Contact Improvisation (CI) is dance/sport/art form involving an open-ended exploration of movement by listening with our bodies through a moving point of contact. It is a meeting point of physics, meditation and playfulness investigated within the body and in dialogue with another.
"...dancing with somebody in an unplanned and spontaneous way, when you're free to invent and they're free to invent and you are neither one hampering the other - that's a very pleasant social form." ~Steve Paxton
"Contact Improvisation is an open-ended exploration of the kinaesthetic possibilities of bodies moving through contact. Sometimes wild and athletic, sometimes quiet and meditative, it is a form open to all bodies and enquiring minds." ~Ray Chung
Steve Paxton, Excerpt from his bio on Wikipedia:
Paxton (born 1939, Tucson, Arizona) is an experimental dancer and choreographer. His early background was in gymnastics while his later training included three years with Merce Cunningham and a year with José Limón. As a founding member of the Judson Dance Theater, he performed works by Yvonne Rainer and Trisha Brown. He was a founding member of the experimental, Grand Union, and in 1972 named and began to develop the dance form known as Contact Improvisation, a form of dance that utilizes the physical laws of
friction, momentum, gravity, and inertia to explore the relationship between dancers.
Paxton believed that even an untrained dancer could contribute to the dance form, and so began his great interest in pedestrian movement. After working with Cunningham and developing chance choreography, defined as any movement being dance, Paxton's interest in the boundaries of movement was ignited. Paxton is one of the most influential dancers of his generation whose approach has influenced choreography globally.
Take a look...
Steve Paxton- About reasons to be a mover
Steve Paxton- Good footage here of the roots of CI
Not Until Now-A film of contact improvisation
The film documents two dancers as they strive and sometimes struggle to create intimate connection both physically and emotionally. Using the form contact improvisation as their focus. The music, instrumental and skillfully composed, along with serene images of nature, set the stage for the dance to unfold.
2008 West Coast Contact Improvisation Festival Video Lab
A film by ecstaticfilms.com Dancers at the WCCIP Festival were given 10 minutes to perform in front of the camera. The footage was edited to music.
Check out these resources:
Kathleen Rae's Contact Improv Consent Culture: Building of consent based culture within which to practice the art of contact dance improvisation
Richard Kim's Contact Improvisation Blog: Evangelizing, de-mystifying, supporting, and opining about my favorite post-modern art-sport
Want to play music at a Jam? Please read this first.
"...dancing with somebody in an unplanned and spontaneous way, when you're free to invent and they're free to invent and you are neither one hampering the other - that's a very pleasant social form." ~Steve Paxton
"Contact Improvisation is an open-ended exploration of the kinaesthetic possibilities of bodies moving through contact. Sometimes wild and athletic, sometimes quiet and meditative, it is a form open to all bodies and enquiring minds." ~Ray Chung
Steve Paxton, Excerpt from his bio on Wikipedia:
Paxton (born 1939, Tucson, Arizona) is an experimental dancer and choreographer. His early background was in gymnastics while his later training included three years with Merce Cunningham and a year with José Limón. As a founding member of the Judson Dance Theater, he performed works by Yvonne Rainer and Trisha Brown. He was a founding member of the experimental, Grand Union, and in 1972 named and began to develop the dance form known as Contact Improvisation, a form of dance that utilizes the physical laws of
friction, momentum, gravity, and inertia to explore the relationship between dancers.
Paxton believed that even an untrained dancer could contribute to the dance form, and so began his great interest in pedestrian movement. After working with Cunningham and developing chance choreography, defined as any movement being dance, Paxton's interest in the boundaries of movement was ignited. Paxton is one of the most influential dancers of his generation whose approach has influenced choreography globally.
Take a look...
Steve Paxton- About reasons to be a mover
Steve Paxton- Good footage here of the roots of CI
Not Until Now-A film of contact improvisation
The film documents two dancers as they strive and sometimes struggle to create intimate connection both physically and emotionally. Using the form contact improvisation as their focus. The music, instrumental and skillfully composed, along with serene images of nature, set the stage for the dance to unfold.
2008 West Coast Contact Improvisation Festival Video Lab
A film by ecstaticfilms.com Dancers at the WCCIP Festival were given 10 minutes to perform in front of the camera. The footage was edited to music.
Check out these resources:
Kathleen Rae's Contact Improv Consent Culture: Building of consent based culture within which to practice the art of contact dance improvisation
Richard Kim's Contact Improvisation Blog: Evangelizing, de-mystifying, supporting, and opining about my favorite post-modern art-sport
Want to play music at a Jam? Please read this first.
