lotus

previous page: 5.3. Is there software for my dance studio?
  
page up: Ballet and Modern Dance FAQ
  
next page: 6.1. Ballet and Modern Dance Books

5.4. What is Contact Improvisation?




Description

This article is from the Ballet and Modern Dance FAQ, by Tom Parsons twp@panix.com with numerous contributions by others.

5.4. What is Contact Improvisation?

Contact Improvisation is a modern dance form invented by Steve
Paxton in 1972. The emphasis is on touching (not surprisingly) and on the
use of body weight; it has been compared to a kind of cooperative, non-
combative wrestling. To judge by the descriptions and pictures in Novack
(1990), it is most often done by pairs of dancers. There is a great deal
of lifting, falling, and supporting of one dancer by the other. It started
out as at least a semi-social dance form but has become more professional
as the years have gone by. It is claimed that contact improvisation
requires no prior dance training, but it's clear (and not surprising) that
as you learn from experience the range of things you can do increases. In
the descriptions that follow, taken from postings to alt.arts.ballet, there
is not complete agreement on what it requires of the dancer or what it does
to/for him/her:

"It was extremely cool stuff, but you really had to be a good
dancer, i.e., modern or ballet, in order to pull it off." --CarlosC14
< carlosc14@aol.com >

"Contact improv seems like something that would be experienced
in dramatically different ways by those with formal dance training
(ballet jazz modern) versus those without (despite what everyone says).
My impression is that the students from the CU dance department got
much more out of the workshops than I did. Mostly I got *bruises*,
because I don't have a lot of natural padding and there I was rolling
around on the floor with someone on top of me. My backbone, knees, and
hips were repeatedly ground into the floor. Oh, gee, what fun. > -( "
--Robinne Gray < rlg2@cornell.edu>

"It's usually associated with modern/contemporary dance in that
many of the same people do it. Take some music, anything really, and
work with it as pairs, triples, n-tuples. Usually some vocabulary has
been worked to use. Most `improvisation' has been worked on more than
routines. With a common vocabulary and the music, the dancers can
interact with each other and it doesn't just become a mess as everyone
`does their own thing.' The `contact' is because everyone is working
together and physically close, whether imitating a `maul' (rugby union)
or breaking into smaller groups for a time." --Callum Downie
< Callum.Downie@brunel.ac.uk>

"The risk-taking, weight-sharing and be-here-now aspects of
this form are truly intoxicating once you get past the bruised body
stages. Just like judo, it really is possible to do without hurting
yourself once you master the first technical level." --Randy Barron
< rbdancer@aol.com>

 

Continue to:













TOP
previous page: 5.3. Is there software for my dance studio?
  
page up: Ballet and Modern Dance FAQ
  
next page: 6.1. Ballet and Modern Dance Books