*ContacTango Journey*
Summer Residential in Tuscany
A Week of Dance, Nature & Connection
15-22 May 2027
Monterosi, Anghiari (Arezzo, Italy)
With Lo Katharina Richter and Raffaele Rufo
Nestled in the Tuscan hills near Anghiari, Monterosi offers a beautiful setting for dance and renewal: an outdoor dance platform overlooking the valley, a warm wooden studio, fresh-water swimming, delicious Italian food and the restorative rhythm of life in nature.
More than a retreat and more than a holiday, this is an opportunity to immerse yourself in a living community through sensing and movement, recharge your energy, reconnect with nature, and experience a week where dance becomes a practice of wellbeing, creativity and trust.
Stay in a tent, caravan or shared accommodation, enjoy meals outdoors, and spend the evenings dancing, walking, sharing music, relaxing or simply enjoying the Tuscan sky together.
Each workshop day includes:
• Two ContacTango workshops (2 hours each)
• Movement, touch, musicality and improvisation
• Individual, partner and group practices
• Time for rest, integration and dance evenings self-organised by the participantsContacTango is a unique meeting of Contact Improvisation, Argentine Tango and somatic movement. Through touch, movement and musicality, we explore communication, creativity and connection in a dynamic and playful way. The practice invites us to rediscover the joy of improvisation and the pleasure of sensing and moving together.
At the heart of ContacTango is reciprocity: learning to listen and respond, to support and be supported, to guide and be guided. As we dance, we often experience greater ease in movement, increased body awareness, confidence, wellbeing and a renewed sense of trust and vitality.
Information & Registration
💫 Open to all levels — contact dancers, tango lovers, movers and beginners who wish to explore dance as transformation. You can join alone or with a partner .
📌 No prior experience required.
For enquiries in German, English or Spanish:
📧 circulo@contact-yourself.com
📞 +49 176 76291667 (Lo)
For enquiries in Italian, English or French:
📧 raffaele.rufo@gmail.com
📞 +39 327 1271656 (Raffaele)
Early bird price is available.
A collaboration between Contact Yourself & TangoSomatics
“Freeing the Embrace” — An immersion into ContacTango
What is ContacTango?
ContactTango (aka Contango) combines Argentine tango , contact improvisation , and somatic listening . It is a dance practice based on contact, breath, and connection, where structure and freedom coexist. With no fixed roles, it invites you to trust your body and experience dance as a shared journey of listening, transformation, and presence.
ContacTango: A Practice of Reciprocity
Contango is a unique fusion of Contact Improvisation, Argentine Tango and somatic movement that has evolved over recent years through a shared passion for dance, connection and embodied exploration.
Rooted in the intimacy and musicality of tango and the freedom and creativity of contact improvisation, Contango invites us to dance together in contact. Through touch, movement, breath and listening, we explore communication, expression and improvisation in a dynamic and playful way.
The practice offers a space where technique and exploration support one another. We learn through experience rather than through fixed forms, discovering how movement emerges through connection, curiosity and responsiveness. Tango contributes its rich sense of musical dialogue, shared direction and embodied presence. Contact Improvisation contributes openness, elasticity, weight-sharing, adaptability and creative freedom. Somatic movement practices help us slow down, refine perception and trust the intelligence of the body.
At the heart of Contango lies the practice of reciprocity: learning to listen and respond, to support and be supported, to give and receive, to guide and be guided. Through movement we discover new possibilities for being together while remaining fully ourselves.
The work has a deeply nourishing quality. As we dance, we often experience greater ease in movement, healthier posture, increased body awareness, emotional openness and a renewed sense of vitality. Many participants describe a growing sense of confidence, wellbeing and connection — not only with others but also with themselves.
Above all, Contango is about joy: the joy of improvisation, of shared discovery, of moving with others, and of allowing dance to become a living conversation.
Our intention throughout the week is to share dance technique, musical expression and unique movement experiences that deepen both individual and collective exploration.
A Week-Long Journey
The week begins with an arrival day to settle in, meet the group and discover the place. From there, six days of shared exploration unfold through workshops, nature, community life and dance. The final day is dedicated to departure and farewells.
Each workshop day includes:
• Two Contango workshops (2 hours each)
• Guided explorations in movement, touch, musicality and improvisation
• Individual, partner and group practices
• Time for rest, integration, dance evenings and informal exchange self-organised by the participants
The workshops gradually build a shared movement language while remaining accessible to participants from diverse backgrounds.
The week is open to:
• Contact improvisers
• Tango dancers
• Contemporary dancers and movers
• Curious beginners curious about movement, connection and creativity
No previous experience is required.
You can participate alone or with a partner.
Monterosi: Dance, Nature and Community
Our home for the week is Monterosi, a beautiful retreat space near Anghiari in Tuscany.
Set among rolling hills and overlooking a stunning valley, Monterosi offers an environment that naturally supports relaxation, inspiration and renewal. The landscape becomes part of the experience itself — a place where body, mind and senses can slow down and reconnect.
We will dance on a beautiful outdoor wooden platform overlooking the valley and gather in a spacious indoor wooden dance studio when needed. Fresh water swimming opportunities offer a chance to cool down, clear the mind and refresh the body between workshops.
Life at Monterosi unfolds around simple pleasures: sharing meals outdoors, enjoying delicious local Italian food, resting under the trees, breathing fresh air and spending time together in nature. Participants can stay in tents, caravans or shared accommodation, creating a flexible and welcoming environment for different needs and budgets.
The evenings remain intentionally open. Rather than a fixed programme, they become a space for the group to shape together. Depending on the desires of the participants, evenings may include massage, dancing, music, singing, walks, conversations, spontaneous jams, creative activities or simply enjoying the peaceful atmosphere of the place.
This is more than a retreat and more than a holiday. It is an opportunity to immerse yourself in a living community of movement, to recharge your energy, reconnect with nature and experience a week where dance becomes a practice of wellbeing, creativity, and trust.
About the Teachers
Lo Katharina Richter
Lo Katharina Richter is the founder of Contact Yourself and an internationally recognised teacher of Contact Improvisation, movement awareness and embodied communication. Her work supports people in developing trust, authenticity and freedom through movement while creating playful and inclusive spaces for learning, connection and self-discovery. More info: www.contact-yourself.com
Raffaele Rufo
Raffaele Rufo is a dance pedagogue, artist and researcher based in Rome (Italy). He is the creator of TangoSomatics, an integrative approach that combines Argentine tango, contact improvisation and somatic movement practices to cultivate relational awareness, creativity and transformation. He holds a PhD from Deakin University (Australia) on touch in tango as a practice of somatic listening and has taught at Tango, Contact Tango and Contact Improvisation festivals across Europe. His work explores dance as a space of reciprocity, participation and embodied wellbeing. More info: www.tangosomatics.com
Information & Registration
For enquiries in German, English or Spanish:
📧 circulo@contact-yourself.com
📞 +49 176 76291667 (Lo)
For enquiries in Italian, English or French:
📧 raffaele.rufo@gmail.com
📞 +39 327 1271656 (Raffaele)
Contango Journey in Tuscany is a collaboration between Contact Yourself and TangoSomatics
ContacTango exercises - the specific approach of TangoSomatics
Documentation of some of some recent Contango workshops conducted by Raffaele Rufo (PhD)