Intro to Contact Improvisation
An intro to Contact Improvisation (referred to as CI)
Who is this blogpost for?
It is mainly for beginners to get a better idea of the world of CI, but it can also be beneficial to everyone at any level of experience.
What’s in there?
-About me: a short bio
-A poem entitled “Contact Improvisation Perspectives”, that gives insight into the experiential aspect of CI
-A beginner’s guide answering these questions:
- What is Contact Improvisation?
- How has CI been disseminated?
- What is a jam?
- How do I prepare for a jam?
- What is CI today?
- Resources, books and material to dive deeper
-My vision of how to create a world full of dances and connections
About me
I’m a contact improviser with over 22 years of experience dancing Contact improvisation, 16 years of experience as a professional dancer, 7 years of experience teaching CI as well as curating and organising CI events, being invited to teach in festivals and in institutions internationally in the UK, France, Germany, Austria, Africa, Asia, Mexico. I’m also a CI researcher and choreographer. You can find more info on about my research here and about my choreographies here
I’m passionate about developing and nurturing the Contact Improvisation community, and I wish to continue sharing my skills, knowledge, and embodied experience as well as experimenting with you!
Contact Improvisation Perspectives, a reflective poem
In Contact Improvisation, there are no mistakes.
Every moment is a window into limitless possibilities.
Unknown patterns
A fall can turn into a roll.
A near miss into a lift
Contact Improvisation is a practice of failing to be right and being with the now
Listening to your partner
And allowing the dance in-between to unfold, and guide you
Following, leading
Roles blurring
It is a practice of experiencing gravity
Not bound to it but playing with weight and falls
Cascading momentum
Spiralling inwards to meet centrifugal forces, converging axes
Spiralling outwards to create distance before the next proximity
It is a relational practice
Of positioning and orienting
Blind reading, organising Bodymind
Adjusting, sending, receiving
Where’s my earth?
How do I orient myself in relationship to others?
It is a practice of questioning
“Can I move at the speed of my partner’s attention
When do I start to touch someone?
What carries my curiosity?”
It is not about finding the answer
But deepening the question
It is a practice of co-regulating
Entering a parasympathetic dance
Releasing into trust and gravity
Falling into my partner’s embrace
Finding their earth when the world is upside down
Being held by the unfolding co-creation
It is a multi-dimensional and sensorial practice
Three dimensional in space, it is encompassing
Exploring the edges of my skinesphere
Four dimensional in time, with rhythmical playful interactions
Multiplying senses in all directions,
Balancing my inner and outer worlds
Proprioception, kinaesthesia, interoception,
Pressure, temperature, texture
Senses shivering in unison
What is Contact Improvisation (CI)?
Contact Improvisation is movement research that explores the physical principles of touch, momentum, and shared weight in relation to gravity. It involves a constant dialogue between two or more movers who respond to each other’s movements in real time, often maintaining physical contact but also playing with proximity and space. This practice emphasises spontaneity, trust, and mutual awareness, allowing dancers to create unique movement for each encounter.
This movement practice was initiated in 1972 by the American dancer and choreographer Steve Paxton , who drew from his background in gymnastics, aikido, and martial arts. Contact improvisation was developed alongside other pioneers such as Nancy Stark Smith, Danny Lepkoff, Lisa Nelson, Karen Nelson, Nita Little, Andrew Harwood, Peter Bingham, and Ray Chung.
How has CI been disseminated?
At some point, Steve Paxton was considering trademarking CI, but in discussion with Nancy Stark Smith, they decided to keep it a free form, away from institutionalisation and codifications, allowing the form to remain, allowing the form to remain fresh and experimental.
The magazine Contact Quarterly has played a significant role in making the movement research alive and international. (contactquaterly.com)
What is a jam?
Similar to music jams, Contact Improvisation jams (or contact jams) are informal gatherings where dancers come together to practice, explore and inspire each other in a relaxed and playful way. Jams are unstructured and open-ended, allowing participants to experiment with the principles of Contact Improvisation They are mixed levels and invite practitioners to learn from each other: by playing with various body weights, sizes, shapes, limits, physical embodiments and stories. What is “known and predictable” is left to the side, and listening becomes the prime quality of the dance.
Music might be played, but it’s not central to the experience; the focus is on the dancers’ internal and external interactions.
The Contact Jams bring a social and experimental aspect to the CI culture central to CI and its community development.
How do I prepare for a jam?
-I would recommend to attend at least 2 classes or workshops before you attend a jam, so you are better equipped to understand some basic principles such as how to communicate through touch, listen to your partner(s) and have an understanding of where your weight is in relationship to your partner and to the earth (inviting into gentle weight sharing, leaning towards your partner)
-Read the jam guidelines! Most jams will have their own guidelines. They ensure creating a safe and conscious space.
-Be clear with how you can deal with boundaries such as saying no and receiving a no. You may not be able to do that yet, and this is a constant learning and readjusting, but make sure you can talk to someone from the organising team who can support you with that. There may be a designated person or a facilitator you can refer to. Alternatively if the topic of consent hasn’t been brought up, I recommend you ask about it.
What is CI today?
CI intersects with many somatic practices such as Body Mind Centering©, Feldenkrais, Authentic movement amongst others which emphasize body awareness, sensory experience, and movement repatterning. CI also intersects with martial art, meditation or mindfulness (such as the contemplative practice by Barbara Dilley), performance, art, architecture, eco-somatic, anatomy and physiology, biomechanics, politics, and so on…
Different teachers, event organisers and practitioners may focus on different aspects of CI and its intersections, bringing into light the eco-socio-political context of the time through various lenses (queer theories, post-colonialism, environmentalism…)
Resources:
Contact Improvisation books, articles and resources:
Albright, A. C. (2019). How to land: Finding ground in an unstable world. Oxford University Press.
Contredanse (2019). Material for the spine. https://www.materialforthespine.com/en/welcome/forms.helix-roll.led-by-feet
Keogh, M. (2018). Dancing deeper still: The practice of contact improvisation. Intimately Rooted Books
Little, N. & Dumit, J. (2021). Articulating presence: Attention is tactile. In Sarco-Thomas, M. (Ed.), Thinking touch in partnering and Contact Improvisation. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Novack, C. J. (1990). Sharing the dance: Contact improvisation and American culture. University of Wisconsin Press.
Paxton, S. (1977). In the midst of standing still something else is occurring and the name for that is the small dance. Theatre Papers, No 4.
Websites:
Books and articles on CI intersections (improvisation, composition, experiential anatomy…)
Albright, A. C. (2013). Engaging bodies: The politics and poetics of corporeality. Wesleyan University Press.
Buckwalter, M. (2010). Composing while dancing: An improviser’s companion. University of Wisconsin Press.
Chabert, M. (April 5, 2021 to August, 14, 2021). Research on facia and biotensegral awareness in dance. Marie Chabert. http://mariechabert.com/research
Cohen, B. B., Nelson, L., & Smith, N. S. (2012). Sensing, feeling, and action: The experiential anatomy of body-mind centering® (Third edition). Contact Editions.
De Spain, K. (2014). Landscape of the now: A topography of movement improvisation. Oxford University Press.
Faust, F. & Grubb, S. (Ed.) (2011). The axis syllabus: Human movement analysis and training method. (3rd ed.). N.p.
Juhan, D. (2003). Job’s body: A handbook for bodywork (3rd ed). Barrytown/Station Hill.
Myers, T. W. (2021). Anatomy trains: Myofascial meridians for manual therapists and movement professionals (4th ed.). Elsevier.
Pallaro, P. (1999). Authentic movement: a collection of essays by Mary Starks Whitehouse, Janet Adler and Joan Chodorow. London, England: Jessica Kingsley Publisher.
Hereunder is my vision to create a world full of dances and connections:
- develop and nourish the CI community,
- foster the next generation of contact improvisers,
- create conscious, safe, respectful and playful spaces for exploring and expanding CI,
- keep the essence and spirit of CI as a relational movement research aiming at emancipation from hierarchical structures, including its philosophical and political aspects
- bring more awareness to the somatic realm, and the performative aspects of CI.