Vale Bacias
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.