The Hills are still alive: dance at a Swiss arts festivals is not all cheese and chocolate.

Two weeks with a distinguished choreographer or teacher in a small village in the Swiss Alps in mid--July-is there more? Yes, there's free housing in a charming chateau, crystal clean air, great concerts, and family-run bakeries that are renowned for their delicious pastries. It's all possible at the prestigious Verbier Festival and Academy, one of Europe's premier summer music festivals that's been holding dance workshops since 1997.

That's when the festival's founder, Martin Engstroem, asked Noemi Lapzeson to organize the dance program. Once a principal with the Martha Graham Dance Company and the London Contemporary Dance Theatre, and founder of Vertical Danse in Geneva, Lapzeson knew dance would add immeasurably to the ambiance here. Workshops are given equal emphasis with the famous concerts by world-renowned performers, and the goal has always been to create an environment where artists can perform, teach, learn, and experiment. Conductors such as James Levine and Zubin Mehta lead the Verbier Academy's Youth Orchestra, and acclaimed musicians such as violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Gary Graffman hold master classes. With the music workshops firmly established, Engstroem could give dance and theater the same importance as music. "It's always been my idea to host all the performing arts," he says.

There is one simple dance demonstration for the public at the end of the festival, otherwise there's no pressure. Evenings are free to attend concerts or wander the picturesque village. Last year several dancers brought their husbands and children and made the stay a family vacation.

Driving down a steep mountain road to the workshop on a brilliant July day, Lapzeson talks enthusiastically about the dance program. Sylphlike in slim black pants and a loose-fitting jacket, she looks every inch a dancer, an appearance she maintains by doing yoga every day. "I knew this would be an ideal situation for dancers," she says. "They long for this kind of freedom. Usually they're so tied to schedules, whereas here they get carte blanche to work undisturbed, all the while being exposed to new ideas."

Cresting a hill not far from Verbier's ski lifts, we see cows grazing near the gymnasium where the workshop is held. "I've tried to get a variety of choreographers and teachers from different companies here," Lapzeson says. "I don't prefer a particular technique; I just like innovators."

Innovators who have run workshops certainly fit her criteria: Jean-Laurent Sasportes from Pina Bausch's Tanztheater Wuppertal; Miriam Berns, a former dancer with Merce Cunningham Dance Company; Vicky Shick, who danced with the Trisha Brown Dance Company; Daniel Lepkoff, a leader in contact improvisation; and Foofwa d'Imobilite, also from Cunningham. Last summer, Lapzeson picked Dominique Duszynski, a former dancer with Pina Bausch who now is working on theatrical productions and teaching at AnneTeresa De Keersmaeker's Performing Arts Research and Training Studios in Brussels. "She's one of the most admired teachers in Europe right now," says the director.

Swiss Festival

Lapzeson and the workshop choreographer select fifteen to eighteen dancers from videotapes or from live performance. Duszynski is interested in good technique and versatility. While she invites dancers from everywhere--in 2002 they came from Switzerland, France, Holland, Brazil, Slovenia, Chile, Italy, and Argentina--she hasn't lured as many Americans as she'd like. "I'd love to have more," she says.

The group usually includes both men and women, but Duszynski planned to choreograph a piece lust for women, so no men were invited this year. They're an attractive group, all with professional experience, from 24 to 35. They lean against the wall during a break; outside the window snow glistens on the high peaks. Duszynski's movement style combines elements she learned from Bausch with release technique, but she also adds theatrical concepts from her experience working with actors. The result is dance that is fluid, dynamic, fast, and firmly rooted to the floor.

"I wanted to use women's sensitivity and their sense of intimacy for my piece," she explains. "We're building it slowly. They work well together, even though most of them had never met." "I emphasize using the five senses," she says, beckoning the dancers back to work. "I want them to be fully aware of everything around them. It improves their musicality and responsiveness."

At the first note from the casette player, the dancers begin moving in a series of arcs, weaving in and out of lines that form only to dissolve again. Graceful and fluid, they prompt images of water lapping and receding from the shore. The choreographer joins them to show where the emphasis should lie and they follow her, trying to convey the same delicacy she embodies. They look like they'd been dancing together for months.

For lunch, the dancers take a short walk to their favorite cafe in the village of Le Chable. The waiter greets them warmly, and they order sandwiches, soda, and coffee, speaking among themselves in English, French, and Spanish. They're bubbling over with excitement about the workshop.

"It's great to be a student again," says Marcela San Pedro, who dances professionally with Lapzeson's Vertical Danse. "I feel we really have the time to learn. Dominique is teaching us to find new possibilities in ourselves. She's taught me the relationship between force and weight, and to trust my body."

Brazilian Christiana Cavalcanti interjects, "It's so wonderful to be here in this beautiful place, in nature, isolated from our everyday problems and the duties of home."

For a moment, they are quiet.

Valerie Gladstone writes for The New. York Times, Elle, and Town and Country. She co-authored the book Balanchine's Mozartiana: The Making of a Masterpiece.