28 Agoust – 1 September 2024
Participants: Max 35 per shift
This retreat is designed for people with experience in contact improvisation who are familiar with the dynamics of the jam, and for those who wish to discover how silence and meditation can enrich and deepen their experience of dance.
Silence, The Contact Improvisation Jam, Meditation, the Talking Circle
Intensive workshop Teacher
Linda Bufali
I met C.I. in 1998 during a physical theatre course. I was fascinated by it and began a long learning process that continues to this day. Since 2008 I have been teaching in many Italian communities (Italy Contact Festival) and abroad (Madrid, Lleida, Alcoi, Basque Country, Cologne, Israeli Contact Festival, Ukraina Contact Festival, Barcelona Contact Festival, Asturias Contact Festival, In Touch Barcelona, Finland). Teaching means to me feeding my own research and satisfying the need to contribute to and support that of others. I conceived and organised events with the desire to spread CI as much as possible (Italy Contact Camp and CicloNomade) because I believe it is an extraordinary, powerful and healthy Revolution that starts from us, from our bodies. Personally, I experience C.I. as the best way I have in this life to meet someone outside of social compromises, to meditate and keep the urge to move alive. Life is movement, moving in two accelerates awareness. Today I am 46 years old, a mother of two children aged 27 and 4. I am also a grandmother of a two-year- old boy.
Intensive workshop
THE PUPPET AND THE SAMURAI
Relaxed but present.
Intention or absence of expectations. Giving or receiving. We will use very simple images to experience the concept of
fullness / emptiness and what is in the middle. We will push to
the exteme many ‘roles’ that we can choose during the dance
and that we can change all the time, looking for an internal
stimulus that travels from us to partner and to the space.
Technically it is a proposal on the tone, on the load of movement and connection, to enrich and enjoy every moment
what’s in the duo.
When working in solo, we will use the image of the ball to dance
the internal and external space of our body, to dance with the
floor, to play with moments of disequilibrium to exit from our
usual ‘frontal pattern’, discovering the endless directions.
Weight, momentum, listening, spirals.
And we’ll dance.
Schedule
Platform
08.15 / 09.00 Meditation
10.00 / 10.30 Silent Circle
10.30 Silent Jam
15.00 / 16.00 Talking Circle
16.00 / 19.00 Intensive
21.00 Silent Circle
21.30 Jam
Silence
1st. 2nd. 3rd day 21.00 – 13.00 Silence in all areas of the retreat
4th day 00.00 – 24.00 Silence in all areas of the retreat
Meals
09.00 / 10.00 Breakfast
13.00 / 14.30 Lunch
19.30 / 21.00 Dinner
Retreat Focalizers
Alessandro Ismaele Binelli
Alessandro Ismaele Binelli grew up with a passion for the human body and movement, practicing many different sports and studying first Exercise Science and then Osteopathy. In 2016, he began exploring personal research through meditation, yoga, and shamanic practices. In 2021, he fell in love with Contact Improvisation, which opened up an innovative perspective on the conception of the body in movement and in relationship. Shortly after, he discovered Playfight, a discipline of conscious wrestling with a focus on emotions, which led him to start facilitating men's circles and mixed circles, beginning to integrate the emotional body with the physical and mental bodies. Today, his approach to the body is becoming increasingly in-depth thanks to training in biotransenergetic counseling.
Ilaria Vergani
Yoga and meditation Teacher, bodyworker, Dancer and Visual Artist. After graduating in Visual Arts, I began my research in the field of performance, contemporary dance and audiovisual arts working internationally in Europe especially in Germany and Spain where I studied the Master of Performing Practice and Visual Culture at Museum Reina Sofia in Madrid. I met Contact Improvisation in 2016 and it was love at the first sight, since then I have deepened my training studying with many teachers around the globe and being nourished by the warmth of the CI community. Contact improvisation became an important part of my research both in daily and in artistic expression. My practice blends somatic practice with yoga, meditation, and philosophy with creative needs, encouraging a dynamic connection between body and mind. I believe in the therapeutic power of somatic and artistic practices, and I guide students on a journey of self-discovery, using yoga and Somatics as a tool for personal growth and connection to the universe.
Musician
Pierluigi Foschi
Pierluigi Foschi is a drummer, percussionist, and composer born in Rieti in 1993. He graduated with top honors from the "Accademia Siena Jazz," presenting two theses on the psychological interpretation of rhythm. During his academic journey, he performed with Maestro Alessandro Giachero at the "Victoria Jazz Club" in Oslo with the group "Typen," dedicated to the theories of C.G. Jung and his analytical psychology. He also recorded two albums released by "Aut Records" and "Fonterossa Records," respectively by Nicolò Francesco Faraglia and Amedeo Verniani. He has performed at the most important Italian festivals with musicians such as Giancarlo Schiaffini, Emanuele Parrini, and Silvia Bolognesi. In recent years, he has worked as a percussionist with Stefano Battaglia's "Tabula Rasa Ensemble" at the Accademia Chigiana, and with Battaglia, he performed with the quartet "Tetraktis" at the Italian Cultural Institutes in Berlin and Tel Aviv as part of the "Young Italian Talents in the World" project.
Prices and registration procedures
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How to get there
Plane: Nearest airport: Perugia, Firenze, Roma
Car: Podere Calcinaia, 53019
Castelnuovo Berardenga, Siena
Posizione: https://goo.gl/maps/N4EefPfQuGtFu7eVA
Train: The closest railway station is Castelnuovo Berardenga Stazione 15 min car or Siena 30 min car
By bus: The place is not directly accessible by public transport but we can pick you up in Castelnuovo Berardenga. There are buses from Siena
More detailed information will be provided following registration
Host
The house has a wooden practice room, outdoor dancefloor, nice kitchen, and cozy shared room.
Also camping and van spots are available.
We are on an organic farm surrounded by wood forest, olive fields, and a vineyard Tuscany landscape.
Perfect for chilling, walking, and exploring, of course dancing!!
CSR Team
Anna Bertolotti
Born in Tuscany and based in Liguria, Anna studied set and costume design in Milan and practiced it for 15 years, cultivating many different artistic interests, mainly theater acting. She landed on Contact Improvisation six years ago and it was love at first sight. She then became a managing member of Corpoetica and CSR, organizing CI and dance related events in Italy.
Alessandro Papalini
His journey through travel, contact improvisation, meditation, and social work began twenty-five years ago, bringing deep meaning to his life. A professional educator and pedagogist, he holds degrees in social psychology from the University of Siena, where his theses explored and examined human connections through touch and symbol. As a yoga and meditation teacher trained at FIY, he evolved from a fascination with Kashmir Shaivism and its contemporary interpreters to an appreciation for secular Ancient Buddhism via the practice of Vipassana meditation (AMECO). Founder of the Libera Mente APS association, he coordinates projects for refugees and convicted minors and leads Contact Silence Retreats. He is the father of Litò, a wonderful 9-year-old child, and he promised her he will never stop dancing.
