Contact Improvisation Festivals Worldwide

A festival brings together many teachers, workshops, jams, and often performances in one place, usually over several days. It's the widest way to experience Contact Improvisation with a large community, rather than a single class or teacher.

24 upcoming eventsin 17 countries

Going to your first one? What to pack, and how to pace a week →

Festival

Létanec CI Festival

Létanec Contact Improvisation Festival 2026 — 8th edition. A residential in-depth study of movement and dance as tools for awareness, creativity and transformation, rooted in contact improvisation and embracing authentic movement, Feldenkrais method, experiential anatomy, ecosomatics, embodied writing, and drawing. Part 1: BEING Residency (20–30 August) focuses on individual and group processes through Contact Improvisation principles. Part 2: KIN Scores for Group Improvisations (1–5 September) focuses on group improvisation scores, Underscore, long jams, and performances. Facilitated by Jana Burianova, Nikola Jankovic, and Giulia Ravarotto. Open to all levels. Venue: ancient countryside art center in Trstenice, Czech Republic. Accommodation in shared rooms, yurts, or tents. Vegetarian/vegan meals included.

Aug 20 - Sep 5, 2026

Trstenice, Czech Republic

Festival

ECITE Italy 2026

ECITE 2026 Italy — 'On Teaching Contact Improvisation' — is a six-day European gathering of CI teachers at Studio Danza Chianti in San Casciano Val di Pesa, Tuscany (September 1–7, 2026). Now in its Italian edition, ECITE brings together practitioners across Europe and beyond to think and move together about what it means to transmit this practice. Contact Improvisation carries a history. Born from experimentation, from questioning form, from listening to gravity and to each other, it was consciously kept open — without a single definition, without one official method, without a formal institution claiming ownership. A practice shaped by many voices, many bodies, many approaches. In this gathering, teaching is approached as a living practice. What are we passing on when we teach CI today? A technique? A lineage? A way of relating? Through embodied research and shared reflection, participants explore how knowledge moves in the room — through touch, timing, language, attention. Teaching becomes not only the delivery of tools, but the creation of conditions to learn. From Thursday Sep 3, the daily schedule is self-organised around the groups' evolving needs. On Saturday Sep 5, a site-specific performative afternoon invites contributions — dance, lecture, performance, installation — offered as a gift to the village. The Circolo Arci serves lunch at 13:00 and dinner at 19:30 daily. Dorm accommodation (mattress on floor, max 35 people, bring sleeping bag) is available on site. Solidarity pricing available for participants from countries affected by war or economic crisis — write to ecite2026italy@gmail.com. Organised by Nica Andrea Portavia, Samuel Fuscà, and Marta Iucci.

Sep 1 - Sep 7, 2026

San Casciano in Val di Pesa, Italy

Festival

TANZT! Festival

TANZT! Festival at Ökodorf Sieben Linden is a three-day late-summer dance festival (September 3–6, 2026, 2nd edition) in an ecovillage community in Saxony-Anhalt, offering three movement formats to explore, deepen, and mix: Contact Improvisation, Embodiment dance, and AcroYoga. Mornings and afternoons bring workshops led by each teacher in their respective format; evenings offer shared jams — some in silence, others with live music. The programme is designed so participants can engage with at least two of the three formats. Children aged 4–13 are welcome throughout, with a free childcare programme running during adult sessions (funded by the state of Saxony-Anhalt). Angela-Mara Florant leads Contact Improvisation. She holds a Master in Arts du Spectacle and co-founded and directs the NORDTANZ Festival in Hamburg; since 2015 she has run Tanzstudio Triade in Hamburg. Maike Stöckmann leads Embodiment dance — she is a psychologist and dance pedagogue with long experience in body work and trauma therapy, drawing on CI, queer tango, contemporary dance, and Authentic Movement. Lorena Castro leads AcroYoga, weaving together yoga, Thai massage and acrobatics to cultivate trust, connection, and playfulness. The ecovillage setting provides starry skies, a pond, and home-produced organic food. Open to all experience levels and age groups. Arrival Thursday from 17:00 (dinner 18:30, programme starts 20:00); departure Sunday after lunch at 13:00.

Sep 3 - Sep 6, 2026

Beetzendorf, Germany

Festival

Portugal Contact Festival

International Festival of Contact Improvisation in its 9th edition. Daily workshops and classes, jams, beautiful outdoor dance space in nature, opportunities to dance on the beach and in the ocean, delicious local vegetarian (mainly vegan) food, live musicians, swimming pool. Focus on cultivating deeper awareness of listening, breathing, giving, receiving, and timing. With international artists combining years of teaching, choreography, movement research and performance experience.

Sep 14 - Sep 19, 2026

Tavira, Portugal

Festival

Moldova Festival Contact+

Moldova Festival Contact+ is an international festival of Contact Improvisation and Performance in Chișinău, Moldova, now in its 16th edition (September 26 – October 4, 2026). Over 9 days, the festival brings together movers, performers, and researchers from across Europe and beyond in the centre of the city. The programme spans CI Intensives (Mirva Makinen, FI; Sebastian Flegiel, PL), Performative Laboratories (Benno Voorham, SE; Olga Zitluhina, LV; Tamara Maksymenko, UA/AT; Sergey Semichev, DE/UA; Alexandra Soshnicova, MD; Serghei Golovnea, MD), and a full slate of Classes and Workshops in CI, Somatics, and Performance (Virginia Negru, RO; Olek Wójcik, PL/ES; Daniel Rojasanta, CO; Laura Vlad, RO/ES; Petya Stoykova, BG; Radoslav Jordanov, BG; and more). Evening performances each night. Live musical accompaniment throughout by Stan Potoku (UA/MD) and Daniel Rojasanta (CO). Contact+ is a space where Contact Improvisation meets Performance, where practice deepens into research, and where movers and curious bodies come together to share, create, and dance. Open to all levels. Meals and accommodation are not included in the festival fee — the venue is in the central area of Chișinău with accommodation easily arranged nearby. Contact: fest.contactplus@gmail.com

Sep 26 - Oct 4, 2026

Chișinău, Moldova

Festival

Australian Contact Festival

The Australian Contact Festival is a national gathering and playground for human movement through Contact Improvisation, held at Lake Ainsworth Sport & Recreation Centre in Lennox Head, NSW. The venue sits directly on a large tea-tree lake and the Pacific beach, with a spacious sprung dance floor and surrounding bushland. Lennox Head itself is a small village with cafes and restaurants; the festival coincides with the NSW and QLD Labour Day long weekend (Oct 2–5), so early travel booking is recommended. The 2026 edition brings together 18 teachers and facilitators representing the breadth and depth of the Australian CI community: from long-time Melbourne practitioners and founding-generation teachers to Mullumbimby- and Bellingen-based facilitators, Perth movers, and international guests. The programme weaves together morning workshops, afternoon labs, evening jams, an Underscore, a Live Music Jam (coordinated by Hamzah Mas), a Performance Jam night (coordinated by Jim Mant), and an ongoing CI Lab for research questions (facilitated by Eamonn O'Flaherty). There is also a daily emotional wellbeing check-in held by Noa Rotem. Class offerings span all levels, from beginner-friendly entries into weight-sharing and body structure through to intermediate-advanced explorations of momentum, falling, fascia, and somatic awareness. Organised by Contact Collective Inc (Hamzah Mas & Valentina Gombi) with an egalitarian, community-centred ethos. Shared lunches and dinners are included in the festival ticket to foster connection across communities. On-site accommodation is available as a bookable add-on in three styles: Beachside Lodge (dorm), Cabins, and Villas. Registration via Trybooking.

Oct 2 - Oct 5, 2026

Lennox Head, Australia

Festival

Contact Impro Ibiza Festival

Contact Impro Ibiza 2026 — 6 intensive days to deepen your CI practice by the sea. 4 intensives with Keith Hennessy, Tom Weksler & Roser Tutsaus, Katja Mustonen, and Linda Bufali. Located at Club Cala Azul, near Cala Leña in the north of Ibiza, nestled among pine forests overlooking the sea. The venue features a swimming pool and dock. Accommodation in shared apartments (4 people, 2 bedrooms with private bathrooms). 3 meals a day included.

Oct 7 - Oct 12, 2026

Ibiza, Spain

Festival

EMOCIE

EMOCIE (Encuentro de Maestras/os y Organizadoras/es de Contact Improvisación España) is a gathering of teachers and organizers of Contact Improvisation in Spain. More than a one-time event, it is a meeting point for people who love this discipline and want to deepen their practice, teaching, and expansion. Through body practice, dialogue, and collective reflection, the gathering becomes a laboratory for investigating new forms of transmission, organization, and coexistence within the world of Contact Improvisation. Objectives: Strengthen the network between professionals and CI communities; share pedagogical experiences and methodologies; reflect on values, ethics, and culture; foster co-creation and co-responsibility. The event includes a call for proposals: 2.5h workshops, 45min 'Ideas Gota' sessions, and short performances. Open to all participants who want to facilitate.

Oct 8 - Oct 13, 2026

Almería, Spain

Festival

Falling Into Autumn Jam

Toronto's Falling Into Autumn is an annual Contact Improvisation festival by REAson d'etre Dance Productions, running October 9–12, 2026. The festival opens Friday evening with a film screening at the Revue Cinema (400 Roncesvalles Avenue), then moves to the Celia Franca Centre (400 Jarvis Street) for three days of classes, jams, and shared meals. Access-focused and intentionally welcoming, the festival accommodates a wide range of bodies and experience levels. Studios are set up with cushions and mats for rest; programming includes a CI elder story time, adult nap time, guided specialty jams, and open jams alongside technique sessions. Morning intensive tracks run Saturday through Monday: Monika Schuberth (Austria) teaches a Contango intensive (CI-tango fusion); Kathleen Rea and Milan Horvay teach flying and basing; Suzanne Liska teaches play-based CI with Alexander Technique principles. Additional workshop teachers include Frank Hull, Sarah Jones, and Dimitri Haddad (Quebec). Musician in residence Lalaina Ravelojaona (Montréal) performs throughout, exploring deep listening and rhythmic improvisation drawn from her French-Malagasy heritage. Saturday and Sunday lunches are catered (vegan with meat option). No catered lunch Monday. Scholarship support available — contact kathleenrea@reasondetre.com. Venue is barrier-free and wheelchair accessible; closest subway: Wellesley Station (elevator access).

Oct 9 - Oct 12, 2026

Toronto, Canada

Festival

International Contact Improvisation & Butoh Festival en Provence, 17th Edition

The 17th edition of the International Contact Improvisation Festival en Provence, this year expanded with Butoh, at the 12th-century Château de Rustrel in the Luberon area of Provence. Workshops include "Exodus" (immersive Butoh with the duo MutsumiNeiro), "Losing Control" (CI weight-sharing and trust with Pep Nebot), "Rising From the Ground" (CI grounding and floorwork with Mercè Nebot), and improvised singing/movement with Sébastien Prats. Set in a natural landscape near the Colorado Provençal ochre quarries, with organic vegetarian meals and live music. Open to all levels, from beginners to advanced professionals.

Oct 17 - Oct 23, 2026

Rustrel, France

Festival

Nordtanz Festival

NORDTANZ Festival 2026 — 6 days of Contact Improvisation at Freie Waldorfschule Stade. For 110 experienced and beginning CI dancers. Workshops, jams, and guest teachers. Intensives and workshops taught by Hugh Stanier (UK/GER), Janosch Horn (GER), Marta Lucci (IT), Sebastian Grubb (DK/USA), and Zuzanna Bukowski (POL/GER). Live music by PAN (GER) and Federico Corsini (IT). In a cozy festival atmosphere, we create a relaxed learning space for 110 experienced and beginning CI dancers. On 6 days we will meet to deepen Contact Improvisation techniques in workshops and to improvise together in the jams.

Oct 20 - Oct 25, 2026

Stade, Germany

Festival

Mediterranea CI Gathering

Mediterranea is a six-day residential gathering, from October 20 to 25, 2026, in Sicily, dedicated to Contact Improvisation as a practice of research, relationship, and presence. It arises from the desire to root and grow a community of practitioners in Southern Italy, while at the same time opening to a wider horizon: the Mediterranean as a living space of exchange and future. Today, in a time marked by separation, borders, and tension, we feel the urgency to return to the body and to practice as a form of gentle resistance. Dancing here, in Sicily, at the heart of the Mediterranean, is for us both a political and poetic act: an invitation to come together in a different, shared space-time dedicated to practice, research, and exchange, where Contact Improvisation dialogues with other arts and allows itself to be nourished by them. For this first edition, Elisa Ghion and Mela Belletto will be with us, sharing their practices and contributing to the process with their perspective, experience, and sensitivity, opening spaces for workshops and research throughout the week. The days will follow a simple and vibrant rhythm: in the morning, classes followed by jam sessions; in the afternoon, jams, scores, and open research spaces; in the evening, time for meeting and sharing — in dance and beyond dance. We imagine this gathering as the beginning of a broader movement: a Mediterranean Contact Improvisation network, connecting dancers, facilitators, and communities across different coasts and cultures. This invitation is addressed to people with experience in Contact Improvisation and a desire to deepen their research.

Oct 20 - Oct 25, 2026

Riposto, Italy

Festival

7th Contact Impro Festival Leipzig

The 7th Contact Improvisation Festival Leipzig: five days of workshops, jams, and performances at the Karl Schubert Schule in Leipzig (Wednesday 21 – Sunday 25 October 2026), organised by the Contactimpro Leipzig community. The programme centers on two parallel 3-day Intensives (9 hours each, choose one at registration): Intensive 1 with Yin Haolong, "Inner Witness, Embodied Imagination, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Contact Improvisation": exploring the dancing body through TCM concepts, somatic inquiry, embryology, touch, and bodywork; and Intensive 2 with Heike Pourian, "Contact Improvisation as a Space for Research": using individual research settings to explore challenge, uncertainty, and trust within Contact Improvisation. Alongside the Intensives, Heike Kuhlmann leads a 4-day CI Basics course ("IN-Contact") introducing contact points, weight-sharing, and first lifts through contemporary dance and Body-Mind Centering® elements. The week also includes further CI classes, talks, bodywork offerings, kid-friendly programming with childcare, and evening jams. All offerings are open to all experience levels. The festival is family-friendly and queer-friendly, with published community guidelines and an on-site emotional-support team. Accommodation and meals are not provided; the nearest hostel is a 10-minute walk away in Connewitz (around €100 for 4 nights). The venue is wheelchair accessible, with a supermarket, an Italian restaurant, and a fast-food option nearby, and borders the Auwald forest. Cost: sliding scale €135–280. Pay what you can according to your financial situation; the lowest tier is intended for people receiving financial support. If €135 is still not affordable, contact the organisers directly. Organised by Toni, Miriam Bovenschen, and Emka Makarow. Registration and questions: anmeldung@contactimpro-leipzig.de.

Oct 21 - Oct 25, 2026

Leipzig, Germany

Festival

La Momentum — Contact Improvisation Gathering Córdoba

LA MOMENTUM is a four-day gathering of extended jams, classes, labs, a jam with live music, talks, and shared life in a natural setting, created to open a space for encounter, exploration, and practice of Contact Improvisation in the Sierras Chicas de Córdoba. Fourth edition, 2026. The organizers describe an active commitment to consent-based practice and care, with check-in circles and organizers available throughout the gathering. Buffet meal service is available with advance reservation (home-cooked, vegan option on request); some nearby shops also sell food. Accommodation options include private cabins (2 people), shared cabins (5 people), or camping, each bookable with or without meals; day and partial-day attendance without lodging is also available. Full pricing tiers and combined-day options are on the registration page.

Oct 22 - Oct 25, 2026

Río Ceballos, Argentina

Festival

Dolomite Flow

Dolomite Flow — Dance presence Connection. 4 days of Contact Improvisation, Authentic Relating, Bodywork, and Nature/Community in a cozy house in Lichtenstern am Ritten with a 190m² dance space. Second edition of this mini-festival in the autumnal South Tyrol. Sliding scale pricing available.

Oct 25 - Oct 28, 2026

Lichtenstern, Italy

Festival

Somatic Movement Arts Festival 2026

Five days of somatic research and dance in Benediktbeuern, an hour south of Munich, marking the festival's tenth edition. Somatic Movement Arts describes itself as a temporary dance community: a place to drop the mental weight and the social mask, arrive back inside your own skin, and rediscover the anatomy of joy and receptivity. Contact Improvisation sits at the centre, alongside Body-Mind Centering, Continuum Movement, Authentic Movement, New Dance, craniosacral and breath work, shiatsu and yoga. Mirva Mäkinen (Helsinki) teaches the intensive track. Days run at your own rhythm, with outdoor workshops, ice bathing in the lakes, sauna, singing circles and live music, and an integrated children's and youth programme shaped together with the parents rather than dropping kids off. No previous experience needed. Everyone is asked to help out twice for half an hour. Reduced rates for children, teens and young adults up to 21.

Oct 30 - Nov 4, 2026

Benediktbeuern, Germany

Festival

Performance & Contact Improvisation Festival

Performance & Contact Improvisation Festival. Join Kenzo Kusuda & Raúl Saldarriaga for an immersive journey from Contact Improvisation to Performance. Together we investigate the qualities of performance through Contact Improvisation, exploring presence, composition, touch, weight, listening, and play. Morning intensives, afternoon integration classes, evening jams, performances, and shared practice create a continuous journey from improvisation to performance. Open to dancers, performers, movers, and curious bodies of all levels. Your ticket includes all workshops, accommodation, and delicious meals.

Nov 26 - Nov 29, 2026

Helvoirt, Netherlands

Festival

Encuentro de Contacto Improvisación en el Valle Sagrado 2026

Encuentro de Contacto Improvisación — 8th edition. December 12-19, 2026. Valle Sagrado de los Incas, Cusco — Peru. This is an immersive retreat-format gathering to learn and practice Contact Improvisation, with classes, jams, morning practices, labs, and days for dancing in nature. We offer a sustained space to connect with our wellbeing through community living. The gathering also includes a closing ceremony of offering and gratitude to the Earth led by a Q'ero master. Our jams are dedicated to immersing ourselves in the core of Contact Improvisation practice, for which a space focused purely on dance — without music or talking — is needed. This gathering is aimed at people interested in the practice, with or without prior experience. Curious movement students are welcome to be part of a space of self-discovery through this dance practice, which has a somatic and care-based approach. We offer special prices for Peruvians and people from Latin America to encourage local practice, taking different economic realities into account. Promotions: - 15% discount for the first 10 registrants - 4x3 promotion: 4 people from the same country pay the equivalent of 3 registrations - Discount for returning participants - Promotions cannot be combined Venue: Ashram, surrounded by our Sacred Apus. The Ashram is located in Calca, in the Sacred Valley of the Incas (Cusco, Peru), at 2,900 meters above sea level. The area is near archaeological sites, surrounded by beautiful guardian mountains, and crossed by a river. We are located a 10-minute walk from the town center. The Ashram offers shared rooms with a maximum of 8 people. Hot showers are available twice a day. The kitchen is run by our team to provide 3 vegetarian meals a day, but will remain open for participants. The studio is spacious, with a wooden floor and an incredible roof letting in natural light. The people who care for and manage the place are very kind and respectful. Teaching: Alessandro Rivellino, Carola Robles, Mariana de los Rios

Dec 12 - Dec 19, 2026

Valle Sagrado de los Incas, Peru

Festival

CI New Year's Eve 26

A nine-day international Contact Improvisation New Year's gathering at the Prieuré de Marcevol, a 12th-century Romanesque priory in the French Pyrenees. 30 hours of workshops and labs plus daily jams, with dancing in the priory's Romanesque church. Two practice themes this year: Love Facing Fear and Animal Fictions. Accommodation on-site in the priory's guesthouse; self-catered meals. Non-smoking site, limited spots. Run as a not-for-profit gathering of friends, keeping the financial contribution to a minimum.

Dec 26, 2026 - Jan 3, 2027

Arboussols, France

Festival

CounterBalance Gathering

CounterBalance is a new frame to study Contact Improvisation in Goa, India, combining sessions facilitated by Indian and international teachers with open spaces for community-led research organized through discussions, laboratories, and jams. The gathering explores two themes: attention to physical forces and the socio-political dimension of the practice, centered on the idea of counterbalancing as redistributing load, listening across differences, and holding tension without crushing. The program includes intensives with Nica Portavia and Hugh Stanier, a mini-intensive with Anna Borràs, classes with Naresh Kumar, Josh Jones, and Alexander Dodgson, and laboratories with Nonie Yung, Kathleen Rea, and Guru Suraj, alongside community-led research sessions and evening jams and performances. Vegetarian lunch and dinner are provided, with vegan options available; accommodation is not managed by the event, though venue huts and a local landlord list are available on request. Limited to 80 spots. Held in Arambol, on the northern coast of Goa, a well-known hub for Contact Improvisation and somatic practices during the winter season.

Jan 14 - Jan 24, 2027

Arambol, India

Festival

Long Beach CI Festival 2027

Join us for the 5th Annual Long Beach Contact Improvisation Festival — four days of classes and jams with world-class teachers from California and across the country, January 15-18, 2027 on the California State University Long Beach campus. Get a head start with the pre-festival "Agile Beast" training with Sebastian Grubb, January 13-15. Teachers and full schedule to be announced. Tickets are on sale now and this event is expected to sell out quickly, so prompt registration is encouraged. Work exchange available: note it in the registration comments to be considered for a $100 discount off the low-income rate.

Jan 15 - Jan 18, 2027

Long Beach, United States

Festival

La Manzana de Paxton

An international Contact Improvisation festival on the Oaxacan coast, at Casa Yeshúa in Mazunte, a "pueblo mágico" a short walk from the beach. Ten days built around two stages with a free day (January 24) between them: Stage 1 (Jan 18-23) runs two parallel intensives plus guest classes and nightly jams; Stage 2 (Jan 25-28) runs one intensive plus daily guest classes and a closing jam-party. All levels of movement experience are welcome, including brand-new dancers. Program includes daily vegetarian lunch; accommodation (tent, bunk lodge, shared or private room, all at or near the venue) is optional and booked separately. Classes run in Spanish and English with translation as needed.

Jan 18 - Jan 28, 2027

Mazunte, Mexico

Festival

Skiing On Skin 2027

The 15th edition of Skiing On Skin, Finland's community-organized Contact Improvisation festival. Around 15 people organize and teach each year, with the group changing from year to year, and none of the organizers or teachers are paid — the festival runs in a non-profit spirit, with all fees covering basic necessities. Teachers bring a wide range of approaches, from anatomical precision to somatics, dynamic flying, slow meditative movement, and playful improvisation. Live music by guitarist Sakari Savola. Accommodation in rooms for 2-5 people with en-suite bathrooms, three buffet meals daily, and lakeside sauna access (2 nights included), with optional ice swimming. Open level classes accommodate beginners, though some sessions recommend prior CI experience.

Feb 16 - Feb 21, 2027

Vierumäki, Finland

Festival

Contact in Paradise 2027

The 2027 edition of Contact in Paradise, an annual Contact Improvisation festival at Seminarhaus Flackl in the Vienna Alps, organized by Lella Heindl and team since 2023. Pre-Workshop (May 3-5) followed by the main festival (May 5-9). Preliminary lineup includes Kathleen Rea, Cristian Navarro Salgado (Aham), Christian Lechner, Irina Jabsa, Guadalupe Santiago, Johanna Sinnhuber, Johma, Regina Forstner, and musician Michael Schrotter, with more teachers to be announced. Bilingual (German/English), all levels welcome, beginners included. Pricing uses a time-tiered pay-what-you-can model: the earlier you register, the lower your minimum contribution within a fixed range. Lodging and meals booked separately with the Flackl venue.

May 3 - May 9, 2027

Reichenau an der Rax, Austria