–
Feb 23
Fundamentals of Contact Improvisation with Jess Curtis/Gravity
Saturday, February 23, 1:00-5:00 p.m.
1155 Market St., 11th floor Fitness Room FREE
Contact Improvisation is an improvisational dance form utilizing physical principles such as touch, momentum, gravity, friction, resistance, counterbalance, lifting and falling. Primarily practiced as a duet form, Contact trains the senses and reflexes to allow for nuanced communication through touch, and the playful interaction of weight and momentum in space. This workshop will focus on the fundamental skills of Contact Improvisation, in a way that can be useful to the first time contacter as well as offering more experienced contacters a variety of concepts and exercises to increase their skill and options in the dance.
We will address and practice
1) sustaining a clear point or points of contact.
2) Giving our weight through touch clearly and safely
3) Trusting our reflexes to find balance outside of the vertical and in motion
4) Moving our attention easily between our own body, our partners body and the space around us
5) Finding a variety of qualities in our dancing and our ability to move easily and intentionally between them
6) Finding our way easily into and out of dances.
To RSVP, contact Adult Program Coordinator Serena Olsen at solsen@lighthouse-sf.org or 415-694-7316.
About Jess Curtis/Gravity: Jess Curtis is an award-winning choreographer and performer committed to an art-making practice informed by experimentation, innovation, critical discourse and social relevance at the intersections of fine art and popular culture. In 2000, Curtis founded his own trans-continental performance company, Jess Curtis/Gravity, based in Berlin and San Francisco. Curtis is active as a writer, advocate and community organizer in the fields of contemporary dance and performance, and teaches accessible Dance, Contact Improvisation and Interdisciplinary Performance courses throughout the US and Europe. He holds an MFA in Choreography and a Ph.D. in Performance Studies from the University of California at Davis. Learn more about Jess Curtis/Gravity at https://www.jesscurtisgravity.org/.
