Listening to a Permanent Culture of Dance

We are excited to announce the open call for the highly anticipated residency, “Listening to a Permanent Culture of Dance,” focusing on the intersection of dance, permaculture, and sustainability. This residency aims to explore how we can share a dance of equal bodies, not just as a life event, but as a way of being and being with others, inspired by the principles of permaculture.

This residency is for dance artists as well as professionals whose work relates to permaculture, such as ecological designers, environmental artists, sustainable architects, permaculture educators/facilitators, botanical artists, permaculture filmmakers/photographers and craftspeople who focus on traditional crafts using locally sourced, sustainable materials.

During this residency we shall take the time and emerge in ideas, tools and practices towards an active, applied and self regulated approach, while exploring questions such as:

– How permaculture can inspire dance practices that transform ourselves and the world around us?

– How to live-dance in a sustainable way, while imagining the collective body as an ecosystem that affects and is being affected by other bodies?

– What can a permanent culture of dance be?

What We Offer:

• A nurturing environment that encourages creativity, collaboration, and self-reflection for 12-16 participants.
• A diverse community of artists dedicated to exploring the thematic of the residency.
• Opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange and experimentation.
• Accommodation in shared bell tents, harmoniously integrated into the natural landscape, full access to our shared facilities and a spacious open-air studio with a breathtaking view.
• Vegetarian/vegan meals with fresh products. 
• Time and space for the participants to exchange engaging activities including thematic workshops, collaborative projects, book readings, hiking, swimming, gardening, woodworking, and others related to the local community such as traditional dance classes, music concerts, etc.

What You Have To Take Care Of:

• Travel expenses: Participants are responsible for their own travel costs. 
• Participation Fee: €480 to partially contribute to the residency’s expenses.

Residency Details:

Kyveli Kouvatsi and Yorgos Sioras Deligiannis will provide gentle facilitation, focusing mostly on practical aspects such as space operation and safety. This shared experience of co-living and co-practicing is primarily designed to be self and collectively regulated. Day-to-day activities can vary from sharing movement practices to collective book readings and movie nights, as well as engaging in creative initiatives, open talks with or without the local community, public interventions, bread making, or hiking to the waterfalls. 

We will hold daily group circles and collectively maintain the functionality of the space. There is no expected outcome for the residency, instead the focus will be on simply being and being together.

During the residency, participants will engage in various practices of decision-making within their crafts and research processes, but also in relation to the co-living experience. These decisions serve as opportunities for personal and collective growth in a set up where everyone is seen, and seen as equal.

Through making choices in movement and life, participants are invited to deepen their understanding of dance making, expand their creative strategies and ways of collaborating, while engaging in collective and self-learning processes.

Regarding the collaborative nature of this residency, we hope it will go beyond its role as a platform for cultural exchange and become a community-building experience that addresses social issues, challenges norms, and inspires positive change.