Contact Improvisation Dance

A relatively recent dance form, contact improv was developed in the early 1970s by Steve Paxton, and was first seen publicly in Paxton's Magnesium (1972), performed by Paxton and dance students at Oberlin College.

I find contact improv difficult to describe in words. Here is a description I like:

"Contact improvisation is a moving massage. It is a dance that fine tunes your senses and wakes up your ability to listen and respond to what is happening in the moment. If you could do Aikido, surf, wrestle and dance at the same time, you would have an idea of what contact improvisation feels like. What makes contact different from other dance is that partners are often moving in and out of physical contact while rolling, spiraling, springing and falling. They find ways to "enjoy the ride" and improvise while mutually supporting and following each others movements. The dancing is unpredictable and inspired by the physical and energetic contact the partners share." - Ernie Adams at Earthdance.

In addition to classes, people get together at "jams" to dance and improvise together.

Contact requires both sensitivity and awareness skills and physical skills.

On a physical level, contact improv uses the physical laws of friction, momentum, gravity, and inertia to explore the relationship between dancers. It is a way to experience and experiment with the movement of your body.

One of the most important skills is sensing and maintaining a point of contact (i.e., back to back, shoulder to back, head to head, leg to hip, the options are endless).

Other skills include weight sharing, counter balance, rolling, falling, suspension, and lifting. The dance embodies the principles of centering, connection, grounding, blending, and extension.

I'm going to be adding more details here. If you are a contact improviser and want to contribute a short description of a specific skill or two, I will credit you and link to your Web site, if you have one. Contact me here and be sure to say it's for the Squidoo page.