Contact improvisation
Encyclopedia
Dance improvisation
Dance improvisation is the process of spontaneously creating movement. Development of improvised movement material is facilitated through a variety of creative explorations including body mapping through body mind centering, levels, shape and dynamics , sensory experiences through touch or contact...
and is one of the best-known and most characteristic forms of postmodern dance
Postmodern dance
Postmodern dance is a 20th century concert dance form. A reaction to the compositional and presentation constraints of modern dance, postmodern dance hailed the use of everyday movement as valid performance art and advocated novel methods of dance composition....
.
History
The first performance work recognized as Contact Improvisation is Steve PaxtonSteve Paxton
Steve Paxton is an experimental dancer and choreographer. His early background was in gymnastics while his later training included three years with Merce Cunningham and a year with José Limón. As a founding member of the Judson Dance Theater, he performed works by Yvonne Rainer and Trisha Brown...
's Magnesium (1972) which was performed by Paxton and dance students at Oberlin College
Oberlin College
Oberlin College is a private liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio, noteworthy for having been the first American institution of higher learning to regularly admit female and black students. Connected to the college is the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, the oldest continuously operating...
at Warner Main in Warner Center. Five months after Magnesium Paxton led the first Contact Improvisation performance series at the John Weber Art Gallery in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where dancers performed Contact Improvisation in marathon fashion on mats.
Practice and theory
Contact Improvisation (also referred to as "Contact" or "CI") is a 39-year old dance form, practiced as both a concertConcert dance
Concert dance is dance performed for an audience. It is frequently performed in a theatre setting, though this is not a requirement, and it is usually choreographed and performed to set music.By contrast, social dance and participation dance may be performed without an audience and, typically, these...
and social dance
Social dance
Social dance is a major category or classification of danceforms or dance styles, where sociability and socializing are the primary focuses of the dancing...
form. In the performance context, Contact Improvisation is used either as a dance practice end-to-itself or as a dance research method for identifying new set choreography. Weekly meetings of practitioners that take place world-wide are called "jams," in which participants participate and watch as they choose over the course of 2-4 hours. Dancers practice both known CI technique and conduct new dance research with different partners or groupings over the course of a Jam session. The name "Jam" is used in keeping with its use by contemporary musicians, who come together to spontaneously explore musical forms and ideas, with some group agreement about structure and duration of the exploration. While there is now an established CI Fundamentals technique, CI dance vocabulary is not closed, so all who practice the form contribute to the constant expansion and greater understanding of the dance form's vocabulary, which is exchanged and taught among practictioners world-wide via regional jams, classes, week-long festivals, both print and online publications and, since its inception, via video in a process of dancing/watching/refining. While CI dancers usually stay touching or in physical contact for much of a dance, a CI dance can occur in which partners never touch yet there is a clear "listening" and energetic connection/intention that creates the "contact" of their shared dance.
CI practitioners may also draw on other Somatics and New Dance approaches such as:
- 5Rhythms5Rhythms5Rhythms is a movement meditation practice devised by Gabrielle Roth in the 1960s. It draws from many indigenous and world traditions using tenets of shamanistic, ecstatic, mystical and eastern philosophy...
- Alexander TechniqueAlexander TechniqueThe Alexander Technique teaches the ability to improve physical postural habits, particularly those that have become ingrained and conditioned responses...
- AcrobaticsAcrobaticsAcrobatics is the performance of extraordinary feats of balance, agility and motor coordination. It can be found in many of the performing arts, as well as many sports...
- AcroyogaAcroyogaAcro-yoga is a physical practice which blends elements of Yoga, Acrobatics, and Healing Arts. These three ancient practices form the foundation of a practice that cultivates trust, connection and playfulness between partners....
- AdagioAdagio-Music:* Adagio, a tempo marking indicating that music is to be played slowly* A composition marked to be played adagio, e.g.** Adagio for Strings by Samuel Barber** Adagio for Strings , a cover of Barber's Adagio by Tiësto...
- Body-Mind Centering
- Cognitive scienceCognitive scienceCognitive science is the interdisciplinary scientific study of mind and its processes. It examines what cognition is, what it does and how it works. It includes research on how information is processed , represented, and transformed in behaviour, nervous system or machine...
- EmergenceEmergenceIn philosophy, systems theory, science, and art, emergence is the way complex systems and patterns arise out of a multiplicity of relatively simple interactions. Emergence is central to the theories of integrative levels and of complex systems....
- Feldenkrais methodFeldenkrais methodThe Feldenkrais Method is a somatic educational system designed by Moshé Feldenkrais . The Feldenkrais method aims to improve movement repertoire, aiming to expand and refine the use of the self through awareness, in order to reduce pain or limitations in movement, and promote general well-being...
- Eutony
- GymnasticsGymnasticsGymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
- IdeokinesisIdeokinesisIdeokinesis is an approach to the improvement of human posture and body movement, in which visual and tactile-kinesthetic imagery guide the student toward healthier form....
- Kinetic AwarenessKinetic AwarenessKinetic Awareness is a system of bodywork originated by the American choreographer Elaine Summers in the second half of the 20th century, starting in the 1950s....
- Laban Movement AnalysisLaban Movement AnalysisLaban is a way and language for interpreting, describing, visualizing and notating all ways of human movement. Created by Rudolf Laban, LMA draws on his theories of effort and shape to describe, interpret and document human movement...
- martial artsMartial artsMartial arts are extensive systems of codified practices and traditions of combat, practiced for a variety of reasons, including self-defense, competition, physical health and fitness, as well as mental and spiritual development....
, especially AikidoAikidois a Japanese martial art developed by Morihei Ueshiba as a synthesis of his martial studies, philosophy, and religious beliefs. Aikido is often translated as "the Way of unifying life energy" or as "the Way of harmonious spirit." Ueshiba's goal was to create an art that practitioners could use to...
, T'ai chi ch'uan and capoeiraCapoeiraCapoeira is a Brazilian art form that combines elements of martial arts, sports, and music. It was created in Brazil mainly by descendants of African slaves with Brazilian native influences, probably beginning in the 16th century... - Newton's laws of motionNewton's laws of motionNewton's laws of motion are three physical laws that form the basis for classical mechanics. They describe the relationship between the forces acting on a body and its motion due to those forces...
- ParkourParkourParkour is a method of movement focused on moving around obstacles with speed and efficiency. Originally developed in France, the main purpose of the discipline is to teach participants how to move through their environment by vaulting, rolling, running, climbing and jumping...
- Skinner Releasing TechniqueSkinner releasing techniqueSkinner Releasing Technique is a training method in which certified teachers employ imagery, voice and music as stimuli for unstructured, improvised movements in their students. SRT is a commercial system for which U.S. trademark status was filed on March 13, 1980. It is designed for and used...
- TangoTango (dance)Tango dance originated in the area of the Rio de la Plata , and spread to the rest of the world soon after....
- YogaYogaYoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
When used as a choreographic technique, movement sequences that emerge during Jam research or rehearsals may be adapted and set to form a part of set choreography
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements in which motion, form, or both are specified. Choreography may also refer to the design itself, which is sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. The word choreography literally means "dance-writing" from the Greek words "χορεία" ...
, or a score (a set of rules or limiting factors and transitions) may be employed to give dancers a structure to navigate through a performance. CI Scores can have few or many rules, (less rules are referred to as more "open" scores, more rules or closer to set choreography are more "closed" scores).
See also
- Steve PaxtonSteve PaxtonSteve Paxton is an experimental dancer and choreographer. His early background was in gymnastics while his later training included three years with Merce Cunningham and a year with José Limón. As a founding member of the Judson Dance Theater, he performed works by Yvonne Rainer and Trisha Brown...
- Nancy Stark SmithNancy Stark SmithNancy Stark Smith is a dancer and founding participant in contact improvisation.An alumna of Oberlin College, Smith initially trained as an athlete and gymnast. She studied and performed in modern dance and postmodern dance shows in the early 1970s...
- Lisa Nelson
- Nita Little
- Grand UnionGrand Union (dance group)The Grand Union was an improvisational dance group based in New York City from 1970 to 1976. It grew out of Yvonne Rainer's piece Continuous Project - Altered Daily. Rainer's sole authority as choreographer began to slip in early 1970 when the dancers, at her invitation, began to bring in their...
- dance improvisationDance improvisationDance improvisation is the process of spontaneously creating movement. Development of improvised movement material is facilitated through a variety of creative explorations including body mapping through body mind centering, levels, shape and dynamics , sensory experiences through touch or contact...
- Judson Dance TheaterJudson Dance TheaterJudson Dance Theater was an informal group of dancers who performed at the Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village, Manhattan New York City between 1962 and 1964. It grew out of a dance composition class taught by Robert Dunn, a musician who had studied with John Cage...
- Choreographic technique
- List of dance style categories
- choreographers
- List of Contact Improvisation festivals
Further reading
- Novack, C, J. (1990) Sharing the Dance: Contact Improvisation and American Culture. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 0-299-12444-4
- Pallant, C. (2006) Contact Improvisation: An Introduction to a Vitalizing Dance Form. McFarland & Company, Inc. ISBN 0-7864-2647-0
- Tufnell, M. and Vaughan, D. (1999) Body Space Image : Notes Toward Improvisation and Performance. Princeton Book Co. ISBN 1-85273-041-2
- Encounters with Contact; Dancing Contact in College (2010); Edited by Ann Cooper Albright, with Katie Barkley Kai Evans, Jan Trumbauer, David Brown and Rachel Wortman. Oberlin College Theater and Dance. ISBN 0-937645-13-3
- Barrios Solano, M. (2004) Posthuman Performance: Dancing within Cognitive Systems. http://dancelab1.dance.ohio-state.edu/~barrios/cord.html
- Paxton, S. (1997) in Fall After Newton. Videoda / Contact Collaborations, Inc. (video)
- Stark Smith, N. (1987) in Fall After Newton. Videoda / Contact Collaborations, Inc. (video)
- Touchdown Dance (2002) Contact Improvisation http://www.touchdowndance.co.uk/graphic/contact_improvisation.html
External links
- Contact Quarterly serving the international dance and improvisation community since 1978, publishing an internationally recognized dance and improvisation journal.
- Article: "Contact Improvisation Comes of Age" - Elizabeth Zimmer, "Contact Improvisation Comes of Age" Dance Magazine, June 2004.
- Making Contact: Contact Improvisation in Israel - Introduction to the Israeli scene of contact improvisation.
- CIRF: Contact Improvisation Research Forum organization based in San Francisco, CA, USA, curates year-round CI training, mentorship services and annual exchange (WeCITE) for teachers, performance and Jam programs, and, since 1987, annual WCCIF festival/symposium each July.
- Contact Improvisation in Sweden - Jams, classes and workshops in Sweden.
- OPAL Contact Improvisation Photo Gallery
- Kontakti-improvisaatio Finland.net - Contact improvisation in Finland. Brief info and timetables.
- www.contactimprov.it - Contact improvisation in Italy - Jams, Classes, Workshops and Performances.
- www.mimecare.com - Contact improvisation and mime in Italy with Francis Calsolaro
- www.contactimprovisacion.com - Contact improvisation in Argentina - Festin Mundial de Contact Improvisacion - Contact Improvisation Worldwide Festin