Contact Improvisation with Karl Frost: Potsdam

Contact Improvisation with Karl Frost Playful Physics and Moving Bodywork 1-2 April 2023 Potsdam - at Farbrik Potsdam Cost 160 - 240 sliding scale Pay what you can in the range Early registration: 130-240 with payment by 18 March Contact improvisation is a 50 year old artsport exploring the possibilities of moving through physical contact, playing with the physics and sensory experience of shared structure and weight, mutual influence, moving and being moved by each other. Two dancers lean or fall into each other and follow the unpredictable possibilities generated from mutual following, initiative, and spontaneous choice-making. Movement flows into and out of the floor and through support and lifts in a 3 dimensional cascade. Sometimes the dance is quiet and meditative, focused on small details and subtle sensation. At other times, it is an explosive, athletic game of mutual challenging and flowing weight. We borrow techniques from contemporary dance, soft martial arts, and partner acrobatics. It is shaped by the curiosities of those improvising with each other. We’ll look at CI from the ground up as a playful dance of interdependent structures. We focus on the play of physics as we explore offering and using body architecture, falling into each other, and shared movement through mutual support. What feels good for our body is a constant guide, as we organize ourselves for the pleasure of compression, stretch, being supported, and unexpected easy lifts in a moving bodywork. We use alignment to support each other through the skeleton, rather than “muscling mass around”. Central, interconnected themes of the workshop will be ease and efficiency in motion, adapting to change, sensing self and other, body use and intelligent use of alignment, and attention to kinetic pleasure. The weekend is beginner friendly and will include a mix of open exploration of principles and technical practice with useful movement vocabulary Karl Frost started exploring contact improvisation in the dynamic dance and performance world of California in the 1980s. Known for his dynamic movement style and articulate teaching, he has offered courses all over the world. He has a BA in Physics, an MFA in Dramatic Arts/Choreography, and PhD in Ecology. He directs experimental theater works and organizes events through his company, Body Research. Logistics For payment and registration, see the website... https://www.bodyresearch.org/workshops/potsdam-2023/