Volker Eschmann
Cultural Pioneer · Creative Director · Strategic Advisor
Profile
For over 30 years, Volker Eschmann has been building spaces, communities, and movements at the intersection of art, embodied practice, and social transformation — consistently ahead of the curve. He has developed more than 350 international projects across Europe, India, Central America, and the United States, and has shaped the global landscape of Contact Improvisation, Ecstatic Dance, and somatic arts as an early pioneer and practitioner.
His work is rooted in a deep initiation into African storytelling and ritual through his mentor Nago Koite — a griot from Senegal — and spans participatory theatre, somatic education, festival creation, and conscious community building. He does not follow trends. He creates the conditions from which they emerge.
Current Projects
New Vision Festival UG — Co-Founder & CEO
2024 – present · Pouch / Leipzig, Germany International conscious gathering festival — music, movement & community
Co-founded and leads an international festival bringing together world music artists, somatic and ceremonial facilitators, and conscious community — held over 4 days and 3 nights in an extraordinary natural setting at Pouch Half Island near Leipzig, a former open-cast mine reclaimed by nature. Successfully launched in 2025; second edition August 2026. Alcohol-free format. International lineup of world music performers and workshop facilitators including breathwork, African dance & storytelling, somatic practices, Sufi dance, and ceremony. Family programme included. New Vision Festival
Quinta Braz Wellness Center — Curator & Project Developer
2018 – present · Tavira, Algarve, Portugal
30+ projects in dance, music, and holistic wellbeing. Co-founder of Association El Mundo Spiral. Organized Portugal’s first Contact Improvisation and Ecstatic Dance festivals — a form now firmly established in the country’s cultural landscape.
Earthdance Living Dance Community — Curator
2024 – present · Plainfield, Massachusetts, USA
Appointed curator of the world’s most comprehensive Contact Improvisation training, held each January at Earthdance — the oldest intentional Contact dance community globally. A role reflecting decades of contribution to the development and dissemination of the form. Spiral & Root Eartdance Professional Contact Improv Training
Own Centres — Foundational Projects
Forgotten Land — Beach Club & Dance Centre
2011 – 2023 · Arambol Beach, Goa, India · Founding Director, Co-Founder, NGO Global Cultural Exchange Organisation
Built from the ground up into an internationally recognized destination for Contact Improvisation and Ecstatic Dance — drawing artists, practitioners, and communities from around the world. Over 120 projects realized in festivals, trainings, and retreats spanning Contact Improvisation, Ecstatic Dance, BMC, Axis Syllabus, Yoga Teacher Training, and world music. Forgotten Land became a Mecca for the global conscious movement scene.
Since 2023, Forgotten Land has evolved from a single location into Volker’s ongoing international event-production label — producing curated festivals, trainings, and gatherings in collaboration with aligned venues and communities around the world. Current and past collaborating locations include Bukit Asah / Virgin Beach (Bali), Motions Berlin (Germany), Wir Bauen Zukunft (Germany), Nature Community (Germany), Quinta Braz (Portugal), and Gaya Oasis / Lake Atitlan (Guatemala), among others. Forgotten Land Gatherings
Ibiza Moving Arts — Yoga Centre & Guesthouse
2002 – 2009 · Ibiza, Spain Director · Co-Founder of SL Societat Limitada Soul Time Projects
Co-developed the first yoga retreat centre and dance space in the north of Ibiza — years before the retreat and wellness economy became a defining feature of the island. A blueprint for what would later become a widespread model across Southern Europe.
Freelance Practice — International
Cultural Project Developer & Creative Director
1998 – present · Europe · India · Americas
350+ projects developed and led internationally in the fields of participatory arts, somatic education, festival production, community development, and cultural institution building. Clients and partners include NGOs, festivals, wellness centres, cultural institutions, and social enterprises.
Recognized as a pioneer of the global conscious movement scene — introducing and developing Contact Improvisation as a festival format, identifying Ecstatic Dance as an emerging cultural force, and contributing foundational thinking to the field. Many texts circulating in the field draw directly from frameworks and language he developed.
Earlier Practice
SPACEWALK — Communication Trainer & Project Developer
1998 – 2002 · Switzerland / Germany
Worked within an interdisciplinary collective of artists, scientists, and educators applying creative methodologies to social challenges: training programmes for unemployed youth in Zurich, urban regeneration in disadvantaged areas, and community development in regions facing population decline.Worked within an interdisciplinary collective of artists, scientists, and educators applying creative methodologies to social challenges: training programmes for unemployed youth in Zurich, urban regeneration in disadvantaged areas, and community development in regions facing population decline.
Einhorn / Jednorozec — Participatory Theatre Projects
1993 – 1998 · Germany / Czech Republic
Ten years of large-scale interdisciplinary theatre bringing together professional artists and communities across borders. Productions received public recognition from German Presidents Richard von Weizsäcker and Roman Herzog, and Czech President Václav Havel. Work referenced in Germany’s earliest cultural mediation (Kulturvermittlung) curricula.
Formation & Studies
Academic Anthropology — Goethe University Frankfurt am Main
Project Management SPACEWALK Method, Switzerland
Somatic & Movement Training Body-Mind Centering * Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, USA. Contact Improvisation — Berlin, Cologne, New York. African Dance * Nago Koite, Senegal / Germany. Butoh * Seki Method, Berlin. Yoga * Quantum Yoga Teacher Training, Goa
Artistic Training Theatre Acting — Theater zwischen den Ufern, Frankfurt. Dance Theatre — Antagon Action Theater, Frankfurt
Formative Mentorship Nago Koite — griot and traditional mythteller, M’Bour / Senegal. A relationship of initiation and deep transmission, foundational to all subsequent creative and social work.
Languages & Intellectual Foundations
Languages German — native English — fluent (written and spoken) Spanish — working knowledge
Intellectual Context Joseph Beuys — Social Sculpture Augusto Boal — participatory theatre Glaser / Hoffmann — culture for all African oral tradition & ritual studies