05/10 th September
LA PIETRA26
Archaeochoreology summer school
Exploration between land, art and myth
Join us this coming October in Noci, Puglia, italy.
a land where limestone lays the grounds of history and tradition, olive groves cradle the wind, and the sea carves devotional forms into the cliffs.
Here, we invite you to slow down, tune in, and step into an intimate conversation between body, land, and cosmos. La Pietra is a space for those seeking embodied connection through movement, mythopoetics, and sensorial presence. It unfolds as a living score of gestures, traces, and temporary altars: an embodied cartography of becoming
Archaeochoreology is a somatic and performative research platform founded by Francesca Mariano and conceived as a transdisciplinary space that interweaves body-based practices, landscape studies, and forms of embodied knowledge transmission.
Through workshops, immersive retreats, site-specific practices, and collaborations with communities and local organizations, the project investigates the relationships between body, memory, and environment, approaching the landscape as a living archive and a space of co-creation.
Over the years, Archaeochoreology has collaborated with international institutions and platforms, including Museo Madre, the University of California, Nextones, Nuova Atlantide and many more, developing formats that range from performance studies to radical pedagogy and participatory processes oriented toward the creation of temporary communities and situated care practices.
WHO IT’S FOR
La Pietra is for anyone who longs for restoration and reconnection to the world that holds us. No formal dance or art training is required. Just a willingness to listen, feel, and be transformed. Whether you come to soften, ignite, remember, or begin again, you will be held, in community, in practice, and in the quiet magnificence of the land.
WHERE
Dimora Casanoja is an ancient masseria composed of 10 trulli and a large lamia, nestled within more than 7 hectares of woods and olive groves in the quiet landscape of the Valle d’Itria. Its contemporary restyling has preserved the historical, authentic, and relaxed atmosphere of the property, maintaining the charm of traditional Apulian architecture while integrating elements of modern comfort.
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In a fragile and constantly shifting historical moment, we want to create a living space where body, territory, and community can come together.
The 2026 Summer school will be
dedicated to the theme of
Malleability
Malleability is the ability to be shaped while maintaining presence. It is a politics of softness.
It is material memory in motion. It is the body as sediment and the landscape as archive. It is what yields, what transforms, what becomes. In a time that demands responsiveness and imagination, malleability emerges as a vital condition: a porous methodology, a choreography of adaptation, a way of listening to matter.
We approach Malleability both as a physical property of clay, soil, and muscle, and as a relational ethic: a practice of moving with, attuning, and being together.
La Pietra 2026 invites participants to inhabit this theme collectively through embodied study, site-specific practices, shared rituals, and experimental forms of knowledge production.
Francesca Heart Mariano
@serpentinedance
Francesca Heart Mariano is a Grammy-nominated movement and sound artist whose work intertwines somatic practices, mythology, and landscape-based research. She studied with movement pioneer Anna Halprin and is the founder of Archaeo Choreology, an independent project dedicated to embodied exploration across territory, myth, and landscape traditions through artistic practices, site-specific research, and community engagement, fostering an active dialogue between art and health.
She has collaborated with the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, Somerset House, C2C Festival, University of California Santa Barbara, Istituto Svizzero, MAO Museo d'Arte Orientale, CTM Festival, Rewire Festival, de Young Museum, Maison Margiela, Balenciaga, Valentino, Nike, Dolce & Gabbana, and Ferrari.
how to partecipate
take a leap of faith, but make it quick, spots run out fast! Results on 30th of june
Reserve your place NOW and don’t lose the opportunity to partecipate
prices
very limited access
book your spot
EARLY BIRD
EARLY BIRD
BY 30TH JUNE
€ 950
FULL PRICE
FROM 01ST JULY
€ 1200
TIPI TENT
LARGE & CONFORTABLE TENT
WITH OUTDOOR BATHROOM
€ 500
** includes accommodation, pool, delicious and healthy daily breakfast,
lunch and dinner, workshop, excursions and materials.
Booking Terms & Conditions – Pilates Retreat
To request your participation in the retreat, please:
• send an email to collinanoja.retreat@gmail.com
After your initial contact, you will receive detailed information regarding costs, accommodation options, and confirmation procedures.
Registration & Deposit
To confirm your place, we require a non-refundable deposit of 250 euro. This deposit secures your reservation and is considered a down payment toward the full amount. The remaining balance can be settled before arrival.
To ensure accessibility, the full balance can be paid in two installments. All info via email.
Balance Payment
If you need to cancel your reservation, please notify us at least 14 days before the retreat start date. In this case, if you have already paid the full amount, 50% of the total cost will be refunded. Cancellations made less than 14 days before the retreat are non-refundable. We appreciate your understanding and your commitment to honoring the space we’re creating together.
For any questions or additional information, please feel free to get in touch.
