RHYTHM IS THE CURE

Jan 25 - Feb 1, 2027

Healing Dance and Percussion Workshop

from Southern Italy in Hawaii!

REGISTER NOW !

🌺 RHYTHM IS THE CURE

Healing Drumming, Dance & Sacred Arts Retreat in Hawaii

January 25 – February 1, 2027 | Oahu, Hawaii

HAWAII RETREAT 2027 — REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!

In a peaceful setting on the beach…

Windward Retreat Center - Oahu, Hawaii

Come drum, Come dance, Come Create, Come connect

We are so excited to return to Hawaii for another beautiful week of movement, music, dance, art, culture, connection and transformation.

Internationally renowned singer, percussionist, dancer and teacher Alessandra Belloni, REMO Artist and author of Healing Journeys with the Black Madonna, invites you to her 11th Annual RHYTHM IS THE CURE Healing Drumming & Dance Retreat in Hawaii.

This intimate retreat brings together the ritual music and dance traditions of Southern Italy, devotion to the Black Madonna and Divine Feminine, sacred art, contemplative teachings and the living traditions of Hawaii.

Rhythm Is the Cure is an intensive healing workshop centered around Southern Italian ritual music and dance that have been used therapeutically for centuries throughout the Mediterranean. During this special Hawaii retreat, these traditions will be brought into conversation with Hawaiian culture and traditions, creating a week that is both deeply rooted and uniquely connected to place.

🥁 WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES

Throughout the retreat, participants will experience the relationship between rhythm, movement, voice, ritual, creativity and community.

The workshop is designed to introduce participants to the history and practice of the ancient healing traditions Alessandra has spent decades studying, performing and teaching.

Participants will:

• Learn a unique style of traditional Southern Italian tambourine playing.
• Experience the ancient healing dance of the Tarantella.
• Study sacred chants of the Black Madonna from Southern Italy and other parts of the world.
• Explore the history of tambourine traditions historically practiced largely by women.
• Learn about their connection to rites of the Mother Earth Goddess Cybele, later associated with devotion to the Black Madonna.
• Explore ritual dance traditions including Tammurriata, Ritmo e Danza di San Rocco and Pizzica Tarantata.
• Participate in sacred art and mask making with guest co-teacher Anna Sardinia.
• Experience Hawaiian cultural tradition through special instruction with a Hula Master.
• Participate in beach drumming, chanting, movement and the special Yemanja ocean ritual.

The retreat includes four full workshop days and one half-day beach ritual, during which participants will gather by the ocean for the Yemanja ceremony, offering flowers into the sea accompanied by drumming, chanting and dancing.

🥁 HEALING DRUMMING, CHANT & DANCE

With Alessandra Belloni

Don't miss the opportunity to study with master teacher Alessandra Belloni, whose work is dedicated to preserving and sharing ancient traditions connected to the healing power of drumming, singing and dance in honor of the Great Goddess and the Black Madonna.

A major focus of the retreat will be the Pizzica Tarantata — the Spider Dance, the traditional trance dance associated with healing the mythical bite of the tarantula.

Every morning, participants will gather for drumming sessions on the beach.

Participants are encouraged to wear white and red, and women are encouraged to wear skirts, creating a visual and symbolic connection to the ritual traditions explored throughout the week.

🔥 TAMMURRIATA

Participants will study the powerful 4/4 Tammurriata rhythm, performed in honor of the Black Madonna and connected in Alessandra's teachings to ancient rites of the Earth Goddess Cybele.

The rhythm accompanies a sensual traditional dance from Naples performed with castanets and the large frame drum known as the Tammorra.

🌀 RITMO E DANZA DI SAN ROCCO

The Spinning Dance

Originating in Calabria during the Middle Ages, this dance was performed during the time of the plague as a way of helping people release an overwhelming fear of death.

Its repetitive spinning and trance-inducing movement can lead participants into deeply immersive states, which the retreat material compares to the ecstatic movement of Whirling Dervish ceremonies.

🕷️ PIZZICA TARANTATA

The Spider Dance

The Pizzica is performed in a wild 6/8 rhythm on medium-sized tambourines and traditionally combines drumming, dance and song.

The ritual was historically associated with healing the mythical bite of the tarantula and with emotional suffering that particularly afflicted women.

During the workshop, participants will play together in a circle and explore characteristic “spider-like” movements, using dance and rhythm as a means of releasing stress and energetic blockages.

🎭 SACRED ART, DANCE & MASK MAKING

With Guest Co-Teacher Anna Sardinia

Guest co-teacher Anna Sardinia, dancer and art teacher, brings an exciting visual-art component to the 2027 retreat.

In addition to teaching dance, Anna will offer a special mask-making workshop for the first time.

Participants will create a SUN MASK, representing light and rebirth.

These masks will not simply be decorative pieces. They will become part of the retreat experience and will be used during the healing chant JESCE SOLE on the beaches of Hawaii.

Through this workshop, participants move from observer to creator—making sacred art with their own hands and then bringing that art into chant, movement and ceremony.

🌺 HAWAIIAN TRADITION & HULA

One of the special intentions of this retreat is to create a meeting place between the Southern Italian musical traditions of the Black Madonna and Divine Feminine and the traditions of Hawaii.

A special Hula Master will join the retreat as a guest instructor.

Rather than experiencing Hawaii simply as the location of the retreat, participants will be given an opportunity to encounter Hawaiian tradition through hula, bringing another form of embodied cultural expression into a week already centered around rhythm, gesture, storytelling, ritual and movement.

🖤 THE BLACK MADONNA, HOLY SOPHIA & THE DIVINE FEMININE

With Father Phil Harmon

Special guest Father Phil Harmon, Archpriest and founder of Kahumana Farm & Retreat Center, is a theologian whose work includes the Divine Feminine and the Black Madonna.

Father Phil will offer evening classes exploring teachings and practices associated with the Western Esoteric traditions, Mystics and Saints, including an exploration of the Black Madonna as Earth-Mother within a Feminine Divine Trinity.

These teachings add another layer to the retreat, allowing participants to explore the spiritual and historical ideas that live alongside the drumming, chanting, art and dances practiced throughout the week.

🌊 THE YEMANJA BEACH RITUAL

One special half-day will be dedicated to a Yemanja ritual by the ocean.

Participants will gather together on the beach to offer flowers into the sea, accompanied by drumming, chanting and dancing.

It creates a beautiful culmination of many of the themes woven throughout the retreat:

water, rhythm, feminine spirituality, community, movement, prayer and offering.

🌴 OUR RETREAT HOME

The Windward Retreat Center — Oahu

The retreat will be held in the peaceful and intimate surroundings of the Windward Retreat Center on Oahu.

The center was created as a place where friends and family from around the world can come together to learn, experience and grow in an environment of awe-inspiring beauty and tranquility.

It was specifically designed to welcome educators and nonprofit groups seeking a special environment for retreats, workshops and meetings.

That makes it especially suited to Rhythm Is the Cure: this is not a conventional hotel conference experience. The retreat center is designed around gathering, learning, reflection and community.

Its main meeting room provides an open space suitable for activities such as yoga, Qigong and other movement-based events, while also being configurable for classroom-style teaching, conferences or simply relaxing together.

The Windward Retreat Center is a nonprofit organized in a manner consistent with the traditions and practices of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers.

Its tranquil setting gives participants something important: a place where the workshop does not simply end when class is over.

The entire week becomes the retreat.

🌺 MORE THAN A WORKSHOP

This is so much more than simply a place to stay.

It is a full immersive retreat experience—a week to step away from everyday life, deepen your practice, learn, dance, connect and experience the spirit and beauty of Hawaii together.

✨ 2027 RETREAT PRICING

Your retreat price includes 7 nights of accommodations plus the full week of retreat instruction and programming, including special guest instruction.

Double Glamping — $1,400 per person
 Single Glamping — $1,550
 Indoor Triple — $1,500 per person
 Indoor Double — $1,700 per person

Please note: Airfare, meals, ground transportation and optional excursions are not included.

For meals, we recommend planning on a food budget of at least $60 per day, or approximately $420 for the week, depending on your dining preferences.

🌺 REGISTRATION & PAYMENT PLAN

A $300 nonrefundable registration fee is due by October 1, 2026 to reserve your space and room selection.

The $300 registration fee is applied directly toward the total cost of your retreat. It is not an additional fee.

After registration, the remaining balance is divided into two equal payments:

First payment: November 1, 2026
 Final payment: December 15, 2026

Double Glamping — $1,400

$300 registration
$550 — November 1
$550 — December 15

Single Glamping — $1,550

$300 registration
$625 — November 1
$625 — December 15

Indoor Triple — $1,500 per person

$300 registration
$600 — November 1
$600 — December 15

Indoor Double — $1,700 per person

$300 registration
$700 — November 1
$700 — December 15

💳 PAYMENT OPTIONS

Payments may be made through:

 Stripe (linked above) — credit or debit card
 PayPal
 Venmo @Alessandra-Belloni
 Zelle  (646) 322-4637

Payment instructions will be provided upon registration.

🌺 CANCELLATION & REFUND POLICY

Because accommodations, instructors, insurance and other retreat expenses must be secured well in advance, the $300 registration fee is nonrefundable.

Payments made toward the retreat after registration become nonrefundable after November 15, 2026.

All balances must be paid in full by December 15, 2026.

Travel insurance is strongly recommended to protect your investment in the event of illness, travel disruptions, emergencies or other unforeseen circumstances.

🌺 AN INTIMATE RETREAT EXPERIENCE

Space is limited to only 11 participants.

Keeping the group small allows for a much more personal experience with the instructors and creates the intimate sense of community that has become such an important part of Rhythm Is the Cure.