Water and Land Contact Festival in Thailand – Where Dance Meets the Ocean
Imagine moving with the rhythm of waves, feeling the sand beneath your feet, the saltwater holding your body as you surrender to gravity and flow. This is the spirit of the Water and Land Contact Festival in Thailand https://ci-thai.com/ a 10-day celebration of movement, breath, and community on the hidden island of Koh Chang in Ranong Province.
A Festival Between Two Elements
Unlike any other event, this festival blends Contact Improvisation dance with the healing qualities of water. Days begin with grounding land practices, where participants explore touch, weight-sharing, and the art of moving together. Afternoons flow into the ocean, where the body becomes weightless, and dance transforms into fluid exploration.
This shift from land to water creates a unique rhythm—an oscillation between earth’s stability and ocean’s embrace. It’s not just dance; it’s a dialogue with nature itself.
Freediving Meets Dance
One of the most beautiful aspects of the water sessions is the influence of freediving. Instructors often borrow techniques from breath-hold diving: learning how to relax, extend your exhale, and trust the silence. These methods allow participants to move freely under water, to feel safe while exploring buoyancy, and to find harmony in the balance between stillness and motion.
The crossover is profound—freediving trains awareness of body and breath, while contact dance brings creativity and connection. Together, they open a new dimension of movement practice.
The Island Atmosphere
Koh Chang in Ranong is far from tourist crowds. There are no big resorts, no traffic jams—just unspoiled nature, glowing plankton at night, cashew trees, and simple village life. The festival takes place on Ao Yai beach, with Cashew Resort as the main base. Accommodations are modest, food is simple, but the richness lies in the atmosphere of community and presence.
Here, evenings glow with fire circles, jam sessions, and spontaneous rituals. Some nights, participants even dance in the ocean, surrounded by the magical sparkle of bioluminescence.
The Program Flow
The festival unfolds in phases:
Beginning – soft introduction to land CI and gentle water contact.
Deepening – parallel intensives, laboratories, and guided sessions for deeper exploration.
Integration – performances, creative jams, and sunset ceremonies blending everyone’s offerings.
Workshops are led by an international team of teachers, each bringing their own background in somatics, improvisation, and aquatic movement.
Why Join?
Because this festival is more than an event—it’s an experience that shifts how you move, breathe, and connect. Whether you are a dancer, a yogi, a freediver, or simply curious, the festival offers tools for self-discovery. You learn how to listen—to your body, to your partner, to the water, to silence.
