Contact Improv Class with Brandon Gonzalez + Jam

ESPA is IN a Big building! Read the parking and walking directions below the class info if you haven't been to the studio before Doors open at 6:30 pm Class begins at 7:00 sharp til 8:00 We might hit capacity this week! arrive well before 7 if you want guaranteed participation in class. Those who arrive after we fill up (or after 7:15 in general) will be invited to observe from the side. Opening circle 8:15 Warmup or beginner orientation Closing circle at 9:45 Jam ends 10:00 Class Description: "What happens when we take the hands out of our CI dances? In this class we’ll explore dancing through the central body—pelvis, spine, ribs, and back—rather than relying on the limbs. Removing the hands can shift us away from habits of directing or managing our partners and open new pathways for shared momentum and subtle listening. Without the usual points of control, we enter more liminal spaces in the dance, where movement emerges through shared momentum, weight, and curiosity." 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. Parking and walking directions: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Our studio is on the back (Airport Blvd side) of the building. Enter the parking lot from Springdale just south of Airport, then drive (slight left) to go back around the building, passing Blackfeather Vintage on your right. As you round the building, there will be trees and an overpass to your left. Keep driving until the parking lot widens out big, and park anywhere. Look for Ground Floor Theatre and come up the ramp/stairs, then turn right immediately at the top of the ramp. Pass Pilates on your left, and then on the left you'll find Suite 815 on the corner. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |____𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐬____| This is a weekly Contact Improvisation jam, held in a 2,300 sq ft dance studio in East Austin every Thursday. Our event follows this sequence: 6:30 - Warm-up and space for questions and experiments 7:00 - Class 8:00 - Opening Circle to meet each other and go over norms for consent, communication, and taking care of the space. 8:15 - Group warm-up and (separate room) Beginner Orientation. 8:30 - Open Jam, where you’re invited to witness the dances of others, ask questions, initiate dances with other people, and generally direct your own exploration of whatever it is that Contact Improv has for you. 9:45 - Closing Circle to reflect on what caught our interest about the dance and share dance-related community announcements. The cost for entry is on a sliding scale, no one turned away for lack of funds. (just let the door person know) Class OR jam -- $10-$20 Class AND jam -- $20-$30 Cash or venmo accepted @scottgregoryarts |____𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬____| Our full jam guidelines can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/cijamguidelines and we encourage you to check them out before the dance. A few that bear mentioning here: ---All identities, experiences, questions, and perspectives are welcome. ---Please strive to arrive on time. This creates group continuity and a strong container. ---Sexuality in the space has a big impact and we agree not to escalate or build sexual energy when it arises. One of our missions is to reweave touch back into society and we agree to be mindful of the intentions we bring into the dance. |____𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐖𝐞𝐚𝐫____| Fragrance-free space Something that is easy to move around in without getting tangled up is a basis for safety. Loose-cut long pants and long sleeves are strongly recommended for ease of movement and sliding across the floor. No jeans or other clothes with features like metal rivets, big buttons, or other complex features that could scratch or tangle. No shoes allowed while dancing, barring exceptions for accessibility |____𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯?____| Contact Improvisation is an evolving movement form, originated in 1972 by Steve Paxton at Oberlin University and since expanded upon by countless others, based on the communication between two moving bodies that are in physical contact and their combined relationship to the physical laws that govern their motion – gravity, momentum, inertia. The body, in order to open to these sensations, must learn to release excess muscular tone, hone attention and cultivate presence, and maintain an aware and prepared state towards the flow of movement. Practice includes falling, being upside down, supporting and giving weight to a partner. Alertness is developed in order to work in an energetic state that hones our innate ability to reflexively respond to physical disorientation. Here are a couple of videos to show you what it might look like. Fall After Newton (1987): Official Trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZYBsnamFw4&pp=ygURZmFsbCBhZnRlciBuZXd0b24%3D Paul Singh/Singh & Dance - Movement Research at the Judson Church - April 15, 2019 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=980iLDx-O38&pp=ygUYYXByaWwgMTUgc2luZ2ggYW5kIGRhbmNl Contact quarterly, an ongoing dance and improvisation journal begun by Nancy Stark Smith, offers many resources and writing about CI. https://contactquarterly.com/ But ultimately the practice is found in how it feels to do it. |____𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬____| Every jam includes invitations and prompting for sharing weight and finding balance with other people, which inherently entails some risk of having to catch yourself from falling. Participants, especially those of us that dance more vigorously, occasionally experience bumps and bruises. This form is an exploration of momentum and the unknown, and some amount of collision is inevitable. Plan to remain aware of and responsive to your surroundings to create a safer jam for everyone. We’re excited to jam with you!