What is Contact Improvisation?

 

(From contactimprovisation.co.uk home page)

 

Contact Improvisation is a dance form originally referred to as an "art-sport" in which the point of contact with another dancer provides the starting point for a movement exploration. It is most frequently performed as a duet, but can be danced by more people. There can be music or it can happen in silence. It is about sharing weight, rolling, suspending, falling, passive and active, energy and awareness.

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"Contact Improvisation is a dance form, originated by American choreographer Steve Paxton in 1972, based on the communication between two or more moving bodies that are in physical contact and their combined relationship to the physical laws that govern their motion—gravity, momentum, inertia.

 

The body, in order to open to these sensations, must learn to release excess muscular tension and abandon a certain quality of willfulness to experience the natural flow of movement. Practice includes rolling, falling, being upside down, following a physical point of contact, supporting and giving weight to a partner.

 

Contact improvisations are spontaneous physical dialogues that range from stillness to highly energetic exchanges. Alertness is developed in order to work in an energetic state of physical disorientation, trusting in one’s basic survival instincts. It is a free play with balance, self-correcting the wrong moves and reinforcing the right ones, bringing forth a physical/emotional truth about a shared moment of movement that leaves the participants informed, centered, and enlivened." 

(From ‘Caught Falling’ by Nancy Stark Smith and David Koteen)  

 

The form has continued to evolve in various ways since it started 40 years ago but the basic principles remain the same.

 

Brighton Contact Improvisation Sunday Class & Jam Guidelines and Information

 

What is Contact Improvisation?

 

Contact improvisation (CI) is a social dance involving touch, in which momentum between two or more people is used to create and inspire dance movements. Techniques include rolling point of contact, balancing over a partner’s centre of gravity, following momentum, and “listening” with one’s skin surface. It is accessible to people with no previous dance training and to people with physical disabilities. Brighton CI sessions are a place to practice contact improvisation in a consent-based culture.

 

Helpful things to know:

 

• Keep your eyes open when you dance as the room can get busy and you need to be aware of your surroundings.

• Be If you want to be still, move  off to the side of the dance floor and move in the studio. If you remain still on the dance floor, it can be dangerous.

• Please keep social/casual conversation outside the dance space; low-volume talking related directly to dancing is accepted and appreciated (e.g. communicating with the person you are dancing with about what you need in the dance).

• Make sure your toenails are short and that you are not wearing jewellery or buttons that can scratch others or get caught on clothing.

• Be aware of your own safety and cultivate awareness of self, others and the environment in general. Listen to yourself and others; be aware of what is comfortable for you, for your body. We are all different and have different skills, abilities, and comfort levels. It is always okay to say “NO” or “STOP” if something feels uncomfortable or unsafe.

• If you are not sure about someone else’s boundaries or comfort levels, back-off and ask them what they are and aren’t comfortable with.

• It is generally not safe to grab or lock another dancer into a position that compromises their mobility because your partner no longer has a choice as to how they will move.

• We are all humans and sometimes you may notice yourself becoming sexually aroused during a dance. We ask that in these circumstances that you do not pursue this arousal. Just notice it and let it pass.

• You have the right to accept or refuse any dance without needing to give a reason or apology.

• End a dance whenever you want, even if it has only lasted a minute. A common and recognized way of ending a dance is to clasp your hands together as in prayer, look at your partner and nod your head, and then back away. You can also just say, “I want to stop now” or “Thank you”.

• If someone leaves your dance, do not take it personally.

• You can always try to join a dance. Enter dances with a spirit of listening and tuning into what is already there.

• Grazing is a simple, pleasurable way to experience dances. Grazing (warming up to interaction with others and the environment through a series of short connections) could last for a few seconds or a few minutes.

• Witnessing is a necessary part of the form.  Please feel more than welcome to watch from the outskirts of the dancing space. A lot of learning occurs this way.

 

If you have any questions, concerns or issues, please ask the teacher or facilitator (the person who signed you in at the start) and they will do their best to help. Alternatively, please feel free to email brightoncontactimprov@gmail.com

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Previous Teachers

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Charlie Morrisey, Caroline Waters, Elise Wach, Colleen Bartley, George Fellows, Asuman Biswas, Ian Lawton, Tamar Daly, Georgia Konstantinidi, Paul Harrington, Pipaluk, Hannah Pickett, Richard Parker, Belinda Papavasiliou, Josephine Dyer, Laura Doehler, Robert Anderson, Anne-Gaëlle Thirot, Jovair Longo & Feet Off the Ground Dance.