Dancing in the dunes
Contact Improvisation
on the island of Texel indoors & outdoors
Let’s bring our dancing bodies out of the studio into our original habitat; the forests, the fields, the dunes, the sea. Through dancing with the elements, we remember that we are part of something bigger.
Life is a continuous dance between all kinds of bodies – human and non-human. The stars, the moon, the waters. The soil, the sun, the plants, our breath. One complex interplay of life forms.
The Island offers a unique natural playground with a variety of landscapes were we can truly feel into this interconnectedness, as a lived experience.
During this gathering, we dance with the questions:
What does it mean to be in conversation with the landscape? How can dance be a way to speak with the land?
This CI camp is dedicated to research and remember our intimate bond with nature, through dance. In a culture driven by capitalism and individualism, it is easy to lose sight of our interconnectedness with all that lives, and the ecosystems on which we depend. By taking time to immerse in nature, we tune in with her rhythms and open our senses to the ‘other-than-human’. We explore how the environment informs our movements and the other way around. We discover shapes in nature that reflect shapes in our body; the outer universe resembles our inner universe. We become aware that we are part of a mysterious web of life.
We invite for a researching attitude, taking the following subquestions with us:
* How can the environment and its inhabitants inspire our dances?
* How does it feel to merge with the landscape?
* What stories does nature tell us about contact and relating?
Feel invited to bring in your own questions as well.
Team & workshops
Meet the teachers & the organisers
Jorien van Dam, NL (she)
Organiser & teacher
(to be announced)
More info will follow soon
About Jorien
Living on one of the ‘Wadden Islands’ for 9 months, I started to dream this project. As I rolled from dunes, watched the birds, climbed in trees, played with the tide, and caressed the moss, I thought: ‘How great would it be to share this with others?’ Dancing around with fascination and reverence for Creation.
My travel into the world of Contact Impro started 5 years ago. Ever since, it touched many layers of my being. I experience it as an art, a therapeutic tool, a social learning space, a political research area, and sometimes even as a spiritual practice. Expressing myself through my body in this free form brings me in touch with a primal essence, where inuition takes the lead. This feels so healthy. CI helps me get to know myself in relationality, and center myself in this crazy world.
Next to my weekly classes with Otto, I have attended multiple intensive workshops with various teachers like Artem Markov, Tom Goldhand, Vega Luukkonen, Hugh Stanier, Katja mustonen and Christine Cole. I recently initiated CI-Lab Groningen; a community-based dance class for movement research.
Otto, NL (he)
Organiser & teacher
(to be announced)
More info will follow soon
About Otto
I’ve been dancing since 2004, exploring all kinds of styles and movement practices including contemporary, movement improvisation, Gaga, acrobatics and more. Somewhere around 2007/2008 I dipped my toes in the practice of contact improvisation for the first time. I found it quite shocking the first time – I was only used to technical classes with precise steps to remember – so it took me three months before I dared to step into it again. After that second time I was sold, and went as often as I could.
As a teacher I like to hand practical tools to my students, techniques and pathways to use in contact improvisation, and combine this with focussing on relaxation, breathing and a bit of introspection to keep in contact with the self, as it is easy to lose yourself in the dance or the other.
Maaike van de Westeringh (she), NL
Teacher
(to be announced)
More info will follow soon
About Maaike
What Maaike loves about dance is that it brings us to the beauty of the moment – and every moment is different. Out of this interest her fascination for improvisation and contact- improvisation was born. She followed workshops with Julyen Hammilton and studied intensively with David Zambrano. She has been teaching dance-workshops in nature at Buitenkunst since 2010.
She finds a constant eagerness to learn more about the body’s expression and how dance can contribute something to people’s mental and physical health. She set up her own foundation with two other artists, called Kudde (www.kudde.info). They develop dance and theater-projects, both in the dance-field and in the community. The last years she has been doing exchange-projects in Uganda, Ghana and Brazil.
After her graduation from the dance academy in Tilburg (NL) in 2004 she has been working as a performer with Loic Perela (Dansateliers Rotterdam), Anne-beth Schuurmans, Marie Goeminne (dansmakers Amsterdam), T.R.A.S.H., Karen Boesser. She also created her own work like the location-project ‘Huisstofmeid’ for the Oerolfestival. She is currently playing the music-dance performance ZUCHT for young audiences from 1 year old in collaboration with Jonathan de Neck.
Simone van Dam, NL (she)
Teacher
(to be announced)
More info will follow soon
About Simone
What fascinates me about contact improvisation is it’s momentarily form; every dance is different. Dancing bodies may softly merge into each other’s body weights as well as release their energies into acrobatic flights, rolls or spirals. I am interested in the power of attention; to and with the body, that creates a space to meet each other in an embodied and playful interaction. To me the joy into dancing in contact comes from letting the interaction be as it is, as well as finding pathways together to move as one organism, where exploration and research become part of the dance.
The past 8 years the practice of CI as well as capoeira, yoga, and an intensive contemporary danceLAB have been interwoven into my identity as a dance-and movement artist. Up until today I feel amazed and grateful for the diversity of knowledge shared by different CI teachers that I have met at workshops, festivals and classes in the Netherlands as well as in Italy, Israël and other places around the world: Tom Goldhand, Alessandro Rivellino, Linda Bufali, Anjelika Doniy, Artem Markov, Christine Cole, ~ to name a few.
Sara Licher, NL (she)
Teacher
(to be announced)
More info will follow soon
About Sara
Sara Licher studied dance and performing arts in England and was part of the postgraduate touring company Map Dance. During her studies, she had the opportunity to work with artists such as Liz Aggiss, Nik Haffner, and Charlie Morrissey, and participated in a summer intensive with Troika Ranch. After returning to the Netherlands, she enriched her practice with studies in sports massage and yoga.
In contact improvisation, Sara is drawn to the organic, intuitive nature of movement and the playful, responsive dialogue it fosters, not only with other bodies, but also with the space. A central thread in her work is the concept of homo ludens: the “playing human”. For her, play is a natural way of connecting: with herself, with others, and with the world – where imagination and movement flow together.
Sara is also a passionate amateur ornithologist and a frequent visitor to *Engelsmanplaat*, one of the small uninhabited Wadden islands. This deep connection to landscape, birdlife, and wide open space resonates strongly with the setting of CI Camp Texel — dancing in nature, on the edge of land and sea.
Johanna Sauër, NL (she)
Teacher
(to be announced)
More info will follow soon
About Johanna
Johanna is a dancer, choreographer and educator. She graduated as an artist educator in dance from Artez in 2022. She then deepened her dance practice by studying contemporary dance and choreography at La Faktoria Choreographic Centre, in Spain.
For me, dance has different faces. It allows me to ground myself, allowing me to be present in my body. Through movement I find different dimensions or capacities of my physical body that I want to research, explore and share with others. I encourage a curious mindset and playfulness in my workshops, as well as stillness, deep listening to yourself and the other and reflection through movement. Contact improvisation in specific is, to me, both a physical research and play with gravity, as well as a listening practice that allows you to connect differently to the people around you and can offer a mirror to your ways of relating to the ones around you.
Schedule for the weekend
______
The dance space
Workshops will take place in the barn and outside in nature.
The address of the farm & camping site:
Camping “De Boegert”, Westerweg 28, Den Burg (Texel), The Netherlands.
______
The sleeping space
The outside space is excellent for tents & camper vans. There are a few sleeping spaces inside the barn.
______
The eating space
Delicious vegetarian meals will be served by our cooking team. The only thing you need to do: take your own plate, cup & cutlery!
______
Investment / price
We have three different tickets to offer: a few tickets for a lower price, for the ones who really want to join but are living on a very
tight budget, the normal price tickets and tickets to sponsor the lower
cost ones and/or if you are in the lucky position you don’t have to
worry much about money in daily life.
To check the prices for this CI Camp
Texel, scroll down to ‘Sign up’ and then click the dropdown menu ‘Choose
your investment’ for all the options.
Transportation to and on the island
Here you will find some practical information about how to get to the island, rent a bike and more.
The ferry to Texel
Between Den Helder & the island of Texel you take the ferry. It takes around 20 minutes, you can stretch you legs on the deck, feed the seagulls, sniff the wind, enjoy the view of the sea. Prices are for a return ticket, no reservations, just arrive. The ferry takes off 1 or 2 times per hour.
Prices (at the time of writing, March ’25):
– By foot: 2.50 euro
– By bike incl passenger: 5.00
euro
– By car incl all passengers: 28.30 euro
– By camper van: from of 46.55, depending on lenght
Click the link below for more info about tickes & times.
Bike rentals
If you come by foot and want to rent a bike, you can rent all kind of bikes directly at the harbour where you leave the boat. It’s advised to make a reservation in advance, because people with reservations get priority.
Prices (at the time of writing, March ’25):
– Normal bike per day / per 4 days: 12.50 / 36.50 euro
– E-bike per day / per 4 days: 27 / 80 euro
For more info or prices of other types of bicycles, click the link below:
There are more companies on the island renting out bikes, prices can differ a little bit. Click the link below for the list:
> List of bike rental companies on TexelPublic transportation on Texel
There are busses on Texel, although no direct line to the farm.
– Take line 28 directly at the ferry
– Get out at the stop that says “Pontweg-De Zandkoog”
– Walk around 25 minutes from there to the farm (see address on the bottom of this website)
Other options
Bring your own bike, or maybe you can arrange to drive together with another participant. Also cheaper if you already meet up before you enter the ferry, because the ferry price for a car is with all passengers included. If you want to be on a list for that – needing a car, or having a car – we can put it in an online Google sheet.
The cooking team
This is the cooking team that will make us get great food during this weekend.
Karka Speelman
Met mijn Maan in Stier voel ik verbinding en liefde voor smaakvol eten ,koken en van hieruit te delen .
Dat voeding bijdraagt aan welzijn, gezond en gevoed voelen spreekt voor mij voor zich.
Verse kruiden, groentes zoveel mogelijk in vrijheid gegroeid zie ik het liefst iedere dag op mn bordje.
Koken voor de CI groep en op Texel, mee mogen dansen en genieten van de verbinding..lijkt me een feestje!!
Sign up
Fill in this form to secure a spot!
Contact
If you have any questions regarding this CI Camp Texel, don’t hesitate to send us an email!
Send e-mail