INSTITUTE OF
‍ DEVOTIONAL 
ARTS

Swan Dao is a psychotherapist, speaker, writer, and experience designer dedicated to transforming lives through art, creativity, and imagination. As the founder and director of the Institute of Devotional Arts, Swan leads a global network of artists, therapists, and educators committed to using the arts as a catalyst for healing and regeneration. With an MA in Religion and Environmental Ethics from the University of Chicago, an MFA in Physical Theatre from the École Jacques Lecoq, and a PhD in System Change from the University of Cambridge, Swan's work uniquely integrates psychology, philosophy, mind-body practices, and the performing arts. For over a decade, they have led events across 13 countries, inspiring deeper understanding and meaningful engagement with the human experience and the world around us. Swan is currently recording an album of traditional nature songs and writing a collection of short children's stories. in France. Committed to building a more peaceful, caring, and creative world, Swan has been guiding individuals and groups for over a decade and has led seminars, workshops, and retreats in a dozen countries on three continents.

Jessica Bockler, PhD, is a psychologist, theatre practitioner, as well as the co-founder of the Alef Trust, an organization working in transpersonal and integrative education. Jessica has extensive experience of expressive arts facilitation, including physical and participatory theatre, and experimental movement and voice work. Jessica’s vision and research interests centre on holistic and creative approaches to social change, bridging embodied ritual and imaginal practices with activism and social change initiatives. She is on the academic advisory board of the Inner Development Goals initiative, and she is also a member of the UN’s Conscious Food Systems Alliance. Jessica serves as Programme Leader for Alef Trust’s Master’s programme in Consciousness, Spirituality and Transpersonal Psychology. She teaches across a range of modules in integral psychology, creativity & transformation, research design, and applied transformative psychology, relating spiritual perspectives to activism and social change.

Eliana Perinat is a visual artist and certified art therapist with a PhD from Universidad Miguel Hernández and a Master’s in Art Therapy from Hephaisto School. She studied at Parsons School of Design and is a member of the Spanish Humanistic Therapies Association (AETH). Her approach integrates a Gestalt-oriented, humanistic framework with psychodynamic and psychosomatic practices.

Eliana’s work focuses on healing, creative expression, and fostering a deep connection with nature. She sees the creative and therapeutic process as a way to explore the interconnectedness between humans and the natural world. Her practice spans painting, installation, video, and photography, with a commitment to using eco-friendly materials. Eliana is on a mission to promote self-awareness and transformation through art.

Ewa Zurakowska, PhD, is a cultural anthropologist, performer, singer, and theatre director. Ewa attended the Gardzienice Centre for Theatre Practices and graduated from the University of Warsaw with an MA degree in Cultural Anthropology. She wrote her doctoral thesis on traditional songs and site-specific theatre at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, where currently teaches performance and ritual at the Anglo-American University. Since 2010 she has been performing as a singer for Korjen, whose music draws inspiration from her ethnomusicological journeys to the Balkans, the Republic of Tuva,Lapland, Eastern Poland, and Ukraine.

Her artistic work explores the connection between space, sound, and body. She performed for the Czech company Divadlo Continuo and for Teatr Novogo Fronta as well as for several other organizations such as Studio Matejka (PL), Budalasultan (Turkey), and Rose Bruford College (UK). She directed the documentary musical performance based on mining folklore and taught at the Milon Mela Centre for Performing Indian Arts. Ewa also works as a coordinator for Polish-Czech cultural partnerships and supports the Gorzanow Castle Foundation in Lower Silesia Poland.

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Jorge N. Ferrer, PhD, is a clinical psychologist, author, and educator. Jorge was a professor for more than 20 years at the California Institute of Integral Studies, where he served as chair of the Department of East–West Psychology. He is the author many articles and books on transpersonal psychology, integral education, religious studies, and intimate relationships, including Espiritualidad Creativa: Una Vision Participativa de lo Transpersonal (Kairos, 2004), Participation and the Mystery: Transpersonal Essays in Psychology, Education, and Religion (SUNY Press, 2017), and Love and Freedom: Transcending Monogamy and Polyamory (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021). Jorge was a member of the Esalen Institute’s Center for Theory and Research as well as an advisor to the Religions for Peace organization at the United Nation.

Olga Lidia Kozłowska is a licensed psychologist, singer, and voice coach. She is certified in Core Energetics Body Psychotherapist, Process training (A&A Mindell), and holds an MA in education. Drawing inspiration from Alexander Technique and Polyvagal Theory, Olga approaches voice work in a holistic and embodied way. She specializes in traditional Slavic and Georgian singing, choral music, and improvisation. Her teachers include Franke Kane, Natalia Polovynka, Emma Bonnici, Amit Carmeli, Kristin Linklater, and Lane Aryne. She is the founder of Authentic Voice and has been leading workshops since 2011.

Enrique Pardo is a theatre director, performer, writer,and visual artist. Born in Peru in 1946, he went to school in France, studied painting at the Chelsea School of Art, and taught Fine Arts at Goldsmith College, University of London. He joined the Roy Hart Theatre in 1968, a utopian avant-garde company known for its radical voice work, with which he moved to Malerargues, Southern France, in 1875. In 1878, he founded Pantheatre (from Pan, the dancer-singer god), which he co-directs with his partner, Linda Wise. Enrique has collaborated with a wide array of artists, thinkers, and psychotherapists. One of his main intellectual sources of inspiration is the post-Jungian psychologist James Hillman, father of archetypal psychology, with whom he created the Myth and Theatre Festival in 1986. Enrique directs and teaches choreographic theatre and voice performance, weaving together movement and dance, music, voice and singing, with a complex poetical approach to the inclusion of text, which he describes as « Cubist, as in Cuba », that is, closer to voodoo than to formal cubes.

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