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International Contact Improvisation & Tango Festival En Provence Spring - 18-24 Avril 2026 - Rustrel - 15th EditionContact Improvisation, Tango Dance, Improvisation, Workshops, Jams, Underscore, Live music, Nature.
15th edition of the Festival de Danse Contact Improvisation de la Provence, in Rustrel, one of the most beautiful villages in France, located north of Apt and at the foot of the Monts de Vaucluse. A unique opportunity of immersion for 7 days, for 35 participants, to experience an exploration of dance and movement with quality workshops, jams, live music and many other proposals to share.
THE PROGRAM Programme Festival En Provence spring 2026 > Check https://www.emotionbodies.com/events/82-festival-contact-improvisation-tango-provence-rustrel-spring-2026.html#angles
The event is open to all those who wish to share, learn or get a deeper experience in Contact Improvisation & Tango Dance. Space open to all levels, beginners, advanced and professional dancers.
Days and hours: From Saturday 18th of April afternoon to Friday 24th of April in the afternoon.
Places available: Limited to 35 and will be accepted in order of registration.
Location: Rustrel (Provence). Professional dance space with a high quality wooden dance floor.
Food: 🍃 Adeline: Wholesome, Local, and Full of Flavor.
Festival philosophy
This festival was born from an initiative between a brother and a sister and their passion for dance. Mercè Nebot, who has lived in French Provence for 20 years, and Pep Nebot, who lives in Barcelona, have joined forces to create this space for sharing dance, creation and beauty.
At each edition, people of many different nationalities have gathered for the Festival, which is very enriching and allows the establishment of a cultural bridge around art, dance and creativity.
In this festival we want to prioritize some approaches:
• Quality pedagogy in Contact Improvisation dance to promote better body awareness;
• Welcoming a small group that will live together for a week an intimate and profound human adventure. We want to generate a sense of belonging to the group and a sense of community, by creating an inclusive, generous and supportive environment;
• Contact with nature, surround yourself with aesthetic beauty and charismatic villages of the deep Provence;
• The cultural exchange between participants, locals and international visitors; We have already experienced on many occasions that, when people with different cultures and life experiences get together, we all grow in a spiral of creativity and self-knowledge;
• Live Contact Improvisation and other dance forms in its essence, with its living principles present at all times: self-respect and respect for the other, sense of group, security and creativity, movement in gravity, contact, attention and self-knowledge, among others.
The facilitators
BASTIEN AUBER (France)
Since 2011, he has been teaching Contact Improvisation in workshops, masterclasses, and regular festivals in France and in many other countries. He trained in dance through traveling and working with numerous CI teachers, as well as teachers of instant composition and somatic techniques. For several years now, teaching CI has been his main activity.
His approach to body dynamics is closely connected to the movements found in nature (microcosm and macrocosm). He is particularly interested in the 5 elements and in spiral forms.
He is also a dance performer, a geologist, and a geobiologist. He practices meditation, contemplative dance, and authentic movement, and places great importance on poetry and the invisible within dance.
GISELA NAVONIT - Argentina
She trained in various dance techniques from an early age at the National Dance School Nigeria Soria, studying Classical Dance, Contemporary, Jazz, Contact Improvisation, and Sensory Perception, until she encountered Tango at age 15.
She has been working with tango in Barcelona, Spain, since 1998. In this city, she has developed her work as a teacher and organizer of diverse activities related to this dance.
Outside of Spain, she has participated in tango events and festivals in France, England, Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, the United States, Uruguay, and Argentina. She has also been part of the organization, programming, and management of cultural spaces in Barcelona (El Desbande/La Ravalera) and in Montevideo (La Orilla Espacio Creativo).
TangoNeta! has been her open invitation since 2004—addressed to both dancers and musicians—to develop, through experiential and reflective practice, the ongoing exploration that tango offers. The event has evolved over the years, with editions in Barcelona (Spain), Cardona (Spain), Naples (Italy), and Rosario (Argentina). www.tangoneta.com
Her study of tango as an improvisational dance is enriched by drawing from other movement techniques (Tai Chi, Contact Improvisation, Instant Composition, BMC, Yoga, among others) and through shared research with other teachers, musicians, artists, and students.
ALEJANDRO GONZÁLEZ – DJ & Tango Artist - Argentina
Festival en Provence Gisela y Alejandro 15
Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, Alejandro is a seasoned tango dancer, choreographer, and teacher with a long career that began in 1994. After training and performing in renowned tango companies in Argentina, he moved to Europe in 2005, teaching across Spain, Germany, Italy, France, and the Netherlands.
Together with Gisela Navonit, he has organized influential tango events such as Explotango Marathon (Catalonia) and created cultural spaces in Tarragona (Tarragotango) and Montevideo (“La Orilla”). His work is marked by a deep research into improvisation, enriched by contemporary dance, Contact Improvisation, ballet, and Chi-Kung.
Alejandro is also an active tango DJ, bringing his refined musical sensitivity to dance floors.
For our festival, he will be the DJ of the Jam Milongas, offering an inspiring musical journey shaped by years of artistic exploration.
Pep Nebot (Barcelona - Catalunya):
I began my dance journey in 2010 with Contact Improvisation, which has since become the foundation of my practice as both dancer and teacher. Over the years, I have also trained in contemporary dance, acrobatics, and handstand practice, disciplines that continue to shape my movement vocabulary and sense of presence. I have studied with internationally recognized CI teachers such as Nancy Stark Smith, Martin Keogh, Itay Yatuv, and many others. Still, my most profound learning comes from continuous exploration and the countless dancers I have met along the way.
Since 2020, I have been teaching Contact Improvisation workshops and intensives in Spain and France. My approach seeks a balance between technique and personal exploration, between the acrobatic and the subtle. Since 2015, I have also been deeply involved in organizing dance events, including CI festivals, jams, and contemporary acrobatic dance intensives. I am co-founder of the Festival International de Contact Improvisation EN PROVENCE in France (active since 2017) and the CI Camp in Catalonia (since 2020).
What draws me most to CI is its capacity to immerse us fully in the present moment, in a flowing dialogue between body, space, gravity, and touch. I see dance as both a practice and an art form—an ongoing investigation into weight, momentum, and balance, as well as an opening into poetry. Each gesture, fall, or encounter becomes a silent narrative, revealing truths that words cannot express.
For me, dance is not only physical—it is a language of presence and connection, a way to meet others, to meet myself, and to celebrate the simple fact of being alive.
Mercè Nebot – (Barcelona-Provence-Avignon) :
Passionate about dance and movement for more than 15 years, I am particularly drawn to free and spontaneous dance, centered on the art of improvisation. I discovered Contact Improvisation about ten years ago, an encounter that deeply shaped my journey. Since 2024, I have been teaching Contact Improvisation and co-organizing the Contact Impro Festival in Provence, which has already celebrated thirteen editions.
Trained in Wutao (a contemporary body practice with Taoist influences) and in Danser Être Dansé with Véronique Pioch, I now lead workshops in free dance and Wutao, and I love creating spaces for bodily expression and exploration.
What is most important to me is sharing my love for dance and the joy of free movement — freed from the limits and conditionings we often impose on ourselves — in order to fully inhabit the present moment.
Sébastien Prats (France)
Sébastien
Deux racines portent mon expérience professionnelle: Une expérience de plus de 25 ans dans les domaines de la production musicale, création artistique, spectacle, concert, scène en tant qu'interprète et organisation d'évenements. Une formation et une pratique d'enseignant depuis plus de 10 années dans les domaines du bien être, de la santé, de la relaxation et la méditation. https://www.sebastienprats.com/
Workshop proposal: Spontaneous singing.
A sacred space-time to find yourself in yourself and together in a fraternal, creative, joyful spirit. Free from the sounds, the gestures to which our body aspires, we will untie, energize the space through song and dance, sound and movement in co-creation. Our body evolving on a daily basis leads us to experience and feel a number of emotions that cannot be verbalized, out of syntactic or unconscious. This improvised singing space-time is made to liberate the body, connect with direct expression and digest the emotional speaking of this material. This group practice has the effect of calming the mind and strengthening confidence, self-esteem and inner joy.
Structure of the intensives
CONTACT IMPROVISATION INTENSIVE – BASTIEN AUBER
“FLUX”
Festival Contact Improvisation En Provence Pep Nebot 1
In this Contact Improvisation intensive, we will explore three essential technical axes that shape my particular approach to this dance:
• Grounding & Relationship to the Earth
We will refine how grounding supports stability in weight exchange while keeping us mobile and light. Through solo and duet work, we will deepen our dialogue with gravity, learning to receive and redirect weight with clarity and trust.
• Mastery of Speed Through Our Three Centers
Speed becomes a conscious choice when we understand the interaction of our center of mass, anatomical center, and visual center. This work sharpens our timing, alignment, and agility, offering greater precision when navigating space or responding to a partner.
• Momentum, Elastic Torsion & Spirals
Using the spine and the body's natural torsion, we will explore how to generate and guide momentum. Spirals will serve as pathways for fluid transitions, creative partnering, and effortless lifts or counterbalances.
Throughout the intensive, we will cultivate softness of touch, fluidity, tone, and authenticity as foundations for improvisation. The goal is to let presence and embodied listening guide our dance—an expression of our personal and shared “flux.”
NB: Flux (from Latin fluxus: flow) refers to elements moving in a common direction. In this workshop, our dance becomes that evolving movement—a journey through origin, destination, and the path between..
TANGO INTENSIVE – GISELA NAVONIT
No Role · Both Roles · Queer Tango · The Play of the Dance
Festival en Provence Gisela y Alejandro 5 processed
The proposal of this intensive is based on an integral vision of learning tango, approached through three inseparable pillars: mechanical technique, perceptive technique, and expressive technique. These perspectives allow us to understand tango not merely as a sequence of steps, but as a sensitive, attentive, and creative body in motion.
This intensive invites participants to dive fully into the universe of tango, from its foundations to its deepest essence. We will leave the blends with other disciplines—such as Contact Improvisation or contact-tango—for the festival’s evening spaces, where they will naturally emerge in the milongas and jams, inspired by the magnificent music of DJ Alejandro González.
Tango is an improvised dance. Therefore, it is not the form or the figures that determine whether we are dancing tango, but the quality of the bodily dialogue. So, what truly defines tango? What do we need to develop in order to dance with authenticity?
We will approach tango as a poetic language where emotions become movement and movement becomes word. Its vocabulary is subtle and full of nuance, and its primary medium of communication is the embrace—that intimate space where two people can become one.
We will explore body mechanics, deep listening with the partner, and the richness of the roles—leading and following—until reaching the state of “no role,” where both functions weave together: leading-while-following and following-while-leading.
This intensive is an invitation to investigate, learn, and enjoy, with material adaptable to all levels. Whether you have very little experience or you are a seasoned dancer, the proposal is designed so that each participant can deepen their connection to this art form, explore both roles, discover subtleties, and enjoy the full gift of tango.
About Rustrel
Rustrel is a village located north of Apt and at the foot of the Monts de Vaucluse. Its open-air ocher quarries, fully exploited in the past, have made it rich and continue through tourism with those of the "Colorado Provençal". Its dirt trails allow you to discover eroded cliffs with more than 20 shades of ochre2, hoodoos, etc. They date from the Cretaceous and are composed mainly of ochreous sands, white sands and ferruginous cuirasses.
The privileged environment: The Provençal Colorado extends over more than 30 hectares, in the Luberon massif, about 10 km from Apt1. Marked trails run through former ocher quarries with more than 20 shades of ochre. The site includes the "Cirque de Barriès", the "Cirque de Bouvène", settling basins, fairy chimneys (dangerous area prohibited by municipal decree), the "Sahara", the bed of the Dôa (small local river) . The GR 6 long-distance footpath crosses the site. The colors of the ochres of the Provençal Colorado contrast with the shades of green of the vegetation and the white of the surrounding limestone massifs.
Accommodation
XII century Château de Rustrel located in the center of the village
This XII century castle has recently been restored and we continue to add a new touch to it every year. Nevertheless, it is a princely stopover that is offered to you with dinners in the amphitheater at the foot of the castle on sunny days, rooms for 2 and dormitories with 3, 4 and 6 beds and a large common room in ground floor. As it is in the center of the village, it is also an opportunity to take a short tour of the oil mill or simply listen to your footsteps echo in the cobbled streets.
We will have the chance to stay together in this historic building and meet there at every meal to share unforgettable moments.
🍃 Adeline: Wholesome, Local, and Full of Flavor
ADELINE
Throughout the retreat, Adeline, our local cook, will delight us with vegetarian meals — light, nourishing, and full of energy — served for lunch and dinner.
🌿 Fresh and Organic Ingredients
Her dishes are crafted with seasonal produce, sourced from local farms and organic agriculture, bringing freshness, color, and authenticity to every plate.
✨ Food that Nurtures Body and Soul
With generosity and passion, Adeline invites us to enjoy a simple, vibrant, and balanced cuisine, perfectly aligned with the spirit of the retreat. 🍽
PRICES & REGISTRATION
Price WITH accommodation in Rustrel castle (ony 30 beds):
Early Bird until March 18, 2026: €495
After March 18, 2026: 535 €
Price WITHOUT accommodation in Rustrel castle:
Early Bird until March 18, 2026: 415 €
After March 18, 2026: 455 €
To reserve the place, you must pay the deposit of €100, and the rest can be transferred or paid in cash at the event.
What is included in the price:
Accommodation in Rustrel Castle in shared rooms. People will be distributed as they register. (for those who pay the price with accommodation).
All lunches and dinners, with organic vegetarian cuisine.
Use of the common spaces of the castle, dining room, bathrooms, terraces, etc.
All workshops and jams.
Liability insurance.
What is not included in the price:
Breakfasts. The dining room of the Castle will be available to all participants, sleeping in the castle or not. Also, coffee and tea will always be available to everyone. A refrigerator will also be made available to all participants.
REGISTRATION AND PAYMENTS
To reserve your place you must register in the registration form and pay the deposit of €100 to confirm your reservation, and the rest can be transferred before the event or paid in cash on the first day of the event.
The transfer of the deposit can be made to a Spanish or French bank, or by Paypal:
• Spanish bank: IBAN: ES47 0081 0900 8000 0334 3240SWIFT: BSABESBBXXX (Owner: José Nebot Muns)
• French bank: IBAN : FR76 1390 6001 4200 1891 0602 595 / BIC : AGRIFRPP839 / Association Corps Raccords
• Paypal: [email protected] If you choose to pay pay Paypal, there is an applyed commission that can vary from 5 euros (Euro zone) to 20 euros (Israel or Australlia for instance). Due the this high quantities, we will ask you to pay us back this commission in cash in the festival. Thanks for understanding.
When making the transfer, write in the concept "your name and surname + Festival Provence". For international transfers, make sure that the amount being sent is free of bank commissions.
Contact and information:
Contact in France: Merce Nebot +33 666124365, [email protected]
Contact in Catalonia: Pep Nebot +34 685166358, [email protected]
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Rustel, France, 1446 Chemin de Rastel, 13510 Éguilles, France, Aix-en-provence
Tickets
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