Re_Connection
What is Re_Connection?
Re_Connection is a secular ritual practice that integrates embodied exploration,
collective inquiry and movement-based methods. It offers a framework in which
participants can engage with somatic awareness, emotional resonance and social
reflection to reconnect with their inner focus on personal and social transformational practices.
Why Re_Connection?
In many social, ecological and cultural contexts, people encounter exhaustion, tension and a sense of fragmentation. Questions of engagement, belonging and orientation often touch not only ideas, but also emotions and bodily experience.
Re_Connection responds to this by offering a structured setting in which embodied attention, shared reflection and collective movement can be explored without therapeutic claims and without a predetermined outcome. The practice invites participants to observe how personal experience and social realities interact — and how collective processes may open perspectives that are difficult to access in everyday life.
How the Practice Works
Embodied Exploration
The practice begins with somatic and movement-based explorations informed by dance and
body-expression therapy. Through breath, spatial orientation and simple movement qualities,
participants develop sensitivity to bodily states, emotional resonance and relational dynamics.
The focus lies on attentive noticing—without interpretation, analysis or therapeutic intention.
Collective Inquiry & Dialogue
The second phase expands into shared inquiry using methods from political and cultural education,
dialogical learning and reflective writing. Participants explore how personal experience, emotional
currents and social realities interact. Formats include dyadic conversations, circle dialogues,
structured speaking rounds and short written reflections. The process is open-ended and aims at
attentiveness rather than consensus.
Collective Movement, Sound & Integration
In the final phase, verbal and non-verbal elements merge into collective movement and sound.
Live music provides a temporal structure that supports transitions between individual and
collective experience. Non-verbal exploration enables participants to experience resonance,
orientation and shared dynamics without the need for verbal articulation or performative expression.
Formats
Monthly Practice Sessions
A recurring open format for groups that want to explore Re_Connection as a regular embodied
and reflective practice. Suitable for community settings, activist groups and artistic contexts.
Workshops for Institutions
Tailored sessions for cultural organisations, educational institutions and civic initiatives.
Each workshop combines somatic exploration, dialogical methods and collective movement
in relation to a chosen thematic focus.
Festival & Conference Modules
Shorter formats designed for gatherings that address cultural, social or political questions.
These modules introduce core elements of Re_Connection and create embodied entry points
into shared reflection.
Residencies & Extended Formats
Longer engagements that allow for deeper collective inquiry, artistic research and
process-based development. Structured across multiple sessions and adaptable to local contexts.
Susanne Gärtner – Cultural sciences and social movements
Susanne works at the intersection of cultural studies, social pedagogy and political education.
Her focus includes group-based misanthropy, racism, remembrance work and participatory communication.
With long-standing experience in moderating group processes in the field of sustainable activism,
she brings a grounded, process-sensitive approach to dialogue, reflection and collective inquiry.
Carolina Márquez – Dance Therapy & Psychology
Carolina is a professional dancer, psychologist and dance/movement therapist.
Her work explores somatic awareness, expressive movement and trauma-sensitive facilitation.
Participants enter collective body-based experiences that open new perceptual and expressive possibilities
and support a sense of safety, agency and embodied understanding.
Arystan Petzold – Music, Improvisation & Ritual Practice
Arystan is a multi-instrumentalist, composer and music educator with a long-standing practice
at the intersection of music, improvisation and ritual. Working with instruments from different
traditions, voice and live looping, he shapes the musical framework of Re_Connection and supports
processes through rhythm, sound and collective musical experience.
Foundations & Influences
Re_Connection draws on a range of practices and theoretical perspectives that inform
contemporary work with embodiment, collective experience and socio-political reflection.
Rather than applying a single method, the practice integrates insights from several fields:
- Somatic and movement-based approaches from dance therapy and embodied psychology.
- Dialogical and reflective methods used in political and cultural education,
philosophy-based inquiry and participatory pedagogy. - Ecological and relational perspectives that address interdependence, resilience
and orientation in times of crisis. - Ritual, music and temporal structuring from artistic practice, improvisation
and collective movement work.
These influences do not define the outcome of the practice but frame a way of working that values
attentiveness, embodied presence and shared inquiry.
Contact & Collaboration
For workshop requests, institutional collaborations or programme development,
please get in touch:
info@arystan.de
