Voice × Movement: Jam Jam Sessions

Location note: ESPA is IN a Big building! Read the parking and walking directions below if you haven't been to this studio before For people interested in improvised vocalization, improvised movement, and the space between! This is a facilitated container with instruction from Sam Bottner and Scott Gregory for creating music and movement together, welcoming our fully embodied expressions in a way that blurs the boundary between song and dance. We will start off by warming up our bodies and voices together, cultivating the deep listening that's required for the creation of of something totally new that resonates with everyone in the ensemble. After we've warmed up while attuning to ourselves and each other, we will open the space for an extended improvisation in which you're welcome to weave between being part of the soundtrack, the movement, both at the same time, or to just witness the beauty unfold. Please arrive promptly at 7:30 so we can begin together! $15 - $25 Sliding scale for entry Dress for comfortable movement and care for the floor and each other (no jeans, tangly clothes, dangly jewelry, or strong fragrances) What is Jam Jam? JJ is an experimental container for combining improvisational art forms. It emerged from observing theater, song, and clowning repeatedly emerge within the Austin Contact Improv Jam, and a desire to encourage this openness and freedom of creation. That's a lot! In fact, it's pretty difficult to balance these modalities, and it's really rare to have practice in all these arenas. Therefore! Jam Jam Sessions. Jam Jam Sessions are more tightly focused classes and jams for the purpose of building skills in the forms and discovering the peculiarities of how each form interacts with the others. About the facilitators: Sam Bottner is a composer, producer, poet, and multi-instrumentalist, weaving styles from ambient scapes to heartwrenching cinematic movements, from the heaviest electronic production to the most tender folk songs. As co-writer and composer, his stylistic range gives rise to a soul-stirring work of musical storytelling. With a background in vibroacoustic sound design and a deep commitment to evoking visceral emotional resonance, Sam uses sound as a bridge between the material and the mythic — inviting each audience into immersive worlds where story and sensation become one. Scott Gregory is a dancer, video artist, musician, and massage therapist. He has been hosting a Contact Improv Jam in Austin since 2023, is deeply engaged with the Ecstatic Dance community, and is interested in cultivating spaces for community, connection, ritual, embodiment, and collective liberation. 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. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~