5Rhythms with Ann Kite

02/20/2026

Dear dancers,

This week began with a call from my daughter, Lilliah. “The headaches continue,” she said. “I need to stop pretending I’m okay.”

Her doctor has prescribed another MRI, another MRV, and we’re again facing the possibility of another surgery.

What I noticed — even before fear — was how quickly my separate self decided a story: She’s okay now. We’re through this. We have more time. And how easily that story slid into numbing — not from lack of love, but from trying to protect myself from feeling fully.

And then… correction.

Love rides close to grief. An open heart carries both.
This is the practice: staying.

So I want to ask you:
What are the stories that harden you?
Numb you?
Pull you away from presence — from your body, from one another, from what’s here?

Because this life is not only sorrow. We touch the hem of joy. We bask in it. We feel the oneness of open hearts moving together. This, too, comes with presence.

The joy of being together is not to be missed.
This remembering — this awakening — is needed for our lives.

Friday night, we practice letting go — not of what matters, but of the stories that pull us away from love. We arrive. We commune. We remember what we are.

After all — we are just love.
That’s what we are.

You don’t need to be okay to come.
Just bring yourself.

With love,
Ann

PS: a few spots still available next weekend — dancing at the ocean. Join us? annkite.com/tranquility

02/13/2026

Dear Dancers,

How much can a heart can hold? I doubt it’s finite.

A Monday meltdown - tears. More unexpected news of a close friend, the fragility of bodies - compassion. The weight of this human world - prayers. And alongside — delight in cooking for our VA Beach retreat with Anand and Lilliah - laughs, imagining the sound of waves we’ll soon stand beside - breaths, thinking of sharing these soups with dancers - smiles.

Joy - this is so beautiful this life, gratitude. Heartbreak - cancer, heart attacks, women abused, people hurt in so many ways. These share the same breath.

… consciousness moves, the noise softens. Breath is here. The body remembers the steadiness of existence underneath it all. We dance not to escape — we dance to meet it with a fuller heart - we dance knowing this all changes - we dance knowing we don’t know.

Fred Rogers said our lives are shaped by those who “smiled us into smiling . . . loved us into loving.” This dance floor, this community, is one of these places. The dance, our community bring steadiness, peace and hope into this world. This is an extraordinary gift we share.

Join me tonight. We’ll move it together.
With love,
Ann

02/06/2026

Dear Dancers,

It's time to dance tonight!
https://www.annkite.com/letgo

So much is loud right now.

News cycles whip back and forth. Pain is visible — here at home and across the world. So many people hurting. So much uncertainty. It can feel disorienting just trying to stay human in the middle of it.

And yet… this is exactly why we practice.

When we dance, we are not ignoring suffering — we are unhooking from the habits that keep us locked inside it. The body becomes the doorway.

Add the body. Add the breath. Let the mind open — suddenly truth, clarity, actions that heal become something we can feel.

Hope to see you on the floor tonight at 8pm, Wednesday online or at VA Beach see below. . .

All Love,
Ann

The Let Go Friday Night Let GoLet go of the week and welcome the weekend. Join Ann every Friday at 8pm for a high-energy and deeply-embodied release. On January 9th: Anand will be subbing for Ann while she’s away. 8pm in Bethesda. Click here to buy ticketsSell tickets online with Ticket Tailor pho...

02/04/2026

Happy Wednesday,
**Wednesday Class **is happening today, with a new twist
Details below.

This photo is of my childhood home on Monday night, as I drove over to play rummy with my mom (89) and set the table for my sister’s birthday dinner.

The snow here has been miraculous — like a white mirror glaze, if you’ve ever watched The Great British Baking Show. I’ve been in awe, watching the light bounce off the icy surface, feeling such deep gratitude.

It’s starting to melt now, and it’s reminding me how much wishing for things not to change, trying to predict what’s coming, or bracing for any of it… only creates tension and suffering.

So I dance.
I bring life’s questions to the floor.
I breathe and move with them.
And I’m reminded: my mind, my plans, my predictions are small — and yet I am, we are, vast.

New for February
I’ll have some help for Wednesday classes this month! Anand and I will be teaching together for all of February.
We’re also offering a 10-class pass at a reduced rate — 20% off for a consecutive series. We truly believe that commitment and continuity bring real gifts when dancing with the unknown.
Want to join us for the next 10 Wednesdays?
Sending love,
Ann

At home, in the office, or on the go, online movement classes with Ann can help you reconnect to your body and your innate wisdom. There are no steps to learn. Moving Together can be practiced by anyone regardless of age, fitness, ability, or experience.

Photo by Ann Kite

01/28/2026

Dear Dancers,

As I’ve been recovering from the past months, the cold and snow have felt like quiet allies. While cleaning and putting things away at home, I came across some notes from October 5 — pages of planning, lists, and future-thinking. And then… nothing.

October 6 was the day I drove to DC, to the hospital where Lilliah was in the ER. They had found a 3cm brain tumor. At that moment, I could not have imagined that she would be tumor-free three months later, nor all that would unfold in between.

I have known the helplessness of watching my child suffer. And in that helplessness, a deep kinship with all mothers has grown into something like a bond.

I didn’t schedule any workshops between October 6 and the New Year. For 17 years there have always been November and December workshops — but not this year. I remember saying to Anand, “I don’t know why, but it feels wrong to teach workshops right now.” Now I understand. There was a journey to be taken.

I am learning to trust myself in a deeper way — to trust that the body knows where not to walk, that it turns toward what matters without explanation, that the calendar opens when it needs to. Things that make no sense to the planning mind arrive from the unknown.

So these days, I’m not so sure I “practice” in the way I once thought. It feels more like letting myself be — the body moving without prescription, the mind opening without a goal. The intention has become very simple: to open, to quiet the mind, to let the body be an extension of the Self that is curious, resilient, and somehow comforted by mystery.

Moving in this way doesn’t just help in moments as extreme as a brain tumor — or a world in literal flames — it feels to me like the most important thing we can be doing right now.

Today, I’ll be showing up online at 12 noon ET. If you’re at home and feel called to make some space for the unknown, your transportation arrives via Zoom at noon.

Sending you love, courage, and as much curiosity as possible for what you do not yet know,

Ann

PS — Carderock was plowed Monday, and salt has been spread in the parking lot (with more to come). We’re planning a hybrid class on Friday for those who can safely attend in person and those who prefer to join from home via Zoom.

And a reminder: Sunday class and potluck are happening this Sunday, February 1. Class will be 1–3pm so we can enjoy our meal together and still get home before dark.

12/19/2025

Dear Dancers,

What to say as the days move closer to the holidays, and we move closer to something huge we cannot control?

As Lilliah’s surgery approaches, I find myself in a new kind of terrain — unlike any I’ve known before. There is a heightened awareness everywhere. I’m awake and dazed at the same time. Moving through meetings, family, clients, daily life — and yet something essential is breathing right at my shoulder.

This closeness of our vulnerabilities changes everything.

This week, almost casually, I mentioned to my doctor that I’ve had some ringing in my ears, of course my daughter has a brain tumor and my Mom had a tumor as well. He said,”you need to get an MRI.” I thought, easy enough. With Lil facing something so big, me getting checked out is easy.

Until it isn’t.

I showed up. Was guided into the room. Laid down, head strapped, cage put over my head. . . I’m locked in literally. And then slid — far into the tube (a much smaller tube than the one in the picture). Much farther than I was prepared for, it’s just an MRI of my head . . . leave my chest and legs out please. I’ve always carried claustrophobia, like my mother. I tried three times to stay. Made it about a minute the last time . . . And then I said, “Do you have any drugs, like strong ones?”

They laughed. They didn’t have any but my doctor would prescribe some. I could come back . . . medicated.

So that’s what I’ll do. I’ll take something strong (it’s already at the pharmacy).

And here is what arrived for me, uninvited but precise:

There are moments in life when courage doesn’t look like calm.
It looks like honesty.
It looks like asking for help, like “GOT DRUGS?”
It looks like not overriding the body in the name of getting through.

This season has stripped away any false sense of purpose for me. My only true orientation right now is love. Love expressed through presence. Through showing up as I am. Through letting the body lead when the mind has no answers.

This is why we dance.

Not to transcend what’s here — but to fully meet it.
To feel fear without collapsing.
To move tenderness without hardening.
To let the body metabolize what the mind cannot.

Let’s keep meeting life the way we know how:

in motion, in presence, in love.

With love,
Ann

10/31/2025

Dance with us tonight in Bethesda at 8pm! Bring your Jack-o-Lantern!
https://www.annkite.com/letgo

10/31/2025

I’m so looking forward to being back at
Carderock this weekend. These past days brought a
deep, meaningful connection with other teachers — a
rich dance, and time to integrate some serious life
events. I find myself quieter, and yet moving and
appreciating life.

I know we are all navigating much these days. I’m
deeply thankful we have one another — and the dance.
For my part, we continue to navigate this tumor
situation as we wait for Lilliah’s surgery date to be
scheduled next week.

We’ll dance twice this weekend:

Friday night at 8pm — Let Go (October 31st)
You are welcome to bring a jack-o-lantern to add to
our art installation, and if you’d like, wear a costume
you can move in (just nothing too large, since our class
is usually full). Looking forward to some extra art and
light from our community.

Sunday 11–1 — The Sunday Dance & Potluck
(November 2nd)
We’ll dance in the morning light and then share food
and connection afterward. Our last potluck was
nourishing in all the ways — I hope you’ll join us.

Please invite friends to join us in the dance, to share
this unique gift we draw from.

And remember — we gain an extra hour of rest
Saturday night! Don’t forget to set your clocks back. I
love extra sleep 🙂

With love and movement,
Ann

Art installation in this photo is by the talented
Azure Lea, crafted from her garden’s early
October harvest — a perfect blend of nature and
imagination. 🌿

📸 Photo by Nosrat Tarighi

10/17/2025

“Even through the hardest things, love moves.” -Ann

Our retreat at Buffalo Gap was full of miracles— the trees, the firelight, the laughter — and I’m looking forward to our weekly gathering.

Tonight, I’ll be there to offer the dance.

Let’s journey to the place where we can meet what is — the grief, the gratitude, the chaos, the stillness — and move with it. Together.

Welcome to our Let Go — Tonight at 8:00
Carderock Spring Swim & Tennis Club (Bethesda)
Doors open 7:45pm

Wear layers, bring water.
Pre-purchase is recommended (we’ve been filling up).
No steps to learn — just presence in motion.

(Photo by Nosrat Tarighi)

10/15/2025

"It's amazingly transformative and it's super fun." - Stacie 🌿

We just wrapped up a beautiful Interwoven retreat — blessed with perfect weather and surrounded by truly amazing people.

💃 Thank you Stacie, for sharing your experience and dance ❤️
🎥 Video by Nosrat Tarighi | DC Multimedia Productions 🙏

10/10/2025

"I will be holding you in my heart as we dance this life together." - Ann 🌿

For those joining Interwoven retreat this weekend at Buffalo Gap, we will meet one another in nature and in the great web of love that holds us all. We have space for 3 more, if you are feeling the call.

📅 October 10–13, 2025 | Interwoven retreat at Buffalo Gap, WV
We gather again to weave what we’ve uncovered into the fabric of our lives. 🕊️
➡️ Register now: https://www.annkite.com/interwoven

📸 Photo by Nosrat Tarighi | DC Multimedia Productions

10/07/2025

This is our last chance this year to dance under the open sky.
Come join us in nature—to feel the wind on your skin, to listen to the birds’ call, to move among the trees, and to rest beneath a blanket of stars in community.

📅 October 10–13, 2025 | Interwoven retreat at Buffalo Gap, WV
➡️ Register now: https://www.annkite.com/interwoven

We’ll gather on the pavilion and in the grass, letting movement quiet the mind and return us to what’s simple, alive, and true. Interwoven begins this Friday, just two hours from DC. Come dance, rest, and remember your belonging.

Great Thanks to Katy Hogan for sharing her words and Nosrat for sharing his gift of video storytelling ❤️