Monday 28 July to Saturday 2 August 2008
Laukvik, Lofoten, Norway

You will find the village of Laukvik on the north-west coast of northern Norway’s Lofoten islands. It’s the place to go if you’ve always longed to see the midnight sun glowing along the skyline over the sea. This is where the 2008 T’ai Chi Summer Holiday took place. We were based at a small retreat centre called Viva Lofoten, two miles to the east at Straumnes/Gjersvoll.

The theme of the course was 'outer and inner light', offering a deepened understanding of T'ai Chi Ch'uan interwoven with Qi Gong and singing. We had the opportunity to explore and practise T'ai Chi in a breathtaking landscape where the light is always present, night and day. There were excursions high into the mountains, and on the last evening - Friday 1 August - we were able to join the local residents in their Midnight Sun Festival.

We selected Lofoten as a venue partly in homage to Gerda Geddes (Pytt), Gudrun and Catherine's T'ai Chi master, who was born and raised in Norway.

The course leaders were Gudrun Gylling of Gothenburg, Sweden and Catherine Robinson of Hythe, England, each with almost thirty years of teaching experience in T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Qi Gong. Moa Brynnel, ballad singer from Ljungskile, Sweden came along to sing with us.

See Catherine Robinson's photos of the location here (external link).

Photos by Øyvind Hauge and Gert-Jan Zeestraten
Last updated: 2 September, 2008 10:11 PM