Lean_in Residency
🔥 Advanced Residency
Partnering • Creative Research • Performance & Jam Integration
Jungle Dance/ Moving Parts Studios • Arambol • Goa
A progressive three-module journey through Partnering, Composition and Performance Integration, where movement becomes artistic enquiry through immersive practice, collaborative research and community living.
What is the Advanced Residency?
The Advanced Residency is an immersive movement programme for experienced contemporary dancers and contact improvisers who are ready to deepen their artistic practice through collaboration, creative research and embodied enquiry.
Designed for movers with at least one year of experience in contemporary dance and/or contact improvisation, the residency provides a professional learning environment where advanced partnering, composition and performance become tools for investigation, collaboration and artistic development.
Rather than focusing on learning more material, the residency creates the conditions for deeper enquiry. Here, movement becomes artistic enquiry—ideas are explored through the body, collaboration becomes creative practice, and performance emerges through authentic investigation.
Whether you’re looking to refine your movement language, expand your creative process or connect with an international community of experienced practitioners, the Advanced Residency offers the time, space and support to continue your artistic journey.
The Three Areas of Practice
Three pathways. One artistic enquiry.
Each area of practice can be explored independently, yet together they form a connected artistic journey. Through advanced partnering, composition, creative research and performance integration, the residency supports experienced movers in developing a more personal, collaborative and mature movement practice.
The journey begins by expanding how we move with others. Through contemporary partnering and contact improvisation, we’ll investigate shared weight, momentum and the subtle communication that allows movement to become responsive, creative and deeply collaborative.
Alongside dynamic lifting and flying, we’ll explore Active Basing—an approach developed through Josh’s movement research that invites the base to remain mobile, responsive and engaged throughout the flight. Rather than simply supporting, the base becomes an active participant, travelling with and shaping the movement together.
You’ll explore
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Contemporary partnering principles
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Shared weight, counterbalance & momentum
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Dynamic lifting & flying pathways
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Active Basing – travelling with the flight
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Timing, listening & responsiveness
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Trust, communication & collaborative decision-making
Partnering Patterns
PATHWAY 1
Composition & Creative Research
Creative practice begins 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.
Rather than beginning with choreography, we begin with a question. Drawing from Lean_in’s ongoing choreographic research, participants are invited to develop movement material through observation, sensation, relational psychology and embodied enquiry. Performance emerges through investigation rather than predetermined outcomes, allowing each artist to discover, refine and articulate their own creative voice.
You’ll explore
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Improvisation as creative research
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Contemporary composition tools
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Solo, duet & ensemble creation
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Task-based & collaborative devising
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Artistic decision-making
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Developing an authentic creative voice
PATHWAY 2
Performance & Jam Integration
The final pathway brings everything together through performance, improvisation and the shared practice of the jam. Building on partnering, composition and creative research, we’ll explore how to remain present, responsive and creatively engaged within both performance and open improvisational environments.
Rather than performing for an audience, we’ll investigate performance as a shared experience. Drawing from Lean_in’s philosophy of embodied enquiry, participants develop the confidence to navigate uncertainty, make clear compositional choices and contribute authentically to collaborative creative spaces. Here, performance becomes less about presentation and more about connection, presence and the exchange of ideas through movement.
You’ll explore
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Performance as shared experience
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Jam awareness & compositional thinking
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Improvisation in performance
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Ensemble awareness & group dynamics
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Confidence in open creative environments
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Authentic artistic expression
PATHWAY 3
Our Creative Home
Jungle Dance/ Moving Parts Studio, Jungle rd.
The Advanced Residency is based at Moving Parts Studio, a beautiful bamboo movement space nestled in the jungle along Temple Road in Arambol, North Goa. Surrounded by tropical forest and reached by a quiet jungle path, the studio offers a dedicated environment for deep artistic enquiry, collaboration and professional movement practice.
Beyond the studio, Arambol has become home to an international community of dancers, musicians, artists and movement practitioners. From sunrise swims in the Arabian Sea to conversations in local cafés and evenings spent sharing ideas, the wider landscape becomes an extension of the residency itself—supporting reflection, inspiration and creative exchange.
Training here isn’t simply about the hours spent in the studio. It’s about immersing yourself in a place where movement, creativity and community naturally become part of everyday life.
The Jungle
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A place to wander, reflect and reconnect, where nature becomes part of the creative process.
Jungle Dance/ Moving Parts Studio -
A professional bamboo dance studio with a soft absorbant floor, designed for deep movement practice and artistic research.
The Arabian Sea
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A daily invitation to rest, integrate and share time together beyond the studio.
The Daily Rhythm
The Advanced Residency follows a spacious rhythm that balances focused training, independent research and community practice. Alongside structured sessions, participants are encouraged to take ownership of their own artistic enquiry while immersing themselves in the unique movement culture of Arambol.
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Morning
We begin each day at 9:45am with studio practice, exploring partnering, composition and creative research through focused training and collaborative enquiry. A shared chai break offers space to pause before continuing into the early afternoon.
Studio Practice & Independent Research
After lunch, the studio remains open for independent research, collaboration and creative development. From 3:20pm–4:20pm, an optional Research Lab offers facilitated space for participants wishing to deepen ideas, ask questions or continue developing material.
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Afternoon
From 4:20pm–6:30pm, we return to shared practice, bringing the day’s discoveries back into the studio through composition, performance research and collaborative enquiry.
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The Wider Community
Two evenings each week include pre-paid 'Focused Jams' at Moving Parts Studio, alongside two 'Community Jams' at Jungle Dance, offering opportunities to integrate your practice within Arambol’s thriving international movement community.
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Time to Think
The residency follows a two days on, one half day, two days on, two days off rhythm, creating space for reflection, creative research and meaningful connection. We believe the moments between the sessions are just as important as those within them.
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09:45 Arrival & Attunement
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Morning Session
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Chai Break
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Movement Lab
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Lunch
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Afternoon Research & Development
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18:30 Finish
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Community Time
Voices from the Gathering
Words from Neil
"Hi, I'm Neil. I've been here at Lean Into Nature in this beautiful site just outside Glastonbury. Fantastic walks, gorgeous food, and incredible dancing. Such wonderful people, such great community and I've absolutely loved it. 100 percent recommend it."
Lean_in Nature 2025
Meet the Faculty
The Advanced Residency brings together an international faculty of experienced artists, each contributing a distinct perspective to the programme while sharing a commitment to collaboration, creative research and embodied enquiry.
Rather than teaching a single methodology, the residency creates a dialogue between contemporary dance, contact improvisation, partnering and composition. Together, the faculty offer a rich environment where participants are invited to question, experiment and develop their own artistic voice.
Everything You Need to Know
Whether you’re joining us for the first time or returning to the residecy, here are some of the most common questions to help you prepare. If there’s anything else you’d like to know, we’d love to hear from you.
Is the Advanced Residency for You?
The Advanced 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 in collaborative research, creative enquiry and professional artistic practice.
Once you’ve decided to join us, here are the practical details to help you prepare. From accommodation and meals to what to bring and how the residency is held, everything you need to arrive feeling ready can be found below.
Preparing for the Residency
What to Bring
Accomadtion
Community Jams
Booking & Payment
Continue the Conversation
We can help arrange comfortable accommodation in Arambol, with a range of one and two-bedroom apartments offering shared kitchens and living spaces. Whether you’re joining the gathering or planning to stay in Goa for a month or more, we’re happy to connect you with trusted local landlords and help you find the right place.
Your residency includes entry to two facilitated jams at Moving Parts Studio and two community jams at Jungle Dance.
These gatherings are an important extension of the residency, offering opportunities to integrate your practice, connect with the wider movement community and continue exploring ideas beyond the studio.
Pack for movement, artistic research and life in Goa.
We recommend comfortable movement clothes, lightweight layers, long trousers, a water bottle, notebook or journal, sun protection and comfortable footwear. You’re also welcome to bring knee pads, swimwear or anything else that supports your creative practice.
The Advanced Residency begins long before stepping into the studio. If you’d like to discuss the programme, your experience or how this residency could support your artistic journey, we’d love to hear from you.
Every meaningful collaboration begins with a conversation.
A flexible pricing structure allows you to join a single module or complete the full residency pathway. Scholarships and supported places are available to help make the programme more accessible.
Visit the booking page for current prices and availability.
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Arriving
Our aim is for your Lean_in Nature experience to start long before you step onto the land.
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Once you’ve booked, you’ll receive a Welcome Pack with everything you need to prepare, helping you arrive feeling informed, connected and ready for the gathering.
Continue Your Journey
Whether you’re refining your artistic voice, expanding your collaborative practice or seeking a dedicated space for creative research, the Advanced Residency offers an environment where experienced movers can investigate, create and grow together.
Through partnering, composition and performance enquiry, you’ll become part of an international community of artists committed to curiosity, collaboration and embodied practice. Together, we explore not only how we move, but why we move—and how movement can become a meaningful way of relating, creating and sharing with others.
Reserve your place online, or get in touch if you’d like to discuss the residency, accommodation or whether this programme is the right next step for your practice.
The enquiry continues...