12th FESTIVAL OF
FESTIVAL

Chapada Diamantina

January 7th to 17th, 2027

Bahia, Brazil

Shall we climb the mountain?

There, where the wind brushes the rocks and the rivers whisper to the trees, the body learns to listen. Here we explore movement—not measured, not goal‑driven, not confined. The body as creature, as plant, as sentient material moving with the world, never against it. A dance that bows to no form. No audience. No pose. Only listening, touch, connection—and a hush of beautiful silence.

The 12th edition of Contact in Natura Once again, we celebrate the state of presence, expanded listening, and the power of encounter. Throughout these 12 years, we have established a space for research into movement and the body in nature—not as a backdrop, but as an environment that also traverses us, moves us, and affects us.

We had considered changing the festival dates, but, responding to numerous requests and surprising ourselves, we're going to stick with the same time of year. After all, we're already part of the global calendar and want to continue contributing to this transformative experience. In return, this year we're experimenting with some other interesting changes!

PROPOSAL

This is an invitation to a deep dive to make room for new ways of inhabiting oneself and the world.

Come with us!

Stage 1 - January 7th to 11th

- PRACTICES in Capão -

Intensive courses, classes, and jams.

In Capão, the format will be the same: intensive courses, classes, and jam sessions – but this year we're going to experiment with a different duration, a little more compact so that more people can dedicate themselves to enjoying the complete festival experience.

Another exciting piece of news is that we're going to do it in a different location! We'll be dancing at the Ruka Rumi Reserve, in the inspiring hall of the North Temple, a place of art by nature and of communion with family. Facing the valley's iconic landmark, we'll gather to immerse ourselves in the world of Contact Improvisation, with structure, presence, and depth.

It's time to open the doors of the body, create connections, and strengthen listening. To sharpen attention, work on intentions, and explore possibilities from a sensitive and vibrant place, in connection with the dazzling surroundings.

2nd stage - January 12th to 17th

PATI'S JOURNEY

Hiking and dancing in nature

Time to traverse the landscape and be traversed by it. Here there is experience, raw nature, and expanded time. The body is called to integrate with the environment, this impressive National Park in the heart of Bahia — and the exploration is also done in the simplest gestures: walking, breathing, being.

It's about making space to inhabit stillness, vertigo, and wonder. A time when the body dissolves into the landscape and dance is no longer distinguishable from walking, from the waterfall, from the sound of footsteps on the trail. In the Pati Valley, everything becomes material for listening. The immensity of the place refines movement, disarms certainties, and invites a more radical presence.

You can't get here by car. You can't arrive in a hurry. The body needs to walk to access this time. And, in doing so, something is already transformed. The Pati Crossing is the deepening of experience—a suspended time to dissolve the edges, listen to the pores, inhabit the interval between gesture and breath in its most essential form. To exist in an available, permeable, alive way, as a being that relates to the world.

The teachers

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Gabriel Greca (Argentina)

I am a movement researcher, dancer, and osteopath. For over 22 years I have explored dance, improvisation, and body wellness. Contact improvisation has been my main technique, which I have taught for over 15 years in various countries. I investigate improvisation and composition through classes, workshops, and performances, drawing inspiration from somatic practices such as Body-Mind Centering, the Alexander Technique, and the Feldenkrais Method. I teach anatomy at UNSAM. I graduated in osteopathy in 2012 and, since 2016, I have studied and taught at EAO (Argentine School of Osteopathy). Recently, I have been exploring strength training and working with weights. I am driven by the interaction between contact, forces in motion, attention, and collaborative work. Creating worlds together.

Intensive Vale do Capão and Experience in Pati

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Raquel Minako (Brazil)

I am a facilitator of empowerment and sexuality processes, a teacher of Contact Improvisation, and Somatic Therapies. I have been dancing Contact Improvisation since I was 15 years old. I decided to delve into Contact Improvisation after discovering many other ways of perceiving life and its relationships through dance. I love experiencing silence, the inner states of being while we dance, opening windows in various ways. Touch brings a lot of information to my body, embodying the mind, perceiving the world. For me, Contact Improvisation is a form of prayer, a physical prayer. The teachers who inspire me as a dancer are: Nancy Stark Smith, Mike Vargas, Daniel Lepkoff, Nita Little, Ray Chung, Karen Nelson, Autarco Arfini, Hugo Leonardo, Adrian Russi, Jurij Konjar, Pia Lindy, and Elina Ikonen.

Class in Capão

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Pawel Kubiak (Poland)

Paweł Kubiak is fascinated by discovery through dance and by the act of sharing dance with others. For the past four years, he has traveled throughout Europe and Asia, following his curiosity, dancing and sharing workshops as a way to deepen his own investigation and rediscover what is familiar to him. He is a certified practitioner of the Ilan Lev Method and is in a continuous process of deepening his practice, also drawing inspiration from the Feldenkrais Method. For him, improvisation is a source of joy and a way of life—a space to explore values that favor collaborative creation and togetherness, grounded in presence, care, and mutual support.

Class in Capão

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Cesar Calvo (Spain)

Since discovering Contact Improvisation in 2014, I've been passionate about movement, improvisation, and the encounter that arises from the body in relation. My journey has been primarily nurtured by training in Contact Improvisation (FCI) and the Integrative Body Process (PCI), a work that broadened my perspective on the sensory, emotional, and subtle aspects of the body. My dance has also been greatly influenced by the acrobatics I practiced for some time. I have participated in numerous CI festivals and gatherings, learning from great figures such as Ray Chung, Charley Morrisey, Karen Nelson, Mirva Makinen, Linda Buffali, Keith Hennessey, Katja Mustonen, among many others. I appreciate dance and performance in their most spontaneous and authentic form.

Class in Capão

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Maria Belén Cristofanelli (Argentina)

Dancer, performer, and teacher. She graduated in Fine Arts and Contemporary Dance from UNA — Universidad Nacional de las Artes — and UNSAM — Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Her practice develops between dance and visual arts, with a special interest in improvisation. Currently, she participates as a performer in multidisciplinary artistic projects that explore the intersections between post-humanism and dance: Estirpe (2026) and Perra que Ladra (2023). Her artistic and pedagogical trajectory includes work as a performer, assistant, and movement director in projects related to dance, costume design, and performance. Currently, she develops her teaching practice through physical training focused on strength, dance-improvisation, and movement exploration, both in academic spaces, such as FADU UBA and UNSAM, and outside of them.

Experience in Pati

Schedule

(coming soon)

Aquatic Pre-Festival

Vale do Capão

Pati Valley

Coexistence

Community

We want to try it. other ways of being together. So this year, we won't have a team of helpers, because we no longer want to reproduce the logic where those with more money are served and those with less have to work to be able to participate. The proposal is that everyone participates in the care that makes the festival happen, like in a big family.

Horizontal and participatory

Cooking, cleaning, organizing, and maintaining common areas are part of... collective experience. Each person contributes a little to the well-being of all. There is a coordination team that takes care of the structure, the menus, and food safety, but the... The work is shared among everyone.. Thus, no one is merely a consumer of the experience. Each person participates in building the community that sustains it.

Circulating abundance

By sharing responsibilities, we are able to reduce some of the costs, making the more affordable registration fee. However, understanding that realities vary widely, and that we intend to always further expand the diversity at the festival, we created the Abundance Box: a collective fund that offers discounts for those who want to experience the festival but cannot afford the full registration fee. Those who can, contribute a little more. Those who need it, receive support.