Hello to everyone!
We are very happy to announce you the 11th edition of Winter Jam of Arts 20024 – 2025 festival in a wonderful farm in north Rome, surrounded by a big forest!
The event includes labs of Contact improvisation, of Boby Mind Centering, of Somatics, of performing arts, of CircleSinging, of voice impro, of eastern approaches as: chakra and QI energy exploration and how can be integrated in our dances,
As well as many jams, live music and plenty of traditional Italian and vegetarian food!
The focus of this year retreats is through the contact impto make a research on the Known – Unknown and the research on the oriental philosophy and movement inviting many teachers with East roots and/or east traditions researches.
You are all invited to dance, sing, relax, connect with the nature, meet people from all around the world and improvise!
The festival will take place on 27 December – 5 of January and is composed by 3 events,
First will be 27 – 30 December
Second 30 December – 2 January
Third 2 – 5 January.
You can participate to one, two or three events!
The retreats includes
– 32 hours of lessons
– More than 72 hours of jam in the 2 dance rooms
– Live music.
– Excursions in the nature.
– Big, well heated apartments and dormitory.
– Big circular dance space with heated floor
– Traditional Italian and vegetarian food.
The teachers are: (see below curriculum of teachers and musicians)
Konstantinos Gerardos
Mariella Celia
Ippokratis Veneris
Chiara Cortez
Kindra Calonia
Daniela Pastore
Musicians:
Chiara Cortez
.
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(extracts of jams)
(Some short videos of last end of the year festival)
Waiting for the dinner!!!..
In line to have the meal..
Note: To participate to the festival you don’t need to be dancers or artists since the idea of the Jam of Arts festivals is aimed to people who want to experiment with arts and movement, regardless having or not prior experience. The goal is to explore different skills and capabilities that exist within us, study various disciplines and enjoy!
Hall 1 – (heated floor – 200 square metres)
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Hall 2 – (heated – 80 square metres)
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Theatre
Program
Event 27-28-29-30 December
Friday 27 December
Saturday 28 December
Sunday 29 December
Monday 30 De
cember
Event 30-31 December 1-2 January
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Monday 30 December
Tuesday 31 December
Wednesday 1 January
Thursday 2 January
Event 2-3-4-5 January
Thursday 2 January
Friday 3 January
Satuday 4 January
Sunday 5 January
Hall 1: the circular dance space
Hall 2: the rectangu
lar dance space
Prices A:
– the fee for one event (27 – 30 December or 2 – 5 January) sleeping in dormitory is 230€.
– the fee for the event of 30 December – 2 January sleeping in dormitory is 250€.
— the fee for participating at two events (7 days, 27 December – 2 January or 30 December – 5 January) sleeping in dormitory is 430.
— For three events, (10 days, 27 December – 5 January), the price is 570€.
In the fees are included all the workshops, all the events, all the meals, single bed in dormitory. (places are limited, see photos).
NOTE: For the organisation of the festival we will need some helpers who wll have a reduction of the fee. If you want to candidate yourself, please send an emai
l, specifying which event/events you want to join at: registration@jamofarts.com
dormitory
Prices B
– the fee for one event (27 – 30 December or 2 – 5 January) sleeping in apartment is 255
– the fee for the event of 30 December – 2 January sleeping in apartment is 275€.
– the fee for participati
ng at two events (7 days, 27 December – 2 January or 30 December – 5 January) sleeping in apartment is 480€.
– For three events, (10 days, 27 December – 5 January), the price is 680€.
In the fees are included all the workshops, all the events, all the meals, single bed in apartment. (places are limited, see photos).
For more information’s and registration, you have to write an email to:
registration@jamofarts.com Write us your choice (which events and accomodation option) and we will send you the prepayment quote and all the details for the money transfer.
Is very important write us also your phone number.
tel: 0039 3287213546 (also whatsapp, telegram and viber)
VERY IMPORTANT: OFTEN OUR REPLIES ENDS INTO THE SPAM, SO CONTROL OFTEN YOUR SPAM SECTION. IF YOU DON’T FIND A REPLY, WRITE US al AGAIN WRITE US ALWAYS YOUR PHONE NUMBER.
Arrival:
From Rome Fiumicino Airport and from the center of Rome trains depart every 30 minutes. The journey takes about 55 minutes and the railway station is close to the farm (Bracciano).
Ticket travel advice’s: If airplanes becoming expensive, good alternative ways to come to Rome are: night trains, Flixbus, Blablacar.
SCROLL DOWN FOR THE TEACHERS BIOS AND WORKSHOPS DESCRIPTIONS
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A few words about the place that hosts the festival. Under the ground of the farm is flowing a famous water source that is creating much energy in the place. Next to the farm we find two ancient roman bridges, water cascades, a big cave, streams, many many trees and a bit farther a big lake.. follows some photos of the landscape.
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Restaurant
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Konstantinos Gerardos is a dancer, teacher, choreographer and the artistic director of VIS MOTRIX DANCE COMPANY, which is based in Thessaloniki/Greece.
He has taught improvisation and choreography at the Dance and Performance course at the University of Lincoln in England and workshops in contemporary dance and contact improvisation in Spain, Germany, Israel and Canada. He has collaborated with Chris Aiken, Angie Houser Kirstie Simpson, Nita Little, Ray Chung, Eckhard Muller, Gregor Weber, Thomas Mettler, Yaniv Mintzer and many others.
He has been main teacher in many unternational contact festivals as Freiburg Contact festival on 2023, Israel Contact festival as well as in Spain, England and many other countries..He runs VIS MOTRIX PERFORMANCE STUDIO, a space for contemporary dance, performance and theatre in Thessaloniki and he is the creator and educational director of ReDance, an educational program in contemporary dance and performance for actors and dancer.
He started dancing at the National School of Dance in Athens when he was 11 years old. He continued his studies at the Morianova Professional Dance School and graduated from the Professional Dance School of Stavroupoli in Thessaloniki.
Between 1989 and 2004 he danced for the Thessaloniki Dance Theatre (National Theatre of Northern Greece). In 2001 he won the 1st prize at the National Awards for Dance for his interpretation as ‘Bluebeard’ at the performance of the same name, directed by K. Rigos. In 2012 he was invited by the ‘Machinenoisy Dance Company’ based in Vancouver, Canada to dance at the performance ‘Romantic Old Horses’ directed by Peter Bingham. His career as a dancer has continued until today.
In 2001, he founded his own company, ‘VIS MOTRIX DANCE COMPANY’ based at the Vis Motrix Performance Studio in Thessaloniki and has been creating and directing its performances (In Dreams, Safety Distance, Pessoas, In Between, Nocturne, Void, Dark Matter(s) and others) in Greece and abroad (Great Britain, Germany, Spain).
In May 2015 Konstantinos Gerardos directed the performance ‘TAN’ for the Thessaloniki Dance Theater (National Theatre of Northern Greece). He has also worked as an actor for the ‘Nees Morfes’ Theatre Company and as a choreographer for theatre and opera and has been subsidized for his work by the Greek Ministry of Culture.
During his work as a dancer and choreographer for the past 30 years, Konstantinos Gerardos has also developed a great teaching experience in classical and contemporary dance, improvisation and Contact Improvisation, Partnering, Ensemble Improvisation, composition, choreography and performance in professional dance schools and acting schools.
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General title of the workshops of Konstantinos Gerardos: LEANING TO THE UNKNOWN
KEY WORDS: CI – SKILLS – IMPROVISATION
There many reasons to improvise: warming up, creating specific movement for choreography, bonding groups of people together, exploring new movement qualities, achieving a particular somatic state, creating a performance. In this intensive, we will attend to the use of improvisation as material to enrich our contact improvisation skills and improve the quality of touch and movement in contact with another dancer.
During our work together, we will zoom into the tangible body and its physiology, skin, soft tissue, muscles and bones to inspire our dance. Working solo and in contact we will clarify their role in our personal way of moving and in contact improvisation. Isometric positions will clarify the use of our muscles and playing with the soft tissue of our bodies solo and in contact will enrich the sensitivity of our perception through the skin. We will study the architecture, function and movement qualities of specific body parts like the spine, the hip joints, the torso, the pelvis or the extremities to improve our skills when we are in contact with our partner. Exploring different ways of rolling, sliding, on or off the floor and using the floor as well as a partner to support our travelling through space will bring light and clarify our relationship with space, time and gravity.
Starting from the known we will find the tracks to the unknown, starting from the familiar and the reliable we will travel to the unanticipated and the unpredictable. Starting from our own bodies (solo) we will investigate the elements of improvisation that will help us to improve our improvisational awareness, the ability of listening, not only to our own body but also our partner’s body and to experience a dance that is born from our mutual surrendering to each other using improvisation as a tool.
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Title of the workshops of Kostas Gerardos of 27 – 30 Decembe: FLOW IN MOTION – Contact Improvisation
In this workshop, we will use the architecture and mechanical functions of the body. Through actions/physical actions we will explore the mechanisms of our movement.
Using our imagination and our quriosity let’s see how the dance will appear.
What happens to our dance when my body meets the other body?
How the solo dance becomes a Contact Improvisation duet?
How these bodies flow in motion?
The purpose is to create physical and mental states that will help us to stay in contact with our partner and follow the dance that is appearing when two bodies come together.
Title of the workshops of Kostas Gerardos of 30 December – 2 January: PROVISATION AND INSTANT COMPOTITION
In his workshop we will explore the fundamentals of improvisation and instant composition. In each session we will begin by exploring our personal movement , activating and using our curiosity and imagination through body anatomy and movement. We will then explore the strategies of connecting our movement with space, time and others within the space, creating immediate events and compositions.
The workshop is suitable for dancers, actors, musicians, professionals and amateurs and people who like to explore through movement and dance.
More specifically we will investigate
aqualities of movement.
time: speed, duration, rhythm, measure and timing (time and timing).
c) space and spacing
d) strategies of connection with the action/movement with another body in space..
Title of the workshops of Kostas Gerardos of 2 – 5 January: “Catching The Wave”
In this workshop and through our playful mood we will look for ways to connect with our partner’s movement and support it.
Catching the Wave: to seize an opportunity that is presented to you, especially an opportunity to learn and do something new.
Lett’s surprise us through various exercises that make us explore, experiment, integrate and open the doors to the playful unknown..
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Mariella Celia (Italy) , Dancer, trainer, choreographer, Mindfulness educator, graduated in 2008 from the National Academy of Dance in Rome. Alongside her academic studies, she pursues a personal training path, gaining various experiences in release technique, floor work and improvisation dance in Europe and received a scholarship for the Impulstanz Festival in Vienna for two years.
In 2013 she obtained her Masters in Art Therapy at the University of Roma Tre.
Over the years she has studied various somatic disciplines including Feldenkrais, Ideokinesi and Body-Mind Centering®, graduating in 2019 in London as a Somatic Movement Educator (BMC®).
She continues to work as a dancer / performer with various choreographers and directors in Italy and abroad including: Emma Dante, Raffaella Giordano, Giorgio Rossi, Mario Martone, Stefano Mazzotta, Emanuele Sciannamea (Compagnia Zerogrammi), Oretta Bizzarri, Patrizia Cavola (Compagnia Atacama), Ismael Ivo (Brazil), Modjgan Hashemian (Berlin), Vimprodanco, Vienna Improvisation Dance Company, Luca Silvestrini (UK), E-motion group company, informal collective ADA.
From 2008 to 2011 she lived and worked in Berlin where she collaborated with the artist Enrico Pietracci and the photographer Susanna Kraus, among others, with whom he created site specific performances based on the relationship between dance and visual arts. With the musicians Andreas Waelti, Oliver Ruth and Tobias Backhaus, she created an improvisation group of dance and live music (Free Jazz), guest in prestigious international music festivals.
From 2013 to 2021 she was a collaborating artist with Sosta Palmizi. In 2014 she was the author and performer of “Sleep elevation”, co-produced by the Sosta Palmizi and Atacama associations. In collaboration with Giorgio Rossi she was the choreographer of “Cielo di Marzo”, a creation for the corps de ballet of the Teatro dell’Opera in Rome; and as Giorgio Rossi’s assistant in “Le Mélange des Anges”, creative residency at the Ecole des Sables in Dakar as part of the exchange project “Italie, Culture, Afrique” promoted by MIBACT, National Academy of Dance, Italian Embassy in Dakar, Italian Cultural Institute; “A city of water”, Cantieri dell’Immaginario, L’Aquila (2012); “Carmen” Opera Opera with the Orchestra of Piazza Vittorio, Opéra Théâtre de Saint-Étienne (2013).
Her latest creation, “Bisbigliata Creatura”, in collaboration with Cinzia Sità, won the InDivenire Award (dance section), 2019 and the Visionaries selection of the Kilowatt Festival 2021.
In 2022 she created “Cell” a choreography for the Compagnia dei Licei Coreutici della Campania.
She currently collaborates with the sound artist Ivan Macera in a project on the relationship between artificial intelligence and body language.
She is a movement coach of prose theater productions : “Pilade è morte”, directed by Daniele Nuccetelli, Rome, 2016; “L’inciampo”, directed by Eduardo Ricciardelli, Rome, 2017; “Anastasia”, directed by Martina Badiluzzi, winning project of the Biennale Teatro 2019 call.Tutor of the project Untitled (mâcher ses mots) by Elena Bastogi, one of the selected works of the 2022 edition of Powered by Ref, Rome Europa Festival.
Her experience in the didactic and pedagogical field began in 2006 and continues, with a view to constant research and renewal up to the present day, conducting lessons and seminars aimed at actors, dancers and performers in various Italian structures including, Balletto di Rome, Carrozzerie Not, Action Theater, Rome, School of the performing arts of the Biondo Theater of Palermo, directed by Emma Dante, UNICAL University of Calabria, Viagrande Sudios, Catania, MuVet, Dance space, Bologna, TeatroIndia – Teatro di Roma From 2018 to today she is part of the teaching staff of the Master Theater, Pedagogy and Didactics of the Suor Orsola Benincasa University of Naples.
www.mariellacelia.com
Theme of the workshop of Mariella Celia of 27 – 30 December: “Spread wings, from experiential anatomy to the dance”
This lab uses experimental Anatomy and Body-Mind Centering to deepen your understanding of the humeral shoulder girdle and its connections to the torax, spine and pelvis. The proposed practices will be both individual and in pairs and will lead to a “spread wings” dance.
Theme of the workshop of Mariella Celia of 2 – 5 January: Shoulder freedom
The shoulder is a choreography of joints.
Is an area often charged with tensions that, if released, offer us the opportunity for unexpected dances. This class uses experimental Anatomy and Body-Mind Centering to deepen your understanding of the humeral shoulder girdle and its connections to the torax, spine and pelvis.
The proposed practices will be both individual and in pairs and will lead to a “spread wings” dance.
(photo of Mariella’s BMC worrkshop in Africa)
Ippokratis Veneris (GRE
/ITA) teacher, dancer, choreographer, deepen and studies dance and oth
er arts for more than 20 years. In his lessons of contact inserts elements fro
m the various disciplines that has studied extensively over the years as: floorwork, release technique, experiential anatomy, applied anatomy, dupuy technique, acrobalance, martial arts, afro dance, ballet, alexander technic, chi kung, dance theatre and much more.
– In the past collaborated with the UNIVERSITY OF ROME “Roma 3”, department of “Philosophy of E
ducation” giving lectures about “Pedagogy, C.I. and personal researches on teaching”.
– for two years he received an open scholarship in Brussels (PARTS-ROSAS Dance Company) and in Rome by the region of Lazio to proceed with his researc
h on dance theater projects. His original works (“Buongiorno Amore”, “Afroditi”, presented at Olympic theatre and Theatre Greco) combine together elements of theatre and dance.
– Was professor in the theatre schoo
l “il Cantiere Teatrale”.
– 2018 award: His work as choreography director for the Pina Bausch “The Nelken line in Rome”. An international project of 25 dancers of 11 different cou
ntries. Receives the second award of Lazio Film Festival Commission.
– In March of 2014 he was a guest together with Giulio Tremonti (former Italian Minister of Ec
onomy), Romano Prodi (the former Italian prime minister and former president of the European community), Ermanno Olmi (film director) in the TV show “the wind whistles” of Gad Lerner for Repubblica television and for the art channel Effe tv.
– Has collaborated -teaching and making shows of improvisation- with the Italian National
Organization of Theatre.
– Teaches regularly twice a week Con
tact Improvisation developinghis own method.
– Teaches in different places around Europe.
– Has collaborated with Roberto Castello-Aldes for “Narrate” premium UBU as the
best dance theatre production of the year in Italy and many others.
– In 2011 decided to stop m
aking shows and concentrate his energies on the research about the human nature and the wisdom of our bodies.
– Co-founder of CORE an association
of choreographers of central Italy to promote the rights of the live performing arts.
– Co-founder of RomaContact a collective of dancers who promote and give shows of improvisation and Contact Improvisation.
– Organized the last years many
events of art and workshops inviting teachers from all
Europe.
– Lives in Rome where graduate at school “l’officina” where study release technique, Dupuy technique, contact improvisation, instant improvisation and composition.
– As a choreographer, dancer and improviser has organized and participated at different events, in the
last ten years.
– Has studied with many choreographers and participating at numerous workshops of physical-theatre, contemporary dance, choreographic composition and contact improvisation.
Theme of the workshop of Ippokratis Veneris (event 27 – 30 December) Liquid consequences – Flowing in liquid landscapes
In this workshop we explore ways of been stable and contemporary knowing how, supporting our partners, find ays to make flow the structure.
Understand theough our bodies and conmextion with partner when is the proper moment to transform the created bodies structure to a new landscape.
Decisions that can be made by the supporter or the giver and/or both transforming and transmuting it Iin something new. new.
The point will not be to run from something to something else but be present, live the present moment and when we feel ready go on.
The technic that we will study in this lab will be used to create plasticity through presence and consciousness.
Theme of the workshop of Ippokratis Veneris (event 30 December – 2 January): *Dance or you are lost”
In all thesee years that I dance contact imoro, gradually came out firstly some sensations that became observations then thoughts and finally approaches to overcome those initial sensations.
Let’s explain me. Dancing C.I. is a very easy and tricky way to be alone.. I find a partner do some lifts, some roilings, some other stuff, maybe play a bit or flirt through dance a bit and then new partner, lifts, technic, then a new partner and that’s all.
I danced with many but I never really met the others energy, “soul” and never really exchanged.
Just followed body and mental patterns and then went home ignoring others and muslef.
Just followed body and mental patterns and then went home ignoring others and muslef.
Is that all dance about?
“What’s going on? Is all about appear? Did we lost the way to be?
Are we creating a social media way of beem?
Is my energy flowing in me? Am I alive?
Am I present? Am I becoming a part of a social common mind? Am I part of that, a l part of the screen? Appear..
Do I need audience. Do i need the eyes of others? Do I need approval and be admired, do I need likes and like to people.. Aseptic is the new way of be alive?
So, during my first years of Contact Imoro dance, were coming out questions as;
Where and who am I? Why I dance ?
Is that all?
Am I present? Do I work on my self?
Advanced partners of dance creating patterns of movements, of actions and reactions.. so what?.
Is there more fresheners dancing with beginners?
In this workshop we will explore ways of been present.
can I give, offer my presence to my partner being available and
From micro to action.
Exploring touch, fascia, breath.
Dancing alone, in couples and more people we will deepen on how we can go from A to B.
A to Be can be the space in us, the space in the dance room, the space between and through our partners.
A to B can be the time: How long can last something that has been created? Is this still in creation, is it finished and where it bring-brought us?
A to B, how we can brake it, how surprise ourselves.
What’s is A, what is B for you.. and when we are present?
Could happen that there is not A and B but only been present in each moment, free from time, from space from appearing.
Let’s play! Let’s mix the cards!
Let’s have fun!!
Theme of the workshop of Ippokratis Veneris (2 – 5 January):
“Lightness” , “the net”,
In this workshop we will explore the various ways in which we can make our body light dancing with our partners. Breath – body – movementintegration, sensibility – agility, anatomy, suspension, “body engineering” will be some of the themes that we will focus in these meetings with the aim of dancing in a more free, light, aerial and creative way.
THE NET
In this workshop we will explore the many ways that we can be connected with one or more partners.
We will use also some objects as long sticks to create connections, find creative solutions, challenge us, transforming continuously our found solutions to new ones.
Using contact imoro and the connections-net that we will create we will keep on challenging us, creating body and mind plasticity versus a playful dance.
The technic will become a way of flowing in various states of body and mind.
Kindra Calonia
Kindra defines herself as a wellness artist. Words, movement, and art are her healing tools to support individuals who are seeking to turn their wounds into wisdom. Creating a safe and creative space, Kindra guides students to explore and experience themselves in an empowering and accessible way through the practice of yoga, intuitive movement, meditation, mantra, ritual, and ceremony. Coming from a postcolonial research background she seeks to explore the identity-building process through the embodiment of language, the mapping of the body, and its intrinsic connection to the environment we live in. As a wellness alchemist Kindra’s deepest intention is to hold space for others so that they may reclaim their voice and be sovereign in their healing process.
STUDIES
BA English & Creative Writing Goldsmiths Universty
MA Post-colonial Research SOAS University, School of Orienal and Africcan Studies of London
200HR Multi-style Yoga, Dharamshala, India
50HR Yin Yoga Therapy
300HR Vinyasa, Yin, Mediitation, Goa, India
25HR Authentic Movements TTC
Dhrupad Indian Classical Singing and Mantra studies with Pandit Ritwik Sanyal and Chiara Barbier.
Vipassana Meditation for 10 Years
5 Rhythms/Open Floor Practitioner.
CHAKRA WORKSHOP(27 – 30 January)
I’ve always been a big fan of circles. The faint swirl on the tips of your fingers. The swirl of your blood rushing through the heart. The map of a tree’s life. The swing of the earth around the vast unending galaxy.
Circle of infinity. Circle of energy. Circles ad infinitum — each beginning demarcating an ending and each ending howling for a new beginning
Although invisible to the naked eye chakras for me are these deep vortexes inside our body mapping the terrain of our mental/physical/emotional land. I almost envision these energy centers in our body as a moving embodied map. Fertile. Alive. Ever Present. How do we connect with them?
Can we listen to the depths of our body?
Ground. Act. Love. Envision vWanted to run a few more energetic workshops this year and explore yoga beyond the physical 🌀 so here I am envisioning things.
Chiara Cortez
Teacher, lyricist, vocal improviser, promoter and facilitator of circlesinging and Nonviolent Empathic Communication. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Stanford University in California, during which time she also gained experience as a singer and arranger in the world music a cappella group “Talisman”, a cappella group of world music with whom she has won a CARA award. In Italy, her musical journey began with 10 years’ private study of the violin as an instrument. She then studied jazz singing with Susanna Stivali at Saint Louis College of Music and sang for 11 years with the female vocal ensemble “The Sessions Voices”, with whom she recorded two albums, “Songs of Freedom” (2011) and “Tender You Back”(2017).
As a songwriter in collaboration with Maurizio Filardo, she has written and sang for the soundtracks of various films and TV series (“Beata Ignoranza”, “The Place”, “Non ci resta che il Crimine”, “Domani è Un’Altro Giorno”, “Immaturi”, “I Migliori Giorni”).
She discovered the world ofvcirclesinging and Vocal River (Rhiannon’s forms of collaborative vocal improvisation) and has been studying these disciplines, traveling to train with masters in the field and to research various styles and approaches. Among the trainings she has completed are: Rhiannon’s annual masterclass on vocal improvisation “All The Way In” (2017), Música Do Círculo’s annual training for leaders in São Paulo, Brazil (2022-2023) and she has attended Bobby McFerrin’s Circlesongs School (2016, 2018, 2022).
She is a founding member of the vocal improvisation collective led by Rhiannon, whose name “The Well” was given by Bobby McFerrin, and the Italian group Collettivo CantinCerchio.
She facilitates regular circlesinging gatherings and teaches courses and workshops on circlesinging (circular singing) and vocal improvisation practices.
She was an original faculty member of the French festival Le Cercle Enchanté. She took part in the Vocal River Murmurations project that premiered in Montreal, Canada, in October 2023, under the artistic direction of Rhiannon and Margie Gillis.
She has been studying and practicing Nonviolent Communication since 2017, training with and assisting various trainers, mainly with Yoram Mosenzon’s Connecting2Life school and community, and is constantly looking for ways to combine Empathy with collective music improvisation practices. Chiara is co-founder of the “Circlesinging Roma” initiative, the first open circlesinging community in the Italian capital, active since 2015, which she continues to manage together with co-founding partner Daphne Nisi and colleague Cristina D’Arcangelo.
Theme of the workshop of Chiara Cortez (event 27 – 30 December)
”F;;inding our resonance”
In this singing workshop, we will explore sound as vibration. We will begin our explorative play with unison and synchronized singing as a starting point and progress to intuitive harmony for collaborative music-making.
I will guide you through a natural progression of focused attention, where we will practice deep listening to ourself, the other, the group as a whole – and the spaces in between.
We will be alternating collective exploration with working/playing in duets and small groups during this workshop.
Theme of the workshop of Chiara Cortez (event 27 December – 2 January)
“Circlesinging Flow”
Exploring Voice, Body Percussion, and Human Connection through Musical Play
In this experiential workshop, we will be exploring musical flow, as intended and developed by the Brazilian group “Música do Círculo” (Ronaldo Crispim, Zuza Gonçalves and Pedro Consorte), in joyful collaborative and collective musical practices based on voice, body, play, improvisation and human relations.
What exactly is Musical Flow?
Similarly to the way the water flows in a river, the concept of musical flow involves fluidity and movement. The term “musical flow” alludes to a sequence of musical activities carried out with seamless transitions, where games and musical moments are alternated and experienced as a chain without interruption and for the most part, played out non-verbally.
A significant portion of our musical flow will involve circlesinging (a music invention method made popular by jazz musician Bobby McFerrin, where the music is composed or guided by a facilitator and a community of voices collaborates in the execution of the piece). Get ready for some collaborative, music-making fun!
Theme of the workshop of Chiara Cortez (2 – 5 January)
“Inventing the Story: Solos and Imagined Language in circlesinging”
Exploring Solo Improvisation and Invented Language for Emotional Expression in Circlesinging.
In this workshop, we will focus on how moments of individual solo contribute to a collective musical piece, and we will explore the use of invented language as a tool for storytelling and emotional expression. By letting go of the constraints of familiar words and embracing the freedom of imagined sounds, we will explore how to craft a narrative arc that 
conveys emotion, tension, and resolution through voice alone Starting with solo vocal improvisation exercises and small group experiments, we’ll experiment with creating personal, spontaneous musical stories. Participants will learn how to use tone, rhythm, and dynamics to shape a solo performance that draws in listeners, while also playing with invented language to unlock emotional depth and nuance beyond traditional words.
Throughout the session, we will explore soloing over circlesongs in various musical modes, allowing us to experience how each scale influences the emotional tone and mood of the music.
We will also explore how solo voices can weave in and out of group settings, offering space for individual expression within a larger musical narrative. By embracing both structure and spontaneity, we’ll discover how solo performances can complement group improvisation and contribute to a compelling, cohesive story.
This workshop is perfect for anyone looking to deepen their improvisational skills, experiment with new ways of expressing emotion, and create musical stories that resonate on a personal and collective level.
Daniela Pastore is a Feng Shui architect, she works in Italy and abroad in the field of architectural design and urban planning. Feng Shui arrived in her life, creating the long-awaited “bridge” between Architecture and Dance, her greatest passion. From this connection, research came to life on the relationship between human being, creative movement and space, with the aim of developing awareness tools, increasing one’s creativity and refining sensitivity. She graduated in Architecture in 2006 at the Faculty of Architecture of “Roma Tre” and studied and integrated the ancient art and discipline of Classical Chinese Feng Shui into his profession as an architect since 2015.
She trained from 2015 to 2017 at the “Feng Shui Roma Architecture and Design School”, founded by Luigi Straffi, and since 2016 he has collaborated with this institute in organizing international courses.
In 2017 she met Feng Shui Master Howard Choy, founder of the “European College of Feng Shui” and international Tai Chi and Qi Gong teacher and embarked on a new phase of learning. In the same year she started the “Qi Moves” research project, as part of the International Feng Shui festival in Rome “Living Feng Shui”.
In 2018, together with the dancer and choreographer Ippokratis Veneris and the filmmaker Ignazio Agosta and in collaboration with Spin Time Labs they created Pina Baush’s Nelken Line in Rome, bringing this itinerant dance to the streets of the city center and making a short film. The project was awarded by the Roma Lazio Film Commission with an honorable mention.
In 2018 she obtained the qualification as leader of bioenergetic exercise classes from the S.I.A.B – Italian Society of Bioenergetics in Rome.
In 2019 she designed and directed the construction site of Piazza Pasquino, a historic square in the heart of Rome, using the principles of Feng Shui and creating a public space at the service of citizens.In 2020 she is co-founder together with Luigi Straffi and Howard Choy of “FS.ED – Feng Shui for Environmental Designers” a training center on Feng Shui, which organizes courses for professionals and in which she is active as an international teacher.
2024 she founded the brand, Deep Feng Shui, which includes, in addition to her work in the field of design, a program of introductory and professional Feng Shui courses curated by her.
She has always been on a path of personal spiritual research. Starting from 2007 she began her research encountering with different shamanic practices, in 2014 he traveled to India for 6 months and learned the Vipassana meditation of Satya Narayan Goenka which she practices regularly on a daily basis. In the same years she rediscovered her passion for dance and movement as therapy and as a channel of expression and research. For several years she explored various types of dance, African dance, belly dance and fusion dance, then she arrived at Contact dance and Exstatic dance. In 2017 she met the Tanz Theatre Wupperthal dancer Julie Ann Stanzak and regularly participates in her dance theater retreats.
She practices and studies Qi Gong and Chen style Tai Chi Chuan at ITKA – Romewith Master Angela Ottaviani.
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Theme of Daniela Pastore workshops: “QI MOVES”
Qi Moves is a creative dance and proprioception laboratory that invites you to contact and explore, through the body and movement, the principles underlying Classical Chinese Feng Shui and Oriental Philosophy, to re-establish a deep and authentic contact with our own Nature and Essence.
Dance becomes listening, being aware and participating in the vital breath, the QI, which permeates and animates us and everything that exists, and which is eternal transformation, in its cyclical alternation of Yin and Yang phases. We are part of this continuous movement and we can experience it internally, through our breath, and recognize it externally, through the observation of the Natural Cycles.
Feng Shui is precisely the art of observing Nature and understanding the way that Qi moves, manifesting itself in the 5 Elements’ relationship, “Wu Xing Sheng Ke” – 五行生克. Each of these 5 Elements is related to a specific human emotion and to a certain way to move. Each Element is like a “Spirit” which has its own distinct quality and which can be incorporated and integrated into the dance, highlighting aspects of our own Nature.
From expansion to contraction, from high to low, from inside to outside, from movement to stillness, we will make a gradual journey of subtle discovery of the vital relationship between complementary opposites. Each one starting from its own Centre, we will meet our own inner space in movement and open up to a fluid and spontaneous creative expression, Zìran – 自然.
In this exploration we will also learn to read the physical space that surrounds us, trough the body, in order to be aware of the intrinsic, original character of the external environment “Bei Xing” – 北行 and to integrate its influence, making it converge in favour of our dance.
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