performing Arts School and is one of our lead facilitators and choreographers.
Her visionary eye within the realms of dance and strong guidance will support you in expanding as a dancer and opening up new neural pathways of movement, moving you beyond the ordinary to express your true potential as a contemporary artist.Lahni has also studied Transpersonal Counselling, and has a holistic understanding of Trauma and the Nervous System. Her extensive training in Plant Devotion, Ceremonialism, and Shamanism supports her in holding a multidimensional space for her participants to thrive.
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ECLECTICA HUB FOUNDER, FAMILY SYSTEMS PRACTITIONER, DOULA OF TRANSFORMATION
Anna-Maria is on the frontlines of leading a revolution of women who exist in fierce self-love and sovereign connection to their intrinsic female intelligence.
She is the co-founder and CEO of the Eclectica School of Womb-Craft and Visionary Dance, a holistic institution built on the foundations of sisterhood, embodied expression, and the reclamation of the matriarchal wisdom through the reintegration of celebrated and supported rights of passage.
Her medicine is rooted in un-domesticating the female spirit, re-villaging the heart of community, and integrating dance and expression as powerful healing modalities.
Anna-Maria’s line of work is deeply anchored in tending to the fractures that occur across the timeline of our lives and supporting women to re-access the depths of their own unique medicine.
With a particular passion for birth, eroticism, and ancestral connection, her legacy is igniting waves of radical self-love and soul regeneration across a global sisterhood
Residency Schedule
Week One
Thursday 4 February – Sunday 7 February
10:00am – 5:00pm
Venue: Eltham Community & Reception Centre
Week Two
Thursday 11 February
10:00am – 5:00pm
Venue: Eltham Community & Reception Centre
Friday 12 February
Half-day session(times to be confirmed)
Venue: Local Dance Studio, Plenty 3090
Saturday 13 February – Sunday 14 February
10:00am – 5:00pm
Venue: Hurstbridge Hall
Week Three
Friday 19 February – Saturday 20 February
10:00am – 5:00pm
Venue: Eltham Community & Reception Centre
Sunday 21 February
10:00am – 5:00pm
Venue: Hurstbridge Hall
Full production run-through
Week Four | Theatre Production
Friday 26 February
10:00am – 5:00pm
Venue: Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar Theatre
Technical rehearsal
Saturday 27 February
10:00am – 10:00pm
Venue: Ivanhoe Girls' Grammar Theatre
Dress rehearsal & public performance
Sunday 28 February
1:00pm – 5:00pm
Venue: Hurstbridge Hall
Integration & Closing Ceremony
Early Bird Available until 31 August 2026
Pay in Full
$2,200
Pay in Two
$2,200 | 2 monthly payments of $1,100
5-Month Payment Plan
$2,300 | 5 monthly instalments of $460
24-Week Extended Payment Plan
$2,300 | 24 weekly instalments of $95.85
Full Investment Available from 1 September 2026
Pay in Full
$2,300
Pay in Two
$2,300 | 2 monthly payments of $1,150
5-Month Payment Plan
$2,400 | 5 monthly instalments of $480
Payment plans are designed to support accessibility while helping us resource the production of this residency. All payment plans must be completed prior to the commencement of the residency.Financial Terms & Conditions
Payment
All prices are in Australian dollars (AUD) and are inclusive of GST.
Payment is required via Stripe using either credit/debit card or direct debit. Eclectica Hub does not store or have access to your payment information.
If you experience difficulty meeting your agreed payment schedule, please contact us before your next payment is due so we can discuss an alternative arrangement.
Late payments will receive automatic payment reminders. If payment remains outstanding and we are required to follow up personally, an administration fee of $35 may be applied.
Failure to respond to payment reminders may be considered a cancellation of your enrolment, and the cancellation policy below will apply.
Cancellation & Refund Policy
Due to the significant planning, venue hire and production costs associated with RITES, all enrolments are non-refundable.
If you are unable to attend due to exceptional circumstances beyond your control (such as serious illness or a family emergency), you may apply to:
transfer your enrolment to a future Eclectica offering (subject to approval), or
transfer your place to another participant of your choosing.
Requests must be supported by appropriate documentation (such as a medical certificate where applicable), and all transfers are subject to Eclectica Hub's approval.
Participant transfers are permitted up until two weeks prior to the residency commencement date. It is the original participant's responsibility to arrange the transfer and ensure the new participant completes all enrolment documentation.
If Eclectica Hub is required to cancel or postpone the residency due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control, we will first endeavour to reschedule the program. If this is not possible, participants will be offered an appropriate refund, less any unrecoverable third-party costs already incurred.
Costume Policy
Costumes are not included in the residency investment and are the responsibility of each participant.
Where possible, Eclectica Hub will endeavour to keep costume requirements affordable while maintaining the artistic integrity of the production.
Participants will receive costume information well in advance of the theatre production, including any purchasing requirements, sizing information and important deadlines.
Costumes form an integral part of the final theatre production, and participants are expected to source and bring the required costume items to rehearsals and performance days as directed.