Acuity (taught by Chris) is a quality of skilled perceptual awareness and sensitivity.  It develops from mindful practice and the desire to grasp or understand the significance of the details of what is perceivable.  In contact improvisation, acuity manifests in the ways we perceive through touch, vision, movement, and sound.  In this workshop, we will seek ways of connecting perception and imagination to co-create dances that are inspired and emotionally resonant.

Readiness (taught by Ray): What does it mean, and what is necessary to be ready to engage in CI physically, mentally, emotionally, creatively? What level of mobility, agility, flexibility can widen the spectrum of possibilities in ones’ practice. What cognitive faculties (conscious and unconscious) facilitate a wider range of choice making.  Could one’s’ level of experience be a deciding factor on how, and what, one wants out of their practice. How do we inform our practice via our experience. We will delve into various practices to activate and enable new ways of engaging in habitudes.

Compositional awareness (taught by Andrew). Focusing on the dynamic range and intricacies of touch, tone, texture, fluid weight exchange, and moving support, we will expand our compositional awareness to include space, time, image, gesture, atmosphere, and feeling, through solo, duet, trio and ensemble dancing. The overall work will involve specific improvisation investigations, perceptual tunings, principles of design and scores aimed at developing our capacity to collaborate and integrate CI into a greater creative universe.