Hollyhock Presenters

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Our presenters are curated for their quality, depth, integrity, and alignment with our educational purpose. Since 1982, a distinguished faculty of authors, educators, activists, artists, performers, and practitioners have shared their work at our Cortes Island campus and in Vancouver.

People smiling at Activate 2023 Hollyhock Leadership Institute

Roula Said

Roula Said is a singer, dancer, musician, actor and poet of Palestinian heritage based in Toronto, Canada. Roula has been studying, teaching and performing Arab music and dance for over 25 years. From within her tradition as practiced here in the west (where she has also explored many other styles of movement, music, voice and dance) Roula has created Seven Waves Movement and Embodied Voice, original and innovative methodologies rooted in the Arab Arts and open to the world. She whole-heartedly brings the wisdom offerings of her rich lineage to Wild Soma.

From 2011-18, Roula worked alongside her partner, David Buchbinder to run a cross-cultural creativity-based project called Diasporic Genius that brought citizens together across boundaries of race, religion, ethnicity and age to create music, art, feasts and festivals to enrich their communities and the city at large.

Finally, Roula is a licensed minister and death doula, officiating weddings and milestone ceremonies, as well as providing loving support to individuals and families at the end of life.

Events with Roula Said

Wild Soma Being and Becoming: Embodied Practices for Collective Thriving
June 23 - 28, 2024

In this time of intersecting social, political, and planetary crises, how do we embrace and honour all that is arising in us as bodies? What if we listen closely to what we feel in our hearts, what we sense in our bones, and what we know in our guts? Can…