Registration
Tuition for this workshop is $30. Members receive exclusive discounts on our programs and courses. Not a member? Learn more.
This course is limited to participants who are 18 years of age or older.
Please check your spam folder for your email confirmation. If you have questions, please call (215) 732-1600 or email rsvp@rosenbach.org.
Description
Mercedes de Acosta was many things: a playwright, poet, novelist, and cultural influencer of the early 20th century, but she is perhaps best known for her liaisons with Marlene Dietrich, Greta Garbo, and other celebrities. Unlike other lesbians of her day, Acosta would not conform by retreating into the closet. Her sense of self, strength of will, and ability to meet professional and personal rejection with resilience are among the reasons she is regarded today as an LGBTQ+ icon whose depictions of lesbian desire, experiences, and struggle inform and inspire. What gave her the confidence to live the way she did?
This two-hour workshop, co-led by yogi Liza Seltzer and Rosenbach John C. Haas Director Kelsey Scouten Bates, will introduce you to de Acosta’s work and legacy and invite you to take a deep dive into what it means to be truly authentic. The workshop will feature readings from her memoir, Here Lies the Heart, interaction with the Rosenbach’s de Acosta holdings, and an extended yin yoga practice, featuring passive, held poses to invoke stillness in body and mind. The practice will be accessible for all bodies and experience levels; the only prerequisites are curiosity and an open heart. Please bring your own yoga mat and be prepared to fill out an activity waiver.
Note: This event is a reprise of the workshop originally offered in February 2024; for more de Acosta-inspired yoga, please see the sister workshop scheduled for March 29, 2025, Moods: Yin Yoga Illuminated by the Poems of Mercedes de Acosta.
Instructor
Liza Seltzer is a former Rosenbach Board Member and RYT500 yoga instructor with certifications in Vinyasa, Kripalu, Yin, Chair and Restorative Yoga. For further information, please visit LizaSeltzerYoga.com.