4As | John Koratjitis | The Improvisation Project 2009 : Robert Anderson, Rick Nodine, Eckhard Mueller, Daniela Schwartz, Kathy Crick (Contact improvisation)

4As | Syracusae, 134 Liverpool Road, London N1 1LA | contact@aaaa-4as.com | 07772 029 919

Brochure (4 pages, PDF, 5.5MB)
Brochure (4 pages, PDF, 5.5MB)		• Regular movement related improvisation workshops • (see below) • Bursaries for movement improvisers • download details & application info (Word.doc) • Regular showings from improvisation artists • Contact improvisation jams twice a month • (first & third Sunday evenings) "The earth is much bigger than you are so you'd better learn to co-ordinate with it" "Contact Improvisation is a state of mind." Nancy Stark-Smith, Contact Improvisation "I have planned nothing and that has kept me very busy." Ruth Zaporah, Action Theater "Contact improvisation is an activity related to familiar duet forms such as the embrace, wrestling, martial arts, and the jitterburg, encompassing the range of movement from stillness to highly athletic. The exigencies of the form dictate a mode of movement which is relaxed, constantly aware and prepared, and on-flowing." Steve Paxton, Contact Improvisation "You find yourself in front of an audience, believing that what you are doing is not interesting or doesn’t merit attention. Perhaps you begin to feel ashamed, or sad, or small. Precisely at that instant comes a great opportunity: you can empty out at that instant, you can see your judgment as simply another element in the landscape of actions— you can find yourself in the moment." Sten Rudstrøm, Action Theater
S John Koratjitis J Improvisation as an art form was the answer to a searching in me which had been happening for all of my adult life. A journey which passed through martial arts, Tai Chi, Meditation, psychotherapy and Yoga. Then I discovered Contact Improvisation and a whole new world opened up before me. Physical Theatre, Body Mind Centering, Buddhist Meditation, Butoh, Clowning and Action Theater. For the last fourteen years I have taken every opportunity to practise these forms. Improvisation is a passion, a way of life, a spiritual journey. My sources of inspiration are many, including Steve Paxton, Nancy Stark-Smith, K.J. Holmes and Ms. Nita Little (Contact Improvisation). Sten Rudstrom and Ruth Zaporah (Action Theater) and Suprapto Suriodarmo (Amerta Movement). Robert Anderson Robert Anderson has been passionately involved with Contact Improvisation since 1996. He has been teaching and facilitating CI classes, workshops and jams in London since 2000. He is active within the international contact community, teaching and performing in Europe and America. His classes encourage a state of alertness and openness and invite a sense of pleasure, play and poetry for the dancing body.		Workshops John Koratjitis, Robert Anderson Intermediate level 14th & 15th March, 10am - 5pm How do we prepare our senses to navigate space through and around other bodies? How do we maintain our sense of self within a myriad of choices? We will develop techniques to find a grounded, centred and articulate sense of solo that we can then take into duet. Meditative listening, and slow and sensual dancing will lead to safe, relaxed and playful flying and falling. Working with these skills we’ll consider how to extend the momentum of the duet form through space, then exploring trio and ensemble improvisations. We will lay the ground for our ability to be seen, to compose in the moment and perform by letting go of the barriers to our natural, playful, expressive selves.
Rick Nodine RS Rick has been studying CI for 18 years and teaching for 12 years. He began a performing career in the early 90’s, and has appeared in many contexts including theatre, dance theatre, digital media, television, mixed ability, site specific and pure dance. In 2001 Rick became a member of staff at London Contemporary Dance School where he teaches Composition and Improvisation.		Rick Nodine Advanced level 25th & 26th April, 10am - 5pm Morning; Spherical Orientation - technique The first hour of class will be solo work, starting with simple floor patterns which facilitate efficient movement in relation to the floor. We then move across the space practicing phrases which support the skills of the Contact Improviser. Forward, side and backward rolls, dives, knee slides, handstands, off axis patterns and floor surfing. In the second hour we will take these skills and patterns into contact dances, exploring the subtlety required to achieve the more acrobatic aspects of contact. Ultimately we will open space to fall, fly and release as we dance together with risk, humour and a vigorous physicality. Afternoon; Physical Imperatives – Scores that make movement We will learn an interactive score that draws on the physicality of contact improvisation. This score will tell us what to do so that we can improvise where, when and how we do it.
Eckhard Mueller (Germany/France) E Co-founder of the Contact Festival Freiburg, Eckhard has been enthusiastically dancing and performing CI since 1988. In his teaching he is playfully searching for depth in the understanding of the form. He created an interactive performance concept ‘SKIN’, that includes dancers, musicians and video, interacting with the audience. Skin was touring in different countries in Europe and South America, in collaboration with Daniela Schwartz. Daniela Schwartz (Argentina/France) Daniela has been involved in the practice, performance and teaching of CI since 1998, and is a member of Cie dégadezo, Strasbourg. As a visual artist, she is interested in the body, space and movement in the present moment as material for research, expression and creation. Her multiple media interests: video, objects, installation are present in her practices. Daniela and Eckhard have co-taught Contact in Europe and South America for 5 years.		Eckhard Mueller & Daniela Schwartz Open level 13th & 14th June, 10am - 5pm Immersion The workshop invites you to dive deeply into the Contact Improvisation form, taking advantage of the immersion into the body’s wisdom. Stimulating the natural curiosity for the unknown, we will enter a state of exploration and we will sink into the intuitive responses of our bodies. The practice will deepen our awareness, to develop, stretch and transfrom the possibilities of the body in the dance.
Kathy Crick K Kathy teaches Contact and Improvisation at Laban, and London Metropolitan University. She has studied with Steve Paxton, Nancy Stark Smith and Kirstie Simson, among others. She is a member of SOFt, a collective of artists researching and practicing Contact Improvisation in performance. Previous work has included dancing with Yolande Snaith and Motionhouse Dance Theatre and creating performances with choreographer/composer Sarah Goldfarb. She has choreographed and taught extensively in educational and community settings and has supported her work with studies in improvisation, somatic practice, shiatsu, psychology and education.		Kathy Crick Intermediate level 26th & 27th September, 10am - 5pm The weekend will explore falling as a playful engagement in Contact Improvisation: Small falls, rolling, pitching and lofting, streaming with gravity to find connection and flow in the dancing. We will look at ways to refine tone and release in our movement and ride out falling as the undercurrent of flying. Kathy’s class aims to encourage people to attune their senses and deepen embodied awareness. She promotes enjoyment and ease of effort in movement and supports the generation of different energetic states for dancing both in and out of contact.
		Prices of all workshops: £70 conc £80 full Venue: movingartsbase Venue: Syracusae, 134 Liverpool Road, London N1 1LA Contact: impro-project@aaaa-4as.com or 07772 029 919 Brochure: Download (Shown top left, 4 pages, PDF, 5.5MB) Back to top

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