Strike-A-Chord Family Concert! | Karl Anthony

Singer/Songwriter/Producer Karl Anthony's social action work has been highlighted nationally for over 20 years. It includes receiving the 2007 Gandhi/King Season for Nonviolence Peace Hero Award for his creative approach in teaching peace. Karl Anthony led the first Russian/American Teen Summit in Moscow and performed in the Kremlin for President Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife Raisa. He continued the Teen Summits in Moscow for 6 years. One of Karl's favorite things to do is being part of Children's Hospital's Healing Arts Department where he sings for kids at their bedside and does what he can to assist kids recovery using music and laughter. Karl does not take the traditional entertainment industry path. He uses his talents as a vehicle to connect people to their own humanity.

On the Web: www.karlanthony.com

Photography Workshop -- Bring Your Camera | Tom Birmingham

Bring your camera for this hands-on photo workshop. We'll take a walk to some of my favorite photo spots on the Ranch and experiment with different points of view to create beautiful photographs. What ever you like to photograph, people, landscapes, or details, this fun and creative workshop will give you ideas to inspire a continued pursuit of photography.

Each day we'll "focus" on a different aspect of photography, light, composition, and point of view. That way, you can enjoy one session, or come to them all.

Whether you bring a digital SLR with a fabulous lens, or your camera phone, you'll find this workshop fun and inspirational.

Tom Birmingham lives in Big Sur, CA, where he works as a designer & photographer. As funding director of the Big Sur Arts Initiative, he has worked with children in a myriad of enrichment programs. While working with StageKids, summer theater program, he discovered his love and voice in photographing children and families.

You can see his work at www.bigsurarts.com.

Bio Construction | Sergio Bonilla, MD and Ana María Ceballos, MD

Sergio Bonilla, MD and Ana María Ceballos, MD  are board members of the Permaculture Center “Niños del Cuchuma, AC.”  Sergio is an orthopedic surgeon and administrative director of the Montessori center Niños del Cuchumaa, A.C.  Ana María is a pediatrician, psychotherapist and Montessori guide.  She is coordinator of the Montessori Center “Niños del Cuchumaa, AC.”

On the Web: http://permaculturatecate.com

Martial Arts | Jim Buhisan

Jim has been teaching martial arts full time for 38 years and comes from a family of martial artist and Masters as well. He has a 7th degree in World and International Tae Kwon Do, 7th Degree Black Belt in Kenpo and Kenpo-Kung-fu, 7th Degree Black Belt in Goju Ru Karate, Black Belt Muay Thai, and Black Belt in Escrima.

It is Jim’s passion to share and pass on valuable information and knowledge that will be useful physically, mentally, spiritually for your personal and character development. During the week Jim’s program of martial arts training will be exciting, safe, and age appropriate.

Life Coaching and Happy Healthy Parents and Teens | Emily Boorstein

Emily Boorstein is a Certified Personal Life Coach, with a private practice based in Northern California. She coaches men, women, adults, adolescents, couples and families on life issues and how to best navigate them. Emily received her BA in Psychology at UC Berkeley, and in 2001 became a Certified Life Coach. As the daughter of a Psychiatrist and Psychologist / Buddhist meditation teacher, Emily describes herself as having grown up “swimming in the waters” of self-improvement, spirituality and personal growth, and felt herself following in similar footsteps.
Emily describes her style of coaching as working from the “Inside-Out”. She combines pieces of the great wisdom and spiritual traditions of the world with the most current scientific and psychological knowledge, to create tangible techniques and practices for healing, awakening, and living your “sweetest” life.

Emily is a regular presenter and Life Coach at Rancho La Puerta. As a former fitness instructor, Emily incorporates the importance of physical fitness and health into her coaching practice as well. “When loved and cared for, your physical body will provide a healthy home for your true essence of being to flourish.”

When she isn’t at the Ranch, Emily lives with her husband Johan in Marin County, California. They are recent “empty nester” parents of 2 fabulous sons.http://coachemily.com/

Art Workshops | Erin Lee Gafill

Erin Lee Gafill is a fifth generation California artist from Big Sur, California. She is the founder of the Big Sur Arts Initiative, a nonprofit arts education organization serving children and families. Since 1985 Erin has been designing arts programs for children and adults to support their innate creativity while developing their visual and artistic skills. In 2001 she was the first artist in residence of the Hamada Children's International Art Museum, Hamada, Japan, and has since taught her signature Passion of Painting workshops in schools, museums, ateliers, Boys and Girls Clubs and community centers throughout the United States, in Italy, and Mexico. A fine artist represented nationally, and collected internationally, she is a founding member of the Monterey Bay Plein Air Painters Association, on the creative arts faculty of Esalen Institute, and a member of the Carmel Art Association. In 2009 Erin and her husband photographer Tom Birmingham were honored by the United States Congress and named Champions of the Arts by the Arts Council for Monterey County (California) for their work. Erin loves teaching children and inspiring children AND adults to find their creative voice.

On the Web: www.eringafill.com; www.bigsurarts.com

Storytelling | Kathi Lightstone Matanovic

Kathi Lightstone Matanovic started telling stories when her children were very young, to add some spice to their family music concerts. She had an early interest in theater which served her storytelling. When the family stopped performing together, she continued telling stories in the Northwest for the next 15 years. For the past ten years she has been working with a younger crowd (3-5 yr-olds) on staff at a wonderful school outside of Seattle. Currently, she tells stories "now and again – for the fun of it!"

Brazilian Drum Workshop | Roberto Perretta

Learn to play traditional Samba rhythms and songs as a group. This drum workshop is upbeat, energetic, fun and an interactive team activity enabling groups with any musical ability to work and play together. Learn the rhythms played in Carnival, the Samba reggae, Rio and Samba.

Roberto performs with the Ranch’s very own Fiesta Band, teaches World Drumming, assists in the African dance class and participates in other musical Ranch activities. He started taking drumming lessons at age 10 in San Diego, California, began doing gigs for several Rock bands in Tecate at 13 and at 18 he joined the well-known Latin band from Tijuana, Kumara, where he met Raul Mahuistecatl Garcia. With Raul, he studied and mastered a vast number of Latin percussion and African drums which made him not only a better drummer but a more complete percussionist. He then moved to North Hollywood, CA and played with several bands, including house bands on local TV shows for channel 22.

Handwriting Analysis | Lena Rivkin

The Write Teen – Have your handwriting analyzed and discover your secret talents

Lena Rivkin, MFA, is an internationally recognized graphologist with a particular interest in the interpretation of human dynamics. She provides graphology analyses for Fortune 500 companies and international corporations to screen applicants and employees. Lena also regularly consults on handwriting analyses and forensics for private investigators, universities, and government agencies. Graphology explores the subconscious psychology revealed through our handwriting. In her talks, Lena analyzes the handwritings of some of our most well-known personalities, from artists, athletes, entertainers and politicians to historical figures. In addition to her work as a graphologist, Lena is a nationally exhibited visual artist and college art professor. She is on the art faculty at Mount St. Mary's College and University of Phoenix, and teaches art to children at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Lena has been interviewed on radio and television, and her graphology and artwork have been featured in numerous publications, including Fortune Magazine, Mademoiselle, Art in America, Redbook, the Los Angeles Times, Houston Chronicle, W Magazine, and the Miami Herald.  

Hands-on Cooking Classes | Executive Chef Denise Roa

One class for kids, one class for teens.

Denise Roa deliciously fuses the culinary and cultural heritages of her own life with the healthful "spa cuisine" pioneered by Rancho La Puerta. Chef Roa began her culinary journey at Johnson & Wales University in Miami. She moved to San Diego and began a successful career working for several of the region's most respected restaurants, including Pacifica Del Mar, Crescent Shores Grille, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, and Hilton Torrey Pines.  Her own restaurant La Trattoria was a local favorite for years. She has also been an instructor at Art Institute of San Diego, training over 500 culinary students to date in essential skills.

Imaginative Painting and Drawing | David Zaboski

Dave Zaboski is a former Disney Animator who has worked on such contemporary classics as Beauty and the Beast, the Lion King, Pocahontas, Aladdin and many others. He has written and illustrated children's books with such noted luminaries as Dr. Ken Dychtwald, Dr. Deepak Chopra and Paul Michael Glaser. As a master in animation, drawing and painting he will be there with an open heart and a skilled hand to guide you as you bring the imagery of your story to life.

On the Web: www.thedivineline.net and www.thedivineline.posterous.com

Spanish Live | Patricia Zanzonico

Patricia Zanzonico is passionate about Spanish language and the cultures of the Spanish-speaking world! She has lived in Spain and Mexico and has taught all levels of Spanish to students in elementary school through college. She leads educational travel experiences and school exchange programs for teens and adults in Spain and Central America. Through her business, Claro Bilingual Language Enterprises, she assists business and private clients with translation, interpretation and instruction in both Spanish and English. Patricia lives in the Napa Valley, California, with winemaker husband Gerard, two daughters and yellow lab, Mia. She has a second home in Old Town, Puerto Vallarta,  Jalisco.

Culinary Experiences at La Cocina Que Canta | Visiting Teacher Palma Bellinghieri

Palma Bellinghieri is a second generation culinary artist and chef. Born in Mexico City, she is a graduate of the Pierrefeux Institute and Glion Hotel Management School in Montreaux Switzerland. A founding member of the Mind/Body Health Initiative, Palma specializes in converting nutritional guidelines into a delicious lifestyle of eating to improve health and longevity, as well as reversing chronic and degenerative conditions.

Daughter of world-renown Sicilian chef and restaurateur, Alfredo Bellinghieri ("Alfredos" and "La Trucha Vagabunda" restaurants in the Zona Rosa), Palma fuses generations of family and Bellinghieri-restaurant recipes and upbringing into nutritious and delicious foods.

For the past 15 years, Palma has specialized in vegetarian cooking, and her hands-on workshops and parties celebrate delicious and healthy eating, in addition to an in-depth understanding of products in the marketplace, with an eye to shopping for novel products and best values. The results are passionate dishes and tantalizing flavors, with warm and knowledgeable hospitality that makes for an unforgettable educational and culinary experience.

In addition to her varied culinary activities, Palma is the Demonstration Chef at the Vegetarian Cooking School of the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine. At the Center, she teaches food preparation skills, delicious international recipes and healthy eating to adults and general public; assuring us that thoughtful choices can be made, leading to prevention and reversal of many chronic conditions including cardiovascular disease, chronic pain and fatigue, allergies, obesity, and diabetes.

Across the curriculum, her teaching demonstrates how to choose health-promoting ingredients, avoid common harmful food additives, and how to become a sophisticated consumer. Techniques are presented in order to make healthful choices, create quick, easy, delicious and healthy meals, including how to store and prepare foods in advance. Additionally, the programs teach how to substitute unhealthy ingredients and products with healthy alternatives we may not be familiar with, so that every meal becomes both enjoyable and healthy!

To further promote healthy eating and lifestyles in the family, Palma conducts at-home programs teaching how to buy, prepare and store foods, as well as catering delicious healthy food for special events and parties. During the summer months, she also directs and teaches the popular camp series “For Young Chef’s,” teaching healthy eating, food preparation and cooking to kids 9 to 15. We invite you and your friends to discover and enrich yourself with the knowledge of a wide variety of flavors that can become part of your lifestyle for many years to come!

Palma offers three hands-on culinary experiences, 3.5 hours each, on Tuesday at 11 am and 4 pm and Thursday at 4 pm, during which you will enjoy preparing your own meal along with fellow cooks. Classes take place at La Cocina Que Canta, our new culinary center.

For more information and registration, please click here.