Facilitated Contact Jams at Dance New Amsterdam
Sundays 3-6pm
March 16, April 27, May 25
DNA
280 Broadway, enter on Chambers
March 16 – Building a Solid Base: We will begin with a grounding and releasing warmup. We will learn three skills that form a solid base for exploring Contact Improvisation: sensing through the skin, sharing weight, and orienting to 360 degree space. We will alternate 20 minutes of skill work with 30 minutes of open dancing.
Jam #2 – Guided Tour: We will open the jam with a warmup and thirty minutes of skill-building aimed at orienting dancers to basic skills of weight exchange and safety. Then we’ll move into open dancing, framed by a series of specific focuses that bring an extra level of attention and intention to the dancing, while allowing it to evolve freely. We’ll close the jam with a round robin – an open circle in which two or three duets are passed from participant to participant while the rest of the group holds the space.
Jam #3 – Everyone in the Pool: The first hour of this jam will include a warmup that grounds and releases our bodies. Then we’ll work in depth with a single, basic contact skill. In the second hour we will open the space for jamming. The third hour will conclude with a round robin – an open circle in which two or three duets are passed from participant to participant while the rest of the group holds the space. Participants are welcome to enter at the beginning of the first or second hour.
Contact Improvisation is a form based in the exchange of weight between two partners through a single point of contact. The dance follows the point of contact in 360 degree space, and the dancers spiral, glide, fly and fall together in response. A contact jam is an open dance environment in which participants can experiment with the form and learn from each other.
Contact Improv helps dancers release their bodies, fine-tune their senses, become comfortable taking the weight of others, and partner close and fast. We will find movement possibility in a new relationship to gravity and spatial orientation, and an expanded understanding of what our bodies can do. We will find efficiency, strength and mobility through our own natural movement, good alignment, and support through anatomical structures.
All jams open and close with a circle. The facilitator will welcome new contacters to the dance, keep the space focused, keep the dancing safe, and join in as many dances as possible.
