A Workshop about Contact Improvisation and our Embodied Selves
with Daniel, Priya and friends
December 31st 2022, 12 noon – 6 pm
Samut Prakan, Thailand
The workshop
In this workshop we will work with the fundamentals of contact improvisation, such as: the relation to gravity, the physical contact between movers and the momentum of moving bodies; modulating tone, sharing weight, stimulating our reflexes and sense of balance. We will also work with personal boundaries, communication, sensation and emotion, the gaze, appreciation, and more. All levels of experience and all kinds of bodies are welcome.
Daniel Mang (Sweden)
I have been teaching the form since 1990. Contact improvisation has been my primary movement practice since 1986. I used to do a lot of aikido and am influenced by various methods in the field of somatics. My teaching is informed by my background as a professional bodyworker / physiotherapist, my experience with different approaches to communication, and by my politics. I see my interest in radical social theory and my love of contact improvisation as two aspects of the same desire.
Priya Prabhakaran (India)
I have been exploring my curiosities in various body-mind movement modalities since around 2010 and got into contact improvisation in 2018. I am a certified yoga teacher and work as a mindful movement facilitator for a women’s support group. I completed a Diploma in Sustainable Living from Bhoomi College, Bangalore, and a training in Mindfulness-Based Listening with Embodied Presence with the Just Being Center in Pune. I am currently in training to be a somatic consent educator.
Schedule
December 31st 2022, 12 noon till 6 pm. Snack break around 2 pm.
Fee
400 baht; no-one turned away for lack of funds
Venue
Teparak Kindergarten, Samut Prakan
Registration
Please contact Daniel at [email protected]
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What is Contact Improvisation?
Workshop with Daniel Mang
17 & 18 September 2022, Gothenburg
The content
In this short workshop we will work with the fundamentals of contact improvisation, such as: the relation to gravity, the physical contact between movers and the momentum of moving bodies; modulating tone, sharing weight, stimulating our reflexes and sense of balance.
In addition to these classical topics in the study of contact improvisation we will address the norms that govern how we live and experience our bodies and how society ascribes meaning to different kinds of touch and different zones of the body. We will work with personal boundaries, communication, sensation and emotion, the gaze, economies of appreciation, and more.
Furthermore we will attempt to refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory and spatial awareness. We will use guided imagery to improve our alignment and fluency of movement.
We will also look at ways of combining contact improvisation with bodywork, by which I mean any technique where one person gives therapeutic touch and the other receives. It includes massage but is a broader term that encompasses many different kinds of hands-on work with another person.
All levels of experience and all kinds of bodies are welcome.
The teacher
I have been teaching the form since 1990. Contact improvisation has been my primary movement practice since 1986. I used to do a lot of aikido and am influenced by various methods in the field of somatics. My teaching is informed by my background as a professional bodyworker / physiotherapist, my experience with different approaches to communication, and by my politics. I see my interest in radical social theory and my love of contact improvisation as two aspects of the same desire.
Schedule
Saturday 2022-09-17, 13:00 – 17:00
Sunday 2022-09-18, 10:00 – 14:00
Fee
SEK 300 – 900 on a sliding scale according to your income. For example, if you are unemployed and are just about making ends meet, pay 300; if you have a job but it’s not well paid, or part-time, pay 600; if you have a decent income, pay 900.
Venue
Danskompaniet Spinn’s Studio, Järntorget 7, 413 04 Göteborg
Registration
Please contact me at [email protected] or 0765973209!
***
Contact Improvisation Course with Daniel Mang
22 – 28 December 2019, Gothenburg
The content
We will work with the fundamentals of contact improvisation, such as: the relation to gravity, the physical contact between movers and the momentum of moving bodies; modulating tone, sharing weight, and waking up our reflexes and sense of balance.
We will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory and spatial awareness. We will use guided imagery to improve our alignment and fluency of movement.
We will look at ways of combining contact improvisation with bodywork, by which I mean any technique where one person gives therapeutic touch and the other receives. It includes massage but is a broader term that encompasses many different kinds of hands-on work with another person.
We will explore touch and movement as relational practices and situate our physical practice in the world. We will work with personal boundaries, communication, sensation and emotion, the gaze, economies of appreciation and more.
We will address the norms that govern how we live and experience our bodies and how society ascribes meaning to different kinds of touch and different zones of the body.
All levels of experience and all kinds of bodies are welcome.
The teacher
Contact improvisation has been my primary movement practice since 1986. I also practice aikido and am strongly influenced by the Feldenkrais method, Body Mind Centering and ideokinesis.
My teaching is informed by my background as a professional bodyworker / physiotherapist, my studies in osteopathy, my experience with different approaches to communication, and by my politics.
I see my interest in radical social theory and my love of contact improvisation as two aspects of the same desire. I have been teaching the form since 1990.
Schedule
Sun 22 Dec 09:30-11:30
Mon 23 Dec 09:30-11:30
Tue 24 Dec 09:30-11:30
Wed 25 Dec 09:30-11:30
Thu 26 Dec 09:30-11:30
Fri 27 Dec 09:30-11:30
Sat 28 Dec 09:30-11:30
The course is followed by a jam on Saturday 28 December in the afternoon (14:00 – 17:00). Free to participants of the course, otherwise SEK 50.
Fee
SEK 500 – 1000 on a sliding scale for the whole course.
SEK 100 – 200 per session.
Venue
Danskompaniet Spinn’s Studio, Järntorget 7, 413 04 Göteborg
Registration
If you would like to participate, please contact me at [email protected]. You can also call or text me at 0765973209. Even if you are only dropping in for one morning, please let me know in advance that you are coming, if at all possible. Thank you!
***
Sat 20 & Sun 21 February 2016, Gothenburg, Sweden
Contact improvisation and bodywork
This workshop will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the map of the body; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness. We will work with the fundamentals of contact improvisation and look at ways of combining contact improvisation and bodywork. We will explore touch and movement as relational practices: bonding and bounding, consent and collaboration, safer spaces and negotiation will be some of our themes. All levels of experience and all kinds of bodies are welcome.
Schedule: Saturday 13:00 – 17:00 and 18:00 – 20:00 Sunday 10:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 15:00
Fee: SEK 300 – 900 on a sliding scale according to your income. For example, if you are unemployed and are just about making ends meet, pay 300; if you have a job but it’s not well paid, or part-time, pay 600; if you have a decent income, pay 900.
Venue: Göteborgs Aikidoklubb, Doktor Westrings Gata 14D, 413 24 Göteborg.
Registration: To reserve your place, please first contact me at [email protected], then transfer the full fee to the following account: Account holder: Daniel Mang, Smedjegränd 3, 54432 Hjo, Sweden Account number: 3188310 Clearing number: 9272 IBAN: SE2592700000092723188310 BIC: IBCASES1 Bank: ICA Banken AB, Svetsarvägen 16, 171 41 Solna, Sweden Don’t forget to put your name and what the payment is for (“WS Feb 16”) in the payment reference.
***
26 – 30 December 2015, Katrineholm, Sweden
Winter Contact Improvisation Retreat
I call this residential workshop a retreat because we will rise early and in silence and my teaching will include a focus on contact improvisation as a form of meditation. The main teaching language will be English, with some translation into Swedish, French or German possible. All levels of experience and all kinds of bodies are welcome.
The programme consists of 36 hours of class (spread over one evening, three full days and one morning). Most of this time we will devote to studying and practicing contact improvisation: we will refine our sense of balance, investigate our relation to gravity, work with the momentum of moving bodies, wake up our reflexes, learn about modulating tone, and explore the intricacies of sharing weight.
Through working with the fundamentals of contact improvisation, we will explore touch and movement as relational practices. Bonding and bounding, consent and collaboration, safer spaces and negotiation will be some of our themes. I will draw on authentic movement, various kinds of bodywork, verbal and non-verbal communication tools, moving and sitting meditation, and anything else I feel the moment calls for.
This will be our daily schedule:
07:00 – 10:00 morning session 10:00 – 12:00 brunch & break 12:00 – 16:00 afternoon session 16:00 – 18:00 supper & break 18:00 – 21:00 evening session
One of the functions of this schedule – more akin to that of a meditation retreat than to that of most contact improvisation events – is to help re-contextualise contact improvisation as a form of contemplation, a means of self-healing and personal change.
Learning will take place at all hours. Some of our subjects of study will be: how we deal with unease and frustration, with desire and joy, with fear and pain; how we relate to others; how we say yes or no or maybe, verbally or nonverbally; how, why and what we eat; and how we sleep.
Meals will be vegan and organic. There will be fruit, vegetables, mushrooms, nuts and seeds, legumes and grains. We will not provide, and suggest you do not consume: fried food, sweets, chocolate, alcohol, tea, coffee or other stimulants. The use of cannabis or other drugs is strongly discouraged. Smokers are encouraged to use the occasion to drop the habit.
The physical and mental practices; the relatively long fast between supper and brunch; the cutting out of foods and substances we often use to stimulate ourselves, lift our mood or suppress anxiety; the attention to sleep and dreams; the appreciation of breathing – these are part of a framework meant to support us in challenging habitual patterns, facing ourselves and developing new forms of integration.
In other words, this retreat is meant to be not only an opportunity to learn new physical skills, but to deepen our experience of ourselves, to develop our capacity to communicate with others, to develop our sensitivity to our own and others’ needs, wishes and boundaries, and to extricate ourselves from limiting and harmful patterns of behaviour.
We will attempt to calm our minds and develop the intelligence of our bodies. Sometimes the dreams we dream at night will be material for our movement improvisation work.
About our cook
Andreas Wittstock is a contact improviser and professional chef with long experience cooking for different kinds of groups and catering to different nutritional needs. I have twice had the pleasure of working with him in the past and think his food is amazing!
Accommodation
Accommodation will be dormitory style in a theatre space. Bring a mat, sleeping bag and whatever else you may need to get a good night’s rest (a pillow, earplugs, eyeshades, your favourite stuffed animal…)
About the venue
We will be hosted by Teater K in Katrineholm. We will have the use of several of its spaces. The venue is about ten minutes walk from the train station. The address is: Fredsgatan 4-8, 64130 Katrineholm, Sweden.
Cost
The fee includes food and accommodation. You can pay anything between SEK 1500 and SEK 2500 on a sliding scale according to your income. For example, if you are unemployed and are just about making ends meet, pay 1500; if you have a job but it’s not well paid, or part-time, pay 2000; if you have a decent income, pay 2500. If you have lots of money, consider sponsoring someone who would like to participate but can’t afford it (I can probably put you in touch with a few).
Registration
Contact me at [email protected] or +46 765973209. Please mention any food intolerances, allergies or any other special needs you might have in your registration email and we will do our best to take them into account.
Bank details
Account holder: Daniel Mang, Smedjegränd 3, 54432 Hjo, Sweden Account number: 3188310 Clearing number: 9272 IBAN: SE2592700000092723188310 BIC: IBCASES1 Bank: ICA Banken AB, Svetsarvägen 16, 171 41 Solna, Sweden
Arrival and departure
The opening session on Saturday 26 December will run from 18:00 to 21:00. Please arrive by 17:30 latest so we can start together and on time. Feel free to come earlier in the day if that’s convenient for you. Note that the first meal we’ll provide will be brunch on Sunday at 10:00. The closing session on Wednesday 30 December will run from 07:00 to 10:00. Then there will be a meal as usual at 10:00, then a collective cleaning and tidying up of the space, and departures from about 13:00 on.
New Year Jam 30 Dec – 3 Jan
There will be a New Year Jam in Järna, 90 km east of Katrineholm (about one hour’s travel by direct train). It starts on Wednesday 30 December in the evening and runs until Sunday 3 January. For more information about it, or to register, please contact Magda Kleparska at [email protected] or +46 732553285.
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Sat 24 & Sun 25 October 2015, Malmö, Sweden
Myriad Shades of Touch
This workshop will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the map of the body; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness. We will work with the fundamentals of contact improvisation, such as: the relation to gravity, the physical contact between movers, the momentum of bodies; modulating tone, waking up reflexes and sense of balance, sharing weight. We will explore touch and movement as relational practices: bonding and bounding, consent and collaboration, safer spaces and negotiation will be some of our themes. All levels of experience and all kinds of bodies are welcome.
Schedule: Saturday 24 October 09:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00 Sunday 25 October 09:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00
Fee: SEK 300 – 900 on a sliding scale according to your income. For example, if you are unemployed and are just about making ends meet, pay 300; if you have a job but it’s not well paid, or part-time, pay 600; if you have a decent income, pay 900.
Venue: Moderna Dansstudion Västanforsgatan 30b, 214 50 Malmö, Sweden
To register: Email [email protected]
***
Sat 26 & Sun 27 September 2015, Gothenburg, Sweden
Contact improvisation mini-workshop
We will refine our sense of balance, investigate our relation to gravity, work with the momentum of moving bodies, wake up our reflexes, learn about modulating tone, and explore the intricacies of sharing weight. Through working with the fundamentals of contact improvisation, we will explore touch and movement as relational practices. All levels of experience and all kinds of bodies are welcome.
Schedule: Saturday 26 September 12:00 – 15:00 Sunday 27 September 12:00 – 15:00
Fee: Sliding scale SEK 200 (waged), SEK 300 (low waged), SEK 400 (unwaged)
Venue: Dansbyrån, Oskarsgatan 6A, 414 63 Göteborg, Sweden
To register: Email [email protected]
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Sat 21 & Sun 22 March 2015, Gothenburg, Sweden
Myriad Shades of Touch
This workshop will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the map of the body; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness. We will work with the fundamentals of contact improvisation, such as: the relation to gravity, the physical contact between movers, the momentum of bodies; modulating tone, waking up reflexes and sense of balance, sharing weight. We will explore touch and movement as relational practices: bonding and bounding, consent and collaboration, safer spaces and negotiation will be some of our themes. All levels of experience are welcome.
Schedule: Saturday 21 March 09:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00 Sunday 22 March 09:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00
Fee: Sliding scale SEK 800 (waged), SEK 600 (low waged), SEK 400 (unwaged)
Venue: Dansbyrån, Oskarsgatan 6A, 414 63 Göteborg, Sweden
To register: Email [email protected]
***
Sun 28 Dec 2014 – Fri 2 Jan 2015, London, UK
Bonding & Bounding
This workshop will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the map of the body; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness. We will work with the fundamentals of contact improvisation, such as: the relation to gravity, the physical contact between movers, the momentum of bodies; modulating tone, waking up reflexes and sense of balance, sharing weight. We will explore touch and movement as relational practices: bonding and bounding, consent and collaboration, safer spaces and negotiation will be some of our themes. All levels of experience are welcome.
This workshop was a core component of the London New Year Contact Improvisation Gathering.
***
Sat 28 & Sun 29 June 2014, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Myriad Shades of Touch
This workshop will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the map of the body; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness.
We will work with the fundamentals of contact improvisation, such as: the relation to gravity, the physical contact between movers, the momentum of bodies; modulating tone, waking up reflexes and sense of balance, sharing weight.
We will explore touch and movement as relational practices: bonding and bounding, consent and collaboration, safer spaces and negotiation will be some of our themes.
All levels of experience are welcome.
Schedule: Sat 28 June 10:00 – 12:00 and 14:00 – 17:00 workshop Sun 29 June 10:00 – 12:00 workshop Sun 29 June 14:00 – 17:00 jam
Fee: Whole workshop + jam: RM 120 Saturday only: RM 90 Sunday only: RM 40 Jam only: donation
Venue: Free Space @ Kaki Seni, SSTwo Mall No 40 Jalan SS2/72, 47300 Petaling Jaya
To register: Email [email protected]
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Sat 7 & Sun 8 June 2014, Chiang Mai, Thailand
Myriad Shades of Touch
This workshop will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the map of the body; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness.
We will work with the fundamentals of contact improvisation, such as: the relation to gravity, the physical contact between movers, the momentum of bodies; modulating tone, waking up reflexes and sense of balance, sharing weight.
We will explore touch and movement as relational practices: bonding and bounding, consent and collaboration, safer spaces and negotiation will be some of our themes.
All levels of experience are welcome.
Schedule: Saturday 7 June 10:30 – 13:30 and 14:30 – 17:30 Sunday 8 June 10:30 – 13:30 and 14:30 – 17:30
Fee: 1200 baht for the weekend
Venue: The Yoga Tree 65/1 Arak Road Chiang Mai 50200 Thailand
To register: Contact SayGin at [email protected]
***
Fri 23 & Sun 25 May 2014, Bangkok, Thailand
Myriad Shades of Touch
This workshop will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the map of the body; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness.
We will work with the fundamentals of contact improvisation, such as: the relation to gravity, the physical contact between movers, the momentum of bodies; modulating tone, waking up reflexes and sense of balance, sharing weight.
We will explore touch and movement as relational practices: bonding and bounding, consent and collaboration, safer spaces and negotiation will be some of our themes.
All levels of experience are welcome.
Schedule: Friday 23 May, 7 – 10 pm Sunday 25 May, 1 – 4 pm
Fee: 600 baht for one session 800 baht for both sessions
Venue: Fitness7 in Ratchadapisek 7 (Soi Nathong), Studio#1
To register: Contact Ong Pholchai at [email protected]
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Sat 5 & Sun 6 April 2014, Stockholm, Sweden
Contact Improvisation and the Grammar of Consent
This workshop will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the map of the body; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness.
We will work with the fundamentals of contact improvisation, such as: the relation to gravity, the physical contact between movers, the momentum of bodies; modulating tone, waking up reflexes and sense of balance, sharing weight.
We will explore touch and movement as relational practices: bonding and bounding, consent and collaboration, safer spaces and negotiation will be some of our themes.
All levels of experience are welcome.
Some of the material we will be working with was developed in the context of Radical Contact, an international meeting on contact improvisation and body politics. For more information see www.radicalcontact.org.
The workshop title is inspired by “The GroanZone: Towards a Radical Grammar of Consent for Horizontal Collaboration” by Eleanor Greenhalgh. For more information see www.eleanorg.org.
Schedule: Saturday 5 April 10:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00 Sunday 6 April 10:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00
Fee: Sliding scale SEK 900 (waged), SEK 700 (low waged), SEK 500 (unwaged)
Venue: Danscentrum Stockholm, Lilla Studion Jungfrugatan 7b, Stockholm 11444, Sweden
For people from outside Stockholm some sleeping spaces may be available at no additional cost.
To register: Email [email protected]
***
Sun 23 March 2014, Gothenburg, Sweden
Myriad Shades of Touch
This workshop will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the „map of the body“; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness. We will focus on working with the basic principles of contact improvisation. We’ll also look at ways of combining contact improvisation and bodywork.
Schedule: Sunday 23 March 09:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00
Fee: Sliding scale SEK 400 (waged), SEK 300 (low waged), SEK 200 (unwaged)
Venue: Danscentrum Väst, Ärlegatan 3, 414 57 Göteborg, Sweden
To register: Email [email protected]
***
Sat 29 & Sun 30 March 2014, Malmö, Sweden
Myriad Shades of Touch
This workshop will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the „map of the body“; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness. We will focus on working with the basic principles of contact improvisation. We’ll also look at ways of combining contact improvisation and bodywork.
Schedule: Saturday 29 March 09:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00 Sunday 30 March 09:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00
Fee: Sliding scale SEK 300 – SEK 800
Venue: Moderna Dansstudion Västanforsgatan 30b, 214 50 Malmö, Sweden
To register: Contact Emelie Bardon at [email protected] or +46 736142703 (Swedish mobile)
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28 Dec 2013 – 1 Jan 2014, London, UK
Bonding & Bounding
Contact improvisation workshop with Daniel Mang and Lisa Rasmussen (Copenhagen) at the London New Year Contact Improvisation Gathering
The physical contact between two or more partners, the relation to gravity, and to the momentum of moving bodies are at the basis of the practice. It’s about letting go of excess tension, waking up the reflexes and sense of balance, and working with weight. It is a very subtle way of interacting and negotiating through touch and movement. We will focus on this latter aspect of contact improvisation, thus questions of physical listening, bonding and bounding will be central to our explorations.
***
Sat 16 & Sun 17 November 2013, Brussels, Belgium
Myriad Shades of Touch
This workshop will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the „map of the body“; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness. We will focus on working with the basic principles of contact improvisation. We’ll also look at ways of combining contact improvisation and bodywork.
Schedule: Saturday 16 November 10:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00 class Sunday 17 November 10:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00 class
Fee: 60 € regular, 40 € concession
Venue: Camping Town, 14 rue de la Comète, 1210 Brussels, Belgium
To register: Email [email protected]
***
28 September & 5 October 2013, London, UK
Myriad Shades of Touch
These classes will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the „map of the body“; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness. We will work with the basic principles of contact improvisation and look at ways of combining contact improvisation and bodywork.
Schedule: Saturday 28 September & Saturday 5 October 2013 1 pm – 3 pm
Fee: £ 8
Venue: Moving East St Matthias Church Hall Wordsworth Road Stoke Newington London N16 8DD
Classes organised by London Contact Improvisation
No registration required.
***
Sunday 7 July, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Contact Improvisation Fundamentals
At the basis of the practice are the physical contact between two or more partners, the relation to gravity, and to the momentum of moving bodies. It’s about letting go of excess tension, waking up the reflexes and sense of balance, and working with weight. It is a very subtle way of interacting and negotiating through touch and movement.
This workshop aims to provide some basic contact improvisation vocabulary: how to share weight; follow a rolling point of contact; give all one’s weight to someone else; make yourself light; modulate your weight; lift someone up; get used to being upside down; offer a plateau; connect to one’s center; use momentum; extend into falling; have your landing gear ready…
These skills can only be acquired by retraining our reactions, by releasing excess tension and attending to sensation. This is the foundation of the work. Contact improvisation requires and develops the ability to fluidly adapt the tonus of our body. A part of you that needs to be stable and grounded at one moment, to support the weight of another, may, a split second later, need to become very light and mobile.
The key to getting better at this is exercising one’s capacity to sense what is going on inside the body and its position in space. For example by doing nothing, just sensing how gravity acts on you… Moving very slowly we can learn to distinguish ever finer nuances of tonus in the body. Time spent enjoying the sensation of pouring weight from one part of the body into another, and into the ground, is time well spent…
To be able to move very fast and with ease in contact improvisation at some point, to enjoy lightness and precision, we need to first retrain our reactions. To be able to deal with situations that change faster than the conscious mind can track, while falling, flying, upside down… safely and with pleasure, we have to get rid of motor patterns of contraction related to fear; deconstruct habits of holding on instead of spreading out, of grabbing on instead of letting go…
These kinds of changes happen when the body mind is in a very particular, awake and relaxed state, that for lack of a better word we’ll call release. So this is what we’ll be looking for…
Schedule: Sunday 7 July 2013 12:00 – 17:00
Fee: 65 ringgit (including 15 ringgit PODs registration fee), no one turned away for lack of funds
Venue: PODs, No 30 Jalan Thambipillay, Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
To register: Contact Daniel Mang at [email protected]
***
Sunday 9 June 2013, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Contact Improvisation Fundamentals
At the basis of the practice are the physical contact between two or more partners, the relation to gravity, and to the momentum of moving bodies. It’s about letting go of excess tension, waking up the reflexes and sense of balance, and working with weight. It is a very subtle way of interacting and negotiating through touch and movement.
This workshop aims to provide some basic contact improvisation vocabulary: how to share weight; follow a rolling point of contact; give all one’s weight to someone else; make yourself light; modulate your weight; lift someone up; get used to being upside down; offer a plateau; connect to one’s center; use momentum; extend into falling; have your landing gear ready…
These skills can only be acquired by retraining our reactions, by releasing excess tension and attending to sensation. This is the foundation of the work. Contact improvisation requires and develops the ability to fluidly adapt the tonus of our body. A part of you that needs to be stable and grounded at one moment, to support the weight of another, may, a split second later, need to become very light and mobile.
The key to getting better at this is exercising one’s capacity to sense what is going on inside the body and its position in space. For example by doing nothing, just sensing how gravity acts on you… Moving very slowly we can learn to distinguish ever finer nuances of tonus in the body. Time spent enjoying the sensation of pouring weight from one part of the body into another, and into the ground, is time well spent…
To be able to move very fast and with ease in contact improvisation at some point, to enjoy lightness and precision, we need to first retrain our reactions. To be able to deal with situations that change faster than the conscious mind can track, while falling, flying, upside down… safely and with pleasure, we have to get rid of motor patterns of contraction related to fear; deconstruct habits of holding on instead of spreading out, of grabbing on instead of letting go…
These kinds of changes happen when the body mind is in a very particular, awake and relaxed state, that for lack of a better word we’ll call release. So this is what we’ll be looking for…
Schedule: Sunday 9 June 10:00 – 17:00 (1 hour break for lunch)
Fee: Regular: $ 50 Members of Common Sole’s theatre group: $ 36 Students: free No one turned away for lack of funds
Venue: Circus School of Phnom Penh near the Naga World Complex across the street from the National Assembly next to the PBC bookshop
To register: Contact Eric Ellul at [email protected] or +855 972834395
***
Saturday 15 June 2013, Shanghai, China
Contact Improvisation Fundamentals
At the basis of the practice are the physical contact between two or more partners, the relation to gravity, and to the momentum of moving bodies. It’s about letting go of excess tension, waking up the reflexes and sense of balance, and working with weight. It is a very subtle way of interacting and negotiating through touch and movement.
This workshop aims to provide some basic contact improvisation vocabulary: how to share weight; follow a rolling point of contact; give all one’s weight to someone else; make yourself light; modulate your weight; lift someone up; get used to being upside down; offer a plateau; connect to one’s center; use momentum; extend into falling; have your landing gear ready…
These skills can only be acquired by retraining our reactions, by releasing excess tension and attending to sensation. This is the foundation of the work. Contact improvisation requires and develops the ability to fluidly adapt the tonus of our body. A part of you that needs to be stable and grounded at one moment, to support the weight of another, may, a split second later, need to become very light and mobile.
The key to getting better at this is exercising one’s capacity to sense what is going on inside the body and its position in space. For example by doing nothing, just sensing how gravity acts on you… Moving very slowly we can learn to distinguish ever finer nuances of tonus in the body. Time spent enjoying the sensation of pouring weight from one part of the body into another, and into the ground, is time well spent…
To be able to move very fast and with ease in contact improvisation at some point, to enjoy lightness and precision, we need to first retrain our reactions. To be able to deal with situations that change faster than the conscious mind can track, while falling, flying, upside down… safely and with pleasure, we have to get rid of motor patterns of contraction related to fear; deconstruct habits of holding on instead of spreading out, of grabbing on instead of letting go…
These kinds of changes happen when the body mind is in a very particular, awake and relaxed state, that for lack of a better word we’ll call release. So this is what we’ll be looking for…
Schedule: Saturday 15 June 10:00 – 17:00
Fee: RMB 300 20% discount if you pay before 10 June
Venue: 4F, No 315 Wanping Road, Wanping Hotel, Shanghai
To register: Contact Marine Zhao at [email protected] or at +86 13041687002 Office address: No 13 Yuqing Road, Shanghai
For questions about the teaching: Contact Daniel Mang at [email protected]
***
Sat 18, Sun 19, Mon 20 May 2013, Brussels, Belgium
Myriad Shades of Touch
This workshop will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the „map of the body“; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness. We will focus on working with the basic principles of contact improvisation. We’ll also look at ways of combining contact improvisation and bodywork.
Schedule: Saturday 18 May 10:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00 class Sunday 19 May 10:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00 class Sunday 19 May 19:00 – 20:00 films, 20:00 jam Monday 20 May 10:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00 class
Fee: 90 € regular, 60 € concession
Venue: Camping Town, 14 rue de la Comète, 1210 Brussels, Belgium
To register: Email [email protected]
***
Sun 5 May & Mon 6 May 2013, London, UK
Contact Improvisation and Communication
This workshop will combine material from co-counseling, radical therapy and non-violent communication, as well as ideas about consent and safer spaces that have been developing in “radical contact” spaces (see www.radicalcontact.org), with contact improvisation and authentic movement.
Schedule: Sunday 5 May: 2 pm – 5 pm, 6 pm – 9 pm Monday 6 May: 10 am – 1 pm, 2 pm – 5 pm
Fee: Sliding scale 80 £ (waged), 60 £ (low waged), 40 £ (unwaged)
Venue: Essex Church, 112 Palace Gardens Terrace, London W8 4RT
To register: Email [email protected] or call 07411427331. To reserve a place, transfer a deposit of 50% of the fee, or the full amount, to the following account by 15 April:
Account holder: Daniel Mang Account number: 68250258 Sort code: 08-92-50 IBAN: GB17CPBK08925068250258 BIC: CPBKGB22 Bank: The Co-operative Bank
Full refund for cancellations up to 1 May, no refund after.
***
Sat 20 April 2013, East Dorset, UK
Contact Improvisation Fundamentals
What is contact improvisation?
Contact improvisation is notoriously hard to describe. Really, you have to do it to understand it. What I can say is that at the basis of the practice are the physical contact between two or more partners, the relation to gravity, and to the momentum of moving bodies. It’s about letting go of excess tension, waking up the reflexes and sense of balance, and working with weight. It is a very subtle way of interacting and negotiating through touch and movement.
This introductory class
aims to provide some basic contact improvisation vocabulary: how to share weight; follow a rolling point of contact; give all one’s weight to someone else; make yourself light; modulate your weight; lift someone up; get used to being upside down; offer a plateau; connect to one’s center; use momentum; extend into falling; have your landing gear ready…
These skills can only be acquired by retraining our reactions, by releasing excess tension and attending to sensation. This is the foundation of the work. Contact improvisation requires and develops the ability to fluidly adapt the tonus of our body. A part of you that needs to be stable and grounded at one moment, to support the weight of another, may, a split second later, need to become very light and mobile.
The key to getting better at this is exercising one’s capacity to sense what is going on inside the body and its position in space. For example by doing nothing, just sensing how gravity acts on you… Moving very slowly we can learn to distinguish ever finer nuances of tonus in the body. Time spent enjoying the sensation of pouring weight from one part of the body into another, and into the ground, is time well spent…
To be able to move very fast and with ease in contact improvisation at some point, to enjoy lightness and precision, we need to first retrain our reactions. To be able to deal with situations that change faster than the conscious mind can track, while falling, flying, upside down… safely and with pleasure, we have to get rid of motor patterns of contraction related to fear; deconstruct habits of holding on instead of spreading out, of grabbing on instead of letting go…
These kinds of changes happen when the body mind is in a very particular, awake and relaxed state, that for lack of a better word we’ll call release. So this is what we’ll be looking for…
Schedule: Saturday 20 April 10:00 – 16:00
Fee: TBA
Venue: Holtwood Community Hall, East Dorset
To register: contact Victoria Cresswell at [email protected]
***
Sat 13 Sun & 14 April 2013, Gothenburg, Sweden
Myriad Shades of Touch
This workshop will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the „map of the body“; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness. We will focus on working with the basic principles of contact improvisation. We’ll also look at ways of combining contact improvisation and bodywork.
Schedule: Sat 13 April 12:00 – 17:00 Sun 14 April 11:00 – 16:00
Fee: 600 SEK before 2 April, 700 SEK after 2 April
Venue: Danscentrum Väst, Ärlegatan 3, 414 57 Göteborg, Sweden
To register: Contact Christian Hüls at [email protected] or +46 702123897 (Swedish mobile)
***
14 February 2013, Melbourne, Australia
Myriad Shades of Touch
This class will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the „map of the body“; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness. We will focus on working with the basic principles of contact improvisation. We’ll also look at ways of combining contact improvisation and bodywork.
Schedule: Thursday 14 February 19:00 – 21:30
Fee: TBC
Venue: Dancehouse, 150 Princes Street, North Carlton, VIctoria 3054
To register: Contact Keira at 0430 503 778 or [email protected]
***
31 Jan – 3 Feb 2013, Fremantle, West Australia
West Australian Contact Improvisation Residential
Schedule: Daniel’s morning class: Fri 1 Feb, Sat 2 Feb, Sun 3 Feb 10:00 – 13:00 For the full schedule see www.wacontactimprov.com
Fee: Whole event fee: all workshops and classes, dormitory style accommodation, catered vegetarian meals $ 370 regular, $ 350 earlybird (before 1 Dec)
Venue: Woodman Point Recreation Camp
To register: Jacqui Otago: [email protected]
***
Sat 15 & Sun 16 December 2012, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Two afternoon workshops, can be attended separately or together
Contact Improvisation Fundamentals
What is contact improvisation?
Contact improvisation is notoriously hard to describe. Really, you have to do it to understand it. What I can say is that at the basis of the practice are the physical contact between two or more partners, the relation to gravity, and to the momentum of moving bodies. It’s about letting go of excess tension, waking up the reflexes and sense of balance, and working with weight. It is a very subtle way of interacting and negotiating through touch and movement.
This workshop
aims to provide some basic contact improvisation vocabulary: how to share weight; follow a rolling point of contact; give all one’s weight to someone else; make yourself light; modulate your weight; lift someone up; get used to being upside down; offer a plateau; connect to one’s center; use momentum; extend into falling; have your landing gear ready…
These skills can only be acquired by retraining our reactions, by releasing excess tension and attending to sensation. This is the foundation of the work. Contact improvisation requires and develops the ability to fluidly adapt the tonus of our body. A part of you that needs to be stable and grounded at one moment, to support the weight of another, may, a split second later, need to become very light and mobile.
The key to getting better at this is exercising one’s capacity to sense what is going on inside the body and its position in space. For example by doing nothing, just sensing how gravity acts on you… Moving very slowly we can learn to distinguish ever finer nuances of tonus in the body. Time spent enjoying the sensation of pouring weight from one part of the body into another, and into the ground, is time well spent…
To be able to move very fast and with ease in contact improvisation at some point, to enjoy lightness and precision, we need to first retrain our reactions. To be able to deal with situations that change faster than the conscious mind can track, while falling, flying, upside down… safely and with pleasure, we have to get rid of motor patterns of contraction related to fear; deconstruct habits of holding on instead of spreading out, of grabbing on instead of letting go…
These kinds of changes happen when the body mind is in a very particular, awake and relaxed state, that for lack of a better word we’ll call release. So this is what we’ll be looking for…
Schedule: 14:30 – 17:30 on both days
Fee: Suggested donation $ 25. No one turned away for lack of funds.
Venue: 235b, Street 19, Phnom Penh, Cambodia
To register: contact Eric Ellul at [email protected] or +855 972834395
***
Sat 8 December 2012, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Contact Improvisation Fundamentals
What is contact improvisation?
Contact improvisation is notoriously hard to describe. Really, you have to do it to understand it. What I can say is that at the basis of the practice are the physical contact between two or more partners, the relation to gravity, and to the momentum of moving bodies. It’s about letting go of excess tension, waking up the reflexes and sense of balance, and working with weight. It is a very subtle way of interacting and negotiating through touch and movement.
This workshop
aims to provide some basic contact improvisation vocabulary: how to share weight; follow a rolling point of contact; give all one’s weight to someone else; make yourself light; modulate your weight; lift someone up; get used to being upside down; offer a plateau; connect to one’s center; use momentum; extend into falling; have your landing gear ready…
These skills can only be acquired by retraining our reactions, by releasing excess tension and attending to sensation. This is the foundation of the work. Contact improvisation requires and develops the ability to fluidly adapt the tonus of our body. A part of you that needs to be stable and grounded at one moment, to support the weight of another, may, a split second later, need to become very light and mobile.
The key to getting better at this is exercising one’s capacity to sense what is going on inside the body and its position in space. For example by doing nothing, just sensing how gravity acts on you… Moving very slowly we can learn to distinguish ever finer nuances of tonus in the body. Time spent enjoying the sensation of pouring weight from one part of the body into another, and into the ground, is time well spent…
To be able to move very fast and with ease in contact improvisation at some point, to enjoy lightness and precision, we need to first retrain our reactions. To be able to deal with situations that change faster than the conscious mind can track, while falling, flying, upside down… safely and with pleasure, we have to get rid of motor patterns of contraction related to fear; deconstruct habits of holding on instead of spreading out, of grabbing on instead of letting go…
These kinds of changes happen when the body mind is in a very particular, awake and relaxed state, that for lack of a better word we’ll call release. So this is what we’ll be looking for…
Schedule: Saturday 8 December 2012 13:00 – 17:00
Fee: MYR 90 regular, MYR 65 early registration (includes MYR 15 registration fee)
Venue: PODs, No 30 Jalan Thambipillay, Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
To register: email [email protected]
***
Sun 25 November 2012, Hong Kong
Contact Improvisation Fundamentals
Schedule: Workshop 15:00 – 17:00, jam 17:00 – 18:00
Fee: Free of charge
Venue: City Contemporary Dance Company Dance Centre, G/F, 110 Shatin Pass Road, Wong Tai Sin, Kowloon, Hong Kong
To register: David Leung: [email protected]
***
Sat 3 & Sun 4 November 2012, Brussels, Belgium
Contact Improvisation Fundamentals
This workshop aims to provide some basic contact improvisation vocabulary: how to share weight; follow a rolling point of contact; give all one’s weight to someone else; make yourself light; modulate your weight; lift someone up; get used to being upside down; offer a plateau; connect to one’s center; use momentum; extend into falling; have your landing gear ready…
These skills can only be acquired by retraining our reactions, by releasing excess tension and attending to sensation. This is the foundation of the work. Contact improvisation requires and develops the ability to fluidly adapt the tonus of our body. A part of you that needs to be stable and grounded at one moment, to support the weight of another, may, a split second later, need to become very light and mobile.
The key to getting better at this is exercising one’s capacity to sense what is going on inside the body and its position in space. For example by doing nothing, just sensing how gravity acts on you… Moving very slowly we can learn to distinguish ever finer nuances of tonus in the body. Time spent enjoying the sensation of pouring weight from one part of the body into another, and into the ground, is time well spent…
To be able to move very fast and with ease in contact improvisation at some point, to enjoy lightness and precision, we need to first retrain our reactions. To be able to deal with situations that change faster than the conscious mind can track, while falling, flying, upside down… safely and with pleasure, we have to get rid of motor patterns of contraction related to fear; deconstruct habits of holding on instead of spreading out, of grabbing on instead of letting go…
These kinds of changes happen when the body mind is in a very particular, awake and relaxed state, that for lack of a better word we’ll call release. So this is what we’ll be looking for…
Schedule: Saturday 3 Nov 10:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00 Saturday 3 Nov 20:00 films, then open jam Sunday 4 Nov 10:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00
Fee: 60 € regular, 40 € concession
Venue: Camping Town, 14 rue de la Comète, 1210 Brussels, Belgium
To register: [email protected]
***
Sunday 9, 16 & 30 September 2012, London, UK
Scatter Raise Thrive
A mini-series of contact improvisation classes in South East London co-taught by Anne-Gaëlle Thiriot and Daniel Mang
Grow new possibilities of dance by grounding your knowledge of contact improvisation in gravity, structure, touch and space. Make friends with the ground; connect to the earth; share weight; follow a rolling point of contact; modulate your weight; lift someone up; get used to inversion; offer a plateau; extend into falling; have your landing gear ready…
Anne-Gaëlle works as a dancer, choreographer and teacher. She trained in Laban-based practice (choreology), release technique and aikido, and has been practicing contact improvisation since 2001.
Daniel Mang has been doing bodywork professionally for the last 25 years and teaching contact improvisation since 1990. His movement background includes aikido, the Feldenkrais Method and Body Mind Centering.
Schedule: Sunday 9, 16 & 30 September 2012, 1 pm – 4 pm
Fee: 15 £ (waged), 10 £ (low waged), 5 £ (unwaged) per class.
Venue: Stream Arts, Rothbury Hall, Mauritius Road, London SE10 0EF
To register: email [email protected] or call 07 411 427 331
It’s best to attend all three classes, but it’s also OK to drop in!
***
22 & 29 September 2012, London, UK
Myriad Shades of Touch
These classes will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the „map of the body“; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness. We will work with the basic principles of contact improvisation and look at ways of combining contact improvisation and bodywork.
Schedule: Saturday 22 and Saturday 29 September 11:30 am to 13:30 pm
Fee: £ 7
Venue: Moving East, St Matthias Church Hall, Wordsworth Road, London N16 8DD, United Kingdom
Classes organized by London Contact Improvisation
No registration required.
***
26 August – 1 September, London, UK
One week of movement exploration in the heart of London
Morning contact improvisation class taught by Daniel Mang, Jenny Moy & Vanessa Cook.
Afternoon explorations in various locations (acroyoga, authentic movement, butoh, eco-somatics, tuning scores…) with Elin Maria Andersson (SE), Kim Lasdon (US), Jan Lee & Melody Sacco (GB), Sonja Brühlmann (CH), Rachel Dean (GB), Jams Aguila & Maika Fernandez (FR).
Early morning yoga class – Jacqui Wan. Live music – William Woolf. Resident artist – Samuel Overington.
Meals included, some sleeping space available on-site.
£270 (full-waged) £220 (part-waged) £170 (unwaged).
For more information and to register, go to www.contactcity.org.
***
Sun 15 July 2012, Buddhafield Festival, Devon, UK
The Twelfth Doorway
In this practical and experiential workshop we will use contact improvisation to address connections between spirituality, politics and sensuality.
1. What is contact improvisation?
Contact improvisation is a movement practice developed in the early seventies, and it is notoriously hard to describe. Really, you have to do it to understand it. But I can say this much: At the basis of the practice are the physical contact between two or more partners, the relation to gravity, and to the momentum of moving bodies. It’s about letting go of excess tension, waking up the reflexes and sense of balance, and working with weight. It is a very subtle way of interacting and negotiating through touch and movement.
You can see it as a spiritual practice – a form of movement meditation: not trying to control situations that cannot be controlled with the conscious mind, but trusting other parts of your mind to take care of things; practicing being in the here and now; surrendering to something that does not obey your will, nor anyone else’s: the dance. I think many contact improvisers would subscribe to this notion of the practice as a form of meditation.
You can also see it as a micropolitical practice. Most people who do contact improvisation are not particularly interested in working for social change, understanding how society works or organising to fight specific instances of domination and exploitation. I am. Although I don’t believe just doing contact improvisation changes anything much in the world, I do feel that the form has a radical potential. I believe it can be a useful tool for investigating issues of body politics. It can be a way of exploring and questioning our relation to the body, norms, sexuality, sensuality, communication and touch, our relation to power, to forms of domination that have to do with age, with being white or not, with social class, and obviously with gender and sexual orientation…
2. How we will work
The workshop will start with a sensory warmup, move into contact improvisation, followed by a discussion of specific questions in small groups (topics see below), then a mix of moving and talking, followed by a final round for exchanging impressions. We will look at dependency, autonomy, support, falling and fear of falling, reciprocity, leading and following, etc. If there is time, I will introduce some movement material that I’ve been developing over recent years, to do with deconstructing subject and object positions in dance, involving moving and being witnessed in specific ways, the mover determining the gaze of the watcher.
3. The basic ideas that will be up for reflection and discussion:
3.1. Suffering, spirituality, politics
Imagine a society liberated from the desire to dominate, control and exploit. A free association of all human beings, based on equality, autonomy and reciprocity. There will still be suffering, and people will always need ways to deal with it. This human suffering, that cannot be abolished, is, in my eyes, the legitimate domain of philosophy and spirituality. Obviously I don’t mean to suggest that philosophy and spirituality are only or mainly about human suffering.
Much human suffering is due to oppression and exploitation, could be abolished and should never be accepted in any way. This kind of suffering is, in my eyes, the legitimate domain of contemporary radical politics, by which I mean the attempt to ultimately overturn all relations of domination and exploitation, and utterly transform human relations – from the relations individuals may have with themselves, or personal relations in groups, to impersonal large-scale institutions, abstract structures of violence and global networks of unequal exchange.
We should be as suspicious of social utopias that promise us a world without suffering, as of philosophies that would discourage people from fighting for a better world – in this world, now.
3.2. Sensuality / sexuality
The boundary between sexuality and sensuality is drawn differently by different people. This is rarely a conscious choice but mostly a question of people’s sexual and body socialization, which often differs systematically according to gender and sexuality.
One major factor determining people’s strategies of desire, their personal constructions of sexuality/sensuality is the overwhelming patriarchal and heterosexist structuring of sexuality. In very very broad strokes, a structuring that posits men as hunters, women as prey, that defines desire itself as an active, symbolically male energy, where men have bodies and women are bodies, that encourages men to convert all kinds of affective energies into aggression and/or sexual excitement, while encouraging women to convert all kinds of affective energies into caring, tenderness and tears.
I am interested in the question of how and why people sort their feelings into “sexual”, “sensual” or other, specifically in the context of contact improvisation and in how they feel about the potential of contact improvisation to contribute to an emancipatory transgression of how mainstream society orders sexuality/sensuality.
Schedule: Sunday 15 July 15:00 – 18:00
Fee: included in the festival
Venue: www.buddhafield.com/index.php?festival=travel
No registration necessary
***
Sat 23 & Sun 24 June 2012, Brussels, Belgium
Contact Improvisation Fundamentals
This workshop aims to provide some basic contact improvisation vocabulary: how to share weight; follow a rolling point of contact; give all one’s weight to someone else; make yourself light; modulate your weight; lift someone up; get used to being upside down; offer a plateau; connect to one’s center; use momentum; extend into falling; have your landing gear ready…
These skills can only be acquired by retraining our reactions, by releasing excess tension and attending to sensation. This is the foundation of the work. Contact improvisation requires and develops the ability to fluidly adapt the tonus of our body. A part of you that needs to be stable and grounded at one moment, to support the weight of another, may, a split second later, need to become very light and mobile.
The key to getting better at this is exercising one’s capacity to sense what is going on inside the body and its position in space. For example by doing nothing, just sensing how gravity acts on you… Moving very slowly we can learn to distinguish ever finer nuances of tonus in the body. Time spent enjoying the sensation of pouring weight from one part of the body into another, and into the ground, is time well spent…
To be able to move very fast and with ease in contact improvisation at some point, to enjoy lightness and precision, we need to first retrain our reactions. To be able to deal with situations that change faster than the conscious mind can track, while falling, flying, upside down… safely and with pleasure, we have to get rid of motor patterns of contraction related to fear; deconstruct habits of holding on instead of spreading out, of grabbing on instead of letting go…
These kinds of changes happen when the body mind is in a very particular, awake and relaxed state, that for lack of a better word we’ll call release. So this is what we’ll be looking for…
Schedule: Saturday 23 June 9:30 – 13:30, Sunday 24 June 9:30 – 13:30
Fee: 60 € regular, 40 € concession
Venue: Camping Town, 14 rue de la Comète, 1210 Brussels, Belgium
To register: [email protected]
***
3 – 5 June 2012, London, UK
Contact Improvisation Through Experiential Anatomy
In this workshop we will combine and juxtapose the study of anatomy with imagery-based movement improvisation.
We will refine our awareness of inner spaces and body rhythms, of the space around us and of what we can hear, smell and see. We will use images, some more poetic, some more prosaic, of structures in our bodies, to help us change state and develop satisfying movement. We will study and absorb some anatomical images, explore aspects of our own anatomy through guided movement, and learn to distinguish a few key structures by touch (palpation).
Along the way we will learn something about the nervous system; about different kinds of connective tissue, such as fascia and bones; about the function of various muscles and what nerves connect to them (innervation); and about the biomechanics of some joints. The knowledge gained about the shape and function of elements of our body will enable us to use more precise anatomical imagery in our further movement explorations.
We will then revisit some contact improvisation fundamentals: how to share weight; follow a rolling point of contact; give all one’s weight to someone else; make yourself light; modulate your weight; lift someone up; get used to being upside down; offer a plateau; connect to one’s centre; use momentum; extend into falling; have your landing gear ready…
These skills can only be acquired by retraining our reactions, by releasing excess tension and attending to sensation. This is the foundation of the work. Contact improvisation requires and develops the ability to fluidly adapt the tonus of our body. A part of you that needs to be stable and grounded at one moment, to support the weight of another, may, a split second later, need to become very light and mobile.
The key to getting better at this is exercising one’s capacity to sense what is going on inside the body and its position in space. For example by doing nothing, just sensing how gravity acts on you… Moving very slowly we can learn to distinguish ever finer nuances of tonus in the body. Time spent enjoying the sensation of pouring weight from one part of the body into another, and into the ground, is time well spent…
To be able to move very fast and with ease in contact improvisation at some point, to enjoy lightness and precision, we need to first retrain our reactions. To be able to deal with situations that change faster than the conscious mind can track, while falling, flying, upside down… safely and with pleasure, we have to get rid of motor patterns of contraction related to fear; deconstruct habits of holding on instead of spreading out, of grabbing on instead of letting go…
These kinds of changes happen when the body mind is in a very particular, awake and relaxed state, that for lack of a better word we’ll call release. So this is what we’ll be looking for…
Schedule: Sunday 3 June: 2 pm – 5 pm, 7 pm – 9 pm Monday 4 June: 10 am – 12 noon, 1 pm – 4 pm Tuesday 5 June: 10 am – 12 noon, 1 pm – 4 pm
Fee: sliding scale 80 £ (waged), 60 £ (low waged), 40 £ (unwaged)
Venue: Essex Church, 112 Palace Gardens Terrace, London W8 4RT
To register: email [email protected] or call 07411427331
***
Sun 6 & Mon 7 May 2012, London, UK
Contact Improvisation Fundamentals
This workshop aims to provide some basic contact improvisation vocabulary: how to share weight; follow a rolling point of contact; give all one’s weight to someone else; make yourself light; modulate your weight; lift someone up; get used to being upside down; offer a plateau; connect to one’s center; use momentum; extend into falling; have your landing gear ready… These skills can only be acquired by retraining our reactions, by releasing excess tension and attending to sensation. This is the foundation of the work. Contact improvisation requires and develops the ability to fluidly adapt the tonus of our body. A part of you that needs to be stable and grounded at one moment, to support the weight of another, may, a split second later, need to become very light and mobile. The key to getting better at this is exercising one’s capacity to sense what is going on inside the body and its position in space. For example by doing nothing, just sensing how gravity acts on you… Moving very slowly we can learn to distinguish ever finer nuances of tonus in the body. Time spent enjoying the sensation of pouring weight from one part of the body into another, and into the ground, is time well spent… To be able to move very fast and with ease in contact improvisation at some point, to enjoy lightness and precision, we need to first retrain our reactions. To be able to deal with situations that change faster than the conscious mind can track, while falling, flying, upside down… safely and with pleasure, we have to get rid of motor patterns of contraction related to fear; deconstruct habits of holding on instead of spreading out, of grabbing on instead of letting go… These kinds of changes happen when the body mind is in a very particular, awake and relaxed state, that for lack of a better word we’ll call release. So this is what we’ll be looking for…
Schedule: 10 am to 12 pm and 1 pm to 4pm on both days (please arrive 9:45 so we can start together and on time)
Fee: £ 60 regular, £ 40 concession
Venue: Moving East, St Matthias Church Hall, Wordsworth Road, London N16 8DD
To register: email me at [email protected] or call 07411427331
***
29 January 2012, London, UK
Beginning Contact Improvisation
This workshop aims to provide some basic contact improvisation vocabulary: how to share weight; follow a rolling point of contact; give all one’s weight to someone else; make yourself light; modulate your weight; lift someone up; get used to being upside down; offer a plateau; connect to one’s center; use momentum; extend into falling; have your landing gear ready… These skills can only be acquired by retraining our reactions, by releasing excess tension and attending to sensation. This is the foundation of the work. Contact improvisation requires and develops the ability to fluidly adapt the tonus of our body. A part of you that needs to be stable and grounded at one moment, to support the weight of another, may, a split second later, need to become very light and mobile. The key to getting better at this is exercising one’s capacity to sense what is going on inside the body and its position in space. For example by doing nothing, just sensing how gravity acts on you… Moving very slowly we can learn to distinguish ever finer nuances of tonus in the body. Time spent enjoying the sensation of pouring weight from one part of the body into another, and into the ground, is time well spent… To be able to move very fast and with ease in contact improvisation at some point, to enjoy lightness and precision, we need to first retrain our reactions. To be able to deal with situations that change faster than the conscious mind can track, while falling, flying, upside down… safely and with pleasure, we have to get rid of motor patterns of contraction related to fear; deconstruct habits of holding on instead of spreading out, of grabbing on instead of letting go… These kinds of changes happen when the body mind is in a very particular, awake and relaxed state, that for lack of a better word we’ll call release. So this is what we’ll be looking for…
Schedule: Sunday 29 January 2012, 10 am to 12 pm and 1 pm to 4pm (please arrive 9:45 so we can start together and on time)
Fee: £ 30 regular, £ 20 concession
Venue: Moving East, St Matthias Church Hall, Wordsworth Road, London N16 8DD
To register: email me at [email protected] or call 07411427331
***
14 & 15 January 2012, Paris, France
Myriad Shades of Touch
This workshop will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the „map of the body“; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness. We will work with the basic principles of contact improvisation and look at ways of combining contact improvisation and bodywork.
Schedule: Saturday 14 January 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm and Sunday 15 January 12 pm to 5pm
Fee: € 80 regular, € 60 concession. € 30 deposit
Venue: Studio Keller, 1 rue Keller, 75011 Paris
Registration: Carey Jeffries [email protected] +33 633493687 (French mobile)
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29 December 2011, London, UK
Class at the International New Year Contact Improvisation Jam London
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18 December 2011, London, UK
Experiential Anatomy Workshop
In this one-day workshop we will combine and juxtapose the study of anatomy with imagery-based movement improvisation. We will refine our awareness of inner spaces and body rhythms, of the space around us and of what we can hear, smell and see. We will use images, some more poetic, some more prosaic, of structures in our bodies, to help us change state and develop satisfying movement. We will study and absorb some anatomical images, explore aspects of our own anatomy through guided movement, and learn to distinguish a few key structures by touch (palpation). Along the way we will learn something about the nervous system; about different kinds of connective tissue, such as fascia and bones; about the function of various muscles and what nerves connect to them (innervation); and about the biomechanics of some joints. The knowledge gained about the shape and function of elements of our body will enable us to use more precise anatomical imagery as a basis for further movement exploration.
Schedule: Sunday 18 December 10 am – 4 pm
Fee: 20 £ regular, 15 £ concession
Venue: Ovalhouse, 52-54 Kennington Oval, London SE11 5SW
Registration: Daniel Mang 07411427331 [email protected]
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11, 12, 13 November 2011, Toulouse, France
Myriad Shades of Touch
This workshop will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the „map of the body“; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness. We will work with the basic principles of contact improvisation and look at ways of combining contact improvisation and bodywork.
Schedule: Friday 11, Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 November 9 am to 12 pm and 2 pm to 5pm
Fee: € 100 regular, € 75 concession
Venue: Le Dojo, 15 boulevard de la Gare, 31500 Toulouse
To register: email me at [email protected] AND send a € 30 (£ 25) deposit cheque to: Daniel Mang, 47 rue de la République, 31300 Toulouse
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9 October 2011, London, UK
Tuning the Gaze
A contact improvisation workshop about watching and being watched
In this one-day workshop we will be reviewing and renewing fundamentals of contact improvisation. I will also introduce some brand new material to do with deconstructing subject and object positions in dance (and maybe life…), first presented at the Touch & Play festival in Cardona in June this year. All levels, beginners welcome.
Schedule: Sunday 9 October 10 am to 12 pm and 1 pm to 4pm (please arrive 9:45 so we can start together and on time)
Fee: £ 30 regular, £ 20 concession
Venue: Moving East, St Matthias Church Hall, Wordsworth Road, London N16 8DD
To register: email me at [email protected] or call 07411427331
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17 & 24 September 2011, London, UK
Myriad Shades of Touch
These classes will be about listening with your skin; speaking through your body; negotiating boundaries; differentiating qualities of touch; altering the „map of the body“; creating new meanings for touch, movement, gesture. To this end, we will refine our perception of inner space and body rhythms, as well as our outer sensory/spatial awareness. We will work with the basic principles of contact improvisation and look at ways of combining contact improvisation and bodywork.
Schedule: Saturday 17 and Saturday 24 September 11:30 am to 13:30 pm
Fee: £ 7
Venue: Moving East, St Matthias Church Hall, Wordsworth Road, London N16 8DD, United Kingdom
Classes organized by London Contact Improvisation
No registration required.
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Sunday 11 September 2011, Brussels, Belgium
Tuning the Gaze
A contact improvisation workshop about watching and being watched
In this informal teaching session at a friend’s house in Brussels Laken we will be reviewing and renewing fundamentals of contact improvisation. I will also introduce some new material, to do with deconstructing subject and object positions in dance (and maybe life…). All levels, beginners welcome.
Schedule: Sunday 11 September 10:00 – 12:00 and 13:00 – 16:00. (please arrive 9:45 so we can start together and on time)
Venue: Kardinaal Cardijnplantsoen 8, 1020 Laken. Metro: Bockstael
Suggested donation: 5 – 15 €, no one turned away for lack of funds.
To register: Email me at [email protected]. Or from 7 September on you can also call me on my Belgian mobile +32 487384461
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Saturday 27 August 2011, Malmö, Sweden
Pleasure Map
A release – contact improvisation – authentic movement class about zones and spaces of the body, personal boundaries, pleasure, fear & sensualities. Class at the Impuls contact improvisation festival in Malmö, for more info see www.kimpro.se/impuls
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Saturday 13 August 2011, London, UK
Tuning the Gaze
A contact improvisation workshop about watching and being watched In this one-day workshop we will be reviewing and renewing fundamentals of contact improvisation. I will also introduce some brand new material to do with deconstructing subject and object positions in dance (and maybe life…), first presented at the Touch & Play festival in Cardona in June this year. All levels, beginners welcome.
Schedule: Saturday 13 August 10 am to 12 pm and 1 pm to 4pm (please arrive 9:45 latest so we can start together and on time)
Fee: £ 30 regular, £ 15 concession
Venue: Essex Church, 112 Palace Gardens Terrace, London W8 4RT
To register: email me at [email protected] or call 07411427331
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Workshop at the 1st Contact Improvisation Festival in Genoble, November 2010
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Workshop in Brussels, 25 & 26 September 2010
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Workshop at the Romanian Contact Improvisation Festival in August 2010