Contact improvisation Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
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.
| Table of contents |
|
2 Practice and Theory 3 Quotes 4 Related articles 5 Further reading 6 External links |
Contact Improvisation was developed by a group of dance artists Grand Union led by Steve Paxton as a method for creating improvised dance. Today Contact Improvisation is practiced as a dance form in its own right and is ideologically different form Paxtons early practice.
The first performance work recognised as Contact Improvisation is Steve Paxton's Magnesium (1972), created while a student at Oberlin College. Paxton followed this with the first Contact Improvisation performance evening at the John Weber Gallery New York City.
Contact Improvisation can be practiced as concert or social dance form. In the social setting Contact Improvisation meetings are called jams in which participants can participate or watch as they want. These dance jams are similar to the practice of Jazz musicians bringing themselves and using the time to explore the limits of the form.
Contact Improvisation is often practiced in duet form but can also be performed in groups or as a solo using physical objects (floor, walls, chair etc) as the point contact. As many teachers say in introductory classes, the floor is your first partner.
Contact Improvisation techniques can include weight transfer, counter balance, rolling, falling, suspension, and lifting. CI practitioners may also draw on:
When used as a Choreographic technique movement sequences that emerge during a jam may be adapted and set to form a part of a fixed choreographic score.
This is an Article on Contact improvisation. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Contact improvisation History
Practice and Theory
Due to the improvised nature of CI and depending on the choreographic structure used, a CI performance may contain little physical contact. Quotes
Related articles
Further reading
External links