Though I play at the edges of knowing, truly I know our part is not knowing, but looking, and touching, and loving
Mary Oliver
Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little. The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark.
Agnes de Mille
Dates: February 18th to 22nd, 2026
Times:
Wed 18th to Sat 21st – 9:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sun 22nd – 9:00 am – 12:30 pm
Location: Emerson College, Forest Row, UK
In a world that often demands certainty, how can we embrace the unknown with openness, curiosity, and playfulness? How can we hold space for deep inquiry, creative exploration, and embodied wisdom?
“Celebrating Not Knowing” is a five-day immersive retreat that invites participants to explore personal, social, and systemic transformation through three unique but interconnected modalities: Social Presencing Theater (SPT), Clowning, and Courage & Renewal Practices.
We invite participants to consider how these practices might contribute to:
- The role of embodied awareness in leadership and community-building.
- How playfulness and improvisation can open new pathways for social innovation.
- The impact of deep listening and generous open questioning on discerning inner-wisdom, both individually as well as collectively.
The 3 Practices:
- Social Presencing Theater (SPT)
Social Presencing Theater is a series of movement-based practices that support individual embodied presence and heighten the capacity of a team or organization to see and sense itself as a living social system. Attending to non-verbal body postures, movements, and spatial relationships is a form of communication that often goes unnoticed in our highly verbal, concept-oriented society. Embodied presence enables trust in the space of possibility and supports a sense of connection, belonging, and collective agency.
- Nose to Nose Clowning
For us at Nose to Nose clowning is a state of playfulness that brings us to experience a naïve and vulnerable state of being. Our approach is not a technique (tricks, gags or routines) but a personal journey towards finding one’s own unique way of being a clown through our emotional authenticity.By reconnecting with what makes us most vulnerable and letting go of our control over things we open ourselves to rediscovering ourselves, others and the world.
For us, clowning offers a social playground for exploring our humanity.
- Courage & Renewal Approach
The Courage & Renewal Approach offers principles and practices to create supportive communities of reflection and belonging that help people move towards personal and societal wholeness, embracing the genuine within us and honoring the inherent worth and dignity of every being. In this trustworthy environment participants will have the chance to integrate what they discover through movement and presence. Reflective exploration weaves with humor and spontaneity, creating moments that resonate on a personal and communal level.
This retreat is a rare opportunity to engage with three internationally recognized facilitators—Arawana Hayashi, Vivian Gladwell, and Penny Williamson—each bringing a distinct yet complementary approach to accessing insight and resilience through embodied practice, deep listening, and clowning improvisation.
FACILITATORS
Penny Williamson
Penny Williamson is an internationally recognized facilitator, educator, and coach for leaders in healthcare and other serving professions. She is a founding facilitator and mentor for the Center for Courage & Renewal and retired Associate Professor of Medicine at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. From 1998-2016, Penny led Courage to Lead, an 18-month national leadership development program for leaders in healthcare and other serving professions, based on the work of Parker J. Palmer, and the Courage & Renewal approach. She has led workshops and retreats in the United States, Canada, the UK, Japan, Kenya, and Israel. Penny brings to her work an ecological worldview, and a belief in and attention to, the inner life. Above all she brings a belief in the power of love and capacity of individuals, groups and organizations to contribute to creating a better world.
In 2013-14, Penny studied advanced SPT with Arawana Hayashi, and has incorporated embodied practices into her Courage and Renewal retreats. From 2016-2023 Penny and Vivian collaborated in offering yearly Clowning and Courage retreats in the UK and online.
Arawana Hayashi 
Arawana’s pioneering work as a choreographer, performer and educator is deeply sourced in collaborative improvisation. She currently heads the creation of Social Presencing Theater (SPT) for the Presencing Institute. Working with Otto Scharmer and colleagues at the Presencing Institute, she brings her background in the arts, meditation and social justice to creating “social presencing” that makes visible both current reality and emerging future possibilities.
Her dance career ranges from directing an interracial street dance company formed by the Boston Mayor’s Office for Cultural Affairs in the aftermath of the 1968 murder of Dr. Martin Luther King, to being one of the foremost performers of Japanese Court Dance, bugaku, in the US. She has been Co-Director of the Dance Program at Naropa University, Boulder, CO; and founder-director of two contemporary dance companies in Cambridge. MA. She continues to perform in a multi-disciplinary performance ensemble, originating out of Naropa University and the ALIA Institute, where she currently teaches in leadership programs.
Arawana is an acharya (senior teacher) in Shambhala – a global network of meditation centers dedicated to applying mindfulness to “creating enlightened society.” She teaches both meditation and art based on bringing out the basic goodness of individuals, of relationships and of society.
Arawana is the author of the book Social Presencing Theater – The Art of Making a True Move.
Vivian Gladwell
Vivian is the founder and director of Nose to Nose and has given hundreds of workshops around the world. He lives both in the UK and France where he started clowning in 1978. He speaks French and English fluently.
Vivian began teaching in 1988 as part of the Lifeways Festival at Emerson College – UK. He trained as a facilitator with the Bataclown in 1990 and joined their team in 1991 also working as a modern day Court Jester (Clownanalyst).
He created Nose to Nose UK in 1990, Nose to Nose of North America in 2006 and Fool View, the Social Clowning group and has trained facilitators in the UK, the USA, Germany and Italy – view history.
He continues his role as ambassador for the work by researching the applications of clowning in the context of teacher training, medicine, conflict management, ecology and intercultural work in many countries (South Africa, USA, Senegal, Vietnam, India, Malaysia, Italy, Germany, Norway…)
He holds clowning as a social playground for exploring our humanity.
PROGRAM DEVELOPER AND ORGANISER
Mery Miguez 
Mery Miguez is a “Clownch” – a coach who uses clowning techniques to help people connect with themselves – as well as an arts facilitator, mindfulness coach, and certified NLP practitioner (NLP Marin, California). She creates transformative learning experiences that invite groups to access their highest potential through individual and collaborative creativity. Mery believes that when we connect to collective awareness in the present moment, we can sense what wants to emerge next, fostering deep trust in ourselves, others, and life.
Her approach is shaped by a lifelong search for the source from which we express our best selves. She supports people in opening to their gifts, becoming more authentic, and co-creating the world they want to inhabit. Since meeting her first clown teacher, Giovanni Fusetti, in 2007, and later her mentor Vivian Gladwell, Mery has dedicated herself to bringing clowns to life. Convinced that each person has a unique place in life’s puzzle, she sees her work as helping make society more whole – and considers it the best job ever.
Fee (Tuition only): £660
Bursaries:
To enable as many students as possible to attend our courses Emerson College are able to offer bursaries in some circumstances. If you would like to apply for a bursary please complete the bursary form when you apply to join the course.
Date and times:
The course begins Wednesday 18th February 2026 – 9:00am
Ends Sunday 22nd February 2026 – 12.30pm
Venue: Emerson College, Forest Row, East Sussex
Step 1 – Book this course
To book this course or enquire
PLEASE CLICK HERE
Step 2 – Accommodation and meals
For further information about accommodation and meals at Emerson
PLEASE CLICK HERE
To contact Emerson you can email bookings@emerson.org.uk