Updated: 2016-01-05 03:54 EST

Workshop on Contact Improvisation with Brando

We never get BEYOND the fundamentals. We can only aspire to master them. - Mark Koenig

There are many concepts that are important to learn in this dance technique. Classes are crucial in that they give us all the space to take another drink from the Spring of kinesthetic intelligence and structured exploration. This then supports us to go back to our jams and open structures with new inspiration and perspective on this wonderfully expansive form. In this class we will explore some of the core physical principals of CI such as: our relationship to the floor, gradations of tone, use of gravity, feeling our partner's structure, and safe falling. I am also interested in seeing what questions arise through the class.

Some of the key concepts I think are essential in starting a nourishing journey into Contact Improvisation are: Letting go of holding yourself through tightened muscles and learning the movement principles that lead to fluid and effortless dancing. Exploring how to move through space in several different varieties and gradations of Tone and Weight. Learning to soften your body so that you feel soft and light on another body. Maintaining the integrity of your structure while giving support. Feeling and understanding how your structure can receive support from the floor and from another body, so the dance becomes effortless and nourishing. Rather than getting caught in the ideas of what is supposed to happen, you can learn to pause, listen and open your dance to the endless possibilities in each moment. Learning how going up, falling back, or folding down, can all be easy and connected. Learning to luxuriate in every part of the dance.

Guest Teacher and DJ - Brando!

Brando (Aaron Brandes) has been researching and teaching movement practices for over 10 years. He has taught and performed CI throughout the United States, Europe, Israel, and Guatemala. Brando has been published in the international dance journal Contact Quarterly and was a curator for CI's 36th anniversary event. Four the past 3 years Brando has been actively engaged in the programming at Earthdance. He was one of the main organizers for the Intercontinental Contact Festival, post CI36 , and has facilitated several other major festivals, jams, symposiums, and events at Earthdance. Brando received his Masters Degree in Education from Smith College and is a teaching artist at Enchanted Circle Theater. He was a resident at the Kripalu Center for Yoga for two years and is a nationally certified Yoga instructor. Currently Brando teaches regularly in Western Massachusetts and holds space for numerous jams. Brando also is a member of the Zany Angels dance/theater company based in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Reserved and Un-Reserved Performances

We're having a talent show and possibly other performances. We're planning for most of the performances slots to be available for short (5 minute) spur-of-the-moment ideas right at the jam itself, but if you have a prepared piece you hope to fit in, please let us know as soon as possible so that we can try to accommodate. Contact: OntJam2010@contactimprov.ca

Playback Theatre meets Contact Improvisation March 27

For anyone who has ever Contact Danced, or wanted to.
The Playback Theatre Company under the direction of David Jan Jurasek presents: Contact Dance: Your Experience
Playback is a form of community theatre where the audience shares their stories and the actors play them back to the audience, to reflect, deepen, and co-empower. This special Playback performance will offer everyone a chance to share their own experience and to get a better understanding of others' perspectives as well. So please join us for this exciting evening of community building:
when: Saturday, March 27
doors open at 7:15 pm
playback to begin at 7:30 pm
performance ends at 9:00pm
refreshments and mingling until 10:00pm -- option to mingle
where: Wycliffe College, 5 Hoskin Avenue, Toronto (across from Queens Park on the west side and just a few minutes walk from Museum subway Station)
Paid parking is available on the lane on west side of Wycliffe College.
No charge, but a donation will help us cover expenses.
For more information, contact Carlynn Reed 905-513-6122 or Stephen Douglas 416-766-7321
Playback Facebook RSVP

We invite you to a community discussion about contact improv March 28

The organizers of the Ontario Jam invite you to a facilitated discussion around values, boundaries, intimacy, and expectations at contact jams.  We want to open up these issues for community reflection as we formulate guiding principles for the next Ontario Jam.

Come share your experiences, questions and concerns.  Experienced facilitator Gene Broadway will create a safe and inviting discussion space where we can all share our experiences of contact dancing and of the CI community.  We hope this awareness will enrich and inform us all.

    Community Discussion Circle
    Sunday, 2010 March 28, 2-4 pm
    Bloor/Gladstone Library
    1101 Bloor St. West, at Gladstone
    (four blocks west of Dovercourt, one block east of Dufferin)
    (map: http://goo.gl/S2RA)
    Discussion Facebook RSVP

Food is allowed in the library meeting room, so those of us dancing at Dovercourt House can walk over together right after the Sunday Jam, picking up a bag lunch on the way.

(Gene Broadway has been an organizer for Contact Improv Boston for ten years, during which he helped draft guidelines for the Boston jams.  He is a long-standing member of Dance New England's consensus-based Peace Council, with experience in mediation and non-violent communication.)

On behalf of the Ontario Jam,
    Tanya, Tom, Charlie, Joshua, Miro, Ian! and Carlynn

Call for assistants, volunteers, and organizers

Contact: OntJam2010@contactimprov.ca 416-427-2177

Help with Billeting

Can you offer billeting space for our out-of-town dancers? Billets bring their own sleeping bags and pillows; the jam feeds them; all you need to provide is a floor or sofa.

Help with Food

We are looking for volunteers to help with the cooking for the Ontario Regional Contact Jam. If you a have a few hours free in the times listed below, let us know and we'll sign you up. The work will be mostly prep work (slicing, dicing, food processor running...). Not hard and lots of excellent company! Dates and times:

• Wednesday 26 May -- 3 to 6
• Thursday 27 May -- 5 to 9
• Friday 28 May -- 12 to 6

Cooking will be taking place at Tom's apartment and at Twyla's apartment. We'll give directions in follow-up email. There will also be some need for volunteers during the jam itself.
thanks from Twyla, Emma, Tom

Help with Help

We invite all interested and committed contactors to join in the creation of another awesome contact dance experience.

We're looking for help with all kinds of sub-projects: flyer design, advertising and promotion, specialty workshops, food preparation, billeting, set-up and clean-up, facilitation, talent show, music, budgeting, incorporation, and all kinds of stuff we haven't thought of and you have.

Some of us are working on setting some general expectations relating to physical safety and personal intimacy; this subgroup is meeting at various times by phone conference call. Contact us to become part of this group.

We'd like to invite members of the contact improv community throughout Ontario to help us pull it all together. So if you've got an idea of how you can contribute, please let us know. Contact one of us, and we'll get you hooked in with the group:

• 519-749-0438 - Tanya Williams, Kitchener
• 613-235-6216 - Ian Allen, Ottawa - idallen@idallen.ca
• 416-427-2177 - Charlie Halpern-Hamu, Toronto

Whether or not you have the time to help put together this year's jam, now is the time to mark your calendar: Friday to Sunday, May 28-30 2010.

Thanks,
Tanya, Ian, Michael, Emma, Charlie, Suzanne "G", John Newton, Miro, ...

Contact Improvisation

What is Contact Improv?

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