100 ways to Fall into Contact

In this workshop, we will explore how falling can support our movement. By learning to fall into the ground, in and out of contact, and into space, we will develop a deeper understanding of recovery, safety, and freedom in movement. Letting go of unnecessary tension allows us to move with greater ease and adaptability.

We will continue investigating how we support ourselves through spatial anchoring, multidimensional reach, and weight shifts, enabling us to fall without crashing. This process invites us to embrace uncertainty, a fundamental principle in Contact Improvisation (CI) and improvisational movement.

Together, we will experiment with the unpredictable, learning to move through the unknown with less resistance by improving our ability to support ourselves physically and spatially. However, we will always work within our individual abilities and limits, bringing awareness to our physical and emotional capacities. From this foundation, we will explore what it means to fall freely and confidently in and out of contact.

It is a 3 hour workshop where we can take time to dive deep. Some of that time will be spent to remind ourselves of consent. However, for those new to CI, a couple of words around consent:

You only do what you want to do. When you feel compromised, as you are working with one or more people, you may want to stay in the dance because you are interested in the dynamic. That counts as agreement. It shows however that the line is not easily drawn. We all have different boundaries which adds to the complexity. When learning, we often decidely move along the edge of those boundaries. However, as we do, it is important that you not only examine the physical material but check how you feel (such as people's energy entering your space, greater intimacy, difference of abilities etc) and use that check to ask for a pause or more space if that is what you need. It is always welcome. Always. It will and shall never be considered a personal insult. We all sometimes need space and have to learn to take it. That means, you train agency just as much as physical skills. In CI, training agency is not an option. You have to take care of yourself.

When you can take care of yourself, you can take care of others. Dancing CI is a practice of listening and tuning to self and other. Not overstepping someone elses boundary cannot be done by premptying what their boundary is. Some people dance super fast and fly, others superslow and very close and anyway, it keeps changing. So what you need to do, is you need to listen. Every moment. To them and to you. And that's where the dance lives as well as consent.

Last chapter: Some CI practices expressively invite a focus on sexual intimacy. Unless specified, you know this practice does NOT do so. In this workshop, we will not be working or inviting in sexual attraction. That does not mean that at times you want to be closer to some than to others, may feel attracted or even aroused but we will ask you to tune it down, take a break should it get too strong and continue when you feel confident that others won't be impacted. Please respect that inside the studio sexual advances are not welcome because we want and need this to be a space where people feel safe to be close with someone else without sexual tension playing out. And please remember that for some being close and intimate can be hard and we want to make it easier for all to be together.

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