
Contact Improvisation came out of the experimental atmosphere pervasive in the 60â??s and 70â??s, thus from the beginning it was a collective phenomenon.
Cooperation instead of competition
Through giving of weight and playing with balance, the dancers always had to find collective solutions and pathways. If one of the dancers tried to impose his/her will onto the other, the dance soon became tedious and eventually came to a standstill. A sensibility for the partner and communication are naturally opposed to ego-trips.
- Equality and hierarchy
â??The dance is the teacher.â?? The dancers are responsible for finding their own way through the process. The emancipation of the individual enabled creative improvisation and movement diversity. If you are simultaneously teacher and student, there can be no social differences or hierarchy. The main teaching method is: here is the problem, letâ??s work on it. It is an experiment, we make joint discoveries, there are no rights or wrongs or final solution. This remains just as relevant when one of the dancers has less experience in contact improvisation than the other. From this background, open improvisational meetings take place: â??jamsâ??.
- Self-possession and shared dependency
Everything in contact improvisation happens through requesting and expressing intent: somebody gives his/her weight and the other is free to decide if or how much to accept. There is no guarantee that your intentions, your wishes will be fulfilled. Self-possession and deep awareness of â??beingâ?? is deeply rooted in this dance form. It is a model for social behavior, where people are equal and have total responsibility for themselves and their behavior. The dancers donâ??t try to save or prevent each other from falling or sliding but to offer surface areas. You are aware and sensitive and present but you do not control what is happening. You give the freedom of choice for the simple reason that the other is capable of doing things as well. Contact Improvisation is also a model for interdependence.
- The taboo of touch is demolished
In Contact Improvisation touch, contact and feelings are allowed and expressed in the dance. It is one of the few social situations where in an atmosphere of trust, these social borders can inquisitively approached and newly defined.
- Sex roles vanish
Duets are not heterosexually bound, and do not imply any specific content or meaning. The movement material emphasizes an inward focus and an awareness of the movement process within the duet. In and out of balance and disorientation are the creative sources for the movement impulse.
The movement vocabulary: rolling, jumping, lifting, falling is there for both sexes. In a contact duet, the man as well as the woman has to be able to give and take weight whenever the situation call for it. There is no compulsion to do any of these things of course and the rejection of somebodyâ??s weight can be integrated into the dance as well. Differences in size or weight normally play no role; because t he root of stability lies not in muscular force but rather in an optimal alignment, a slight woman can carry a much stouter man.
Classes:
You may join anytime, both beginners and proficient dancers are welcome.
- thursdays 7-9 PM traning, 9-11 PM jam in the "Trafo", IX. Liliom u. 41.
NEW!!!
STARTING FROM OCTOBER 6 JAMS FOR INT/ADVANCED DANCERS, LED BY ESZTER GAL.
FOR MORE INFO CALL ESZTER AT 06-70-7338-9932
For more information contact:
Bojtár Tamás
tel: 06-70-504-2068
e-mail: tbojtar@posta.net