Be a Guest Teacher
Sweet Retreats Casa Chango Mexico
Thank you for your interest in being a Guest Teacher at Sweet Retreats. We provide everything you need for the best teaching, learning, and living experience of your life.
Casa Chango Retreat Center
Casa Chango is an eco-chic, off grid Art Farm Retreat Center located just outside of Puerto Escondido on the Oaxaca coast in southern Mexico. The property is nestled in the forest just one mile inland from the beach and borders a beautiful river where guests can soak and splash in the warm, clear water. All classes, meals and accommodations are inside Casa Chango Retreat Center. We provide transportation for trips to local markets, beaches, and nature excursions during our retreats.
The property has gardens, tropical fruit trees, nature trails, and our animal family (friendly cats, dogs and chickens). Community spaces include a swimming pool, jacuzzi, and dining area as well as our 2000 square foot open air movement space/circus gym and 850 square foot air conditioned dance/yoga studio.
Our mission is to create a diverse inclusive culture that encourages community, personal growth, self-awareness, learning, healthy lifestyle, learning, and creative expression. We invite our guests and teaching staff to climb into their own skin and become themselves more and more in each moment of their visit. Our eco/off-grid sustainable living infrastructure serves as a practical and inspiring way to educate and promote positive changes we can make for the benefit of ourselves and our planet.
You can see our upcoming retreats on this page.
Sweet Retreats include:
- Ground transportation to/from the Puerto Escondido Airport (PXM) to our accommodations (providing all participants arrive/depart on designated days)
- Accommodations for 7 nights
- Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, snacks and treats in our Casa Chango Kitchen
- 1 Dinner out at our favorite local restaurant (pending COVID safety)
- 2 Daily Classes – morning session and afternoon session
- Photo shoot – aerial or site specific
- Swimming pool, wi-fi, hammocks, open air circus gym, community hang out spaces, sunset views
- Day off afternoon adventure to local beaches, and baby turtle release
- Trip to the local night market.
- Some retreats can end with a public show in which everyone is welcome to participate. We invite the local community to the show and it is always a great time. This must be coordinated and agreed upon by Host Teacher and Sweet Retreats well in advance of the retreat.
Does Not Include
- Airfare or Travel Insurance
- Alcoholic beverages
- Spa services
- Extra excursions and adventures
- Staff gratuities
Add ons
- Massage
- Evening trip to Bioluminescent Lagoon $25/person
- Surfing, Spanish lessons, sunset horseback riding, snorkeling, swimming w dolphins, and other excursions available upon request.
Read more about our retreats here.
Accommodations
Our cabanas, built with natural materials, are spacious, cool, and well ventilated . All of the rooms have fans and stay comfortably cool all day and night. We prioritize comfort and sustainability over luxury and excess. The following accommodation options are available.
- Shared dorm rooms
- Private room with shared bathroom (ground floor and loft)
- Private room with private bathroom
- Private room with private bathroom & air conditioning
Read more about our accommodations here.
Meals
Our meals are fresh, healthy and delicious. Many of our ingredients are sourced from our organic garden and local farms. We provide vegetarian and meat/fish options, and can accommodate most food allergies. People are blown away by the quality and taste of our food. Our meals are designed around supporting a sustainable planet and balanced diet for healthy, active humans.
- Meal service begins with lunch or dinner on arrival day and ends with breakfast on departure day.
- Breakfast, lunch, afternoon snacks, dinner, beverages, and dessert are included daily.
- Beer, wine, and cocktails are available for extra charges.
Gym/ Training space
Our gym is a 2000 square foot (185 square meters) open air training space with wood floors. We also have a smaller studio for yoga, dance, handstands etc.
- 12 aerial points with pulley rigging
- 22 feet high (6.4 meters high)
- 12 aerial silks
- 9 trapezes
- 12 lyras (different sizes)
- 8 cordelisse
- 3 sets of straps
- 1 set of gymnastics rings
- Stall bars
- Additional equipment includes foam puzzle mats, crash mats, foam rollers, resistance bands, large foam block, hula hoops, rola bola, yoga blocks, yoga mats, yoga balls, chalk, rosin
Community Spaces
- Large infinity swimming pool & jacuzzi
- Large open air eating space with a view of the ocean and sunset
- Lounge with couches, library, movie projector, and view of the river, mountains, and ocean
- Hammocks
- Gardens
- Nature trails to the river and beach
Local Community Programs
We are committed to supporting our local communities through our outreach programming. This includes after school programs for local children, community gardening, tree planting, food sharing, and cultural experiences. During your visit, you have the opportunity to experience some of our local programming including our kid’s circus classes. Read more about our kids circus program here.
Retreat Classes & Schedule
Our retreats are 6 days and 7 nights long, with 5 total days of classes. Each day has a morning and afternoon class session. We use the following model which works very well:
- Arrival day
- 3 days of classes
- 1 middle ‘rest’ day to go to the beach, turtle release and markets
- 2 more days of classes
- Departure day
Each retreat has a focus which is usually either aerial skills and/or sequencing, conditioning, artistry, or a combination. In addition some retreats give students complementary skills which may include any of the following: flexibility, conditioning, technique, artistry, core work, floor work, yoga, stretching.
Sample of Daily Schedule
- 7:30-9:30am Coffee, Tea and Breakfast
- 10am-1pm Technique, Skills, and Stretching/Conditioning
- 1pm Lunch
- 1-3:30pm Pool-time, relaxing
- 3:30pm Afternoon treat and ice tea/coffee
- 5-6:30pm Less physically exerting skills including floorwork, handstands, improvisation, stretching, performance skills, etc.
- 7pm Dinner
- 8-10pm Evening Activities
Note: This schedule template works well for most retreats.
Sample of Week Schedule
Interested in being a Guest Teacher?
Teaching at Sweet Retreats as a Guest Teacher is a great way to experience the programs at Casa Chango. This works well if you are a teacher and want to get away and have a work-vacation, if you are interested in starting to lead retreats, and need some guidance and inspiration, or if you don’t have much of a social media or internet following and don’t know if you can draw many students on your own. If you are interested in hosting your own retreat, please email us at SweetRetreatsMexico@gmail.com for more information.
We are committed to world class instruction, so we prioritize working with teachers with mastery and experience. If you are interested in being a Guest Teacher for one of our retreats or Circus Residency Programs, please send us an email to SweetRetreatsMexico@gmail.com with answers to the following questions.
- What discipline(s) do you mainly teach?
- Which aerial apparatus(es)/disciplines do you love to teach on and have the most experience teaching?
- What level(s) do you feel confident teaching in each discipline?
- Which aspect of your discipline(s) do you love teaching and excel at teaching the most? Skills, technique, conditioning, flexibility, artistry, choreography, etc.
- Do you teach anything else besides aerial/circus arts?
- In your own words, how would you describe your teaching style/ teaching personality and/or teaching methodology?
- Have you ever been to or taught at a week long intensive retreat or 1-3 month program session before?
- What do you think is/are your biggest strength(s) as a teacher?
- How long have you been teaching your discipline(s)?
- What is your movement background before aerial/circus?
- Is there anything else you want to say about yourself as a teacher/coach?
- Do you have a student following (in person and/or online) that you currently and regularly work with in some capacity?
- Do you have a website and/or other public media page that shows you as a teacher (performance media is welcome too, but we really need to see that you are a teacher)? Please share this with us.
- Do you have a student following (local and/or virtual) that you think would follow you to a retreat?
- Would you be interested in teaching a week long intensive retreat, or staying longer for a 4-10 week residency program?
- What is your availability in the next 12-18 months?
- Feel free to send any student testimonials and/or teacher/mentor references.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Note: We are also open to newer teachers who wish to apprentice under a mentorship program here at Casa Chango. If you are interested in this, please contact us.
Guest Teacher Details
- Teacher must commit to specific dates for the retreat.
- Travel – When/if minimum student sign up has been achieved, Guest Teacher will receive a travel stipend to purchase their ticket.
- Sweet Retreats recommends that Teacher secure travel and medical insurance during the duration of their trip and encourage students to do the same.
- Guest Teacher accommodation includes a private room with a shared bathroom.
- All meals are included for the duration of the retreat.
- Compensation – Teacher’s pay will be figured as an hourly rate or stipend amount for teaching at the retreat. Teacher’s pay depends upon the number of people who sign up for the retreat.
- It may be an option for Guest Teacher to bring their significant other (SO) to the retreat.
- The cost for SO for food, accommodations and activities (no classes) is $400 USD for a week long retreat.
Teacher’s Promotional Agreements
- Teacher agrees to promote the retreat to their student and industry following.
- Social Media – If Teacher has social media accounts, Teacher agrees to make a few posts on social media about the retreat from the time retreat is confirmed through the end of the retreat.
- Teacher agrees to use the following tags for each and every post: @sweetretreatsmx @casachangomexico
- Mailing List – If Teacher has a mailing list, they agree to send info about the retreat in their newsletter.
Notes:
- Upon request, Sweet Retreats can provide promotional photos and/or graphics for Teacher to use for posts.
- When advertising the retreat, remind your potential sign ups to sign up and pay before the early bird discount ends to save money. This helps ensure the retreat will not be cancelled.
- Let your followers know there is a $100 referral discount for bringing a friend.
Sweet Retreats Policies
- All booking, payments and registration for the retreat will be received through Sweet Retreats. Guest Teacher should direct all interested students to sign up through Sweet Retreats and to contact Sweet Retreats with questions regarding the retreat.
- Sweet Retreats will pay Teacher upon completion of the retreat providing no cancellations have been made. Payments will be made via zelle, venmo, or bank transfer.
- Teacher may not offer discounts for the retreat unless otherwise agreed upon with Sweet Retreats.
- Teacher and students will be required to sign a Sweet Retreats waiver before attending any classes.
- Sweet Retreats reserves the right to take photos and videos throughout the retreat to be used as promotional material for both Sweet Retreats and the teacher. Sweet Retreats agrees to only post positive and flattering media. We want everyone to feel safe and be represented respectfully.
- Casa Chango staff has the privilege to participate in classes during the retreat.
Refunds and Cancellation Policy
- If Teacher cancels, they are required to reimburse SR for any airfare or travel stipend paid by Sweet Retreats.
- Sweet Retreats retains the right to decide whether to hire another teacher to run the workshop or to choose to cancel and reimburse the paid retreaters.
- Sweet Retreats reserves the right to cancel a retreat due to low enrollment, weather, natural disaster, war, or “acts of god,” and will inform Teacher as soon as possible. SR will not compensate Teacher for any costs incurred.
Please email us at SweetRetreatsMexico@gmail.com with questions.