Listening to a Permanent Culture of Dance: A Permaculture-Inspired Residency

Listening to a Permanent Culture of Dance: A Permaculture-Inspired Residency

Can Dance Truly Be a Permaculture Practice?

 

This residency is an invitation to listen—to the body, to nature, and to the rhythms of interconnected ecosystems. It is a space to unlearn extractive patterns and co-create sustainable movement cultures that can exist beyond hierarchies, limitations, and exclusions.

By embracing dance as a regenerative practice, we recognize that movement—like nature—does not belong to institutions, perfection, or external validation. It is a living, evolving force, meant to be shared, sustained, and reimagined for generations to come.

 

Residency Overview:

Dates: April 14th – May 4th, 2025

Location: Neohori, Lefkada, Ionian islands, Greece

Venue: Paleohori art-space

Duration: Three weeks

Application Deadline: February 15th, 2025

Notification of acceptance: February 28th, 2025

Apply here: https://forms.gle/X3ocHZM9H33oBEmH7 

 

 

Dance is not a material, nor a survival-based system, it exists in the realms of culture, expression, and ephemerality. Yet, what if we shift the lens from productivity and extraction to sustainability, adaptability, and interconnection?

What if dance, like an ecosystem, could be cultivated with care, wisdom, and regenerative principles, not as a fleeting moment, but as a practice that nourishes the body, mind, and community over time?

This residency invites participants to explore the idea of a permanent culture of dance, inspired by the resilience of nature, where movement is not consumed but sustained, where traditions are not static but evolving, and where dance is a thriving, interconnected force beyond institutional limitations.

Over three weeks in Paleohori’s unique landscape, participants will exchange ideas and practices inspired by nature and permaculture, imagining a dance culture that:

 

– Prioritizes longevity, accessibility, and injury prevention over short-term performance goals.

– Values diversity, interdependence, and regenerative practices, just like healthy ecosystems.

– Recognizes dance as a living, evolving practice, rather than a fixed aesthetic tradition.

– Resists extractive and hierarchical systems, through more sustainable and inclusive movement cultures.

– Shapes a living political and cultural force that engages with broader social and ecological issues.

– Becomes a path for self-actualization, beyond societal expectations and restrictive identities.

 

Just as permaculture regenerates the land, this residency seeks to regenerate dance, rethinking movement as a practice of nurturing, connection, and renewal.

 

 

Residency Focus: Three Core Pillars

 

1) Sustainable Dance Practices: Embracing Otherness, Honouring Commonalities

 

Mainstream dance education and the professional industry often favor youth, virtuosity, and peak performance, reinforcing hierarchical and exclusionary systems. Yet, these same structures that celebrate dancers at their prime also neglect them as they age, failing to create sustainable spaces for movement across a lifetime.

 

This residency explores:

How can dance education empower youth while nurturing critical thinking and self-expression beyond external validation?

How can virtuosity be redefined—not as an elite technical standard, but as a deeply personal and collective pursuit?

How can we apply existing corporal knowledge without replicating toxic environments, but instead promoting a culture of growth?

What practices can become rituals that offer dancers lifelong companionship in movement?

 

By reimagining how dance is taught, facilitated, and sustained, we move towards an ecosystem where movement flourishes at every stage of life.

 

2) Dance as a Medium for Self-Growth Beyond Stereotypes, Identities, and Comparisons

 

In an era where image-based representation and social validation dominate the dance industry, how can movement become a liberating and self-actualizing force rather than a performance dictated by social norms?

 

This residency encourages:

Breaking free from external validation, shifting focus from appearance and competition to intrinsic movement experience.

Exploring embodied freedom, where movement becomes a process of self-inquiry, intuition, and organic evolution rather than an act of performance or objectification.

Reclaiming movement as a personal and collective journey, rather than a product to be judged, compared, or commodified.

 

Through dance as a regenerative practice, participants will explore how movement can transcend stereotypes, resist categorization, and open new pathways for self-discovery.

 

 

3) Contemporary Dance as an Active Political and Cultural Force

 

Dance is not just an aesthetic or entertainment practice—it is a powerful political tool that critiques, resists, and reshapes society. From decolonial movements to climate activism, dance is both a language of resistance and a celebration of resilience.

 

This residency explores:

How can we dance out our oppressors, challenge norms, and fight colonialism through movement?

How can dance serve as an act of resistance and joy, embracing both political urgency and personal agency?

What tools does dance offer for activism, social resistance, and cultural critique?

How can choreography embody decolonial practices, ecological consciousness, and radical inclusivity?

 

By embracing contemporary dance as an active agent in shaping cultural narratives, we move beyond passive spectatorship and activate movement as a dynamic response to the world we live in.

 

 

Who Should Apply:
This residency is for dance artists interested in the thematic, as well as professionals whose work relates to permaculture, such as ecological designers, environmental artists, sustainable architects, permaculture educators/facilitators, botanical artists, permaculture filmmakers/photographers and craftspeople who focus on traditional crafts using locally sourced, sustainable materials.

 

 

What We Offer:

  • A nurturing environment that encourages creativity, collaboration, and self-reflection for 12-16 participants.
  • A diverse community of artists dedicated to exploring the thematic of the residency.
  • Opportunities for interdisciplinary exchange and experimentation.
  • Accommodation in shared bell tents, harmoniously integrated into the natural landscape, full access to our shared facilities and a spacious open-air studio with a breathtaking view.
  • Vegetarian/vegan meals with fresh products. 
  • Time and space for the participants to exchange engaging activities including thematic workshops, collaborative projects, book readings, hiking, swimming, gardening, woodworking, and others related to the local community such as traditional dance classes, music concerts, etc.

 

What You Have To Take Care Of:

  • Travel expenses: Participants are responsible for their own travel costs. 
  • Participation Fee: €480 to partially contribute to the residency’s expenses.

 

Residency Details:

Kyveli Kouvatsi and Yorgos Sioras Deligiannis will provide gentle facilitation, focusing mostly on practical aspects such as space operation and safety. This shared experience of co-living and co-practicing is primarily designed to be self and collectively regulated. Day-to-day activities can vary from sharing movement practices to collective book readings and movie nights, as well as engaging in creative initiatives, open talks with or without the local community, public interventions, bread making, or hiking to the waterfalls. 

We will hold daily group circles and collectively maintain the functionality of the space. There is no expected outcome for the residency, instead the focus will be on simply being and being together.

During the residency, participants will engage in various practices of decision-making within their crafts and research processes, but also in relation to the co-living experience. These decisions serve as opportunities for personal and collective growth in a set up where everyone is seen, and seen as equal. Through making choices in movement and life, participants are invited to deepen their understanding of dance making, expand their creative strategies and ways of collaborating, while engaging in collective and self-learning processes.

Regarding the collaborative nature of this residency, we hope it will go beyond its role as a platform for cultural exchange and become a community-building experience that addresses social issues, challenges norms, and inspires positive change.

 

 

Application Details:

To apply, please complete this Google Form.

Please note :  

  • You’ll need a five minute max video link of you describing the reasons you want to be part of this residency and your relation to the residency’s thematic. 
  • In case of acceptance, we are happy to provide acceptance letters upon request to support funding applications. However, please keep in mind that once you are notified of your acceptance into the program, there is a 6-day timeframe to complete the 50% non-refundable deposit required to secure your spot.

 

Contact Us:

For inquiries or assistance, please email us at paleohoriartspace@gmail.com