First Stop, Florianopolis, On the Beach
From Bahia to Brasilia, we had only a couple of weeks to catch our breath and then we headed off to one of our favorite cities, Florianopolis. This southern island paradise has three circles of dancing Taras. We were put in a lovely apartment on the beach and enjoyed many wonderful walks and swims. The weekend workshop group was large and willing to go deeply into every practice.
Gramado, in the Mountains
Our next flight took us further south. Myri had another R & R planned for us at Gramado, a city famous for its waterfall.
It took 800 steps to get down to the thundering bottom……and then 800 to get back up again.
Gramado is also famous for it’s chic shopping and unbelievable chocolate confections. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.
Khadro Ling – Tres Coroas
From there we were picked up by a convoy of Tara Dancers and taken to Tres Coroas home of Chagdud Rinpoche’s Gompa, Khadro Ling. Unfortunately Khadro, his wife and an old friend of mine, was not there but she had given instructions for us to be housed in her private apartment above the main shrine room. It was rather interesting knowing the last person to sleep in 
the bed I was offered was Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche. Myri’s bed was in the very top of the roof, surrounded by statues and paintings of deities.
We were treated with wonderful affection and respect 
from Khadro’s staff. Our goal was to dance in front a group of statues that had been carved of the 21 Taras in Orissa. It was a powerful experience, dancing at Kadro Ling. We offered dances throughout the vast and powerful grounds. We hope to one day help consecrate the mandala of statues and dance the praises before them.
Caxias
Caxias was our next stop, a bustling tow
n a few hours drive from Khadro Ling. Michele Trentin is a professional dancer, the owner and main instructor of Rakaça Templo de Dança. Michele opened her dance school to us and we danced a powerful mandala weekend in her charming space. She has held an ongoing Tara Dance circle for the past year and each meeting the circle grows.
Her dance school specializes in Middle Eastern dance. Every other year she takes a group to Egypt. She has hinted at taking a group to dance Tara in Egypt. Doesn’t that sound like a powerful place to offer our dance.
