Contact Improv at Ellen Webb with Krista DeNio

Contact improvisation (CI) is an improvised dance art that explores the relationship of one’s body to gravity, the floor, and others. By using the fundamentals of touch, movement awareness, and weight sharing, CI plays with the artistry of being physically off balance at times, finding the supportive structures and “shelves” of the body, and learning the mechanics of more easeful movement. Dancers are moving through space in response to gravity, momentum, and inertia, responding to impulse and sensation in a relaxed, constantly aware state. This form involves deep physical listening, thus it is a moving meditation, a mindfulness practice. Practicing contact improvisation builds a sense of trust and surrender that can benefit one even outside of the dance floor. The abilities and skills cultivated through dance can improve the practitioner’s daily life and relationships.

In CI class, we’ll explore themes of listening, movement patterns, physical relational qualities and intentions, structures, weight-sharing, signaling, rolling, lifts, and more. The jam is an opportunity to come together in an open format, further deepen the material from the class you are curious about, freely move, connect, or just be in the space.

First-timers as well as experienced dancers are all welcome.

Contact Improvisation Class + Jam: $20

Contact Improvisation Jam Only: $10

You may use Venmo (@Csaba-Kotsmar) or PayPal (kotsmar@gmail.com) to register, or cash at the venue.

Please read through the guidelines, so that we can dance safely, respectfully, and joyfully with each other! Purchasing a ticket and coming to contact the improvisation class and/or jam will indicate that you have read and agree to all of these guidelines. Thank you very much!

You can find more reading material about the form of contact improvisation on the web and numerous videos on YouTube. You may also start here: https://contactquarterly.com/contact-improvisation/about/index.php

Class will be led by Krista (she/her)

Krista DeNio is an interdisciplinary choreographer, director, performer, writer, and educator. She facilitates creative projects based on the principles and practices of ensemble-based theater. Artistic Director of MovingGround, her work engages interdisciplinary collaborations that bridge embodied experience, performance, education, activism, and human-to-human connections. Krista teaches movement and performance-making in the Bay Area and nationally. She has been a practitioner of Contact Improvisation for twenty years and approaches the form from technical foundations, choreographic applications, and the radical personal and political potential that exists within the practice and participating communities.