The Dominican Work groups have been active since the year 1978, and its members have participated in international activities, including seminars, training courses and long term commitment involving Work practices.
The groups have maintained a steady flow of students in the last ten years and have had the opportunity to Work in several occasions with Pierre and Vivien Elliot, Natalie de Salzmann, jim Nott, Walter Goodwin, Avron Altman, Ilan Sicroff, the Sufi Javat and other experienced members of the Gurdjieff Foundation in Venezuela.
The Dominican group has also established other groups in Puerto Rico and Cuba (neighboring Islands) where they have made presentations of Movements and Work Ideas.
About 60 people are involved at present in active group Work consisting of meetings, Movements, work weekends and seminars.
MAIN YEARLY ACTIVITY
The main seminar activity is a ten days retreat with open invitation to the international community and it usually happens during the month of January of every year, as a preparation for the forty days activities that we engage during Lent.
THE PLACE
The group has build its own meeting place including a movements hall, professional kitchen, Meditation room, dinning hall area, and other facilities.
Members form other groups
are welcome to join us.
CONDUCTING THE GROUP
Several people are involved in conducting the Work activities, which is a shared responsibility among the oldest and most active members.
THE SOCIETY
in
October 1989 we founded the Hispano American Society for Continuous Education.
THE ORIGIN
The groups were established by Jose Reyes, who is at present responsible for the movements and some groups Work. He has been active in the Gurdjieff Ideas since 1975 and participated in the 3rd Claymont Course of 1977 (a nine months residential course applying the ideas and methods of the 4th Way in a practical way). After the course, Pierre Elliot (Director of Studies at the time) and Vivien Elliot came to the Dominican Republic to help establish the groups in Santo Domingo. Jose also participated in the Teachers Movements Training Course in West Virginia conducted by Pierre and Vivien Elliot.
On several occasions he met and participated in Sufi practices with Sulliman Dede (Sheik of the Mevlevi Order), and Sheik Mustafer (Sheik of the Helveti order). He lived for over two years in the house of Natalie de Salzmann in Venezuela where he took part in group Work activities and received Special Movements Training for Teachers from Dushka Howard and Jim Nott. In the last years he has conducted seminars in Germany, Puerto Rico and United States. |
