Dose of Pleasure: DANCEFLOOR invitations

An artistic methodology of relating on the dancefloor

Dose of Pleasure is an artistic methodology that investigates how collective movement can become a practice of relational worldbuilding. Born from Berlin's club culture during the COVID-19 lockdown, the project emerged from a desire to transform isolation into collective presence, using the dancefloor as a site for rebuilding trust, connection, and joy through shared embodied experience.

Drawing from contemporary dance, improvisation, social dance, queer nightlife, body-based ecological practices, and queer thought, the methodology understands movement as more than choreography—it is a way of relating. Inspired by social dance practices, Soul Train line dances, and club culture, Dose of Pleasure creates temporary dancefloors that center the knowledge, creativity, and leadership of queer, migrant, and racialized communities.

At its core is the belief that pleasure is relational rather than individual. The dancefloor becomes a living social infrastructure where care is rehearsed through movement, and raving is approached as a bodywork modality through which endurance, vulnerability, joy, and release become embodied forms of knowledge.

Rather than producing finished performances, Dose of Pleasure creates conditions for collective experience, proposing movement as both an artistic practice and a social technology for cultivating care, resilience, and collective imagination.

Community & Impact

Since its inception in 2021, Dose of Pleasure has grown from weekly dancefloor activations in Berlin's public parks into an international community-based practice. What began as an informal response to the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved into a platform for collective movement, bringing together thousands of participants across workshops, festivals, exhibitions, and public spaces.

Today, the community includes more than 3,000 members on Telegram, 3,600 followers on Instagram, 1,600 members on Facebook, and over 2,000 newsletter subscribers. The practice has been presented at Bucht der Träumer Festival, WHOLE Festival, Amsterdam Dance Event, Tag der Clubkultur, Gender Project Berlin, Inhabitants Festival, the Menstrualities exhibition at Alte Münze, and the Corona Culture exhibition.

Internationally, Dose of Pleasure toured Southeast Asia through the Goethe-Institut's Dealing in Distance programme, facilitating workshops and dancefloor activations in Vietnam, Indonesia, and the Philippines. The project has also been featured by media including DW News, ARTE, VICE Germany, Companion Magazine, KALTBLUT Magazine, Umbigo Magazine, tipBerlin, and iHeartBerlin, reflecting its contribution to participatory performance, community building, and Berlin's contemporary dance and club culture.

Video by ARTE TV

HERE ARE A FEW BEAUTIFUL TESTIMONIALS:

"For me Dose of Pleasure is a private and political space at the same time. I met Alvin as a Gaga teacher a few years ago and immediately gravitated to his work. I learned how to get in touch with my body, how to express, how let go, how to hold tight. It was a very important journey for me since I am a sensual person and got a lot empowerment out of it. With the practice of Dose of Pleasure I felt that this experience was taken to another level. New was the immense pleasure I experienced through music and movement while participating. Every dose is a highly joyful experience, that kind of joy I felt as a kid, not knowing where to go with all the smiles in the body. Having this in mind, facing all the shit we manifest in the body got a lot easier for me. I can now embrace it and take it with me to the dancefloor, dancing it out, dancing it in, whatever feels right. I can’t emphasis enough what that means to me.

In addition to that, Dose of Pleasure sets a statement on how we want to live with each other in this world. The fact that you can liberate others by liberating yourself was mind-blowing to me. Every session shows it: in such a short period of time all those dancers show up, they open up they express themselves, they are vulnerable and they hold each other. When I go home I feel in touch with the other dancers, I feel in touch with Berlin and in touch with the earth even though I have sometimes spoken no word."

- Johanna Dreyer

“By practicing Dose of Pleasure I’m imprinting in my body the concept of going for what feels good. Because of low self-esteem, I too often ended up going for big compromises that left me unrealized. In the process of unapologetically embracing my intuition, Dose of pleasure is helping me embody this change of perspective. By going 100% for MY groove I’m telling myself I’m allowed to choose what feels good and that I know how to do it. Moreover, I found in Dose of pleasure a community that shares the same open-minded approach and where my energy is not just accepted but also celebrated.”

- Nicoló

"I came to Berlin for the Garbicz festival. 2 days after it over, I was walking around Berlin by myself. The weather was beautiful, the city blooming. When in Tempelhof park, I heard music away, couldn't see where it came from. Kept going, until I saw a group of people dancing together. Music was nice, energy was good. Decided to stay for a bit. Now I'm dancing as well, someone is talking on the microphone, words sweet to the ear. Something between meditation and ecstatic dancing. The sun was red and the moon was full. What a beautiful moment. A moment of joy, of liberation, of life"

- David

"I was blown away by the workshop, because I never find any comparable space where opening up will be celebrated like in these sessions. Not only dancing, energy exchange and freedom. It also gives a serotonin boost. Alvin's sessions should be labeled under "culture" and be founded by the state in order to give people back their will to live. I am dancing on the streets for many years now and no street musician ever managed to get close to the effect his workshops had on me, since Alvin is great at encouraging others to open up and listen into their own feelings and mindsets.`"

- Willi

“The meeting with Alvin and Dose of Pleasure literally changed my life in many ways. I discovered my groove, I connected to my inner power, I learned to let go, I learned how to let my animal out. Then, of course, the connection to my body, which is now becoming a main tool of expression for me as an artist and the connection to my spirituality. Through DOP I became connected to my Spirit and from there I started a beautiful healing journey. These are just some highlights on a personal level, but also on a social level, I feel that I am belonging to a big family, to a tribe of pleasure, to a community of people that are willing to awaken, that believe in soul connections. That feeling when we all groove as one, when we feel the heart-to-heart connection, when we feel like screaming of joy while the sweat is running down the body – that is the moment!”

- Cristina