Contact Improvisation Class & Jam

Contact improvisation is a movement practice based on physical dialogue between bodies. Through touch, weight, momentum, gravity and shared attention, people explore movement together without knowing in advance exactly where it will go.

It involves listening through the body: giving and receiving weight, following and redirecting momentum, supporting and being supported, and continually negotiating the changing relationship between yourself, another person, and the ground.

Classes at Wainsgate are led by experienced teachers and offer a way into the jam, giving some shared information and focus to move with.

A jam is a space for exploring contact improvisation in a concentrated space, and is an opportunity to dance with different people; to play, explore and discover.

The session starts at 12 midday with a two-hour class, then there’s a break for 45 minutes – a chance to eat something and hang out a bit, and then two hours for jamming.

The class and jam are welcoming, physical and fun, and are open to all.

This month’s class and jam are facilitated by Charlie Morrissey.

Charlie works with movement as a teacher, performer and performance maker internationally.

His teaching is about opening a space for each participant to discover more about their own bodies and movement possibilities. He offers maps and pathways as routes into moving solo and in contact with others.

He has been involved in the practice of contact improvisation for nearly 40 years and his work is influenced by long-term working relationships with artists including Steve Paxton, Lisa Nelson, Kirstie Simson, and many others.

More about Charlie here: charliemorrissey.com/

More about Contact Improvisation here: contactquarterly.com/contact-improvisation/about/