What is Contact Improvisation?
Contact improvisation is a way of dancing playfully with a partner, grounded in physical sensation, which investigates how to play through sharing touch with the earth, with gravity and momentum, and with others or simply the awareness of space.
A Perceptual Warm-up For Contact Improvisation Jams (2016)
I struggle with the term warm-up. Why do we warm up for a class or a jam? As a way of preparing to move. How do we prepare to move? By movingI
On Teaching Contact Improvisation
In my teaching of contact improvisation to both beginners and more experienced dancers I started to make use of such limited parameter scores
Some thoughts on Nancy Stark Smith’s UnderScore (2003, updated 2009)
The UnderScore frames improvisational freedom beautifully, yet its written phases create confusion. Here, I explore alternative ways of notating it
Safety at Contact Improvisation jams (2006)
Contact improvisation challenges social norms; while touch can be misused, safety depends on remembering choice to begin or continue
Example of a Score Jam (2005)
This CI Practice Session Score (or Score Jam) is based on Nancy Stark Smith’s Underscore. It was initially intended as a way for those familiar with the Underscore to practice together with those not familiar with it in a way that those not familiar with it didn’t feel disadvantaged or intimidated. It turns out to work pretty […]
Something About The Stand (2001)
The days when I feel most human are the days that I meet the world with a sense of wonder. And I’m always amazed watching my fellow humans. Why don’t we fall over? As a contact dancer, I study and teach the stand – the small dance – so it’s not such a big surprise. One […]