The program is aimed at professional dance artists. Artists from related fields are also very welcome.

Participation in the workshop is free of charge. Binding registration at info@produktionszentrum.de. The number of places is limited.

The workshop will be held in English. 


This one-day workshop with Luísa Saraiva is all about tackling the mental health challenges related to chronic stress and burnout in the dance field. The workshop offers a supportive space to explore, understand, and manage anxiety and emotional exhaustion. We know the dance world can be incredibly demanding: from constantly fluctuating work, unpredictable conditions, and the pressure to keep up financially and creatively. It’s common to feel drained and disconnected from your goals, especially when these feelings pile up over time. This day-long workshop will focus on deepening self-awareness and developing practical tools for emotional resilience.

What to expect 

• Physical Practice: exercises to activate and stimulate the vagus nerve, which plays a crucial role in stress reduction and emotional regulation. Through movement and breathwork, we will engage in practices designed to help balance the nervous system.
• Individual Exploration: you’ll have time to explore what burnout and emotional fatigue mean to you personally. With some guided questions, we’ll dig into what might be causing stress and how it affects your life.
• Group Work on Real Issues: we’ll come together as a group to talk about real issues you’re facing and address challenges brought forward by the participants. Together, we’ll discuss practical ways to increase awareness, release tension, and build resilience in the face of work-related stress.

This workshop focuses on building peer-to-peer support within the dance community, sharing experiences, and discovering practical strategies and tools to strengthen resilience in the face of a challenging, unstable and often dysfunctional work environment.


Luísa Saraiva

Luísa Saraiva is a choreographer and performer based between Berlin and Porto. She has a Master’s degree in Psychology from the University of Porto and a Bachelor’s degree in Dance from the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. From 2010 to 2017, she was an associate researcher at the Psychology Center of the University of Porto, studying identity development and individuation processes in emerging adults. Between 2012 and 2015, she worked at the International Office of Folkwang University, providing counseling and guidance, and served as a student representative in the University Parliament and the Equal Opportunities Office. In recent years, she has been teaching workshops and holding panels on mental health awareness for the dance community in collaboration with organizations such as Tanzkongress, Tanzbüro Berlin, Sophiensæle, K3 | Tanzplan Hamburg and Alkantara Festival.



The event is part of the workshop and information series "Health promotion for the independent dance and performance scene".

The series is funded by the LHS Stuttgart as part of the Entwicklungstreiber Kultur program.