Contact Improvisation-Workshop:
"Returning to the Body"

with Katja Schleibinger (DE)

Immerse yourself for a week in movement, mindfulness, and nature.

Nestled among the gentle hills of Vale Bacias, we warmly invite you to join this workshop. Katja draws from her rich and diverse experience to support you in deepening your body awareness, discovering new qualities of movement, and exploring with a sense of playfulness and curiosity.

Alongside Contact Improvisation, there will be space for solo practice, connection with nature, reflection, meditation, and integration — all held within the supportive embrace of a connected and caring group.

We truly look forward to sharing this experience with you!

Warm regards,
Katja, Sheary, and André

When?

• 1 week with 5 days net of workshop, May 31 - June 5 2026:
• Arrival: Saturday, May 30, 2026 
• Start date: Sunday, May 31, 2026
• End date: Friday, June 5, 2026
• Departure: Saturday, June 6, 2026, or stay a few days longer

Where?

• In Vale Bacias in the vastness of the Alentejo region, close to Colos, in southern Portugal

What can you expect?

• Alongside the Contact Improvisation workshop, there will be space for solo practice, connection with nature, reflection, meditation, and integration — all held within the supportive embrace of a connected and caring group.

We invite to: 

• simple life in yurts & tents in beautiful nature
• there will be a cook doing the main cooking for the group
• research and letting things happen
• body wisdom and conversations
• a clean week - free of smoke and substances

Our Background

Located close to Colos and Tamera, Vale Bacias ist owned by the swiss foundation named "Pinú'u", which was once founded by Lika in our team. The foundation owns today more than 200 hectar of wild land. We have been renting 15 hectar to build a center for encounters in Vale Bacias, and one day to become a true "Dancer's Village", as one project of the association "Initiative Tänzerdorf eV", which is based in Freiburg (Germany), and which runs another center for encounters in the Black Forest in Germany, called "Sommerecke".

Katja Schleibinger – Dance as a living dialogue between body, emotion, and community.

Through my workshops, I invite people to discover their own language through dance, to move, and to encounter themselves on a deeper level. Movement has always been my language – it gives me expression, grounding, and connection to myself and to others.

From 2010 to 2013, I studied health education—a path that led me to the beautiful city of Freiburg im Breisgau. After completing my studies, I became self-employed as a dance educator and worked in health promotion and prevention with renowned companies, schools, and as a lecturer.
Since childhood, I have explored movement as a form of expression and as a bridge between cultures. Projects such as “Respekt” and “Dance for Tolerance”, a formative exchange project in Kosovo, and teaching experiences abroad (Kosovo, Gran Canaria, Singapore, Peru) have shown me how dance connects people and transcends boundaries.
Travels to South America and Africa, along with my passion for Salsa Afro-Cubana, have deeply influenced my style. Dance projects in Benin and India further expanded and enriched my artistic perspective.

In 2019, I discovered Contact Improvisation and continued my training in Physical Theatre and as a rhythmics educator. These experiences expanded not only my movement-based artistic methods but also my bodily awareness and my view of the world.
Today, I integrate these experiences into my work as a body therapist, educator, and dancer. My focus is on body- and attachment-oriented approaches that help people reconnect with themselves, release tension, and rediscover their inner vitality.
My professional path has taken me into clinics, girls’ and women’s work, youth projects, corporate health promotion, and onto the stage. In all contexts, my goal is the same: to create spaces where people can express themselves, explore, and rediscover who they are.
Further training in dance, dance therapy, body-oriented psychotherapy, embodiment coaching, and Physical Theatre has deepened my understanding of the connection between body, mind, and creativity. Yet, my most profound learning has come through lived experience – through dance, improvisation, and human connection.

As a health educator, dancer, and body therapist, I am dedicated to exploring the connection between dance, health, and personal development. Since 2024, I have also been working two days a week as a body therapist in a psychosomatic clinic.
I believe that every person carries innate wisdom and a unique capacity for expression. My role is to accompany these potentials with care, offer gentle impulses, and create spaces for understanding, vitality, and creativity.

For more information, visit: www.katja-schleibinger.de

Overview of Costs:

• Overall (all inclusive) for the week, the amount sums up to:
• normal price: 640€; reduced price: 440€ (plus your own travelling to our site)
• This is composed of: 
• normal price: Association fee 180€ (we pay for 15ha land!), Workshop fee 140€, Sleeping 15€/night in the guest yurt, food sharing 18€/day, mobility sharing (cars 10€/day)
• reduced price: Association fee 120€ (we pay for 15ha land!), Workshop fee 100€, Sleeping 10€/night in a tent, food sharing 15€/day, mobility sharing (cars 7€/day)

If you cancel your participation after 15 May, we withhold a cancellation fee of 100€.

For the local people, a partial participation may be possible (on request).

Registration:

Register at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Vale Bacias – a pioneering initiative

Welcome to the future 'Dancer's Village' in Vale Bacias, near Colos in Alentejo, Portugal.

The heart of our project is our Dance Yurt, the ‘Eternal Silent Jam’, a space for meditation in dance and in silence, as well as three other modern yurts. Here we have created a place of peace, retreat, and reflection on what truly matters, where heartfelt encounters can flourish. Our site can accommodate 10 people in yurts and we have common areas for overall 20 guests when with private campers and tents. In the vast landscape, characterized by cork oaks and cystroses, we meet in pristine nature, which connects us through its daily rhythms and the changing seasons. 

Since 2023, we have been committed to shaping this site and have built a shower and composting toilet house next to the yurts, generate and obtain solar power and water sustainably on this land, and we regularly invite people to dance.

Without knowing in advance exactly what it means to be a “dancer’s village”, we are developing it slowly, step by step, and following the path that emerges. André, Lika and Sheary uphold the vision and safeguard the place against the backdrop of strong spiritual and ecological values, combined with a passion for Contact Improvisation as an embodied practice of communication and presence. 

We are currently only here part-time and don't yet have a typical daily community life, yet our heartfelt connections with one another continue to grow. In the long term, we plan to further develop our Dancer’s Village and create additional dance, living, and practice spaces, a café, a large kitchen, and more guest apartments.

After doing pioneering ground work on the site for 3 years, since 2026 we re-start to host gatherings focusing on experiencing nature and community, as well as somatic bodywork and dance, and happily rely on our own infrastructure now. We hope that our site will become increasingly vibrant with a permanent presence.

Visit us in Vale Bacias!!

Visit Vale Bacias

From spring 2026, the "Dancers' Village" (in fact baby state of a future village) in Vale Bacias can be visited at any time, as we have provided running water and solar power, and showers and toilets are now also available near the guest yurts.

If you would like to come with your own bus, camper or tent, please contact us and be prepared that this may not be possible in some specific weather conditions. The guest yurts can accommodate up to 7 people; the accommodation is comfortable, cozy, but also simple; in Vale Bacias, living in and with nature is a goal and essential. 

The best way to truly experience our Dancer's Village in-the-making in Vale Bacias is, of course, to spend a whole week's holiday here.
If you would like to get to know us for just 1-2 days, then it is a good idea to arrive on Wednesday afternoon, experience the Wednesday evening Contact Improvisation-Jam, and stay for 1-2 nights until Friday.

You should come with your own vehicle and bring or contribute your own food and drinking water.

Your contribution towards the cost of accommodation is from June 2026:

• €35/night for 1-3 nights
• €30/night for 4-6 nights
• and €190 per week
• association memberships allow for discounts
• ...and to book for longer periods, groups, volunteer or as a space holder,
  contact André and Sheary at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Directions:

The Dancer’s Village in Vale Bacias is located approximately 7 km from the village of Colos and 7 km from the village of Reliquias.
Please note that our location is NOT where Google Maps sends you when you enter “Vale Bacias”, but 5 km away, also Colos is not where GoogleMaps puts it, but some km south.
Please use only the link & GPS coordinates we send you for directions.

By car: From Lisboa/Milfontes/Cercal/Colos/Faro:
From the ER-389, take the dirt road towards Tamera/Vimeiro/Vale Rodrigo/Colossus Plants.
Then follow our directions which we send to you.
If you are coming from the south-west (Odemira, Aljezur, Lagos), take the M532 at Reliquias and from there follow our directions which we send to you.

By Airplane: The nearest airports are Faro and Lisbon. Renting a car is recommended.
Faro airport is 135 km away, Lisbon airport 170 km; there is one route with and one without tolls, the latter 1h longer. IN Lisbon, Centauro is an affordable car rental.

Train: The train journey from either location takes approximately 2 hours and you get off at Funcheira station; the fare is between 10 and 20 euros. (See Comboios de Portugal). From there it's another 20 km, which you can cover by taxi.

Bus: National bus services operated by various Portuguese bus companies (e.g. Rede Expressos or Flixbus) will take you to Cercal (23 km away) or Colos (Rodoviaria do Alentejo). The buses do not connect well with each other and usually run twice a day. Reliable information about Portuguese public transport connections can be found via the Rome 2Rio app. Information from Google Maps is NOT reliable.

Details of the land and yurts in Vale Bacias:

Landscape 

In the typical landscape of the Alentejo you will find a pristine land, characterized by cork oaks and holm oaks, meadows and cystrose bushes.

The rolling hills offer many walking trails and expansive views, we have 2 lakes, and there are secluded spots under the cork oaks.

In this vast expanse, the light-flooded yurts with their large windows and skylights form a bright, protected container that allows a connection with the elements and the sounds of nature, thereby making a very special presence and tranquility tangible.

 The dance yurt:

The "Eternal Silent Jam" is a light-filled, sacred space that can comfortably accommodate events with 5 to 20 people. The yurt, with a diameter of 8 meters, has six floor-to-ceiling windows, an operable skylight, and an entrance and exit behind a spacious, covered entrance area.

The view of the vastness of the untouched landscape creates inner stillness and enables a very special inner and outer peace. A terrace also allows for dancing/spending time outdoors, connected via the two patio doors to the interior of the 8 m yurt.

An air conditioner can be used to cool or even heat the room.

 The sleeping yurt:

The kitchen and guest yurt:

The 6m cooking yurt serves as a communal space where guests can communicate and interact. The simple kitchen facilities allow for self-catering. It also features an opening skylight and a floor-to-ceiling window, electric lighting, USB charging stations, and 230V sockets.

An outdoor washing-up station allows for washing dishes in the open air. The surrounding large cork oak trees provide shade for a seating area, a picnic rug on the lawn, and hammocks.

From the cooking yurt it is approximately 50m to the sanitary building and the sleeping yurt, and approximately 100m to the dance yurt. In front of the cooking yurt is the parking lot, and paths invite you to stroll through the countryside.

 The space holder’s Yurt

Approximately 100 meters further uphill from the other yurts, the space holder's yurt stands on a hill. This 8-meter yurt also has an opening skylight and a wooden terrace, accessible through two patio doors and two sets of steps. Six floor-to-ceiling windows offer unobstructed views across the entire landscape, far beyond our valley. A large wood-burning stove with windows facing three directions provides cozy warmth in winter, and there is storage space for supplies in the entrance area.

A second level offers additional sleeping accommodations, allowing up to five people to sleep here in one double and up to three single beds. The yurt is well-equipped and features a kitchen with a two-burner gas stove, a sink and work surfaces, electric lighting, and electrical outlets.

If you once host an event in Vale Bacias, you'll enjoy the space holder's yurt :).

The Shower and Toilet Cabin

The seminar house with the grandmother tree

Located directly on the lower lake, the Pinu’u Foundation's seminar house features a kitchen, a large dining table for up to 20 people. Unfortunately, there is currently no running water in this house. We book these rooms separately for our events. The seminar house and the lake are about a 10-minute walk from the other yurts and are situated right next to the Grandmother Tree. Additional showers and composting toilets are located nearby. The Grandmother Tree is an approximately 800-year-old cork oak, whose welcoming and benevolent presence watches over the land.

Vans and campsites:

You are welcome to visit us with your campervan or, during the warmer months, with your tent. There are a few level, shaded spots scattered around the grounds. If you are parking your campervan, please use our designated parking area and bring leveling ramps to compensate for the uneven terrain. Please park elsewhere only by prior arrangement. Please do not park near our neighbors.

When visiting us, please also note:

• Vale Bacias is a strictly smoke-free and drug-free area.
• From June to October the fire hazard is so severe that extreme caution is advised (don’t even think of candles, smoking, nothing of the sort).
• If you come outside our events, you have to come with your own car and you have to take care for your own drinking water and food service as we don’t have shared meals.
• Please respect our place free from smoke and drugs/substance
• welcome to join our telegram group (https://t.me/+gbbuRWnqfN9kZmQy)
• please leave your dog at home
• check in for staying overnight conditions in advance