DC Open Gathering
A full Day of In Person Play
Theresa Cunningham,
Douglass Farnum,
Liz Lescault,
Mike Perz,
Kathryn Sparks Carpenter,
Kirk Johnson-Weider,
Elena Khazanova,
Monisha Mittal, and
John Peterson
Washington, DC
First Saturdays of the month / September 2023 - May 2024
The Open Gathering is a full day event, meeting on the first Saturday of each month from Sept. 2023 - May 2024.The DC Open Gathering is open to all. No previous experience is required.
Certified InterPlay leaders will guide participants through a series of InterPlay forms that anyone can do. Our leaders bring their own style and grace to the InterPlay table exploring different themes and concepts using InterPlay forms and philosophy.
InterPlay celebrates the creativity in every one of us and reminds us to play and embrace life, expand our personal awareness and discover our full potential. Leaders guide participants through a series of playful storytelling, movement, and vocalization. Each person decides how much or how little to do based on their own comfort level.
Interplay helps us explore our own new possibilities. Dare a little or a lot depending on how you feel on the day. InterPlay can move you in surprising ways, much like the quiet reflection of watching a sunset or the exhilaration and discovery of climbing a mountain.
InterPlay was created by Cynthia Winton-Henry and Phil Porter and is practiced throughout the world.
Covid Policy: full vaccination and boosters required. Bring your masks.
Cost: $25.00 for the day
Registration/Information: lizlescault@gmail.com
Leaders
Theresa Cunningham
Theresa Cunningham is an award-winning actor, singer, dancer, director, and teaching artist who does math for fun. A Certified Interplay Leader, she believes in the power of play as a tool for exploration, healing, and community.
Douglass Farnum
Since retiring, play deprived Douglass works hard at doing nothing. He finds that interplay complements his meditation and Non Violent Communication (NVC) practices. Doug co-leads life practice and men's retreat weekends in Washington DC. With more practice he hopes to have fun playing.
Liz Lescault
Liz Lescault, a visual artist and sculptor, has practiced, exhibited and taught art for over 40 years. She founded the DC Open Gathering and continues to coordinate the Open Gathering for the DC InterPlay community which serves the metropolitan region. She is also a member of the DC InterPlay Organizing Body. She currently leads "Art Lab " for Smith Center and the Healing Arts. Formerly, Liz, was a hotline crisis counselor, for various suicide prevention lifelines and The Trevor Project providing help for LGBTQ youth in crisis and the Prince Georges County Homeless Hotline. Liz has also led InterPlay for elders with chronic illness and cognitive disabilities at Iona Senior Center in Washington DC.
Mike Perz
Mike used to try to gain love and acceptance by following the rules. Then when he went to an InterPlay retreat, he noticed that the other participants brought something else to their lives. They were allowing themselves to be guided by their bodies. Now when he leads InterPlay forms, he seeks to create an environment that allows participants to have whatever experience their bodies want or need to have at that moment.
Kathryn Sparks Carpenter
Kirk Johnson-Weider
My introduction to InterPlay was a Men's Retreat I attended in early 2016, an amazing experience that began my journey with InterPlay. It has become an important part of my life. For me I enjoy InterPlay because it’s fun and deceptively deep. I’ve used InterPlay forms as icebreakers and teambuilding exercises at trainings and events I host. It’s a fantastic tool for community building and opening people up. This I why I became a Certified InterPlay Leader to better utilize it with my work, which involves a national service program, and my hobbies, which are pretty geeky like roleplaying games. InterPlay is something I’ve tried to integrate into all aspects of my life and I love sharing it with others.
Elena Khazanova
Monisha Mittal
Monisha Mittal is Certfied Leader (CL) and Life Practice Program Leader (LPL) in the Washington DC region. Since 2018, InterPlay and a regular Dance Chapel practice has been an integral part of her Being and Becoming. She proudly served as a Dance Chaplain for four years since the pandemic which turned her into a poetry addict and spawned her Poetic Revelations writing series (now named: The (tiny) Voice of Big Love). Now a Somatic Coach and Play Architect, she holds sacred space for others to tune into their Body Wisdom in one-on-one sessions, classes, and courses through her Center for Somatic Leadership and Communication. She is grateful to InterPlay for awakening her authenticity, for the exponential connection and laughter its given her, and for supporting her daily recovery as a recovering overachiever.
John Peterson