Global Underscore 2019

The GLOBAL UNDERSCORE is an annual event in which the Underscore is practiced simultaneously for a 4 hour period by people all over world near the summer solstice (northern hemisphere). The Underscore is a long-form dance improvisation structure developed by Nancy Stark Smith. It has been evolving since 1990 and is practiced all over the globe. The Underscore is a vehicle for incorporating Contact Improvisation into a broader arena of improvisational dance practice; for 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 score—each with a name and a graphic symbol (glyph)—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 if any, and the environment. Each Underscore is unique, providing rich and often inspiring experiences of the human and artistic phenomena of dance improvisation. There a number of options for participation. Please go the website to find out more. For the sites that do the entire 4 hours and are dancing in the 4-hour time frame prescribed, they will face a site to their East near the beginning and at the end - doing a STAND, a small dance. This line of connection will circle the Earth about 6 times! register here: https://globalunderscore.com/?fbclid=IwAR2Qbao_sBg04KGAs07nJAyZCWNQcT0ASiCqmO8pTwu_x--BLba6CZLBvb0