NATURE – DANCE – JOURNEY

Experience true freedom, unlock your body’s natural energy, and reconnect with joy in the heart of nature on a transformative 9-day journey!

Embark on a unique retreat in Borneo, where we’ll awaken your inner vitality through dance, creativity, and community. Immerse yourself in the vibrant pulse of nature, surrounded by rich colors, dramatic landscapes, and the primal essence of this incredible land. This isn’t just a retreat—it’s a transformative journey that will light up your spirit in one of the world’s most awe-inspiring settings.

Together, we’ll explore: 

• Ecstatic Dance: Guided dance sessions with Bernice Raabis to reconnect with your body through dance.

• Nature Immersion: Explore Borneo’s OCEAN, MOUNTAIN, and WILDLIFE landscapes in unforgettable settings.

• Cultural Connection: Engage with local communities and traditions.

• Wildlife Encounters: Discover Borneo’s unique wildlife with professional guides.

Your ecstatic dance sessions will be led by  Bernice Raabis, founder of Dance The Medicine. This unique journey across North Borneo consists of three mindfully arranged components: OCEAN – MOUNTAIN – WILDLIFE, blended with culture and environmental consciousness and supported by a professional team of licensed guides. Join us, and let’s create memories, connect deeply, and dance under Borneo’s stunning skies—together!

✤ BERNICE RAABIS - FOUNDER OF DANCE THE MEDICINE

Having begun humbly in the Kootenay Mountains of Western Canada, Bernice is now a respected mentor for Conscious Dance Leaders across the globe. Her journey started with hosting Dance Church for over ten years, where she harnessed her expertise from training in various disciplines, including Soul Motion, Movement Based Expressive Therapy (The Life Art Process), and Relational Somatic Therapy. These were brought together to nurture her local multi-generational dance community, which flourished and surpassed even her most ambitious expectations.

In 2016, she stretched her wings co-founding Ecstatic Dance International, facilitating successful leadership trainings in the US, the Netherlands, Guatemala, and Portugal. Driven to incorporate DJ and dance facilitation skills into available trainings, she used the name of her unique practice, and founded Dance The Medicine, a collective of accomplished conscious dance professionals determined to infect the world with dance. 

While Bernice loves DJing and creating transformative events, her deepest fulfilment comes from facilitating deep somatic processes using a combination of dance, art, and ritual; to help dancers find freedom through connection to self, community, and humanity. 

✤   HANSAH

Hansah is a transformational lifestyle organization offering tool kits, workshops, frameworks, private and group therapy that empower people to envision, plan & execute an extraordinary life. A member of the Transformational Travel Council. a group of global experts unlocking the power of travel & self development to positively transform how we live our lives, how we live with others, and how we live on our planet through transformative education, community engagement, experiences, and events.Learn more about Hansah.

Borneo is located just above the equator, its hot with day time temperatures around 28-30 degrees. Night time 26 degrees.

• Lightweight casual evening clothes, t.shirts, loose trousers suitable for the tropics.
• Casual shoes / flip flops for evenings
• Lightweight Raincoat
• Shorts & t.shirts suitable for hiking & sweating leggings for hiking are great.
• Hat, sunglasses, sun screen, insect repellent.
• Light weight towel / day hiking bag / refillable water bottle (there is a ban on single use plastic)

11am scheduled land transfer from Kota Kinabalu City to Kudat.  Evening opening ceremony intention setting & dance. Free at leisure until dinner time.

Overnight: Ocean Villa’s Twin/Double / Triple Rooms, Air-conditioned with En-suite bathroom. (Lunch, Dinner Included)

Acclimatisation. Enjoy breakfast and have a rest and reset session – enjoy beach strolls, ocean swimming and generally explore this stunning location.  Sunset beach dance & dinner.

Overnight: Ocean Villa’s Twin/Double / Triple Rooms, Air-conditioned with En-suite bathroom. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Included)

Today we will enjoy some local activities which may include snorkeling & beach activities with a trip to the Tip Of Borneo for a powerful dance where the two oceans of the South China Sea & Celebes Sea meet. Dinner at the villas.

Overnight: Ocean Villa’s Twin/Double / Triple Rooms, Air-conditioned with En-suite bathroom. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Included)

Overland transfer to a local village in the mountains for your homestay. Meet your hosts after the welcome ceremony. Afternoon dance.  Exchange stories with local elders to learn about the culture and traditions of the native people of Sabah. Learn how they live in harmony with their land, respecting and honoring nature, growing their own vegetables & fruit, making their own instruments, utensils & homeware. Exceptional night skies and stunning mountain backdrop.

Overnight: Village Homestay, Private Twin/ Double Rooms, Shared Bathroom. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Included)

Embark on a hike through the foothills of Mt Kinabalu, passing by Pineapple Ridge and orchards. After the long hike, enjoy a lunch picnic by the Tahubang Riverside. Evening dinner celebration with the village, dance and play music.

Overnight: Village Homestay, Private Twin/ Double Rooms, Shared Bathroom. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Included)

Farewell to your homestay hosts after visiting the ‘Tanak Nabalu’ – mini Mt Kinabalu. Overland journey passing by hills, lush rainforests and palm oil plantations to the Kinabatangan River.

Evening river safari in search of wildlife and birdlife along Sabah’s longest river. Try to spot pygmy elephants, orangutans, crocodiles, proboscis monkeys, macaques, hornbills and myriad of birds living in the region.

Overnight: Bilit Adventure Lodge, twin/double share, air-conditioned en-suite rooms. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Included).

Rise to the calls of gibbons and hornbills and enjoy a 1-hour morning river safari in search of wildlife waking up by the river bank.

Evening river safari & optional night walk with the in-house guide. Closing Ceremony & Dance.

Overnight: Bilit Adventure Lodge, twin/double share, air-conditioned en-suite rooms. (Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner Included).