Contact Improvisation
Contact Improvisation (CI) is a partner dance form based on the physical principles of touch, momentum, shared weight, and most quintessentially – following a shared point of contact.
The form was founded in 1972 by American choreographer Steve Paxton. Integrating his background as a modern dancer and his studies in the martial art form Aikido, Steve developed CI through explorations with his students and colleagues at the time. Practice includes rolling, falling, being upside down, following a physical point of contact, supporting and giving weight to a partner.
From its early days on the East and then West coasts of the United States, Contact Improvisation (CI) has spread to studios, schools, and art centers around the world. Thousands of people practice, perform, and teach Contact on all continents except Antarctica. CI is enjoyed by movers of all kinds—professionally trained dancers, recreational movers, athletes, disabled dancers, old and young. Dancers apply their work with CI to choreography, to dance training, to working with children, seniors, disabled populations, therapy, visual art, music, education, environmental work, and social activism. Many do it just for pleasure and personal development. Contact Improvisation’s influence can be seen throughout modern and postmodern dance choreography, performance, and dance training worldwide, especially in relationship to partnering and use of weight.
Contact Improvisation continues to develop and spread to new cities, countries, types of dancers, and areas of application and here at CBC Vangelis is bringing a profound healing and therapeutic aspect to it by creating a safe space honoring individual boundaries and cultural backgrounds. The work embraces those new to the form as well as those who have been devoted to its study and practice for decades. Contact Improvisation classes, workshops, festivals, and “jams” are happening all over the world
The form was founded in 1972 by American choreographer Steve Paxton. Integrating his background as a modern dancer and his studies in the martial art form Aikido, Steve developed CI through explorations with his students and colleagues at the time. Practice includes rolling, falling, being upside down, following a physical point of contact, supporting and giving weight to a partner.
