On 17–18 January 2026, Cie Essevesse carried out the pilot phase of the European project Move to Connect at Klap maison pour la danse in Marseille.
Over two full days, parents and their adolescents took part in a series of artistic and embodied workshops designed as spaces for encounter, listening and shared creativity.
A project at the crossroads of movement, listening and family relationships
Move to Connect is a European project that explores how movement, dance and embodied practices can become concrete tools to:
strengthen communication within families,
better understand and express emotions,
ease tensions linked to parental stress, adolescence and everyday responsibilities,
create spaces of trust and care.
The pilot phase aimed to test the programme, observe its effects, and collect participants’ feedback in order to refine the content before the final version.
Two days, five workshops, a sensitive progression
Throughout the workshops, participants experienced a pedagogical and sensory progression:
moments of trust-building and group cohesion,
explorations around listening (verbal and non-verbal),
exercises inviting letting go, trust and responsibility towards the other,
more abstract moments encouraging creativity, imagination and resilience,
and finally, integration phases combining movement, drawing and sharing, to transform lived experiences and connect them to everyday life.
The workshops were facilitated by Fabio Dolce and Greta Sandom, with constant attention to the group’s rhythm and to each participant’s individuality.
A diverse group, trust built quickly
The group brought together parents and adolescents with very diverse profiles:
different ages, life paths, cultures, social backgrounds and artistic experiences. Despite this diversity, strong group cohesion developed very quickly.
Participants highlighted:
the quality of the framework,
a sense of safety and absence of judgement,
the pleasure of sharing an artistic experience with their children,
and the possibility of expressing emotions through means other than words.
This diversity and the trust that emerged confirmed the relevance of KLAP as a hosting venue for projects combining creation, inclusion and cultural action.
Concrete tools for everyday life
Beyond the artistic experience, the workshops enabled participants to take away simple, reusable tools:
creating moments of listening without interruption,
slowing down to improve communication,
using movement, music or drawing to regulate stress,
accepting emotions without immediately trying to fix or resolve them.
Many participants expressed the desire to transfer these practices into their daily family lives.
A pilot phase rich in learning
This testing phase also allowed the team to draw valuable lessons for the next steps of the project, in particular:
the importance of prioritising creative and embodied phases,
the need to maintain great flexibility in the duration of exercises,
and the relevance of rethinking evaluation moments as times of closure, allowing reflection to continue beyond the workshops.
What’s next?
Building on this first experience, the workshops will soon be repeated with a new group of 12 parents, in order to continue the work initiated and extend the project’s impact locally.
The feedback collected during these days at KLAP will now inform the final version of the Move to Connect programme and the pedagogical manual intended for future facilitators.
Warm thanks to KLAP – maison pour la danse, to the partners, and above all to the participants for their trust, commitment and generosity.
Move to Connect continues its journey, convinced that movement is a powerful lever for connection, inclusion and transformation.