Contact Improv Jam ~ with Sequoiah Briseño

SEQUOIAH BRISEÑO will lead the warm up this week. ***you will need socks for the warm up*** SCOOTS AND SPINS: Navigating the floor with ease Sequoiah fell in love with contact improvisation in 2012 at age 42. Traveling across the US and Canada, she studied with Nancy Stark Smith, Brenton Chang, Ray Cheung, Andrew Harwood, Nitta Little, Rosmary Hannon, Alicia Grayson and many others. In recovery from a concussion and some other injuries, Sequoiah began to study Axis Syllabus regularly starting in 2016 with Kira kirsch, Frey Faust, Sebastian Grubb, Nuria Bowart, Sarah Day and others. She found that this practice greatly aided her movements in and out of the floor and augmented her contact improvisation dances. Sequoiah will share some treasures from her Axis Syllabus studies in the warm up. We will focus on scoots and spins. This playful class will focus on working with our anatomical structure to move with ease across the floor. We’re trying something new in the new year! Each week we will have a different member from the community leading the 30 minute warm-up. Join us each week for new perspectives, insights and approaches to CI and adjacent practices. Open to all levels of experience, the Nevada City Contact Improv Jam is a place to learn, explore, connect, create and play. Practiced within groups of curious individuals, Contact Improvisation (CI) is a unique partner dance form in which shared points of physical contact provide the starting place for interactive movement improvisation and exploration. This dance practice explores the skills of falling, rolling, counterbalance, sharing weight, tuning into subtle sensation, and being responsive to partners and surroundings. SCHEDULE: 11am – Guided warm-up into open jamming 12:50pm – Closing circle RATES: $15-20 Sliding scale The warm-up gives each person a chance to delve into their practice of CI whether in building fundamental skills or gaining a more in-depth understanding of the form. “Contact Improvisation is an honoring of every moment. There is a sweet surrendering that happens when our bodies stay faithful to what is happening now, and now... and NOW! One learns to recognize and differentiate subtle impulses in our movement choices and our partner's choices. We begin to decipher the cues that we give and receive which tell us when to lead or follow, when to go up, when to go down, where to touch, how to lift, when to slow down, and when to be still. In this form one learns to stay in integrity with each choice, never forcing, never rushing. When Body, Mind, and Spirit are united in their instinctive wisdom one finds ones-self at home in every moment expressing ones true nature.” ~ Moti Zemelman For more information about Contact Improvisation visit: https://contactquarterly.com/contact-improvisation/about/ To catch a glimpse of CI in action: https://youtu.be/zQRF2sLK1vY