LEAN_IN ADVANCED RESIDENCY

Three pathways. One artistic journey.

Partnering → Composition & Creative Research → Performance & Jam Integration

Advanced Movement & Creative Practice in Arambol, Goa

A three-module residency for experienced contemporary dancers and Contact Improvisers who want to deepen their movement practice, explore creative research and develop their relationship to performance.

The Advanced Residency is a space to move beyond simply learning more material. Instead, we use movement as a way of asking questions, developing ideas and discovering new possibilities through the body.

Across three connected modules, we move from partnering and physical relationship, into composition and creative research, and finally towards performance, improvisation and jam integration.

You’re welcome to join one module, choose two, or follow the full three-module journey.

Each module can stand alone, but together they create a progressive pathway from:

Moving with others → Creating with others → Performing and improvising together

✨ WHAT THE ADVANCED RESIDENCY OFFERS

The Advanced Residency balances focused training with space for experimentation, research and creative development.

Rather than focusing purely on technique, we explore how movement can become a tool for artistic enquiry, collaboration and expression.

We’ll explore:

• Advanced partnering and Contact Improvisation
• Shared weight, counterbalance and momentum
• Dynamic lifting and flying
• Active Basing — travelling with and responding to the flight
• Improvisation as creative research
• Contemporary composition tools
• Solo, duet and ensemble creation
• Task-based and collaborative devising
• Artistic decision-making
• Performance as a shared experience
• Jam awareness and compositional thinking
• Ensemble awareness and group dynamics
• Developing confidence in open creative environments
• Finding and developing an authentic creative voice

The residency is not about arriving with a finished idea.

It’s about creating the conditions for ideas to emerge, develop and change through movement.

🙋‍♀️ WHO IS THE ADVANCED RESIDENCY FOR?

The Advanced Residency is designed for experienced movers with at least one year of training in contemporary dance and/or Contact Improvisation.

You should feel comfortable working within an embodied movement environment and be ready to engage with partnering, improvisation, creative research and collaborative practice.

This residency is for people who want to go deeper than simply learning choreography or collecting new movement material.

You might be looking to:

• Deepen your partnering practice
• Develop greater confidence with weight sharing and flying
• Expand your improvisational vocabulary
• Explore composition and choreographic thinking
• Develop material with other artists
• Become more comfortable making artistic decisions
• Investigate your own creative voice
• Explore performance without relying on predetermined choreography
• Integrate your practice into jam environments
• Spend dedicated time researching and creating with other experienced movers

You don’t need to arrive with a specific project or finished idea.

Curiosity is enough to begin.

⭐ MODULE 1 — PARTNERING PATTERNS

Contemporary Partnering, Contact Improvisation & Active Basing

The first module begins with our relationship to another body.

Through contemporary partnering and Contact Improvisation, we’ll investigate shared weight, momentum, counterbalance and the subtle communication that allows movement to become responsive and collaborative.

Alongside dynamic lifting and flying, we’ll explore Active Basing — an approach developed through Josh’s movement research which invites the base to remain mobile, responsive and engaged throughout the flight.

Rather than simply supporting another person, the base becomes an active participant in the movement.

Both people travel.

Both people listen.

Both people shape what happens next.

We’ll explore:

Contemporary partnering principles
Shared weight, counterbalance, momentum and physical communication.

Dynamic lifting & flying
Developing pathways into, through and out of flight.

Active Basing
Exploring how the base can travel, respond and contribute to the movement.

Timing & responsiveness
Learning to read momentum and make decisions together.

Trust & communication
Developing clarity, sensitivity and shared responsibility.

Partnering as collaboration
Moving beyond supporting and being supported towards creating movement together.

This module is ideal for movers wanting to deepen their physical relationship with others while developing greater confidence, sensitivity and choice within partnering.

⭐ MODULE 2 — COMPOSITION & CREATIVE RESEARCH

Improvisation, Devising & Developing an Artistic Voice

The second module takes the physical exploration of partnering and begins to ask a different question:

What can movement create?

Rather than beginning with choreography, we begin with curiosity.

Through improvisation, composition and collaborative enquiry, we’ll investigate how movement can generate ideas, communicate meaning and become a vehicle for artistic expression.

Drawing from Lean_in’s ongoing choreographic research, we’ll explore movement through observation, sensation, relational psychology and embodied enquiry.

The aim isn’t to find the “right” answer.

It’s to develop the ability to notice, question, choose and create.

We’ll explore:

Improvisation as creative research
Using movement to discover rather than simply execute.

Composition tools
Working with space, time, relationship, repetition, contrast and attention.

Solo, duet & ensemble creation
Developing material individually and collaboratively.

Task-based exploration
Using simple structures to generate unexpected movement.

Collaborative devising
Learning how to create material with others without needing one person to hold all the answers.

Artistic decision-making
Developing clarity around why you choose what you choose.

Developing a creative voice
Beginning to recognise the qualities, questions and interests that make your movement yours.

This module is for artists wanting to move from doing movement → to thinking through movement.

⭐ MODULE 3 — PERFORMANCE & JAM INTEGRATION

Performance, Improvisation & Open Creative Practice

The final module brings the different strands of the residency together.

Partnering, composition and creative research move into performance and open improvisation.

We’ll explore what happens when there is no fixed choreography to rely on and decisions have to be made in real time.

Rather than thinking about performance as simply presenting something to an audience, we’ll investigate performance as a shared experience.

How do we remain present?

How do we make clear choices?

How do we respond to the people around us?

How can improvisation become composition?

And how can the jam become a space for artistic practice rather than simply a place to move?

We’ll explore:

Performance as shared experience
Developing presence and awareness within performance.

Improvisation in performance
Making creative decisions while remaining open to what is happening.

Jam awareness
Understanding space, attention, timing and the wider movement environment.

Compositional thinking
Recognising and shaping relationships as they emerge.

Ensemble awareness
Working with groups, shifting focus and responding to collective dynamics.

Confidence in open creative environments
Becoming more comfortable with uncertainty and the unknown.

Authentic artistic expression
Finding ways to perform and improvise without losing your own voice.

The aim isn’t to become better at “performing improvisation.”

It’s to become more comfortable creating in the moment.

🌱 THE JOURNEY

From partnering → to creating → to performing

The three modules are connected by a simple progression.

01 — PARTNERING

We develop our ability to listen and respond through another body.

02 — COMPOSITION

We begin using those physical and relational tools to generate ideas.

03 — PERFORMANCE

We bring those ideas into open, shared and unpredictable environments.

The journey is not completely linear.

Ideas from one module will continue to appear in the next, allowing material, questions and relationships to develop over time.

🕘 THE DAILY RHYTHM

The Advanced Residency follows a spacious rhythm that balances focused training, independent artistic research and community practice.

The intention is to create enough structure for depth, while leaving enough space for participants to follow their own creative questions.

9:45am

Arrival & Attunement

We begin each day in the studio, arriving in the body and the shared space before moving into the day’s practice.

Morning

Studio Practice

The morning is dedicated to focused training and creative enquiry, exploring partnering, composition, improvisation and performance research.

Chai Break

A shared pause in the morning to step out of the practice, connect and reset before continuing.

Midday

Movement Lab

We continue developing the day’s physical and creative material, allowing ideas to move between structured exercises and open exploration.

Lunch

A longer break to eat, rest and recharge.

Afternoon

Independent Research & Development

After lunch, the studio remains available for independent research, collaboration and creative development.

This is an important part of the residency.

You might use this time to develop material, work with another participant, explore a question that has emerged during class, or simply spend time allowing an idea to unfold.

3:20–4:20pm

Optional Research Lab

An optional facilitated session for participants who want additional support with their research.

This is a space to bring questions, test ideas, share developing material and receive feedback or guidance.

4:20–6:30pm

Afternoon Integration

We return to shared practice, bringing the discoveries from the day’s research back into the group.

Depending on the module, this may involve composition, partnering, improvisation, performance research or ensemble work.

6:30pm

Finish

The formal studio day ends, leaving the evening open for rest, food, conversation and connection with the wider Arambol community.

A Spacious Weekly Rhythm

The residency isn’t structured as seven consecutive days of intensive training.

Instead, we work with a rhythm of:

2 days on → 1 half day → 2 days on → 2 days off

The spaces between the intensive training days are intentional.

They provide time to rest, reflect, explore independently and allow the material from the studio to settle into the body.

We believe that the moments between sessions are just as important as the sessions themselves.

🌴 THE WIDER COMMUNITY

The residency doesn’t stop when the studio session ends.

Alongside the structured programme, participants are invited into Arambol’s wider movement community.

Two evenings each week include Focused Jams at Moving Parts Studio, alongside Community Jams at Jungle Dance.

These gatherings create opportunities to take the ideas developed during the residency into a more open environment.

To practise.

To experiment.

To watch.

To connect.

And to discover what happens when structured learning becomes shared improvisation.

🌿 OUR CREATIVE HOME

Jungle Dance / Moving Parts Studio

Jungle Road, Arambol, North Goa

The Advanced Residency takes place at Moving Parts Studio, a beautiful bamboo movement space nestled amongst the jungle of Arambol.

The studio provides a dedicated environment for deep physical practice, creative research and collaboration.

Outside the studio, Arambol becomes part of the residency too.

The sea, jungle, cafés, local movement community and the many artists who pass through Goa all create a wider environment for exchange and inspiration.

There is space here to work intensely.

And there is space to step away.

We believe both are important.

🌳 The Jungle

A place to wander, reflect and reconnect, allowing nature to become part of the creative process.

🩰 Moving Parts Studio

A dedicated bamboo movement space with a soft, absorbent floor for physical practice, partnering and research.

🌊 The Arabian Sea

A place to rest, integrate, swim, talk and let the day’s ideas settle.

👥 MEET THE FACULTY

The Advanced Residency brings together an international faculty working across contemporary dance, Contact Improvisation, partnering, Butoh and composition.

Rather than teaching one fixed methodology, the residency creates a dialogue between different practices and perspectives.

Ivan

Partnering • Contact Improvisation • Butoh

Ivan is a movement artist whose practice brings together partnering, Contact Improvisation and Butoh.

His teaching invites dancers into a deeper exploration of presence, listening and embodied expression, where technical practice becomes a pathway towards creativity, sensitivity and human connection.

Josh Jones

Contemporary Dance • Contact Improvisation • Partnering

Josh Jones is a contemporary dancer, facilitator and choreographer exploring movement, connection and creativity.

Drawing from floorwork, Contact Improvisation and embodied practice, he creates spaces that support learning, community and artistic development through movement.

His ongoing research into partnering and Active Basing forms part of the physical enquiry within the residency.

Indian Guest Faculty

Composition • Contemporary Dance • Choreographic Research

Each residency welcomes a leading Indian movement artist to join the international faculty.

Their contribution brings contemporary perspectives from India’s evolving dance landscape and creates opportunities for cultural exchange, new choreographic voices and different approaches to creative practice.

🧰 WHAT TO BRING

Come prepared for movement, research and life in Goa.

• Comfortable movement clothes
• Long trousers & lightweight layers
• Long- and short-sleeve tops
• Water bottle
• Notebook or journal
• Sun protection
• Comfortable footwear
• Knee pads, if useful for your practice
• Swimwear
• Anything else that supports your creative process

🏡 ACCOMMODATION

We can help arrange comfortable accommodation in Arambol.

A range of one- and two-bedroom apartments may be available, offering shared kitchens and living spaces.

Whether you’re joining the residency or planning to stay in Goa for longer, we’re happy to connect you with trusted local landlords and help you find something suitable.

Accommodation is not included in the residency price.

💰 PRICING & BOOKING

A flexible pricing structure allows you to join a single module or complete the full residency pathway.

Single Module
29,500 INR / 230 GBP

Two Modules
27,000 INR / 210 GBP - EACH 

Full Residency
23,000 INR / 185 GBP - EACH 

LUNCH INCLUDED

Scholarships and supported places are available to help make the programme more accessible.

If cost feels like a barrier, please get in touch. We’re always happy to have a conversation about what might be possible.

[RESERVE YOUR SPACE]

❓ EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

Is the Advanced Residency for me?

The residency is intended for experienced movers with at least one year of training in contemporary dance and/or Contact Improvisation.

You should feel comfortable working within an embodied movement environment and be ready to engage with collaborative research, creative enquiry and professional artistic practice.

Can I join just one module?

Yes. Each module can be joined independently.

Can I join more than one module?

Absolutely. You can choose two modules or follow the complete three-module pathway.

Do I need to complete the modules in order?

The modules are designed to build progressively, but each one can stand alone.

Do I need a specific creative project?

No.

You may arrive with an existing project, a question, a movement investigation — or simply a curiosity.

The residency provides space for ideas to emerge through practice.

What happens outside the studio?

There is time for independent research, rest and connection with Arambol’s wider movement community.

The residency also includes Focused Jams and Community Jams, allowing you to integrate your practice into open improvisational environments.

📬 CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION

Not sure whether the Advanced Residency is right for you?

Want to talk about your experience, which module to choose, accommodation or the kind of creative work you could bring into the residency?

Get in touch.

Email:
leaninmovement123@gmail.com

WhatsApp:
+44 7742 052226

You can also message Josh or the Lean_in page directly through social media.

You don’t need to have everything figured out before reaching out.

Sometimes the best place to start is simply with a conversation.

CONTINUE YOUR JOURNEY

The Advanced Residency is an invitation to spend time with your practice.

To investigate rather than simply learn.

To create rather than simply reproduce.

To become more comfortable in the unknown.

Through partnering, composition, creative research and performance, we explore not only how we move, but what movement can become when we use it to think, communicate and create together.

Come with your experience.

Come with your questions.

Come with something you’re curious about.

The enquiry continues…