come dance
Come and give it a try. I teach weekly at the Somatische Akademie in Berlin.
Check the page agenda to find out about upcoming events.
definition
Contact Improvisation originates in the 1970's in the USA. It is an improvised dance form that has come a long way since its relatively short period of existence. The initiators chose to not copyright the form and therefore it is developing, growing and changing in any possible direction. It has been combined with Tango, Tantra, somatics, acrobatics and many other disciplines.
Strictly speaking everybody is right in her/his own definition about what Contact Improvisation is.
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jam
The jam is an open space where dancers interested in the form come together and share the practice. It is possible to dance solo or to dance in physical contact with one or more bodies simultaneously.
Witnessing is part of the practice.
why I dance
Contact Improvisation simply provides and stimulates questions - on any level that I can think of. That is immensely attractive to me.
What I enjoy most while practicing Contact Improvisation is the experience of three-dimensional physicality of two human bodies communicating through touch. Playing the laws of physics - gravity, momentum, inertia.
It is in many ways a quite insane dance form as we throw our bodies continuously into situations that are not occurring much or not at all throughout most peopleʼs daily lives. For example: being upside down or even simply giving up your own centerline and sharing weight with another body instead, are activities that challenge body (and mind) in many ways.
more
Video
Fall after newton (part 1 of 3 / the first eleven years of Contact Improvisation)
A taste of us Joerg Hassmann and Daniel Werner