Tico Time’s Sangha Festival
Schedule
Contact Improv Class & Jam
Contact Improvisation (CI) is an improvised dance form where dancers explore movement and physical contact with one another.
Key aspects of Contact Improvisation:
- Spontaneous movement and physical contact: CI emphasizes spontaneous movement and physical contact between participants.
- Responding to weight and movement: Dancers respond to each other’s movements and weight, creating a dynamic interplay of balance, support, and exploration.
- Physical communication: CI fosters a sense of connection and communication through touch and shared momentum.
- Exploring physical laws: It involves understanding and responding to gravity, momentum, and inertia as they relate to the moving bodies.
- Weight sharing: A core element of CI is giving and receiving weight, providing support and navigating shifts in balance.
- Building trust and connection: The reliance on a partner for support and navigation builds trust and connection between participants.
- Improvisation: CI is not based on set choreography but on responding intuitively to the moment, leading to a free-flowing and organic dance.
- Focus on the body: CI emphasizes awareness of the body’s internal experience and how it interacts with the environment and other dancers.
Origin and Development:
- CI was initiated in 1972 by American choreographer Steve Paxton.
- It emerged from exploration of the physicality of dance through spontaneous interaction.