Contact Improvisation
Contact Improvisation is a dialogue in movement based on contact -
with the floor, with somebody else and with space.
The basic principles of this dance discipline are the support that earth and
other bodies offer us, playing with gravity, momentum and the perception
of space. And as a verbal dialogue, this dance is a continuous listening -
to myself, to my partner, to what happens around me.
Like babies, Contact Improvisation offers to go back to enjoy small
discoveries of our body and of movement, of dance of senses, of imagination
and game. Each one makes his choices till where he wants to explore, to take
a risk of loosing control, to discover new places.
Contact Improvisation is open for every person with or without
experience who has a desire to dance, and is ready to explore to known
and the unknown.
Origen
On the early '70 the dancer and coreographer Steve Paxton gathered a group of students from Oberlin
College to explore the reaction and organization of the body againt a collision with other body. The exploration
was presented in the first Contact-Improvisation performance, called Magnesium (1972).
After this performance the research became more concrete, and led to a performance series at the John Weber Art Gallery
in New York City.
In videos of these early years
the physical essence of the work is very clear.
By the years the form became "softer", and more sensorial information was taken in account. The phylosophy of the form as an open and unregistered form allowed its fast spread in United States, and later in Europe.
Today the community of Contact Improvisation is spread all over the world, and has influence in many fields.
Jam Sessions can be found in many places in the world, and they are opened for everyone who wants to dance.
Elements, excersises and principals are used in the therapeutic field, in different educational framework and in performace arts.
One of its most important aspects is the place it has in the social context we live, and the permission
it gives to enjoy physical contact without any judgement.