30 October – 3 November 2024
Partecipants: Max 35
Gaia Terra, Udine, Italy
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
Michele Marchesani
He began his work on the body in 1996 by studying Shiatsu, of which he is currently a practitioner with his own private studio and a teacher at the Shiatsu-ShinTai School. He later deepened his technique by studying ShinTai, Fascia, Chakras, Light Body Activation (Light Body Yoga), and numerous other holistic approaches. In 2003, he developed “Deep Touch,” a bodywork technique focused on movement and perception, for which he offers workshops and trainings. In 2004, while teaching Deep Touch at an International Dance Festival, he encountered Contact Improvisation, which he pursued as a student, event organizer, and international teacher. Over the years, his research has led him to write numerous articles, culminating in the publication of “Somatics of Contact Improvisation,” available in both Italian and English. Parallel to his bodywork practice, he has approached his deep passion for music with the same curiosity and dedication as a researcher. He explores with interest, focusing especially on improvisational aspects, the interweaving and interactions of sound with other forms of artistic expression.
Intensive workshop
Somatics of Contact Improvisation
The term “somatic” comes from the Greek word “soma,” which means “body.” Somatic practices focus on the perception and understanding of bodily intelligence. Instead of emphasizing only physical movement, these practices invite individuals to develop a deep awareness of the sensations, images, and thoughts that arise during the exploration of the body and movement.
There is a tendency to integrate other somatic practices into dance (Somatics into Contact), rather than investigating its intrinsic somatic aspect. Although such practices can enhance the quality of the dance, exploring “Somatics in Contact” should not mean directly adopting one of these into CI, as Contact Improvisation is, in itself, already a somatic practice.
The somatic aspects of CI should be examined from within the practice itself, with its own perspective, vision, and language. The founders of this discipline intentionally did not set strict boundaries, leaving the practice free to express and evolve, encouraging a continuous spirit of research. A research that, through the process of improvisation, manifests in the dance itself. To dance is to research.
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
Musician and sharing circle focalizer
Luigi Mattiello
I am a Gestalt counselor trained at the Miriam Polster Institute in Florence and an integrated approach music therapist graduated from the Tuscan Center of Music Therapy. In the social and educational sphere I collaborate with school institutions and mental health centers in prevention and rehabilitation projects with specific Music Therapy resources. As part of the relationship of help, I work with groups of adults through the tools of Counseling, using a Gestalt approach and artistic mediation. I lead groups on the use of voice and song as a vehicle for transforming human potential, an integration path between Gestalt techniques, artistic mediation counseling, vocal music therapy and free singing. In the artistic and personal well-being field I work as a multi-instrumentalist in concert activities called sound rituals / world-music, a path that sees the realization of meditative concerts through evocative sounds from different countries of the world, combined with the ritualistic dimension of the human being that offers the listener the opportunity to create internal landscapes useful for inner growth and the development of his potential. I am an educational teacher at the biennial music therapy course in Florence. Trainer and populariser in the pedagogical and social field with teachers, helpers and parents.
Pamela Cerchi
Pamela Cerchi is an archaeologist, musician, and music therapist. She began studying music at an early age, combining this passion with her interest in history, anthropology, and the cultural traditions of different peoples. She graduated in music therapy from the Conservatory of Ferrara and works in various therapeutic and preventive settings, such as schools, kindergartens, nursing homes, penitentiaries, and holistic events.
Focalizers
Agnese Polloni
Dance Movement Therapist® trained at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and a member of APID® Italian Professional Association of Dance Movement Therapy. Psychologist registered in section A of the Order of Psychologists of Veneto and Pedagogue trained at the University of Padua. In 2018, in Seville, I began studying the practice of Contact Improvisation, and in 2020 in Barcelona, I attended the Integral Program in Contact Improvisation at ENEstudio. A Level 1 Reiki practitioner, I have enriched my practices as a therapist and facilitator of movement processes through the study of Bioenergetic Analysis, Body Mind Centering, Axis Syllabus, and Dance Improvisation. I worked in the field of international cooperation on projects involving artistic mediation for several years in Barcelona. I am currently working as a Dance Movement Therapist® and bringing psychophysical and somatic movement practices and Contact Improvisation to various contexts and settings. This year, I joined CIP Contact Improvisation Padova. For me, moving means being open to renewing one's experience of the self, a place of deep discovery, a medium to feel grounded and open. For me, movement is life.
Boti B. Gaspar
Born and raised in Hungary, where he started his journey in Contact Improvisation, shortly before moving to Italy, to begin studying psychology at the University of Padua. Here quickly integrated in the local CI scene, last year, together with CIP Contact Improvisation Padova, organised and facilitated the project "Emrio" a space dedicated to the study of CI. This year, as part of CIP, is organising several other encounters, and facilitating weekly classes. In the meanwhile he graduated with a thesis deepening Contact Improvisation, and to nurture the intersection between psychology and movement, started collaborating with the Paduan Association of Functional Psychology and Psychotherapy, a center dedicated to a psychosomatic approach with a particular attention to touch in therapeutic settings. Forsees a project of CI in family starting this autumn.
Prices and registration procedures
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How to get there
By train
Nearest airports: Trieste, Venezia
By Car
VIA PETRARCA 45, FLAMBRUZZO (UDINE)
By train
Nearest Train station: LATISANA
then you’ll get a bus to FLAMBRUZZO
By bus
Linea 515 – LATISANA – FLAMBRUZZO ore 13:40 – 14.10
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.
