January 5, 2026
@
8:00 am
–
January 15, 2026
@
5:00 pm
Where the Body Speaks
Silent Contact Improvisation and Somatics Retreat
A 10-Day Silent Retreat in Contact Improvisation, Somatic Practices & Meditation
“Let silence take you to the core of life.” – Rumi
In a world overflowing with noise, words, and urgency, we invite you to pause.
This is an invitation into silence — a retreat that welcomes you just as you are, with or without previous experience in Contact Improvisation. For 10 days, we will turn inward and soften outward, cultivating a space where the body becomes the center of listening, dialogue, and presence.
This retreat is not about dance technique or performance. It is not about doing, producing, or improving.
Instead, it is about being.
About sensing. About tuning in. About allowing the subtle to speak.
We will gather to explore what happens when we reduce verbal communication and offer the body full permission to express, to receive, to rest. Through Contact Improvisation, somatic inquiry, meditation, and contemplative movement practices, we create a field of deep listening — to ourselves, to others, and to the natural world that holds us.
Why Silence?
“Silence is an ocean. Speech is a river. When the ocean is searching for you, don’t walk into the river. Listen to the ocean.” – Rumi
Silence is not an absence; it is a gateway.
In silence, we discover the layers beneath habitual social behavior. We become more attuned to intuition. Our sensory perception heightens.
The body — often drowned out by language — begins to speak. We hear the messages that have long been buried under the surface noise of daily life.
We let go of external distractions and turn our awareness inward, allowing clarity to emerge from stillness.
The Structure– Jan 5-15, 2025
We will move gently through the arc of:
Arrival & Transition into Silence
Gradual return through sound, voice, and spoken word, closing ritual and sharing circle
Integration, reflection & closure in community with speech
This structure supports a deepening of presence and embodiment. Silence will be held as a collective agreement — a way to suspend verbal sociality so that subtler forms of connection and perception can emerge, and then gently released back into sound and language for integration before departure.
Embodied Practices for Presence, Connection, and Inner Exploration
We will engage in a range of non-verbal, body-centered practices designed to cultivate awareness and aliveness, including:
Contact Improvisation
Practiced not as a form of dance, but as a way of listening and relating physically
Authentic Movement
Giving space for spontaneous movement and witnessing
Somatic Explorations
Attuning to inner sensation and perception
Tuning scores
Shared movement structures that invite spaciousness, curiosity, and presence
Meditation
Grounding our days in stillness and awareness
Guided silent forest walks
Deepening our connection with the natural world through embodied presence
Collective and individual journaling sessions
Creating space for inner reflection and integration
Art-based integration practices
For deepened self-awareness
Sensitizing and guiding into rituals
Fostering of connection with self, community, and the natural world
Alongside the shared somatic and movement practices, you’ll be gently invited into moments of quiet communion with the land: slow forest walks where the rhythm of your breath meets the rhythm of the trees, collective journaling sessions that allow the invisible to take form on the page, and rituals under the sky that mark transitions, intentions, and belonging. These practices offer soft but powerful gateways into reflection, presence, and connection with what lies beyond words.
Silence & Containment
To support your inward journey, you’ll be warmly invited to turn off your phone at the beginning of the retreat. An emergency contact number will be provided, so friends or family can reach you if needed — allowing you to fully rest into the silence, knowing everything essential is being held.
Reflection, Transition & Intention
“The call to practice art, poetry, music, or dance is an opportunity to engage beauty in its creative flow that is unconditionally welcoming and resonant.”
This retreat is held during a time of natural transition — an opportunity to reflect on the year behind us and feel into the one ahead.
What were the defining moments of the last year?
What do I feel called to cultivate next?
What do I want to bring with me, and what can I leave behind?
By turning inward through somatic presence, we give ourselves the chance to integrate, digest, and align with what is true for us now.
Rituals and ceremonies will accompany this transition, offering a collective way to honor the year that has passed and to celebrate the beginning of the new one.
Embodiment as Transformation
Without expecting it, we may discover that this practice — Contact Improvisation in silence — becomes a kind of spiritual unfolding. When we allow things to be as they are, when we let go of controlling and fixing, we begin to feel a larger rhythm carrying us. We join something beyond ourselves — a kind of collective breath, a pulse of life shared.
To turn toward this is to rejoin the web of connection:
“Turning toward is to join a consciousness larger than our singular worries, despairs, and hopes. We whisper with the wind, follow the flight of a hummingbird, or sit beneath the maple tree.”
Who is this for?
This retreat is open to everyone.
No previous dance, movement, or Contact Improvisation experience is needed.
What matters is your willingness to be in silence, to explore through your body, and to engage with the unknown.
Come as you are — no references, no credentials required.
Just your breath, your body, and your openness.
