CI Dancers at the Ottawa CI dance jam: Ken, Kia, AnneMarie, Isabelle, Barbara, Ian, Marcia
Let’s Dance Ian!!
Newsletter Web Version (updated mid-week): http://contactimprov.ca/on/ottawa/news.html
CI Dancers at the Ottawa CI dance jam: Ken, Kia, AnneMarie, Isabelle, Barbara, Ian, Marcia
CI Dancers at the Ottawa CI dance jam: Ken, Kia, Isabelle, Barbara, AnneMarie, Ian, Marcia
Events in the local Ottawa/Gatineau/Wakefield Region
Events that recur weekly or monthly show only the nearest upcoming event or two. Some events don’t repeat through the July and August holiday months.
Authentic Relating Games have very little dance or movement in them. I don’t know how they got into this newsletter. Maybe it’s because one of the organizers attends the Ottawa Contact Improv Dance Jams and the editor is short on events.
The Just Voices Choir Solstice Concert has no dance or movement in it at all. It’s probably in the newsletter because the editor’s wife is in the choir. :-)
There is no dance with Heather this week; see you next week (June 28).
This is the last week for Biodanza in Ottawa this season. Biodanza resumes weekly in September.
The practice of Biodanza for adults is facilitated weekly in the region in both French and English. See below for the dates and locations. Biodanza is a non-verbal practice for the participants. You do not need to speak either language to participate; you only need to listen.
Biodanza, meaning to dance with life, is a fusion of music, natural movement and emotion. It is a method of human development aimed at uncovering the passion, beauty, and love for ourselves, others and the world that was always there. Reconnect with the pleasure of movement and celebrate life!
Biodanza…
- increases our health and consciousness
- improves our physical and emotional well-being
- enriches the quality of our relationships
- integrates thinking, feeling and acting
- develops our potential for living full, radiant lives
Weekly Fridays at 7pm – Aylmer Bilingual Biodanza with Donna
Attend weekly English/French bilingual drop-in Biodanza evening sessions led by Donna Lévesque (613-299-7097) at 7pm-9pm Fridays in Christ Church Parish Hall, 101 Symmes Road, Aylmer (at the corner of Frank Robinson and Thomas, behind the church). (This location is not wheelchair accessible.) Friday sessions run until June 23.
There is no Ecstatic Dance this week. Time for Summer Holidays! See you in September!
On June 24th 2017, dancers and community members from the six continents will dance to raise awareness for global water issues. Join the Wave! Dance with us in Ottawa at Britannia Beach, 100 Greenview, Ottawa. We are asking participants to wear white on the bottom and a “solid water colour” (blue, turquoise, green, etc) on top. No patterns please!
For more information about the Dance in Ottawa or the Dances taking place globally, visit http://globalwaterdances.org/
Dance the Summer Solstice as part of Seasonal Dances with Anne Pitman at the Dovercourt Recreation Centre 411 Dovercourt Ave. Open dance and circle dances. Lovely community spirit. All adults welcome. $10 (This location is wheelchair accessible.)
Celebrate with free dance, circle dance and lovely community.
Dance your aliveness, your life and the turning of the wheel. Dance your rhythm and the rhythm of the season. No dance experience is necessary. Come and dance your experience!
Dance the Seasons of the Year – Take time out of your busy life to honour the turning of the wheel. All of nature; earth, air, water and fire – everything that surrounds you, is also in you. Connect with these natural elements and find their qualities of groundedness, inspiration, flow and passion in you and in your life. Dance in the season with open arms.
Click on the links above or contact Anne Pitman for more information.
Anne hosts four Seasonal Dances each year. Check her web link, above.
The Autumn Equinox Dance happens Saturday September 23, same time and place.
Step outside for Dance to Nature outdoor dances among the trees at Mooneys Bay. Express, create and surrender the dance from within! Let go of all inhibitions and come Dance to Nature! (For wheelchair and washroom accessibility information, contact Alana.)
No rules, steps or choreography, only your own unique dance creation.
Exprimez, créez et libérez votre danse de l’intérieur!
Click on the link above or contact Alana O’Donnell for more information.
Please verify this time and venue with the organizers.
We’re Dancing!! A free happening 6:30 to 8:00, at Bells Corners United Church at 3955 Old Richmond Road. All are welcome; Join us! Contact Wendy at 613-726-1375. Ottawa Sacred Dance Guild Dances are open to all; no registration required; last Sunday of every month; donations welcome. (For wheelchair and washroom accessibility information, contact the organizers.)
Explore the power and creativity of group improvised dance in a weekly drop-in class in Group Dance and Movement Improvisation every Monday evening in New Edinburgh. All adults welcome (drop-in); no registration or experience required. Led by Lola Ryan.
Movement Improvisation is exploration – you can explore what you like to do in dance and in movement. It frees you to be as daring and creative as you wish. This is not a contact improv dance class, though safe touch and elements of contact improv are usually incorporated as we improvise to music.
Lola opens each class with a specific warm-up and then focuses on a movement technique or a way to open up your movement vocabulary. It could be an exercise on vision or balance, a unique way to create shape or pattern, or the best way to connect with a partner or partners. The class always concludes with an open dance space where you are free to create your own movement experience, in solo, in duets or as an ensemble. Music courtesy of Lola!
We invite you to come and have great fun on your way to learning new skills and enhancing your dancing! Experience? Optional! Regular drop-in class fee $25 for 2.5 hours. (Student rate available – talk to Lola.)
Weekly classes run every Monday evening 6:30pm to 9:15pm (2.5 hours) in Room #8 at the School of Dance, 200 Crichton St. in New Edinburgh, through end-of-July. (This location is not wheelchair accessible.)
Click on the link above or contact Lola Ryan 613-237-0790 for more information.
Dance weekly at Joyful Motion, a gently guided creative movement/conscious movement class/jam. Each week with a different theme that will be the basis of exploration. Opening circle, gentle stretching, movement in silence, movement to sound, movement with vocalization. Connect, explore, dance, breathe, play.
Unleash the Power of Embodiment: Love, Learn, Dance!
When you tune in to your own heart, you tune into the heart of the Universe. Through presence you tune into Shiva, the Supreme Consciousness of the Universe. As you allow your body to move in friendly ways, you tune into Shakti, the Universal Power of Consciousness to move and create.
With a group of like-hearted others, you are invited to meet your experience with loving presence, and give your heart and body the wings to dance, express and play in the friendliest way. Our focus for this dance is to bring consciousness and movement through the chakras: from the top of the head down through your root and into your feet.
We begin with a welcome activity and embodied integrity practice, followed by 45-50 minutes of dancing, ending with a closing circle.
All are welcome! Join our growing community and bathe yourself in acceptance, deepening and delightful movement play. Private Location in Ottawa, Ontario on Drummond Street. Space is very limited, so specific address is given upon registration. $12 in advance or $15 at the door.
Click on the link above or contact Rhonda Mills for more information.
The Ottawa Authentic Movement group meets many Saturday mornings each month at Arts Court in Ottawa. (This location is wheelchair accessible.)
Experience with Authentic Movement is required to attend most of these events.
If you are new to Authentic Movement, please contact Wendy Philpott to arrange a short briefing session before you arrive in the studio.
Venue: ODD Studio “B”, Second Floor, Arts Court, 2 Daly Avenue
Click on the link above or contact Wendy Philpott for more information.
Experience with Authentic Movement is required for this event.
Check with Owen or Lori for the actual time and location this month.
The Move is part of the worldwide community of Ecstatic Dance. Rather than dance as entertainment, we dance in celebration, play, exploration, expansive awareness, transformation, building community and expressive freedom. As a form of joyful meditation in motion the music starts slow, builds energy, then ends in a meditative space. The general guidelines are about creating a safe and sacred space to move however you wish, honouring your body and allowing respectful connection with others in their dance. We move in barefeet (or socks of course, or even soft indoor shoes if needed), everybody is welcome (children accompanied by an adult), please no talking on the dance floor, drug/alchohol and scent free zone (no perfume pls).
The Move in La Peche region normally meets the first Friday of each month, but due to holidays/hall bookings, some of our dances fall on different Fridays. Also, we sometimes dance in Wakefield, sometimes at the nearby Rupert Hall, and even outdoors in the summer, so please check the address each time before you come. To cover our costs, the suggested donation is $5-$10. No one is turned away for lack of funds.
Driving? Need a ride? Try this Ride Share to The Move.
Contact Lori Waller or Owen Tuf for more information.
Next dance (after this one): Maybe the first Friday of August. Maybe not. Contact Lori or Owen to confirm.
Check with Owen for the actual date and location this month.
The Ottawa Authentic Movement group meets many Saturday mornings each month at Arts Court in Ottawa. (This location is wheelchair accessible.)
Experience with Authentic Movement is required to attend most of these events.
If you are new to Authentic Movement, please contact Wendy Philpott to arrange a short briefing session before you arrive in the studio.
Venue: ODD Studio “B”, Second Floor, Arts Court, 2 Daly Avenue
Click on the link above or contact Wendy Philpott for more information.
Experience with Authentic Movement is required for this event.
Dance with your Ottawa/Gatineau community at the first Ottawa Ecstatic Dance this season, as part of Ecstatic Dance Ottawa 8pm-10:15pm at 41 Rosemount (north of Gladstone east of Parkdale) in Ottawa’s Hintonburg. (This location is not wheelchair accessible.) Ecstatic Dance facebook group
Ecstatic dances are a safe space container created for self expression, investigation, & exploration. Come explore the magnificent territory between your head and your feet, your breath, and your overall physical, emotional and mental body through movement. As an investigator of your psyche and heart, you will learn to search for the hidden jewel as you come into a space of discovery. Beginning and ending in circle. There is no particular yoga or dance experience necessary. Come and share your energy with other electrifying souls. Dance your joy, dance your pain; just dance and have some fun! Celebrate where you are, where you’ve been, and where you are going.
Click on the link above or contact DJ Yogini Kaia Nightingale or DJ Stardust Saira Monica for more information.
This is the first Ecstatic Dance this season. Please confirm this date and time with Kaia or Sarah.
The practice of Biodanza for adults is facilitated weekly in the region in both French and English. See below for the dates and locations. Biodanza is a non-verbal practice for the participants. You do not need to speak either language to participate; you only need to listen.
Biodanza…
- increases our health and consciousness
- improves our physical and emotional well-being
- enriches the quality of our relationships
- integrates thinking, feeling and acting
- develops our potential for living full, radiant lives
Weekly Mondays at 19h00 – Gatineau Biodanza en français with Anne Marie
Attend weekly drop-in Biodanza evening sessions en français led by Anne Marie Riel (613.316.8118) at 19h00–21h30 Mondays at Centre Jules Desbiens, 109 Wright St., Gatineau (just north of the Chaudiere bridge). (This location is not wheelchair accessible.)
Weekly Wednesdays at 7pm – Ottawa Biodanza in English with Anne Marie
Attend weekly drop-in Biodanza evening sessions in English led by Anne Marie Riel, time and location to be announced. (The School of Dance is not available.)
Theme: Forgiveness.
“Your only limit is you” – Evangelos
This life-transforming practice is suitable for all ages and all levels of physical fitness. It supports whatever practice you are exploring now, or offers an excellent start to self-exploration. No previous experience is necessary.
Contact Alana O’Donnell for more information.
Events outside the local Ottawa/Gatineau/Wakefield Region
Big Heart Dance Camp is a multi-arts, intergenerational extended week/weekend gathering. (This location is partially wheelchair accessible.)
We are a growing community of artists, dancers, musicians, healers, helpers and lovers. Big Heart takes place annually in June at Unicamp of Ontario in Dufferin County, north of Toronto. Nurtured and infused by the spirited land, we strive for peace and joy by being together consciously and creatively.
Big Heart reaches a broad spectrum of ages. We welcome singles, couples and families to join us. Big Heart offers a wide variety of dance, music and other healing arts classes.
- See Yourself … dancing on the grass
- Hear Yourself … singing around the campfire
- Feel Yourself … sharing a meal of nourishing food and rich conversation
- Delight Yourself … watching children dance, while you sit and chat with an elder
- Express Yourself … finding new and juicy ways to move, create, play and be
- Give Yourself … the gift of living in creative, conscious community
- Be Yourself … at Big Heart Dance Camp!
We welcome you to experience embodying your full creative self in a safe, supportive and playful environment. A wide array of dance, yoga, music, and other healing arts modalities are shared through playshops and evening events. Meals are eaten in community, lovingly and mindfully prepared by our kitchen team.
Big Heart Dance Camp takes place at Unicamp, near Honeywood, Ontario. Beautiful hiking trails, forest, and a swimming pond invites you to take a dip. We invite you to join us in growing our creative, conscious community as we blossom into our 9th year!
Click on the link above or contact Big Heart Dance Camp 705-444-0550 for more information. Contact Ian! Allen about car pooling from Ottawa.
Embark on a journey into the Heart of what matters. Join Alex Mackay (Wales, UK, aka “Ravensister”) for a 5-day 5Rhythms Heartbeat workshop Coup de Coeur in Montréal, QC this summer.
The Heartbeat map charts how our emotions move through us, helping us navigate and investigate the many shapes of Fear, Anger, Sadness, Joy and Compassion. Our capacity to inhabit our deep, loving selves expands as we plunge into this extended exploration. Bold and vulnerable, broken yet strong, our hearts allow us to dance into our wholeness as we transform old emotions into aliveness and prepare the way for love.
Contact Lynne Adams for more information.
Contact Improv Dance Jam at Earthdance – Ian! and Karen, photo and Photoshop by Moti
The Contact Dance International Film Festival (CDIFF) returns to Toronto for its third season. This festival, produced by REAson d’etre dance productions, celebrates films featuring momentum-based dance created by some of the top creators and dancers in the field of Contact Dance Improvisation. The festival is a unique opportunity for both film and dance lovers to experience the joy, chaos and intimacy of human connection through physical movement. From the iconic Honest Ed’s in Toronto, to Helsinki’s Market Square to the New York Subway, dancers fly and bodies collide with force, grace and tenderness.
For more details please see http://contactdancefilmfest.com/
Kathleen and Nils, Flesh and Stone – CDIFF
Contact Improvisation can be an act of freedom and revelation! Let’s pull back the veil, expand our edges, investigate how our patterns and attitudes may limit us and try on new versions of ourselves. We continue to question the relationship of “chemistry & physics” in CI through movement, touch, intimacy, communication and connection to radical truth.
Touch & Play festivals have a history of exploring the edges of what CI can be while maintaining high standards of safety and consent, and are known as events in which personal and communal celebration and growth reach new levels.
We believe that major change can and does happen when we give ourselves time and space to recognize our growing edges and feel safe enough to explore and expand them with ourselves and within community. Touch&Play aims to both provide a profound space for honesty, celebration, joy, discomfort, clarity, growth, and acceptance. It also is a time where consent, choice, and self-care come first.
The Sutton Summer Jam happens near the USA border 120km south-east of Montréal in Sutton Québec.
Come for dance, pond swimming and sauna playing outdoors and night bonfire singing. Hear the roosters crow, horses gallop and frogs croak. Sleep in cabins, the big house or tent in the orchard or forest. Your summer dreams come true.
DNE Dance Camp Registration is open!
Enjoy 4, 6, or 10 days of dance, movement, and community at Dance New England Summer Dance Camp. See the 2016 Camp Schedule for a sampling of what kind of workshops might take place in the 2017 camp. Child and family friendly; free child care available much of the day. (This location is partially wheelchair accessible.)
The Burlington VT International Contact Improv Dance Jam happens in a beautiful downtown dance space: City Hall, Contois Auditorium, 149 Church St., Burlington, Vermont. All levels. Led warm-up and other surprises. (This location is wheelchair accessible.)
Click on the link above or contact Abbi Jaffe for details. Contact Ian! Allen about car pooling from Ottawa.
God, Sex, and the Body: Visit erik.iversen.ca or contact Erik Iversen for more information.
Tranceformation: Visit erik.iversen.ca or contact Erik Iversen for more information.
The 35th Annual Montréal International Contact Improv Jam takes place in a lovely renovated church building on Sherbrooke street.
Gratitude – Thanks to each one of us, all together the encounter has been fruitful and your presence, an essential.
Contact Ian! Allen about car pooling from Ottawa/Gatineau.
Recurring Events outside the local Ottawa/Gatineau/Wakefield Region
Contact Arsalan Ahmad for details on what’s happening around Contact Improvisation Dance in Peterborough, Ontario.
There is sometimes a Special Event.
(For wheelchair and washroom accessibility information, contact Arsalan.)
For other Peterborough dance events, e.g. Ecstatic Dance, see Dance Your Bones
See Kate Huband – 5 Rhythms or contact Kate Huband – email for information. (For wheelchair and washroom accessibility information, contact Kate.)
“As we begin to unlock the frozen and forgotten movements in our bodies, our hearts and minds begin to expand in possibility and expression. We begin to break habits and patterns in the ways we move, feel and think. We begin to expand our understanding and expression of who we are.” – Kate Huband
Freeing the Creative Spirit Teaching people to experience the pulsating sensual energy inside them and awakening their connection to flowing breath, rooted feet and a centered alive pelvis – reach up, root down, live in the heart center. Visit erik.iversen.ca or contact Erik Iversen for more information. (For wheelchair and washroom accessibility information, contact Erik.)
Dance a weekly Thursday night 5 Rhythms class with Lynne Adams in Montréal – see also the FaceBook event. (For wheelchair and washroom accessibility information, contact Lynne.)
Ian! D. Allen via idallen@idallen.ca
Contact Improv Dance Jam at Earthdance – Ian! and Eva, photo by John Barrett
