5-Week Intermediate Series


Feb 23 – Mar 23

Zero-Trust Contact Improvisation

Intermediate Series
Beginning Thursday, Feb 23rd at 6:30 pm 

The provocative subtitle for this exploration comes from an idea that often emerges in discussions of what constitutes Contact Improvisation: the notion that trust is essential to the process.

Trust: that someone won’t drop you, that others are taking care, that you’re strong enough to manage or take anothers’ weight… 

Without discounting these concerns (and the list is much longer) I’d like to focus on what variables we can reasonably manage, within ourselves, amplifying our own ability to perceive the dynamic and evolving circumstances of the dance we find ourselves in, caught in the current of this stretch of time, in this body, as we find it, here, presently.

We will endeavor to extract from the category of “Trust” those things that we can reasonably “Know” and rely upon, such as feeling support (or the lack thereof), moving with integrity (literally: with all of YOU, intact), thereby finding safety and freedom, without giving up our agency or, as I see it, hoping for the best.

Commitment


Once more, I’m asking dancers to commit to 4 out of the 5 weeks, and additionally that you be strict about this. I’ll allow drop-ins on a person-by-person basis, so please only register if you KNOW you can reasonably attend the majority of sessions. We will depend on limiting the variables in the room in order to grasp, tug, pull, slide, and sit on the enormous number of variables that we cannot otherwise, even at our most grandiose, begin to comprehend. And yet, we dance in that fullness, through and with an enormity of complexity, every time we show up.

Prerequisite

In order to promote a safer space for higher-than-average-risk dancing, consider the following self-evaluation:

  1. Have you attended a beginning class series or received other instruction in Contact Improvisation?
  2. Do you attend or have you attended the Jam with some regularity?
  3. Are you able to sustain attention while dancing for longer durations without risk to your own safety? 
  4. Do you feel reasonably confident supporting another’s weight when on two steady legs AND on all fours (as in “tabletop”)

It’s quite difficult to imagine a test for when beginning-level explorations become something more… since I remain enthralled with what I consider elemental skills in Contact. So if you have any questions about whether this series is a good fit for you, please contact me.

If you have doubts, I’d err on the side of attending if you’re at all comfortable in the Jam environment.

Spaces Available

Advance Payment and Registration are Required.

There are 12 spaces available for the series.

No Refunds

Schedule


Weekly on Thursday beginning Feb 23rd

6:30-9 pm *

* Those familiar with by beginning series approach will find this process allows more open time improvising with skill-building ideas. While it may place greater demands on your attention, I expect it’ll be nothing more than might occur during the Monday Jam.

Location


Stage 7 School of Dance

Kearney Mesa
9103 Chesapeake Dr., San Diego CA 92123

Located off the 52, 163, 15 freeways and near the 805 freeway.

Fee

  • Paying before Thursday 12/8: $125
  • Paying on or after Thursday 12/8: $145
  • Drop in (by prior approval): $35 per day

NOTAFLOF: Work/Trade is available for those with limited means.

Payment Options


Cash, in person, Monday, Feb 20th at the Stage 7 Jam

Venmo: @justindances
$Cash App: @justindances

Other payment options are available on request, including PayPal and Zelle.

Want Email or Text Updates?