I am facilitating the Wednesday contact improvisation lab at 100 Grand in April. It starts this coming Wednesday, on April 1. It’s called, “Risk-Taking and All the Fun Stuff.
Basics
- the lab will run all five Wednesdays in April, from 7pm to 10pm @ 100 Grand Dance (100 Grand St., Manhattan, 2nd floor, Buzzer B)
- you commit to attending all the sessions, and pay $20 for the whole thing (yep, a low $4 per session)
- we collaboratively investigate CI and deepen our experiences with the form
- we will do some sort of “showing” on the last Wednesday, 4/29. We will figure this out.
Themes
- Risk-Taking: starting from the premise that taking physical risks in CI is fun, challenging, exciting, interesting, stimulating, etc., how can we increase and manage the physical difficulty and danger of our dances? Where do we stop ourselves from going faster, being more unpredictable, or coming closer to the edge? How can we go a little further and survive? We’ll ask these questions and come up with answers.
- All the Fun Stuff that classes never seem to get to: cool lifts, jumps, falls, or other difficult or intricate movements. Particularly those that are often too advanced to be taught in a mixed-level class, or too difficult to experiment with in a crowded jam or with an unfamiliar partner. Bring in things you’ve seen that you want to learn or show others. We’ll figure them out together, practice them, and get good at them.
Prerequisites
This is an intermediate- to advanced-level lab. Participants must be willing to assume a level of physical risk and must have the following skills:
- ability to take weight on hands
- ability to fall safely
- ability to accurately assess one’s physical limitations and change in concentration/focus
- ability to give and receive feedback
While it is not necessary to do every exercise, it’s critical to be able to assess whether you are prepared to attempt an exercise in any particular situation and to know when to sit out.
Let me know if you’re interested in joining at “lab” AT “contactimprovblog.com” or sending me a comment below with your e-mail. You can also just show up and participate in the first lab meeting, but those that don’t meet the prerequisites will run some risk of being turned away for future sessions.