9th edition of the Festival of Contact Improvisation in the French Province, in Rustrel, one of the most beautiful villages in France, located north of Apt and at the foot of the Monts de Vaucluse. A unique opportunity of immersion for 7 days, for 35 participants, to experience an exploration of dance and movement with quality workshops, jams, live music and many other proposals to share.

Registration and all info and pictures: https://www.emotionbodies.com/events/63-festival-contact-improvisation-provence-rustrel-springtime-2024.html#english 

Contact Improvisation, Danse contemporaine et improvisation (Flying Low), Workshops, Jams, Underscore, Live music, Nature.

• To whom we address: The event is open to all those who wish to share, learn or get a deeper experience in Contact Improvisation Dance. Space open to all levels, beginners and advanced and professional dancers.
• Days and hours: From Saturday April 20th afternoon to Friday 26 April in the afternoon.
• Places available: Limited to 35 and will be accepted in order of registration.
• Location: Rustrel (Provence). Professional dance space with a high quality wooden dance floor.
• Food: Vegetarian meals concocted from fresh, quality products and supplied locally wherever possible. Silvia will be our cook. She cooks incredibly delicious and with lots of love. Silvia is a lover of alchemy, art, culinary anthropology and permaculture. https://www.instagram.com/cuinaanonima/

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Festival philosophy

This festival was born from an initiative between a brother and a sister and their passion for dance. Mercè Nebot, who has lived in French Provence for 20 years, and Pep Nebot, who lives in Barcelona, have joined forces to create this space for sharing dance, creation and beauty.
At each edition, people of different nationalities have gathered for the Festival, in particular from France and Spain, but each year other nationalities join us, which is very enriching and allows the establishment of a cultural bridge around art, dance and creativity.

In this festival we want to prioritize some approaches:

• Quality pedagogy in Contact Improvisation dance to promote better body awareness;
• Welcoming a small group that will live together for a week an intimate and profound human adventure. We want to generate a sense of belonging to the group and a sense of community, by creating an inclusive, generous and supportive environment;
• Contact with nature, surround yourself with aesthetic beauty and charismatic villages of the deep Provence;
• The cultural exchange between participants, locals and international visitors; We have already experienced on many occasions that, when people with different cultures and life experiences get together, we all grow in a spiral of creativity and self-knowledge;
• Live Contact Improvisation in its essence, with its living principles present at all times: self-respect and respect for the other, sense of group, security and creativity, movement in gravity, contact, attention and self-knowledge, among others.

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The facilitators

Below there is a more detailed description of the participants and their workshop proposals. Here there is a short synthesis:
• Lucía Sánchez – Madrid (Spain) – She began her professional life as a biologist and found a new path in exploring the body in motion and its relationship with the environment. Trained in contemporary dance and improvisation, she has practiced and taught Contact Improvisation and other disciplines for over 10 years. She is part of the Omos Company and has her own dance studio in Madrid

• Carmen Alcalde - Extremadura (Spain) - With 20 years as a Contact Impro dancer and more than 10 as a teacher, she studied social education, cultural anthropology and sexology. Later theater, dance and contact improvisation. For her, dance, and in particular Contact improvisation, constitutes a tool to approach the presence and self-knowledge of the body on a daily basis.

• Pep Nebot - (Barcelona) - Contact Impro dancer for 15 years, he has participated in workshops with Nancy Stark and in more than 20 international Contact festivals. He also professionally practices contemporary and acrobatic dance.

• Mercè Nebot – (Barcelona-Provence) – Passionate dancer and instructor of Wutao and free dance. With her own creation ORGANIK DANCE, she will offer us a workshop to reconnect with her interiority, her rhythm, her creativity and embark on a sensitive, jubilant and revitalizing dance journey.

• Sébastien Prats (France) - Vocal practice and Jam music. A self-taught author, composer and performer for over 20 years, Sébastien Prats offers an artistic originality that transcends borders. Close to nature and its energies, he draws his inspiration, his poetry and his ability to create magnetic, bewitching and singular sound spaces.

• Silvia (Catalunya) – Professional cook with extensive experience cooking for groups in events of all kinds. She cooks vegetarian, organic and always tries to use high quality local suppliers. She cooks incredibly deliciously and with lots of love. Silvia is a lover of alchemy, art, culinary anthropology and permaculture. https://www.instagram.com/cuinaanonima/

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Structure of the intensives

INTENSIF CONTACT IMPROVISATION - LUCÍA SANCHEZ.
Dive in the river of sensations

These sessions will be an invitation to slow down, connect with ourselves, and use our attention as a lens to amplify physical sensations.

We will embark on a journey into the unknown, in which Gravity and Touch will be the “food” of our movement.

Personally, I love to dance from this place where I am often surprised by what happens, where my animal awakens and displays its own voice, where I perceive the world as a more vibrant and alive place.

INTENSIVE FLYING LOW & IMPROVISATION - LUCÍA SANCHEZ
Body Celebration.

In this workshop we will take elements of the Flying Low contemporary dance technique influenced by my CI practice, somatic techniques and improvisation.

We will practice the “solo” movement; entry and exit from the ground through simple movement patterns that involve locomotion through spirals, connecting the center with the extremities or finding the most efficient paths using free fall, from a state of attention and alert.

Another focus of the workshop will be the group. The group as an organism, as an entity in itself.
From our particularity, we will play at dissolving into the collective, forming part of a living organism larger than ourselves.
This work will give us tools to nourish spaces that are often sparsely inhabited during a CI jam: our “solo” dance and group improvisation. We will strengthen our telescopic attention; from the micro to the macro, from the inside to the outside. And perhaps we will manage to enrich our collective improvisations, providing more variety of landscapes in addition to the delicious CI duets that usually reign in the jams.

Video of a Flying Low class with Lucía Sánchez: https://vimeo.com/233033943

INTENSIVE CONTACT IMPROVISATION - CARMEN ALCALDE
Open the field of possibilities

The body is an envelope: it then serves to contain what must then be unpacked. The unfolding is endless. The finite body contains infinity.
Jean-Luc Nancy
We will take the time to welcome the body through breathing, movement and voice and we will gradually encounter others and space, configuring a living organism whose interactions between the parts affect the whole and configure it.
Guided by curiosity, play and some basic principles of IC, we will cultivate relational freedom, in order to open the field of possibilities in our dance. We will improvise by connecting to the creativity offered by states of presence and uncertainty, to escape from pre-established patterns and roles.
The intention is to create a safe space where you can savor dance and incorporate horizontal forms of relating, knowing we are unique and belonging.

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About Rustrel

Rustrel is a village located north of Apt and at the foot of the Monts de Vaucluse. Its open-air ocher quarries, fully exploited in the past, have made it rich and continue through tourism with those of the "Colorado Provençal". Its dirt trails allow you to discover eroded cliffs with more than 20 shades of ochre2, hoodoos, etc. They date from the Cretaceous and are composed mainly of ochreous sands, white sands and ferruginous cuirasses.

The privileged environment: The Provençal Colorado extends over more than 30 hectares, in the Luberon massif, about 10 km from Apt1. Marked trails run through former ocher quarries with more than 20 shades of ochre. The site includes the "Cirque de Barriès", the "Cirque de Bouvène", settling basins, fairy chimneys (dangerous area prohibited by municipal decree), the "Sahara", the bed of the Dôa (small local river) . The GR 6 long-distance footpath crosses the site. The colors of the ochres of the Provençal Colorado contrast with the shades of green of the vegetation and the white of the surrounding limestone massifs.

Accommodation

XII century Château de Rustrel located in the center of the village

This XII century castle has recently been restored and we continue to add a new touch to it every year. Nevertheless, it is a princely stopover that is offered to you with dinners in the amphitheater at the foot of the castle on sunny days, rooms for 2 and dormitories with 3, 4 and 6 beds and a large common room in ground floor. As it is in the center of the village, it is also an opportunity to take a short tour of the oil mill or simply listen to your footsteps echo in the cobbled streets.

We will have the chance to stay together in this historic building and meet there at every meal to share unforgettable moments.

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PRICES & REGISTRATION

Price WITH accommodation in Rustrel castle (ony 30 beds):

• Early Bird until March 1, 2024: €490
• After March 1, 2024: 530 €

Price WITHOUT accommodation in Rustrel castle:

• Early Bird until March 1, 2024: 410 €
• After March 1, 2024: 450 €

To reserve the place, you must pay the deposit of €100, and the rest can be transferred or paid in cash at the event.

What is included in the price:

Accommodation in Rustrel Castle in shared rooms. People will be distributed as they register. (for those who pay the price with accommodation).
All lunches and dinners, with organic vegetarian cuisine.
Use of the common spaces of the castle, dining room, bathrooms, terraces, etc.
All workshops and jams.
Liability insurance.

What is not included in the price:

Breakfasts (the dining room of the Castle will be available to all participants). However, coffee and tea will always be available to everyone. A refrigerator will also be made available to all participants.

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REGISTRATION AND PAYMENTS

To reserve your place you must register in the registration form and pay the deposit of €100 to confirm your reservation, and the rest can be transferred before the event or paid in cash on the first day of the event.

The transfer of the deposit can be made to a Spanish or French bank, or by Paypal:

• Spanish bank: IBAN: ES47 0081 0900 8000 0334 3240SWIFT: BSABESBBXXX (Owner: José Nebot Muns)

• French bank: IBAN : FR76 1390 6001 4200 1891 0602 595 / BIC : AGRIFRPP839 / Association Corps Raccords

• Paypal: emotionbodies@gmail.com If you choose to pay pay Paypal, there is an applyed commission that can vary from 5 euros (Euro zone) to 20 euros (Israel or Australlia for instance). Due the this high quantities, we will ask you to pay us back this commission in cash in the festival. Thanks for understanding.

When making the transfer, write in the concept "your name and surname + Festival Provence". For international transfers, make sure that the amount being sent is free of bank commissions.

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Contact and information:

Contact in France: Merce Nebot +33 666124365, mercenebot@hotmail.com
Contact in Catalonia: Pep Nebot +34 685166358, info@emotionbodies.com

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EXTENDED DESCRIPTION OF THE FACILITATORS

Lucia Sánchez (Madrid, Espagne):

With my roots in biology, it was while living in New Zealand that my interest found a new avenue in the exploration of the body in movement and its relationship with the environment. Back in Europe, I trained in contemporary dance and it was when I discovered QI and improvisation that I found my home. Since then, I have continued to delve into these practices accompanied by people who have filled me with inspiration, curiosity and life. From 2008-2022 I embarked on the adventure of opening a studio dedicated to body and movement (lapuertaroja, Madrid) and in 2020 I co-directed the nature dance studio La Mimosa (Mataelpino). From 2012 to 2017 I was part of Cía. Omos Uno (dance & improvised music). In 2018, I was a mother. My priorities and my vision of the world have changed, meditation and Gestalt are now an integral part of my daily life. Yet my center remains. It's dance. It's the ground that supports me, it's the sensations that speak to me, the images that inhabit me, move me and dilute me... Dance is my home, my channel. This is the place I always come back to find myself.

Carmen Alcalde (Extremadura - Espagne)

I am interested in the poetic, political and ritual dimensions of dance, capable of having an impact on our subjectivities, creating new ways of being in the world and relating to others.
I studied social education, cultural anthropology, sexology and arts education and theater. In 2005 I discovered Contact Improvisation, falling in love and deepening my practice with different teachers, among whom I highlight the influence of Cristiane Boullosa, Eckhard Müller, Daniela Schwartz, Konstantinos Gerardos, Fernando Neder, Martin Keogh and Cristina Turdo.
Residing in Chile in 2011, I started teaching CI and since then I have regularly led courses. In 2012, I moved to a town in Extremadura with a group of friends to undertake a collective living project which developed for 5 years with a horizontal and assembled structure. Moved by the processes of change through self-management and the dynamics that emerge from them, I studied group process facilitation and Gestalt psychotherapy, finding various connections between these areas and IQ as a social dance.
As an IC teacher I have participated in the Contact festivals in Asturias, Madrid, Cardedeu and Italy and other events such as "Pirineos en Danza", "Namoreira" or "Itineranzza". With Lucía Sánchez, Ernesto Novales and Fabien Fefebre, she co-organized the “CI Danzas Magas Meeting” (7 editions). Since 2017 I have co-hosted with Lucía Sánchez the workshops “Espacios ( ) entre _La vida y la danza” and since 2020, the “Enramando” project with Ernesto Novales. I teach self-care workshops through movement and voice for women and participate in mixed-gender projects that promote gender equality in rural schools.
Since 2017, I have managed and lived in La Enramada, a meeting, retreat and creation space located in nature. It is here that I mainly teach, organize and host artistic residencies and from where I support individual therapeutic processes with a gender perspective.

Links / Videos
“Sitting in uncertainty” La Enramada, April 2020 https://youtu.be/yFULUr9K9wE
Meeting Contact End of year, Lalita Devi, 2019-2020 https://vimeo.com/372383720
“Metamorphosis”, video by Víctor Orive, Gredos, May 2021” https://www.facebook.com/victor.orive.profesional/posts/10224998598015259
Contact Impro Workshop “Spaces ( ) between _ Life and dance” La Vera, May 2019 https://vimeo.com/328367994

Pep Nebot - (Barcelona)

With 15 years of experience as a Contact-Improvisation (CI) dancer, he has participated in intensive workshops with Nancy Stark Smith, Martin Keogh, Leilani Weiss, etc., and in more than 20 international CI festivals; For 2 years he has also been teaching Contact Improvisation classes and is very involved in the training and organization of contemporary acrobatic dance and Contact Improvisation events. He is one of the co-creators with his sister of the CI En Provence Festival in France that has been happening since 2018. Before immersing himself in dance, he physically dedicated himself to semi-professional climbing for 20 years. From Contact improvisation, she is interested in the paths that lead to authentically living the present moment, inhabiting a constant curiosity about the play between the body and the force of gravity, danced emotions and human contact with oneself and others. Pep feels great gratitude for having come to dance and Contact Improvisation in his life, a sacred and privileged space that he loves to share and contribute to the expansion towards all those people who feel a desire or call to discover it and delve deeper into it.

Mercè Nebot – (Barcelona-Provence) :

Passionate about dance and movement for over 15 years, she is particularly interested in free, spontaneous dance focused on the art of improvisation. His experiences, broad and diverse, cover universes such as the Dance of the 5 Rhythms, Biodynamic Dance, Contact-Improvisation Dance, Dancing your Presence (Dominique Perrière and Pascal Derome), Dervish Dance, etc.
Trained in Wutao (contemporary body art with Taoist influence) in 2015 and in the practice of Dancing Being Danced with Véronique Pioch in 2022, today she runs free dance and Wutao workshops and enjoys creating spaces for expression and bodily exploration. Since 2018 she has been co-creator with her brother of the Contact Improvisation Dance Festival in Provence.
What deeply drives Mercè is to create spaces for expression and bodily exploration, and to transmit her love for dance and the joy of free movement and freed from the limits and conditioning that we can impose on ourselves, and thus come live fully in the present moment.

Sébastien Prats (France)

Deux racines portent mon expérience professionnelle: Une expérience de plus de 25 ans dans les domaines de la production musicale, création artistique, spectacle, concert, scène en tant qu'interprète et organisation d'évenements. Une formation et une pratique d'enseignant depuis plus de 10 années dans les domaines du bien être, de la santé, de la relaxation et la méditation. https://www.sebastienprats.com/
Workshop proposal: Spontaneous singing.
A sacred space-time to find yourself in yourself and together in a fraternal, creative, joyful spirit. Free from the sounds, the gestures to which our body aspires, we will untie, energize the space through song and dance, sound and movement in co-creation. Our body evolving on a daily basis leads us to experience and feel a number of emotions that cannot be verbalized, out of syntactic or unconscious. This improvised singing space-time is made to liberate the body, connect with direct expression and digest the emotional speaking of this material. This group practice has the effect of calming the mind and strengthening confidence, self-esteem and inner joy.