2025 Global Underscore in Austin

Austin Contact is participating in the annual Global Underscore! Here’s a general overview from the official website: “The Underscore, which has been evolving since 1990, is a vehicle for incorporating Contact Improvisation (CI) into the broader arena of improvisational dance practice; developing greater ease dancing in spherical space—alone and with others; and for integrating kinesthetic and compositional concerns while improvising. It allows for a full spectrum of energetic and physical expressions, embodying a range of forms and changing states. Its practice is familiar yet unpredictable. The practice progresses through a broad range of dynamic states, including long periods of very small, private, and quiet internal activity and other times of higher energy and interactive dancing. There are 20+ phases, 12+ connections, and 7 aspects of the Underscore—each with a name and a graphic symbol—which create a general map for the dancers. Within that frame, dancers are free to create their own movements, dynamics, and relationships—with themselves, each other, the group, the music, and the environment. Each Underscore is unique, providing rich and often inspiring experiences of the human and artistic phenomena of dance improvisation. Near the beginning and at the end of the Global Underscore practice, dancers at each site do the Stand/Small Dance (a focus on standing developed by Steve Paxton) together facing the next site around the globe, making an energetic line that spirals around the earth. These are called the Facings.” In order for the Underscore to unfold without verbal cues, there is a required explanation of the practice that takes about an hour. There will be two opportunities to join: an optional dance-through at 7pm on June 20, the night before the Underscore, immediately before the weekly Contact Improv Jam (979 Springdale), and a required talk-through at 8am on June 21st, the morning of the Underscore, at the start of the event at Blue Lapis Light. All participants must attend the Saturday morning talk-through to participate, though the Friday evening dance-through is also available for those who want additional preparation. The talk throughs will be led by Brandon Gonzalez, who has participated in multiple Underscores with its creator, Nancy Stark-Smith. He will be supported by Scott Gregory, who has been hosting the weekly CI jam since late 2022. Fee for participation is on a sliding scale, $25 - $50, no one turned away for lack of funds. To register, fill out this form which includes payment information. https://forms.gle/PgnUyqVz7oLHHzvR6 Parking at Blue Lapis Light is limited to 18 spots, so we recommend carpooling. Follow this link to a spreadsheet for carpool coordination. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1G4WkElG_Yk45YA41eHLTRUEpen3xP8OORjepJu0d4u4/edit?usp=sharing Schedule: 7:30 - Doors open 8:00 - Doors close and talk through begins 9:00 - Assembly (Beginning of the score) 1:00 - End of event Brandon Gonzalez is an interdisciplinary dance artist, choreographer, and educator based in Austin, Texas. He’s moved by the transformational power of dance as a ritual practice, using it as an experimental ground for investigating embodied human experience. Focusing on the capacities of the body as a resource for artistic practice, he develops works across a variety of media and performance modalities. He teaches Contact Improvisation nationally and internationally, and for over 15 years has produced dance events in Austin. Working as a co-organizing member, he helped establish the annual Texas Dance Improvisation Festival (TDIF). He is also the Artistic Director and an established DJ/facilitator at Ekstasis, a vibrant ritual-dance event in Austin. Brandon is an Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of Theatre and Dance at TXST University. He holds a BFA in Studio Art from TXST and an MFA in Dramatic Arts from UC Davis. Scott Gregory (he/they) is a massage therapist, video artist, activist, mindfulness and communication teacher, and avid Ecstatic Dancer in Austin. He is especially grateful to Liz Ganz for her teaching in a variety of mindful connection practices such as Authentic Relating and Circling, and her own movement explorations Deep Play and beingLoved. He also thanks Brandon Gonzalez, Drea Marz, and Kan Yan for the CI jams and lessons they’ve held. Since 2012, he has been tending spaces for community via Authentic Relating, Circling, and Ecstatic Dance containers in Houston, Austin, and Vietnam. His favorite part is being able to witness people surprise themselves, play, get confused, and grow.