about the retreat - COSTA RICA

Holistic WCS and Movement Training

The Westie Wellness Retreat is an invitation to set personal intention, cultivate growth, and explore balance—within yourself and within your dance.

Each morning begins with Mindful Movement led by Courtney, where we’ll journey through practices inspired by the chakras to open energy centers, deepen self-awareness, and connect intention with embodiment. Guided meditation will help you ground, release, and expand.

In the afternoons, Demetre will guide us in bringing this awareness into dance—exploring presence, trust, and possibility within partnership. Together, we’ll discover how personal growth creates deeper, more authentic connection on the floor and beyond.

This retreat is designed for confident social dancers who are ready to grow not only as dancers, but as humans.

A journey through the Chakras

Our theme for this week in Costa Rica will be the Chakras - spending one day on each of the 7 primary chakras.

What do the chakras have to do with West Coast Swing?
Everything.

From grounding in your Root, expanding into love, and trusting intuition...the chakras offer a roadmap for dancing with intention, freedom, and presence.

While on retreat we’ll awaken and study each chakra and use it as a guiding principle for the day's activities.

Incredible location

Every year the Westie Wellness Retreat travels to a new country.

This year, the retreat location is the jungle rainforest of South Pacific Costa Rica. After we fly into the San Jose airport, we will be driven to the retreat center. Here we have a private campus set in lush flora and fauna, with the backdrop of the Uvita beach. Our gorgeous, private platform will be used in the morning for movement and the afternoon/evening for dancing. Family style meals will take place in the main house.

Curated Itinerary

Expect an authentic local experience!

We set up your transportation, lodging, food, for the whole week to allow for a comfortable transition into this beautiful country.

Group activities available to you include wellness focused WCS workshops, Mindful Movement, excursions to the local town and nearby beaches,

Optional (extra cost) activities include massage, hiking, horseback riding, beach trips, snorkeling, zip lining and more!

Focus on wellness.

This isn't your typical west coast swing weekend.

We bring you an all-inclusive experience to let you focus on your own dance and wellness journey. This includes:

- Intention setting as individuals and community

- Meals with a private chef - bringing a focus on nutrient rich foods (and curated to dietary restrictions).

- West Coast Swing practices and workshops to focus on personal authenticity, flow, and energetic

- Mindful movement and meditation to give you space to connect to yourself.

- Free time for high vibrational activities or quiet conversations.

Prepare to have fun.

Activities like hikes, exploring, or horseback riding. Open time to explore and connect with the land as desired.

Evenings will be full of opportunities to tap into your highest vibrational self, enjoy a beverage or a mocktail, social dance, and connect with your fellow retreat goers!

This retreat is about more than dance—it’s about becoming more grounded, vibrant, and authentically you

about the pros

Courtney Adair

Teaching full time for 15 years and traveling to work with dancers all over the globe, Courtney witnessed the power of dance to heal, grow and cultivate joy.

Inspired by her work with students in bringing their authentic selves onto the dance floor, she's now in the final year of her master's program in clinical mental health psychology. She is ecstatic to bring her two worlds - champion west coast swing dancer and budding Buddhist therapist - together in this unique retreat. Courtney teaches from a social justice lens with a focus on movement mechanics, authenticity and embracing our embodied experience. Who we are off the dance floor inevitably shows up within the partnership -

Let's utilize our love of this fantastic dance to grow as people, dancers and partners.

Demetre Souliotes

Our returning special guest for the Westie Wellness Retreat is Demetre Souliotes! Demetre first found dancing at a young age growing up in Los Angeles in the forms of Hip-Hop, Pop’n’Lock, and later House Dancing. He discovered West Coast Swing and has never looked back. He has been performing and competing professionally in the top division in the world, the Champions Division, for over 20 years. Demetre travels the world as a sought after Choreographer, Coach, Teacher, Judge, DJ, and Mentor. He runs local dance scenes in LA & SD, owns two annual dance conventions, and is a premier videographer in the dance space. He is one of a handful of current Champion Dancers who have helped shape what WCS is today, he been nominated to the California Swing Dance Hall of Fame 5 times.

Elizabeth & James Wyke

Based in Bend, Oregon, James and Elizabeth run the local dance studio for adults called The Space. They are local and regional WCS community leaders who also run the WSDC event The Bend Connection and multiple retreats per year. They are passionate about dance, teaching, and community building.