Begin Again: contact improvisation basics

WHAT: Contact Improvisation at Lemon Hill with Nicole Bindler WHEN: Thursdays, July 8th & 15th, 7:00-8:30pm WHERE: Lemon Hill, Philadelphia, PA HOW MUCH: Suggested donation $0-10 RSVP: Email [email protected]. Also, let Nicole know if you can't check your email for updates once you're at Lemon Hill. If so, provide your phone number for text updates if we change location. Begin Again: contact improvisation basics In these CI classes we'll practice/remember CI skills such as rolling point, weight pouring, and transitioning in and out of contact with ease. There will be solo/distanced and touch-based versions for each exercise, and plenty of time at the end for integration and open dancing. Nicole Bindler is a dance-maker, Body-Mind Centering® practitioner, writer, and activist. She has been presented at festivals, conferences, and intensives throughout the U.S., Canada, Argentina, and Europe, and in Tokyo, Beirut, Bethlehem, Mexico City, and Quito. Recent projects include teaching about consent culture and disability justice in contact improvisation; somatic research on the embryology of the genitalia from a non-binary perspective; collaborations with Diyar Theatre in Bethlehem, Palestine; teaching experimental classes such as Embodying Neuroqueer/Neuroqueering Embodiment and Polyvagal Theory and Protest through freeskewl; presentations at the Future of CI Conference and the BMCA Online Somatic Symposium about rebuilding in-person dance and somatics communities in ways that tangibly address the inequities laid bare by the pandemic; and a solo called "The Case for Invagination #3" to be performed this fall in Philadelphia through Cannonball/Fringe. Later this fall––goddess and pandemic-willing––she will present her work at Asociacion Cultural Guandul in Quito, The Body IQ Festival in Berlin, Somatic Kin in Bern, the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam, and through Contact Improvisation Warsaw. https://www.nicolebindler.com/ WHAT will we BE DOING and NOT DOING: In general, we will lead an improvisation class that will have options for contact and non-contact dancing. We will improvise with each other and the environment, having fun as we engage with the principles of contact improvisation such as weight, momentum, flow, empathy, and bonding with the earth. If you are not vaccinated, please wear a mask and keep at least 6 feet distance. If you are vaccinated, masks are optional. If you are vaccinated, you may decide if you want to dance close, in contact, or at a distance. Do NOT come if you have ANY covid-like symptoms (fever, cough, sneezes, loss of smell, diarrhea) or have recently been in close contact with a positive or presumptive COVID-19 patient. BE PREPARED: If you are not vaccinated, Do NOT forget to wear or bring a mask for coronavirus spread prevention. You may even want to bring two masks as one may get damp from sweating and humidity. Bring your own supplies to keep yourself healthy and comfortable: water, bug spray, sunscreen, toilet paper, hand sanitizer, rain gear, etc. Wear good shoes for dancing on soft, maybe slippery grass and/or hard pavement. There is not a public bathroom here. We strongly suggest taking care of your bodily functions at home before you arrive. However, there are some bushes to hide behind if you need to do an outdoor pee. DIRECTIONS: For GPS, simply "Lemon Hill, Philadelphia, PA 19130" should work. You can click on this link: https://goo.gl/maps/zjoRC6TuhqvSdRB7A Please know that Lemon Hill is truly a hill. It is part of Fairmont Park and is really close to the boathouses on the east side of the Schuylkill River, just upstream from the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and south or downstream from Girard Avenue bridge. To get there, follow Lemon Hill Dr. which is accessible from Kelly Drive, Sedgley Dr. or Poplar Dr. Once you are close, you will realize that these roads make a loop close to the top of the hill and this is the best place to look for parking. We will be meeting by a grove of trees furthest west near the gazebo: https://goo.gl/maps/ezJes8zPC3Z1iLQK7 If there are many other people there, we will have to stake out a new spot. This zone is nice because it has trees for shade, lawn for dancing, and is more removed from many of the other populated zones.