what’s CI?
Contact Improvisation is a form of moving, dancing, exploring, mostly through contact with a partner. Our bodies are the starting point: we’ll learn and explore solo and pair improvisation, leading, following, letting things happen, being surprised.
As every dance form, it is hard to define in words. Videos could work better. But one can always try:
Contact Improvisation is an open ended exploration of the kinesthetic possibilities of bodies moving through contact. Sometimes wild and athletic, sometimes quiet and meditative, it is a form open to all bodies, changing from moment to moment and dance to dance to flow with the physicalities of those meeting. sometimes quiet and meditative, sometimes wild and explosive, contact manifests in many different ways depending on physics and the intentions and curiosities of those participating. Having a reference point in the post modern dance explorations of Steve Paxton and others in the early 70s, there is a base in an observation of the body’s abilities to self organize functionally in precarious, off-balance situations set up by the collaboration and collision of two or more investigating partners. Part “non-martial” martial art, part acrobatic dance, part movement meditation, part collaborative bodywork practice, contact is a place where we can with a sense of playfulness and curiosity explore our bodies and interconnection.
Contact is the frame of investigation. Improvisation is the flow of response.
or:
Contact Improvisation is a partner dance form based on the physical principles of touch, momentum, shared weight, and most quintessentially – following a shared point of contact. The form was founded in 1972 by Steve Paxton. Integrating his background as a modern dancer and his studies in the martial art form Aikido, Steve developed Contact Improv through explorations with his students and colleagues at the time. This dance practice explores the skills of falling, rolling, counterbalance, lifting using minimal effort, how to make ourselves light when being lifted, centering and breathing techniques, and responsiveness to our partners and surroundings.
From Wikipedia:
Contact Improvisation (CI) is a dance technique in which points of physical contact provide the starting point for movement improvisation and exploration. Contact Improvisation is a form of dance improvisation and is one of the best-known and most characteristic forms of postmodern dance.