TOUCH&PLAY PORTUGAL
6-10 May 2026
Registration process is open. Fill the form with The Garden and get an answer in 2-3 working days with the next steps
Nós And Them
Dancing the tensions and desires of our time.
We want to believe that if we show up with an open mind and an honest heart, life will meet us there — and connection, purpose, and the good, true, beautiful will follow.
And yet… we’re living inside a world that keeps splitting: ideological camps, spiritual certainty, relationship polarization, “locals vs foreigners,” “right vs wrong,” “safe vs unsafe,” “us vs them.” Sometimes we’re the ones doing the othering. Sometimes we’re the ones self-excluding. Often, it’s both.
Imagine waking up in a yurt in Northern Portugal in May.
Soft sunlight on your face, wild green all around and remembering: today you’ll spend your time with humans who are willing to ask, to dance, to touch, to talk, to dream, to sing, to pray, to play. Not for quick answers, but for lived experience.
People rooted in tradition and warmth, thirsting for variety and freedom.
People surrounded by opportunity, hungry for grounding and deep connection.
People confident in how they move and relate — and people in the fertile unknowing of not being sure anymore.
Over five days, we’ll explore questions like:
What makes an “us”? Shared values, shared practices, shared identity? Who gets to decide?
When does my “I” no longer fit the “we”? Do I leave, adapt, protest, negotiate, try to change the others?
Where do I place myself — center, margins, bridge, outsider, protector, disruptor?
Who benefits when smaller “us’s” are invoked? What is the biggest “us” we can imagine?
What helps me hold tension in my nervous system — so I don’t collapse into avoidance, self-righteousness, or aggression?
We’ll meet these not as abstract ideas, but in lived moments: in contact, in improvisation, in consent, in power dynamics, in tenderness, in difference, in repair.
[Portuguese]
Nós And Them
Nós e eles
Dançando as tensões e os desejos do nosso tempo.
Queremos acreditar que, se nos mostrarmos com uma mente aberta e um coração honesto, a vida nos encontrará lá — e a conexão, o propósito e o bom/verdadeiro/belo virão em seguida.
E, no entanto… vivemos num mundo que continua a dividir-se: campos ideológicos, certezas espirituais, polarização de relações, “locais vs estrangeiros”, “certo vs errado”, “seguro vs inseguro”, “nós vs eles”. Às vezes, somos nós que criamos a exclusão daquilo, e de quem, identificamos como “o outro”. Às vezes, somos nós que nos autoexcluímos. Muitas vezes, somos ambos.
Imagina acordar numa yurt no Norte de Portugal em maio.
— a luz suave do sol no teu rosto, verde selvagem ao teu redor — e lembrar-te: hoje vais passar o teu tempo com pessoas dispostas a perguntar, dançar, tocar, conversar, sonhar, cantar, rezar, brincar. Não para obter respostas rápidas, mas para cocriar experiências vividas que nos dão outro tipo de informação – informação que uma mera resposta de conversa, de convenção, do cérebro só não seria capaz de nos dar.
Vais estar com pessoas enraizadas na tradição e no calor humano, sedentas por experiências diferentes e liberdade.
Vais estar com pessoas rodeadas de oportunidades, sedentas de estabilidade e conexões profundas.
Vais estar com pessoas confiantes em como se movem e se relacionam — e pessoas no desconhecimento fertil de “Eu perdi as minhas certezas”.
Ao longo de cinco dias, exploraremos questões como estas:
O que faz de nós um «nós»? Valores partilhados, práticas partilhadas, identidade partilhada? Quem é que decide?
Quando é que o meu “eu” deixa de se encaixar no “nós”? Vou embora, adaptamo-me, protesto, negoceio, tento mudar os outros?
Onde é que me coloco — no centro, nas margens, na ponte, como outsider, protetor-a, disruptor-a?
Quem beneficia quando são invocados “nós” mais pequenos? Qual é o maior “nós” que podemos imaginar?
O que é que me ajuda a acolher tensão no meu sistema nervoso, para não cair na evasão, na arrogância ou na agressividade?
Encontraremos estas respostas não como ideias abstratas, mas em momentos vividos: no contacto, na improvisação, no consentimento, nas dinâmicas de poder, na ternura, na diferença, na reparação.
What is Touch&Play?
Touch&Play is an immersive, consent-centered laboratory of Contact Improvisation, somatics, and relational practice — where we explore connection, power, intimacy, identity, and belonging through the body.
This isn’t a performance for “the right kind of people,” and it isn’t a sex party. It’s a co-created culture: dance and touch, yes — but and also choice, boundaries, care, and the courage to stay present with what’s real.
O que é que é o Touch&Play?
O Touch&Play é um laboratório de Improvisação de Contacto, práticas somáticas e relacionais, imersivo e centrado no consentimento. Exploramos a conexão, o poder, a intimidade, a identidade e o pertencimento através do corpo.
Isto não é uma performance para “o tipo certo de pessoas”, nem é uma uma sex party. É uma cultura co-criada: dança e toque, sim — e também escolha, limites, cuidado e a coragem de permanecer presente com o que é real e vivo.
Come as you are. Meet yourself. Meet us. Meet them. And see what kind(s) of us wants to emerge.
From May 6-10 we gather at the lush-íssimo venue of The Garden near Viana do Castelo for five days of dance, workshops, rituals, performance, singing, guided practices, rest, and emergent revelry.
This is a space to sense how “us and them” shows up — personally and collectively, politically and spiritually.
You don’t need to have any answers. Your curiosity is enough.
CI, Dance & Embodiment
Eros & Creativity
Kink & Self-expression
Community Builders
Testimonials
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Transformational
Years of experience
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VENUE & PRACTICALITIES
Our gathering will take place at The Garden, north of Porto, in the North of Portugal. The Garden is an incubator for a cultural renaissance, an emerging retreat center that it is aligned with T&P values and will host our retreat on their beautiful land.
The Garden used to be a wedding venue that would host two weddings simultaneously. The place feels somewhere between a botanical garden and a nature park.
We are grateful to have our second T&P Portugal hosted in The Garden, hoping many more editions will flourish here.
COMMON SPACES
Dance studio
Embodiment room
Communal dining room
Sauna and pool
Small hidden nooks and cozy corners to explore
2000 m2 of infrastructure
Gigabit fibraoptic internet.
SURROUNDINGS
9 hectares (90,000sqm) of gated, exclusive estate surrounded by granite walls
10 minutes by car from a supermarket and hardware store
5 minutes from the Lima river, 20 minutes from the beach, 20 minutes from waterfalls, 1 hour from ancient Roman hotsprings
The nearest train station is Darque, which is 12 minutes away by car
45 minutes from Porto Airport (45 Euro Uber aprox)
ACCOMODATIONS
Dorms, vast land to camp for free with your own tent or van or private room (for 1 or 2) in a Bell tent or in the building.
Nourishment
We’ll be offered 3 delicious vegetarian meals a day. In case you have any food allergies, let us know during registration.
Delicious Food. Local organic products. Mainly vegetarian meals, some vegan.
Practicalities
GUIDELINES
Group size
There will be between 30 and 50 people at the retreat, including the team.
GETTING THERE
The Garden
Caminho do Monte, Deocriste, 4905-256 – Portugal
Once you register you will receive a file for self organizing share rides.
Main entrance: Location
More info about Getting there
ARRIVING & DEPARTURES
Check in: May 6th from 15:00 to 16.00
Soothe&Care meeting: May 6th May at 15:00 (optional)
Please be aware the gathering holds a container. When you book, we ask you to arrive for the beginning of the event.
Departure time May 10th 16:00.
Team and Work-exchange participants arrive May 6th at 10:00
PRICING
Two separate payments are needed.
1. ACCOMMODATION: Camping or van and food price for the event: 190€
For other accommodation add between 106€ and 454€ (dorm, bell tents, queen room, etc.)
2. EVENT: Sliding scale fee: 260€ – 500€ (subsidized and helper tickets available for a lower price, application required)
REGISTRATION PROCESS
1. Answer some fun and interesting questions at: in.thegarden.pt. There are no wrong answers. Be sure to click the option that says “Registering for Touch&Play”
2. After a day or two you’ll get an answer from “The Garden” accepting your participation for T&P. Pay on their platform for the food and accommodation of your choice.
3. In the same email you will get the link to our registration platform (link to our TicketTailor) to complete the event fee.
4. Receive the welcome email and get ready to Touch&Play.
What to bring
* bed sheets or sleeping bag (you can rent bed linen for 15€ includes bed linen, pillow and blanket)
* camping gear if camping
*towel
*headlamp
* slippers for indoors, comfortable shoes for outdoors
*water bottle with a lid (please no glass bottles in studios)
* insect repellent
* cloths for sunny days or cold evenings
* earplugs
* flashlight or headlamp
* toiletries
* business cards, handmade products or other beautiful things you sell the last day of the retreat
* instruments
* personal journal
* dancing clothes
* costumes!
* toys!
* any personal items to feel more comfortable
Map
Contact
More questions? Sure! hello@touchandplay.org
TOUCH&PLAY PORTUGAL
6-10 May 2026
Registration process is open. Fill the form with The Garden and get an answer in 2-3 working days with the next steps
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