50th Anniversary of Contact Improvisation 2022
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Hello everyone!
I am fundraising for the 50th anniversary of Contact Improvisation, an event that will be taking place July 7th-11th, 2022 at Oberlin College, in Oberlin, Ohio, U.S.A. These 5 days will include workshops, performances, exhibitions, discussions, as well as open and structured jams, all aimed at celebrating the vibrant history and evolution of contact. There will also be a 6 month residency leading up to the anniversary event. 10-12 dancers from around the world will engage in focused practice of the form at Oberlin from January 25th-July 7th and throughout the festival itself.
What is contact improvisation?
Contact is a movement form that was created in 1972 by choreographer Steve Paxton in collaboration with several other dancers. Nobody can 'do' contact alone. It is a partnered dance form based in principles of momentum, weight-sharing, resistance, falling, and stillness. It explores the infinite possibilities that exist between two or more bodies and invites practitioners to track the interplay between activity/passivity, initiation/response, vulnerability/agency. It is many things- healing modality, sensory restoration, social medium, physical discipline, all in one.
Contact offers a way of connecting with others that is unmoored from language but grounded in a distinct, teachable set of vocabulary. Dancers learn to work with gravity and to trust the intelligence of the body. It is not about memorizing shapes or creating striking visual tableaus. The goal is to follow primal reflexes and quiet the conscious brain, which wants badly to preserve, decipher, and share the present moment. The most important thing is to internalize the full value of a pathway, the laws of physics and metaphors undergirding it, and to honor the human ability to transform space, self, and other with breath and attention.
Contact emphasizes the empiricism of embodied experience but does not expect or claim to derive meaning from it. Continual practice tends to quicken reactivity and refine touch. Since contact occurs in dynamic motion, roles and positions are never defined or fixed. The back and forth nature of a contact dance comes close to dissolving supposed opposites where effort=ease and leading and listening happen simultaneously. It is training to be surprised.
For more detailed information on the event or to submit a teaching proposal, visit the link below
To hear about contact from the perspective of its creator, Steve Paxton, visit the link below
To watch an example of some people (Blake Nellis & Aaron Brandes) doing contact, visit the link below
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Where will the money that is raised go?
The money raised will go towards the 5 day event and the 6 month residency. It will be allocated for scholarships and travel grants for international dancers. There are hundreds of skilled contact practitioners all over the world (Argentina, India, Israel, Poland...) that cannot afford to come to festivals or residencies like these without financial support. Having their expenses covered in part or full will allow them to attend this historic event and will ensure that the physical research of contact improvisation stays alive and continues to be a model for inclusivity. Artistic forms are enriched by cross-pollination of ideas and diversification of style. Your donation will allow contact dancers from all backgrounds (race/class/gender/ability) to benefit from and contribute to this global encounter.
I am hoping to reach my desired goal by January 1st so that international dancers and teachers have enough time to secure their spots at the event and make necessary travel arrangements/apply for educational visas for the residency that begins at the end of January.
Thank you for supporting this work and please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.
Michal Schorsch
Organizer
Michal Schorsch
Organizer
Portland, OR