Updated January 24 2023 – Mis à jour le 24 janvier 2023
The best way to read this message is using the Newsletter Web Version that is updated mid-week. Click on your favourite events in the Table of Contents. – Ian! D. Allen
Hello, Ottawa area capital region dancers and movers.
Sanford Lewis’ film about Contact Improvisation is now available for free: An Intimate Dance
A short, powerful observation about non-sexual intimacy (from the facebook): THIS IS INTIMACY
The Ottawa wastewater viral signal has peaked in January and is on the way down again. See the updated procedure for Rapid Antigen Testing.
Local CI organizers are meeting to discuss how and when to re-open
Contact Improvisation Dance in Ottawa along the lines of the “Safer
(brave) Space”
consent culture work
of Michele Beaulieux.
We’re holding some closed-attendance dance events as we work on this.
Contact Ian or Frithjof about joining the closed group.
Open public dances may resume in the usual
Arts Court ODD Studio B in September 2023.
A collection of responses to “Please tell us something you like about Contact Improvisation in two or three sentences.”
The links to images on the facebook may be broken in this newsletter. They must have changed their policy on access, so at some point I’ll have to go through the newsletter and delete all the facebook references. Event organizers: please ensure you have a non-facebook web site with images to which I can link for your event.
Excerpt from Burnt Norton from Four Quartets by TS Elliott:
At the still point of the turning world.
Neither flesh or fleshless;
Neither from nor towards;
at the still point, there the dance is,
But neither arrest nor movement.
And do not call it fixity,
Where past and future are gathered.
Neither movement from nor towards,
Neither ascent nor decline.
Except for the point, the still point,
There would be no dance,
and there is only the dance.
I can only say, there we have been: but I cannot say where.
And I cannot say, how long, for that is to place it in time.
About touch:
Dancers who pursue graceful movement must practice being aware of their bodies and being aware of wordless communication. These skills are particularly important today, when we spend so much time sitting and in virtual realities. Our way of life has taken us further from our own physical experiences and the understanding of the wordless emotional messages of others. For example, contact improvisation makes the dancers listen attentively to the body of their partner. Touch is known to reduce pain, fear and anxiety. – Hanna Poikonen
Events in or originating from the local Ottawa/Gatineau/Wakefield/Lanark/CarletonPlace Region
Events that recur weekly or monthly show only the nearest upcoming event or two. Follow the link for future events. Some events may be suspended during Christmas break.
No COVID-19 precautions are being used at these events.
Les HAPPY VENDREDI de BIODANZA in French and English.
Open to All: Biodanza Discovery class in both English and French.
7:30pm to 9:30pm Friday January 27. $20 at the door.
Welcome to new people who want to discover this wonderful activity that is Biodanza!
An evening to get in motion thanks to the music, the Biodanza exercises and the benevolence of the group.
Une soirée pour se mettre en mouvement grâce à la musique, aux exercices de Biodanza et à la bienveillance du groupe.
Centre Meredith, 23 Chemin Cecil, Chelsea
HAPPY VENDREDI c’est ce vendredi 19h30-21h30 à Chelsea. Être Soi avec les Autres grâce au plaisir de danser. Be Yourself with Others, enjoying the pleasure of dancing
Contact Biodanza Isabelle Burnier for information.
No COVID-19 precautions are being used at this event.
Come find the life in you that wants to live!
Biodanza is a scientifically based approach to human development that aims to awaken the joy of living!
Set to beautiful world music, it connects us to ourselves, to each other and to the world.
No need to know how to dance!
Yes, bilingual!
Biodanza allows, among other things, to:
This event is wheelchair accessible.
Aucun protocole COVID-19 n’est requis.
Biodanza cours d’initiation en français avec Biodanza Isabelle Burnier facilitatrice de Biodanza.
See the Dance to Nature group on the facebook or contact Alana O’Donnell for current information. Some Sundays have no facilitated dances.
The grassy dance area is not very friendly to wheelchairs, though there are paved paths adjacent. Accessible city washrooms are available in the main building at Mooney’s Bay, but they may be closed during COVID-19.
Local dances on the Web:
ecstaticdanceottawa.ca
has expired and no longer exists.Local dances on the facebook:
Events outside the local Ottawa/Gatineau/Wakefield/Lanark/CarletonPlace Region
Contact Ian Allen about car pooling from Ottawa to some of the above dance events.
The Global Underscore long-form Contact Improv Dance Jam takes place for four hours simultaneously, world-wide at 10am-2pm EDT (14:00-18:00 UTC) on Saturday June 24 in 2023. Follow the link for a location near you. You can find events in other communities on the facebook Global Underscore page.
The Underscore is a long-form dance improvisation structure developed by the late Nancy Stark Smith. It has been evolving since 1990 and is practiced all over the globe.
The Underscore is a vehicle for incorporating Contact Improvisation into a broader arena of improvisational dance practice; for developing greater ease dancing in spherical space—alone and with others; and for integrating kinesthetic and compositional concerns while improvising. It allows for a full spectrum of energetic and physical expressions, embodying a range of forms and changing states. Its practice is familiar yet unpredictable.
The practice—usually 3 to 4 hours in length—progresses through a broad range of dynamic states, including long periods of very small, private, and quiet internal activity and other times of higher energy and interactive dancing.
Shake! Mornings, afternoons, and evenings
bioLUMINosity Edge of Trance dance
bioLUMINosity: I create a soundtrack to bring you out of your head and into your body, heart, spirit… You ride it wherever it takes you personally. This is about Your LIFE-LIGHT!
bioLUMINosity is:
Recurring Events outside the local Ottawa/Gatineau/Wakefield/Lanark/CarletonPlace Region
I don’t know if these events are now happening online. Contact the organizers.
Groove Tonic PEC hosts a weekly barefoot, free-form movement and dance event in Picton.
We meet every Wednesday evening from 7–9:00 pm for barefoot, free-form movement and and dance. All are welcome! Wear comfortable clothing, bring water to keep hydrated and a $5 donation to cover the cost of the space. Groove Tonic happens at the Picton Town Hall, 2nd floor above the old firehall (2 Ross St, at King St).
(For wheelchair and washroom accessibility information, contact the organizer.)
Contact Arsalan Ahmad for details on what’s happening around Contact Improvisation Dance in Peterborough, Ontario. (For wheelchair and washroom accessibility information, contact Arsalan.)
For other Peterborough dance events, e.g. Ecstatic Dance, see Dance Your Bones
DYB’s purpose is to offer an Ecstatic Dance movement practice in an accessible, respectful and safe environment.
Each Thursday evening, we dance together in a beautiful church hall for 90 minutes without interruption. The music varies weekly depending on the dj. We try to use an interesting blend of world music, pop, blues and even classical.
Dance and celebrate – Danser, se rassembler, célébrer, s’émerveiller …
Classes in Biodanza and Authentic Movement in and near Montréal with Catherine Fabiola Lessard
Dance and celebrate – Danser, se rassembler, célébrer, s’émerveiller …
Classes in Biodanza and Authentic Movement in and near Montréal with Catherine Fabiola Lessard
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 http://www.erik.iversen.ca/ or http://www.5rhythms.com/teachers/Erik+Iversen or contact Erik Iversen for more information. (For wheelchair and washroom accessibility information, contact Erik.)
Dance a weekly Thursday night 5Rhythms class with Lynne Adams in Montréal. (For wheelchair and washroom accessibility information, contact Lynne.)
Contact Improvisation de la ville de Québec
Bienvenue à tous. Les jams de Contact improvisation seront annoncés dans le groupe par le biais d’évènements. Consultez la publication épinglée pour plus d’information.
Classes are facilitated in French (with possible English translation on request): Biodanza Sherbrooke: français and Sherbrook Biodanza: English (The English pages may not be updated; use the French pages!)
Ian! D. Allen
via idallen@idallen.ca