How do we design a space that alters our reality? In this episode, we travel to Chiang Dao in Northern Thailand to discover Towards—an immersive, transformative, and embodied learning project created by Sasha Dodo, Dolores Dewhurst-Marks, and Fern Sripungwiwat in 2022.

Towards is a residency that feels like an immersive piece of art where the pristine natural environment and the people within it co-create a space for learning and expression unlike anything I have ever seen. The shift in reality is immediate. Normally, I might write two poems in a month. Here, I wrote five in a single day.

I sit down with Pip, Ido, and Liane to reflect on what we learned there. We discuss what the practice of Contact Improvisation is for us, the role of poetry and what it means to be philosophical in a world designed to be practical.

At Towards, questions are at the center of the work. Everything is designed to encourage "creative agency"—an attitude that deems the strange worth considering and the impossible a direction worth pursuing. We explore questions like:

Can we move not from you and me, but from the dance?

How do I soften myself in order to meet you?

How do I support your direction without supporting you?