ContacTango mit Raffaele Rufo - 5. und 6. September 2026

Workshop with Raffaele Rufo - from Rome

Theme: Freeing the Embrace

Two days of exploration between tango and contact improvisation, where breath, touch, and movement unfold as a somatic dialogue of trust, rhythm, and transformation. Immerse yourself in the complete intensive, where the process unfolds across the two days and is nourished by the JamMilonga — a shared space of experimentation where the worlds of tango and contact meet, and form becomes flow.

What is Contango?

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.

The theme of the workshops: Freeing the Embrace

Freeing the Embrace means working on multiple levels: physical, emotional, and relational.

On one hand, freeing the body—particularly the spine, which is the main channel of movement. Just observe how cats move: their backs are mobile and fluid. Our sedentary lifestyle, on the other hand, tends to stiffen the torso, which is also the center of connection in tango. 

On the other hand, freeing the embrace involves releasing the emotional energy that flows through the embrace. Tensions and fears influence the way we touch and allow ourselves to be touched. 

Finally, freeing the embrace also means knowing how to enter and exit contact fluidly, without stiffness or abrupt breaks, allowing the relationship with the other person to remain alive and dynamic. In the workshops, we will work on these aspects through simple, progressive exercises to make the embrace freer, more fluid, and more present.

Day 1

1. Embodying the embrace — inhabiting a shared space of connection

Listening, Contact, and Trust

2 workshops to explore the quality of contact, weight, and presence in an embrace through simple, slow and progressive movements.

Day 2

2. The embrace in motion — evolving connection into a shared dance

From Connection to Dance

2 workshops to evolve the embrace into movement: moving together, entering and exiting contact, allowing dance to emerge in a fluid and playful way.

💫 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.

TEACHER’S BIO

Raffaele Rufo is a dance educator, choreographer, and researcher based in Rome with over twenty years of international experience. Over the course of two decades of training, performance, teaching, and community work, he has developed TangoSomatics, an integrative method that combines tango, contact improvisation, and somatic movement to cultivate relational awareness, presence, and creative transformation. His workshops are open to dancers of all backgrounds and invite each participant to rediscover movement as a space for connection, curiosity, and play. He holds a PhD from Deakin University (Australia) with research focused on touch in tango as somatic listening, and he regularly teaches at major festivals of tango, contact tango, and contact improvisation across Europe.

🌐 For more info: www.tangosomatics.com