Hello everyone!
We are very happy to announce you the 12th edition of Winter Jam of Arts 2025 – 2026 festival in a wonderful farm in north Rome, surrounded by a large forest!
Click here
The event includes labs of Contact improvisation, of Body Mind Centering, of Tao dance applied on Contact improvisation, of Somatics, of performing arts, of CircleSinging and of voice impro.
As well as many jams, live music and plenty of traditional Italian and vegetarian food!
This year the retreat, through the practice of contact improvisation will focus also on Zen and Tao traditions, connected also with the flow of Qi energy as well as calligraphy principles!
You are all invited to dance, sing, relax, connect with the nature, meet people from all around the globe and improvise!
(SPOKEN LANGUAGE ENGLISH)
The festival will take place on 27 December – 5 of January and is composed by 3 events,
- First event will be 27 – 30 December
- Second 30 December – 2 January
- Third 2 – 5 January.
You can participate to one, two or three events!
The retreats includes :
– 32 hours of lessons
– More than 72 hours of jams
– Live music.
– Excursions in the nature.
– Big, well heated apartments and dormitory.
– Big circular dance space with heated floor
– Traditional Italian and vegetarian food.
The teachers are: (see below curriculum of teachers and musicians)
- Milan Kozanek
- Marcella Fanzaga
- Ippokratis Veneris
- Chiara Cortez
- Barbara Lucarini
Musician: Chiara Cortez
extracts of jams
voice choral lab
moments
Note: To participate to the festival you don’t need to be dancers or artists since the idea of the Jam of Arts festivals is aimed to people who want to experiment with arts and movement, regardless having or not prior experience. The goal is to explore different skills and capabilities that exist within us, study various disciplines and enjoy!
Event 27-28-29-30 December
27 December
28 December
29 December
30 December
Event 30-31 December 1-2 January
30 December
31 December
1 January
2 January
Event 2-3-4-5 January
2 January
3 January
4 January
5 January
Prices A:
– the fee for one event (27 – 30 December or 2 – 5 January) sleeping in dormitory is 230€.
- the fee for the event of 30 December – 2 January sleeping in dormitory is 250€.
- the fee for participating at two events (7 days, 27 December – 2 January or 30 December – 5 January) sleeping in dormitory is 440.
- For three events, (10 days, 27 December – 5 January), the price is 570€.
In the fees are included all the workshops, all the events, all the meals, single bed in dormitory, sheets, towels and blankets. (places are limited)
photos of dormitory
Prices B
– the fee for one event (27 – 30 December or 2 – 5 January) sleeping in apartment is 255€
– the fee for the event of 30 December – 2 January sleeping in apartment is 275€.
– the fee for participating at two events (7 days, 27 December – 2 January or 30 December – 5 January) sleeping in apartment is 485€.
– For three events, (10 days, 27 December – 5 January), the price is 685€.
In the fees are included all the workshops, all the events, all the meals, single bed in apartment, sheets, blankets and towels.. (places are limited)
photos of the appartments
For more information’s and registration, you have to write an email to:
registration@jamofarts.com
Write us your choice (which events and accomodation option) and we will send you the prepayment quote and all the details for the money transfer.
Is very important write us also your phone number because most pf the times our emails ends on spam and you will not see them.
tel: 0039 3287213546 (also whatsapp, telegram and viber)
Note: renting this luxury place is very expensive plus the cost of the teachers and chef and food makes it really challenging for us. So in case of cancellation of participation if the request is made one month before the start of the selected event, a part of the fee will be refunded. If the request is made after this date (less than 30 days from the start of the event) we keep the entire sum of the deposit
NOTE: For the organisation of the festival we will need some helpers who wll have a reduction of the fee. If you want to candidate yourself, please send an email, specifying which event/events you want to join at: registration@jamofarts.com.
Arrival:
From Rome Fiumicino Airport and from the center of Rome trains depart every 30 minutes. The journey takes about 55 minutes and the railway station is close to the farm (Bracciano).
Ticket travel advice’s: If airplanes becoming expensive, good alternative ways to come to Rome are: night trains, Flixbus, Blablacar.
SCROLL DOWN FOR THE TEACHERS BIOS AND WORKSHOPS DESCRIPTIONS
A few words about the place that hosts the festival. Under the ground of the farm is flowing a famous water source that is creating much energy in the place. Next to the farm we find two ancient roman bridges, water cascades, a big cave, streams, many many trees and a bit farther a big lake.. follows some photos of the landscape.
Teachers
MILAN KOZÁNEK graduated from the Department of Dance at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava (Slovakia). Since his graduation, he has worked as a dance teacher, choreographer, dramaturge, and theater director. Over more than 30 years of continuous teaching and research, he has developed his own specific pedagogical approach and system in institutions such as the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance (SEAD),
Tanz Quartier Wien, Konservatorium Wien University (Austria), Northern School of Contemporary Dance in Leeds (UK), TIP – School for Dance, Improvisation and Performance in Freiburg (Germany), and the University of Calgary (Canada).
Together with Zuna Vesan Kozánková, he founded the Artyci Dance Company in 1996.
They have created 16 dance works, which have been presented in Slovakia as well as abroad (Germany, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Canada, Thailand, and China).
Since 2010, he has been engaged in intensive artistic collaborations with creators and theater performers seeking connections between physical theater, movement, text, voice, and singing.
Milan has participated in numerous theatrical research projects with artists from groups such as Studio Matejka (Poland), Song of the Goat (Poland), Res Ratio Network (Greece), and Honey and Dust (Slovakia).
In his work, Milan incorporates extensive experience gained through many years of studying ancient Chinese philosophy, Qigong, and the practice of Chinese and Japanese calligraphy.
His work and movement vocabulary are rooted in a highly erudite approach to the human body—through knowledge of anatomy, work with energy (Qi), and the integration of bodily movement with the principles of Qigong and martial arts.
His method helps artists to understand their bodies more deeply, gain better control over them, work with them more effectively, and consequently elevate their interpretative abilities to several higher levels.
Title of the workshop of Milan Kozànek of 27 – 30 December: Tao in Contact Improvisation
Workshop for movers and dancers who want to deepen their knowledge of the body from different perspective and experience principles of Tao in movement and improvisation.
After many years of studying ancient Chinese texts such as Tao Te Ching and I Ching, and practicing Japanese and Chinese calligraphy, I have developed and applied the principles and concepts from this knowledge into dance, contact impro and improvisation.
We will begin with the form of Qigong practice and gradually move towards open improvisation. Along the way, we will explore the concept of Yin and Yang, learning to understand it from different perspectives and different ways.
We will incorporate it to body surfaces and bone structure, and then develop it into movement and improvisation in contact. We will activate energy (Qi) in the body and consciously direct it into individual body parts and body layers, discovering movement possibilities and using movement and energy centres.
All of this will be developed within the concept of Unity (Tai Chi) and Action in Non-Action (Wu Wei).
The power of nature within this work acts as a catalyst for a deeper and more concentrated practice, which can open new insights and perspective in the bodies and minds of the participants.
Title of the workshops of Milan Kozànek of 30 December – 2 January: “being part in group Improvisation”
In this workshop we will focus on developing individual awareness within group improvisation. Together we will explore the group’s energy and rhythm, learning to be an active part of the collective process and to sense how each contribution supports and shapes the overall dynamic. The aim is to experience a deeper connection – with oneself with others, and with the atmosphere that emerges as we attune to the group.
I have been working on this topic for many years, and in recent years I have been further developing and testing it in theater work. Alongside other techniques and exercises, we will also practice exercises rooted in Grotowski’s theater. We will deepen and explore the boundaries between our individual selves and our collective selves.
We will cultivate inner depth and attention within the concept and philosophy of perceiving the human body in creative movement through the lens of its totality. At the same time, we will develop our group consciousness, of which individuality is an integral part. Some group exercises will focus on enhancing the sensibility of group consciousness, while others will emphasize creativity and composition in relation to time and space.
Title of the workshops of Milan Kozànek of 2 – 5 January: “Anatomy of Movement and Energy Centres of the Body”
An insight into the anatomy of our physical and energetic structures. How to develop freedom, power, connection, and flexibility in Contact Improvisation (CI).
This movement practice aligns the body, mind, and energetic flow in order to deepen the work with joints, structural support, and the two centres of gravity. It applies the Taoist approach to improvisation and CI through the concept of Yin and Yang.
The practice combines the physical structure of the body with its energy centres, rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and East Asian martial arts (Qigong and Tai Chi Chuan).
We will work in improvisation with the three basic energy centres (the three Dantians) and the vital energy flows, developing them from individual exploration into Contact Improvisation.
In addition to these three main centres, we will also focus on the concept of the hand energy centre (Laogong) and the foot energy centre (Yongquan), their connection to the joints of the arms and legs, to the whole body, and their application in CI.
This workshop can open participants to new insights, perspectives, and qualities in both body and mind, enriching improvisation and CI. It enhances the use of joint potential, expands movement possibilities, and unlocks the full power of the body.
Marcella Fanzaga Dancer, Dance author – teacher – choreographer – independent performer – somatic movement (SME) and developmental movement (IDME) educator Body-Mind Centering® – dance therapist and BMC® practitioner – graduated from the SNDO in Amsterdam.
Into her work integrates contemporary dance, release technique, floor work, butoh dance, and somatic body-mind centering® movement (she is a professional member of the BMCA), offering experiential paths and movement practices to support artistic, educational, and healthcare professionists.
What is Body-Mind Centering®?
Body-Mind Centering® is an experiential method and an innovative approach to movement based on the concept of embodiment (learning from and through the body) and the importanceof the evolutionary aspects (phylogenetic and ontogenetic) of movement. Through there-education of movement and its mind and the reorganization of neuromotor patterns, BMC® leads to greater alignment between mind, body, and emotions and to greater self-awareness and psycho-physical integration.
It is based on fundamentals of anatomy, physiology, psychology, and knowledge of the development of movement from conception to the first years of life.
Body-Mind Centering® supports the growth and development of the individual in their uniqueness and totality of thought, emotion, and action through awareness of the body, its parts and structures, and their dynamic relationship, also enhancing the expressive and metaphorical aspect of movement.
It has a wide range of applications: movement education and practice, dance, yoga, bodywork, rehabilitation, psychotherapy, child development, education, music, voice, art, meditation, martial arts, athletics, and other disciplines that engage the mind-body connection.
Theme of the workshop of Marcella Fanzaga of 27 December – 2 January: Body-Mind Centering®: The balance of the autonome nervous system at the basis of action
In this workshop we will explore the transition between moving toward resources and a state of inner concentration, and moving toward action and a state that prepares us to interact with the outside world.
We will deepen the activation qualities of our autonome nervous system as they interact and modulate each other.
The autonome nervous system maintains internal homeostasis; it is also called involuntary because it regulates the vital functions of our organs independently of our awareness and will.
Its modulation influences the basic tone with which we relate to the world and move through space.
Theme of the workshop of Marcella Fanzaga of 2 – 5 January: Body-Mind Centering®: Suspended in the Net – The Tensegrity Relationship Between Muscles, bones, ligaments and fascia.
n this class, we will explore the ability of our connective tissues to maintain space and the balance of form through the balanced transmission of forces, the sense of suspension in the bones, and the flow of muscular action guided by tension and fascial slippage
We will experience how the quality and sense of movement changes depending on where the support and the initiation are: in the muscles, bones, fascia, or the systemic network.
We will explore the relationship between feeling and action, expanding our awareness to perceive the sensorial and proprioceptive qualities of the tissues that move the body in space.
Ippokratis Veneris teacher, dancer, choreographer, deepen and studies dance and other arts aince young age . In his lessons of contact inserts elements from the various disciplines that has studied extensively over the years as: floorwork, release technique, experiential anatomy, applied anatomy, dupuy technique, acrobalance, martial arts, afro dance, ballet, alexander technic, chi kung, dance theatre and much more.
– In the past collaborated with the UNIVERSITY OF ROME “Roma 3”, department of “Philosophy of Education” giving lectures about “Pedagogy, C.I. and personal researches on teaching”.
– for two years he received an open scholarship in Brussels (PARTS-ROSAS Dance Company) and in Rome by the region of Lazio to proceed with his research on dance theater projects. His original works (“Buongiorno Amore”, “Afroditi”, presented at Olympic theatre and Theatre Greco) combine together elements of theatre and dance.
– Was professor in the theatre school “il Cantiere Teatrale”.
– 2018 award: His work as choreography director for the Pina Bausch “The Nelken line in Rome”. An international project of 25 dancers of 11 different countries. Receives the second award of Lazio Film Festival Commission.
– he has been a guest together with Giulio Tremonti (former Italian Minister of Economy), Romano Prodi (the former Italian prime minister and former president of the European community), Ermanno Olmi (film director) in the TV show “the wind whistles” of Gad Lerner for Repubblica television and for the art channel Effe tv.
– Has collaborated -teaching and making shows of improvisation- with the Italian National Organization of Theatre.
– Teaches regularly Contact Improvisation in Rome and around europe developing his own method.
– Has collaborated with Roberto Castello-Aldes for “Narrate” premium UBU as the best dance theatre production of the year in Italy and many others.
– In 2011 decided to stop making shows and concentrate his energies on the research about the human nature and the wisdom of our bodies.
– Co-founder of CORE an association of choreographers of central Italy to promote the rights of the live performing arts.
– Co-founder of RomaContact a collective of dancers who promote and give shows of improvisation and Contact Improvisation.
– Lives in Rome where graduate at school “l’officina” where study release technique, Dupuy technique, contact improvisation, instant improvisation and composition.
– As a choreographer, dancer and improviser has organized and participated at different events, in the last ten years.
– Has studied with many choreographers and participating at numerous workshops of physical-theatre, contemporary dance, choreographic composition and contact improvisation.
Theme of the workshop of Ippokratis Veneris (event 27 – 30 December) “liquid consequences – Flowing in liquid landscapes”
In this workshop we explore ways of been stable and contemporary knowing how, supporting our partners, find ays to make flow the structure.
Understand theough our bodies and conmextion with partner when is the proper moment to transform the created bodies structure to a new landscape.
Decisions that can be made by the supporter or the giver and/or both transforming and transmuting it Iin something new. new.
The point will not be to run from something to something else but be present, live the present moment and when we feel ready go on.
The technic that we will study in this lab will be used to create plasticity through presence and consciousness.
Theme of the workshop of Ippokratis Veneris (event 30 December – 2 January): “n – Out, Out – In, listening and communicating, giving and receiving, accepting and offering”
How can I give, offer my presence to my partner being available and open physically, mentally, energetically to communicate?
We will work on how to be present – here and now – and listening been focused contemporary to ourselves and to our partners. We will explore, as we dance and improvise, how to accept and how to offer, becoming our meeting a communicative, fluid and open dance; become our dance a real meeting and a journey.
The key words of these meetings will be: energy, freedom, openness, acceptance, empty-full.
Theme of the workshop of Ippokratis Veneris (2 – 5 January):
“Lightness” , “the net”
In this workshop we will explore the various ways in which we can make our body light dancing with our partners. Breath – body – movementintegration, sensibility – agility, anatomy, suspension, “body engineering” will be some of the themes that we will focus in these meetings with the aim of dancing in a more free, light, aerial and creative way.
THE NET
In this workshop we will explore the many ways that we can be connected with one or more partners.
We will use also some objects as long sticks to create connections, find creative solutions, challenge us, transforming continuously our found solutions to new ones. Using contact imoro and the connections-net that we will create we will keep on challenging us, creating body and mind plasticity versus a playful dance.
The technic will become a way of flowing in various states of body and mind.
Chiara Cortez
Teacher, lyricist, vocal improviser, promoter and facilitator of circlesinging and Nonviolent Empathic Communication. She holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Stanford University in California, during which time she also gained experience as a singer and arranger in the world music a cappella group “Talisman”, a cappella group of world music with whom she has won a CARA award. In Italy, her musical journey began with 10 years’ private study of the violin as an instrument. She then studied jazz singing with Susanna Stivali at Saint Louis College of Music and sang for 11 years with the female vocal ensemble “The Sessions Voices”, with whom she recorded two albums, “Songs of Freedom” (2011) and “Tender You Back”(2017).
As a songwriter in collaboration with Maurizio Filardo, she has written and sang for the soundtracks of various films and TV series (“Beata Ignoranza”, “The Place”, “Non ci resta che il Crimine”, “Domani è Un’Altro Giorno”, “Immaturi”, “I Migliori Giorni”).
She discovered the world ofvcirclesinging and Vocal River (Rhiannon’s forms of collaborative vocal improvisation) and has been studying these disciplines, traveling to train with masters in the field and to research various styles and approaches. Among the trainings she has completed are: Rhiannon’s annual masterclass on vocal improvisation “All The Way In” (2017), Música Do Círculo’s annual training for leaders in São Paulo, Brazil (2022-2023) and she has attended Bobby McFerrin’s Circlesongs School (2016, 2018, 2022).
She is a founding member of the vocal improvisation collective led by Rhiannon, whose name “The Well” was given by Bobby McFerrin, and the Italian group Collettivo CantinCerchio.
She facilitates regular circlesinging gatherings and teaches courses and workshops on circlesinging (circular singing) and vocal improvisation practices.
She was an original faculty member of the French festival Le Cercle Enchanté. She took part in the Vocal River Murmurations project that premiered in Montreal, Canada, in October 2023, under the artistic direction of Rhiannon and Margie Gillis.
She has been studying and practicing Nonviolent Communication since 2017, training with and assisting various trainers, mainly with Yoram Mosenzon’s Connecting2Life school and community, and is constantly looking for ways to combine Empathy with collective music improvisation practices. Chiara is co-founder of the “Circlesinging Roma” initiative, the first open circlesinging community in the Italian capital, active since 2015, which she continues to manage together with co-founding partner Daphne Nisi and colleague Cristina D’Arcangelo.
Theme of the workshop of Chiara Cortez (event 27 – 30 December)
”Group Mind in Collective Voice and Movement Improvisation
This workshop offers an embodied entry point into the heart of the type of voice and movement improvisation we refer to as Murmuration: ensemble improvisation inspired by the mesmerizing patterns of birds in flight. Like a flock of starlings that moves as one organism, this practice explores how groups can move and sound together with fluidity, awareness, and deep listening.
Through playful and intuitive structures, participants explore how to become one moving and sounding body, guided by principles of synchronicity, shared attention, and peripheral awareness.
We begin in pairs and gradually expand into full group sounded flocking, where leadership is fluid and nonverbal, and the ensemble breathes and shifts as one.
No prior experience in vocal improvisation or movement is required—just a willingness to listen, follow, and flow.
Theme of the workshop of Chiara Cortez (event 30 December – 2 January)
“From Mode to Motion: Composing Circlesongs into Living Ensemble”
This workshop begins in the musical architecture of a piece and evolves into a co-created, living composition in space. Starting with a focused exploration of harmonic modes of the major scale, we’ll analyze how circlesongs are built—how scale, voicing, and emotional color shape the musical landscape. Through listening, singing, and guided voicing practice, we develop harmonic intuition and deepen our compositional voc
From there, we expand into the realm of movement: transforming the musical structure into a spatial, collective experience. Voice becomes motion, harmony becomes form, and the piece becomes an improvisational choreography of sound, presence, and co-leadership. This is a
laboratory for both musical refinement and full-bodied ensemble expression.
A space to deepen harmonic awareness, intuitively, in a co-creative context, involving
Theme of the workshop of Chiara Cortez (2 – 5 January)
“Traces in Space: Composing with Voice, Movement and Presen
This workshop explores the poetic and theatrical dimensions of the improvisational practice we call Murmuration—a form inspired by the swirling, synchronized movements of bird flocks, reimagined as a language of sound, gesture, and collective presence.
Through contemporary ensemble vocal improvisation and somatic awareness, participants investigate how spatial awareness, intention, and body-based listening shape group
composition.
We’ll create dynamic scenes that emerge from flocking, solos, sculptural groupings, and small ensemble interplay. Voice and movement become tools for sensing, composing, and shaping
the space around us. Together, we explore how to listen with the whole body—and how to co-create in space as if composing a living score.
This is a creative playground for those who love collective storytelling through breath, sound, and gesture.
Barbara Lucarini started dancing 23 years ago in NYC, practicing release technique and Klein technique among others. She discovered CI with Andrew Hardwood and Randy Warshaw. Since then she has been studying with many different teachers such as Kirstie Simson, Nancy Stark Smith, Julyen Hamilton.
She is teaching CI for about 15 years through out Italy and was invited to festival such the Zipfestival in Orvieto and Friburg festival in Gernany.
She is member and co-founder of RomaContact which is a collective of dancers whose aim is to promote the practice of CI through workshops, jams and performances.
Her use of contact improvisation is extended in her work as a psychologist and dance therapist.
Theme of Barbara Lucarini workshop: The tactile and cutaneous universe: from skin to thought
During this session, we will focus on sensory perception, touching and being touched, and how to use it to dance fully and consciously. We will use the Authentic Movement technique, working with our eyes closed in the presence of another who witnesses and participates in our experience.
We will explore the source of our movement to allow for creativity and the possibility of drawing from our inner, imaginative world, believing that to encounter another in dance, we must first encounter ourselves in our own dance.