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

For people who are completely new or fairly new to Contact Improvisation, the Ontario Regional Contact Jam is offering a Beginner's Workshop Introduction to Contact Improvisation Fundamentals with Henry Wai: Friday, May 11 from 8pm to 10pm.

The aim is to provide a fun and safe introduction to three fundamental practices so people can then begin dancing at the Ontario Regional Contact Jam (and elsewhere). Come play with us!

Come to the Intro with stretchy or yoga clothes (no zippers, buttons, or buckles) and be prepared to dance in bare feet. Please refrain from wearing perfumes or other scents, to support the health of those who are allergic.

The class is included as part of the Ontario Regional Contact Jam weekend admission fee. Guests not subscribed to the full weekend pay $10 for the class.

For more information about the intro class, contact the facilitator Henry Wai at wai_renooy@sympatico.ca or 416-913-8861 and visit his web site at EveryBodyDanceYes.

HENRY WAI Henry started dancing at the tender age of 44 and has been delightfully exploring a world of movement possibility ever since. He offers one-on-one sessions and classes for introducing Contact Improvisation to newcomers and has a particular enthusiasm for teaching people with little or no dance background. Henry has taken Contact classes with Nancy Stark Smith, Pam Johnson, Karen and Allen Kaeja, Benno Voorham, Ray Chung and numerous others.

Contact Improvisation as an art form embodies an immense range of how we can meet and move together. It's free and open and fun. A fundamental part of that play is moving towards and away from someone. In this workshop, I will share some basic Body-Mind Centering principles which can help to find and move clearly from the body's center. How do you find your center? How can you initiate movement from your center and sequence it through your whole body? How do you bring it to a dance and maintain it as the dance transforms? Embodying a full, dynamic center call allow you enormous freedom of movement, on the floor, in space, on another body, in all directions, with all six limbs.

Naomi Sparrow Has been dancing since she was a wee lass, in the Gatineau Hills. Early studies in yoga and modern dance, gave way to intensive explorations of technique and patterning. Starting with Bartenieff Fundamentals and Laban Analysis, she moved into voice and movement improvisation, moving/sounding/drawing practices, Body-Mind Centering®, Authentic Movement, and a passionate love of Contact Improvisation.

Naomi taught Contact Improvisation as well as moving/sounding/writing practice in Ottawa for over a decade, until Body-Mind Centering®, mothering and private practice took over.

She is a certified Teacher and Practitioner of Body-Mind Centering® and a certified Infant Movement Developmental Educator. She has been teaching since 1991, and has maintained a private practice since 1995. She teaches classes and workshops in Body-Mind Centering®, embodied reciprocal counseling, and creative process.

Naomi brings to her practice and teaching a unique ability to articulate subtle embodied principles. She has a passion for cultivating egalitarian relationships, nurturing the competency and authority inherent in each of her students and clients through their direct embodiment and personal exploration.

Mixed Ability Dance Workshop: Our dance workshop is open to all people regardless of dance experience or experience with disability. We will spin, roll, lean and tilt, in an innovative atmosphere that values a wide range of movement expression. The workshop will also include a brief discussion on the field of integrated dance, including training opportunities nationally and internationally.

Propeller Dance is the only organization in Ontario with the sole mandate of specializing in integrated dance. Integrated dance is an emerging movement within the Canadian contemporary dance milieu where dancers with and without disabilities train, create and perform as equals. Propeller Dance work highlights the natural human body in all its diversity. Mobility aids (wheelchairs, walkers and scooter) within choreography offer creative possibilities and new ways of travelling, lifting and balancing are invented. Propeller Dance is off-balance, on-balance, in-line, out of line, challenging, powerful and emotive in its ability to move audiences of all ages. Disability is seen as an opportunity for creative possibility, not a limitation.

Propeller Dance is recognized nationally and internationally for its leadership furthering integrated dance and is committed to creating high-quality professional art. We have shown work at Studio 303, Montreal; Vertigo Theatre, Calgary; the National Arts Centre’s Fourth Stage, Ottawa; Irving Greenberg Theatre Centre, Ottawa and numerous other professional and community venues. Propeller Dance reaches 5000 people annually through professional performance, touring, school shows, dance training and outreach: www.propellerdance.com

On Sunday, May 13, we offer a family movement dance/jam. People with children are encouraged to bring them for this fun all ages event but they must remain with their children at all times and will be asked to sign a separate waiver.

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: ORCJshow@contactimprov.ca

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