Contact improvisation
Contact improvisation is a postmodern, improvised dance form built on shared weight, touch and physical awareness between partners, usually in duets. It grew from Steve Paxton's work in the United States in 1972: it began with Magnesium, made with male students at Oberlin College in January 1972, and was developed that summer at the John Weber Gallery in New York. It draws on modern dance, aikido and somatic practices.
Dancers practise mainly at informal gatherings called jams, where people dance or watch, and at workshops and festivals. Paxton chose not to set up teacher certification and shared the form through a newsletter that became Contact Quarterly, founded in 1975. Today it is taught in many universities and practised on every continent except Antarctica.
Sources
- Contact improvisation (Wikipedia, English)
- Steve Paxton (1939-2024): Contact Improvisation for Generations (Critical Stages)
- Steve Paxton obituary (Dartington)
- Contact Quarterly (official site)
- Earthdance (official site)
- Контактная импровизация (Wikipedia, Russian)
- Contact improvisación (Wikipedia, Spanish)
Organisations connected with this dance
Listed as references; being listed is not an endorsement by or of the organisation.