Brand New Facilitators with Brand New Courses

We settle only for the best and we are very proud to present this summer's brand new facilitators teaching in Atsitsa on Skyros island, Greece. All at the forefront of their professions, they will be offering singing, dancing, yoga, writing, comedy, painting, theatre and circus skills. Courses over two week periods run for one week at a time and so those wishing to join for the first or the second week only will not miss out on any continuity of the course.

All of our facilitators have a warm and inclusive style of teaching that is tailored to the requirements of the individual as well as to the wider group. This summer we have more week-long holidays, ideal for those with busy schedules and prices below include twin shared accommodation, all meals and Skyros courses/activities.

See the full Atsitsa holiday programme online here.

Say hello to our new Atsitsa facilitators!

Kate Smurthwaite - Stand-up Comedy: Kate Smurthwaite is a stand-up comedian and political activist. Appearances include the BBCs flagship political debate show Question Time as well as BBC 1s The Big Questions, BBC Breakfast, BBC News 24, Channel 4 News, Channel 5 News, ITV News and many more. She will cover writing techniques, stage presence, keeping an audience in check, building performance skills and even try out some of our material to the rest of the group!

Dates: AT1: Sun 7 - Sat 13 June 2015 (1 week)            £545

Celestine Walcott-Gordon - Singing With Soul: Celestine is an eclectic soul artist with a velvet voice rich in emotion and experience far beyond her years. Celestine's recording and songwriting journey has seen her work with Gary Barlow (Take That), Cameron McVey (Neneh Cherry), and Stargate (NeYo, Rhianna, Mary J Blige, Beyonce) to name but a few. Learn exciting, uplifting songs from around the globe including African Gospel/Spirituals, Classic Soul & Jazz Songs plus more.

Dates: AT2a: Sun 14 - Sat 20 June 2015 (1 week)           £545
            AT2b: Sun 21 - Sat 27 June 2015 (1 week)           £545

Saskia Bakayoko - West African Dance: Saskia has been playing djembe, dancing and performing internationally for 20 years. Her extensive knowledge and sensitive teaching style has made her a regular on the international festival circuit. This course establishes the basics of the genre. You do NOT need to be a dancer to participate. You just need heart, determination and a desire to learn something new.



Dates: AT2a: Sun 14 - Sat 20 June 2015 (1 week)           £545
            AT2b: Sun 21 - Sat 27 June 2015 (1 week)           £545

Claire Healy - Finding Your Voice: Claire Healy is an actor, musician and songwriter. She has toured extensively with Frantic Theatre Co. and taken her whimsical cabaret to venues around the UK, Ireland and Australia and written for theatre. Through a mixture of breathwork, singing technique and exploring different songs, this workshop aims to release your true voice, discover your own individual style and realise your potential.


Dates: AT3: Sun 28 June - Sat 4 July 2015 (1 week)   £545            
            AT4a: Sun 5 - Sat 11 July 2015 (1 week)           £545
            AT4b: Sun 11 - Sat 18 July 2015 (1 week)         £545

Stephen Clarke - A Sense of Place: Stephen is an English writer living in Paris. Since 2004, he has produced a book every year, including four Merde novels, a guide to living amongst the French – Talk to the Snail, and the number-one bestselling history book 1000 Years of Annoying the French. You have to observe, analyse, enjoy, and select when writing about a place. The result might be a novel, a memoir, a screenplay, travel article or sonnet. It will be comic, tragic, or anything in between.


Dates: AT4a:  Sun 5 - Sat 11 July 2015 (1 week)           £545
            AT4b:  Sun 11 - Sat 18 July 2015 (1 week)         £545

Cate Whittemore - Watercolour Painting: Cate Whittemore is a fine art painter, and a professional scenic artist. She has created scenery for movies, television, and theatre, including SPIDERMAN; Turn on the Dark and The Book of Mormon. Cate's course will explore watercolour techniques, landscape and perspective conventions, chiaroscuro, options and refinements. Daily practice, observing and painting will result in painterly progress and hopefully paintings full of the life and light of Skyros.


Dates: AT7: Sun 9 - Sat 22 August 2015 (2 weeks)           £1245

Alan Gill - Theatre Workshop: Alan attended the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama then began forging a career in at The Victoria Theatre, The Actors Company, Nottingham Playhouse, Cambridge Theatre, Theater Clwyd, The Traverse, The Nuffield Theatre amongst many more. You will be encouraged to try out new things in an environment that is supportive, built on trust and encouragement. Designed to appeal to anyone who likes to have fun and give it a try without putting people on the spot – who knows what you may discover?

Dates: AT7: Sun 9 - Sat 22 August 2015 (2 weeks)           £1245

Sarah Jane Cramond - Circus Skills: Sarah Jane works across Europe and Australia as a freelance aerialist. She has performed Silks, Aerial Hoop and Spanish Web at festivals and performed Fire and Aerial routines in Cabaret. She teaches adult aerial classes and youth circus programs with Aircraft Circus, Flying Fantastic, Circus Suburbia and Airborne Circus. Sarah Jane hopes to pass on her immense passion for circus. No matter what your age, she says, you can always run away with the circus!

Dates: AT7: Sun 9 - Sat 22 August 2015 (2 weeks)           £1245

Kenneth Ryan - Beyond Yoga: Kenneth's classes will include Yoga (from energetic through to restful), Qi Gong, Tai Chi and moving meditations. These practices will be adapted, often softened, to keep them approachable and to suit experience and level of ability. Whether holding steady postures or enjoying a more energetic practice, you can expect to discover greater openness and energy with ease. Anticipate also the bliss of being cradled into a deep relaxed awareness of being.


Dates: AT9: Sun 6 - Sat 12 September 2015 (1 week)               £545

            AT10a: Sun 13 - Sat 19 September 2015 (1 week)         £545

            AT10b: Sun 20 - Sat 26 September 2015 (1 week)         £545

Tony Hawks - Humorous Writing: Tony is the author of the bestseller Round Ireland with a Fridge - the story of his absurd quest to hitch round the circumference of Ireland within a month... with a fridge. After being serialised on Radio 4, the book became a top 10 Sunday Times bestseller. It has now sold over 800,000 copies worldwide including the US and Australia. Drawing on his own experience of having written several bestselling humorous books, Tony will use a variety of techniques to bring out the fun side in you. The focus will mainly be non fiction, but who know where things may go....?



Dates: AT10a - Sun 13 - Sat 19 September 2015 (1 week)         £545
 
            AT10b - Sun 20 - Sat 26 September 2015 (1 week)         £545

Contact Us

If you would like more information about any of our holidays we would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

phone: +44 (0)1983 86 55 66
email: office@skyros.com
Online chat: www.skyros.com 

Yannis Andricopoulos, author and Skyros co-founder

Born in 1939, Yannis Andricopoulos (Γιαννης Ανδρικοπουλος) spent the formative years of his life in Athens – years scarred by wars, deprivation and political repression. ‘We managed to survive’, he says, ‘but only on grains of hope’.

With a BA in Politics, in 1964 he joined the Athens daily Avghi and in January 1967 he was sent to ‘swinging London’ as its correspondent.  The appointment was, however, short-lived as the Greek dictatorship closed Avghi down in April 1967 and deprived him of his passport.  His actions, the colonels claimed, were ‘detrimental to the national interests of Greece’.

While a political exile, he earned a Ph.D. in History from London University. He was also elected as the head of the Greek National Union of Students (EFEE in exile). The latter’s activities caused, among other things, his expulsion from a number of East European countries.

In 1974 he resumed his career as a London-based correspondent first for Avghi and then for Eleftherotypia, another Athens daily. In the same year, he also published his first book, 1944, Κρισιμη Χρονια  (1944, A Critical Year), an edited version of prime minister Churchill’s personal papers on 1944 Greece. He has since published three more books on 20th century Greek and European history (Οι Ριζες του Ελληνικου Φασισμου, Το Ευρωπαικο Αδιεξοδο, Η Δημοκρατια του Μεσοπολεμου). As a journalist he has reported from various trouble spots of the world.

In 1979 he co-founded, together with psychotherapist Dina Glouberman, Skyros Holidays, described by The Guardian in 2008 as ‘the first and still the best’ alternative holiday. He still co-directs it.  Ten years later, from 1989 to 1994, he also edited i-to-i, an alternative London publication, which attracted contributions from numerous established journalists and authors.

His trilogy – In Bed with Madness, The Greek Inheritance and The Future of the Past – was published by Imprint Academic in both the UK and the US in 2008. Inspired by his involvement in the truculent world of politics and the graceful, personal world of Skyros, the Trilogy takes a critical view of contemporary politics and culture.

History, Politics and Dreams, his latest book, was published in London in May 2015.

History, Politics and Dreams by Yannis Andricopoulos

This literary nonfiction book by Yannis Andricopoulos (Γιαννης Ανδρικοπουλος) takes the reader on a journey through history, politics and ideas on the strength of his personal experiences in Greece and England, the countries he views respectively as mother and wife. While factually accurate, the story is an engaging tale of dreams and doubts, illusions and disillusionment, hope and despair portrayed both poetically and also humorously. The book turns from page one into a compelling, vivid and dramatic account of the conflicting priorities and values that shape our lives. 

A part of this story is taken up with people such as ex-king Constantine, Margaret Thatcher, James Callaghan, Thabo Mbeki, Indira Gandhi, Turgut Ozal, Constantinos   Karamanlis, Andreas Papandreou, Giscard D’Estaing and many other leading figures whom the narrator met over the years as a journalist.

Leaving history behind, the story moves into the quandaries of our post-faith, post-ideology and post-everything world. Impelled by feelings of excitement and frustration, joy and anger or, in the case of Greece, mirth and gloom, it also highlights the need for a new, radical vision to help us resist the dispiriting cynicism of our times and face the future with confidence. 

This conclusion leads the storyteller to the Greek island of Skyros where several hundred Europeans question and challenge every year our culture’s assumptions and confirm their commitment to the fundamental human priorities and values. In the heart of his own thesis is the belief that the creation of a decent society is not the job of the state but of each one of us. 

‘Yannis’ honest, engaging and flamboyant voice’, one reviewer said, makes this book ‘an immensely readable work’. It is written, another reviewer stated, with the ‘clarity and sophistication of a genius’, an assessment that reminded another reviewer of some other books ‘deservedly seen as great’. ‘Every paragraph’, another pointed out, ‘contains a thought-provoking phrase’. 


Yannis has published eight non-fiction books – four in Greece and another four in the UK.

History, Politics and Dreams is available through
www.amazon.com
www.gardners.com
Waterstones, WH Smith, Foyles, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository, Blackwell Books and also office@skyros.com

We've been listening to you and here's our response...

Dear Friends of Skyros,

We've noticed from your emails and phone calls that there's a trend towards wanting more one week holidays in Atsitsa this year, particularly early and late in the season.

In the height of the season, many of you still want a good break for a fortnight but the trend seems to be towards more short breaks as well as one long one. Although we're close to the season beginning in Greece we are, nevertheless, both able and happy to accommodate your requests. 

It is possible, of course, to join any of these weeks together. We can book you an extra night in Atsitsa in between holidays. This change won't affect those who've already booked a two-week holiday. It simply opens up additional possibilities. Transfers to and from Skyros island will be rearranged to accommodate the increased number of one week holidays. 

See our new expanded programme below and online here.

With our best wishes,

From All at Skyros

Isle of Wight

More week-long holidays in Atsitsa this summer . . .

Sunday 7 – Saturday 13 June (AT1)
£545
Drawing & Painting, Yoga for Every Body, Windsurfing, Rock Choir, Cuban Salsa, Mindfulness, Stand-up Comedy, Writing from Life

Sunday 14 – Saturday 20 June (AT2a)
£545
Bodywork, Yoga for Every Body, Windsurfing, Singing with Soul, West African Dance, Drawing & Painting, Digital Photography, Life & Fiction (creative writing)

Sunday 21 – Saturday 27 June (AT2b)
£545
Bodywork, Yoga for Every Body, Windsurfing, Singing with Soul, West African Dance, Drawing & Painting, Digital Photography, Life & Fiction (creative writing)


Sunday 28 June – Saturday 4 July (AT3)
£545
Open Art Studio, Yoga for Every Body, Windsurfing, Finding Your Voice, Dance, Meditation, Massage, Reflexology, The Art of Swimming, Starting Your Novel

Sunday 5 – Saturday 11 July (AT4a)
£545
All My Life's a Stage, Hatha Yoga, Windsurfing, Sing Your Story, Open Art Studio, Dance, Qi Gong, Massage, Reflexology, A Sense of Place (creative writing)

Sunday 12 – Saturday 18 July (AT4b)
£545
All My Life's a Stage, Hatha Yoga, Windsurfing, Sing Your Story, Open Art Studio, Dance, Qi Gong, Massage, Reflexology, A Sense of Place (creative writing)


Sunday 19 – Saturday 25 July (AT5)
£545
Landscape Adventure, Vinyasa Yoga, Windsurfing, Everyone Can Sing, 5-Rhythms Dance, Meditation, The Power of Laughter, Mosaics, Rhyme doesn't pay? (creative writing)

Sunday 26 July – Saturday 8 August (AT6)
£1,245
Landscape Art, T'ai Chi, Vinyasa Yoga, Windsurfing, Everyone Can Sing, 5-Rhythms, Meditation, Passionate Living, Mosaics, Abseiling

Sunday 9 – Saturday 22 August (AT7)
£1,245
Passionate Living, Yoga with Awareness, Windsurfing, Music & Singing, Watercolour Painting, Storytelling, Theatre Workshop, Circus Skills

Sunday 23 – Saturday 29 August (AT8a)
£595
Music & Singing, Yoga with Awareness, Windsurfing, Comedy Improvisation Painting, Photography, Trapeze, Passion Power & Presence, Public Speaking


Sunday 30 – Saturday 5 September (AT8b) 
£545
Music & Singing, Yoga with Awareness, Windsurfing, Comedy Improvisation Painting, Photography, Trapeze, Passion Power & Presence, Public Speaking

Sunday 6 – Saturday 12 September (AT9)
£545
Life Choices, Beyond Yoga, Windsurfing, Harmony Singing, Painting, Photography, Trapeze, Comedy Improvisation, A Life Full of Stories (creative writing)

Sunday 13 – Saturday 19 September (AT10a)
£545
Mindfulness, Beyond Yoga, Windsurfing, Music & Singing, Dance & Performance, Art from the Heart, Comedy Improvisation, Humorous Writing

Sunday 20 – Saturday 26 September (AT10b)
£545
Mindfulness, Beyond Yoga, Windsurfing, Music & Singing, Dance & Performance, Art from the Heart, Comedy Improvisation, Humorous Writing

Contact us

If you would like more information about any of our holidays we would be happy to answer any questions you may have.

phone: +44 (0)1983 86 55 66

email: office@skyros.com

Online chat: www.skyros.com