Soft Power: Contact Improv and Soft Martial Games with Karl Frost: Berkeley, California

Soft Power, Fluid Weight, and Lightness A contact improvisation weekend workshop with Karl Frost Classic, physics-based CI meets contemporary release technique and soft martial games 19-21 May Friday 7pm-10pm, Saturday Noon – 6pm, Sunday 1pm-7pm Berkeley, California Western Sky Studio, 2545 8th street Fees: $210 - $400 sliding scale, $170 + with early registration see website for payment details and registration www.bodyresearch.org The workshop will explore... Classic contact improvisation : physics and sensory based material that works on easy body use and intelligent, dynamic use of alignment for articulate, 3 dimensional partnering, effortless lifts and supports, and shared movement into and out of the floor. Applications of release technique (contemporary dance, Alexander technique) to contact improvisation (the Passive Sequencing work), transferring effort wasted on jerk or muscular forcing and redirecting it into articulate, present, 3-dimensional movement Martial Dance: games and techniques from soft martial arts (ie. Tai Chi push hands) extrapolated to contact improvisation… physical listening/sensing, strategic yielding, directing, redirecting, shaping, lifting, throwing, flowing. More play than fight. see website for more information Karl Frost began movement studies with martial arts in the mid 1980s, first with Hawaiian martial arts (Lua) and then with Hapkido and Capoeria, with additional studies in Tai Chi and Ba Gua in the context of collaborative martial arts exchanges. He 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. While he stopped formally studying martial arts, some of the movement and functional awareness practices from his early studies in martial arts have become core to his movement practice and teaching. 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