Master-class: «Lab CI-Technique. From questions to deeper understanding»
CI-Technique: What is your interest? Or: what is your question? Or: from questions to deeper understanding………take the one you like better…
When Steve Paxton began to develop CI in 1972 with a group of young movers, they were mainly led by questions, their curiosity and the wish to explore movement in the field of gravity. In fact the group was not taught by Steve but they were labbing: they had neither the answers nor specific techniques for CI yet. In the meantime, 40 years later, CI has hugely evolved: many questions have been answered, many details discovered and lots of sweat did run down the movers’ bodies. And still one can or even should have questions about CI in order to keep this dance form alive.
Questions can have various backgrounds: maybe a question has been answered already a thousand times, but you want to explore it in your individual way or maybe you just don’t know the well known answer yet. And new questions are arising as our world, our knowledge and our experience is developing constantly.
SO: this lab is an opportunity to come with your question about CI or to find your questions while labbing. The focus will be on CI-technique, knowing that technique can not really be separated from perception, improvisation, emotional states and much more besides.
Your role will be the one being in the explorer’s mind, full of curiosity and pleasure to move. My role as a facilitator will be also explorative and in addition to that to create a frame where questions can be found, proposing ways to work in groups, time keeping and finding resolutions and conclusions at the end of the process.
Let’s go back to the roots with the mind of 2012!
Adrian Russi
Adrian Russi is a one of the leading CI-teacher in Switzerland and travelling all over Europe to teach and perform Contact and Free Improvisation. He is deeply involved in CI since 1992 and in the meantime he is dedicating the biggest part of his life to this wonderful dance form.
After his studies of New Dance at “bewegungs-art” in Freiburg/Germany he continued his education with many different teachers, among them Steve Paxton and Nancy Stark Smith who have started to develop CI in the early seventies with a group of other movers.
He offers his work as a free lancer to a wide range of people and also gets regularly invited to teach in schools. In his teaching he focuses on the technical aspects of CI (ease, precision and strength) as well as on matters of perception (sensation, connection of inner and outer space, of bottom and top) and on a creativity coming from a distinct body-awareness. For him the pleasure to play, deep engagement in the dance, and respect for others are the basis for gaining the most possible in dancing CI.
July 7-10 - Workshop Contact improvisation for all levels with Itay Yatuv;
July 13th - Teachers performance;
July 14 - 21 - Main part of The Festival 8 days of dancing;
July 25 - 29 - Contact improvisation lab for teachers and advanced dancers with Yaniv Mintzer;
July 25 - 29 - Jam week in Moscow for everybody contact dancers
INTENSIVES
The longest and the most important workshops at the festival. Four teachers do their classes separately during five days. Intensives begin at 9.30.
PROJECTS AND LABS
At the festival you can participate in one of the Projects. Project is a lab that continues for 5 days. Projects are facilitated by teachers, but it is not a workshop, as teacher is only support the process of exploration, keep time and offer structure for the work. If you choose to be in a project, please participate all 5 days, so that the group can really go deep in exploration. This year we have two projects:
-Adrian Russi
-Ilya Domanov and Katya Velichko
If you want to explore your own themesorganize the process yourself and have an opportunity to take different themes every day with different people, than instead of joining a project, you can participate and organize laboratories. Laboratory is an opportunity to work with a theme that interests you with a group of interested people.
Laboratory is an opportunity to work with a theme that interests you with a group of interested people
We invite every festival participant to offer ideas and questions for labs. In the lab you can explore any aspect of CI and performance.
Themes can be various, for example: contact trio, street performance, how to land softly when moving with a partner etc. Theme can be taken from morning intensive, if you want to explore something deeper. Labs can continue for 1 or more days depending on the interest of participants.
The role of facilitator is to offer a theme and support creative exploration of the group.
We will have an information board for lab offers.
Welcome on board of exploration, curiosity, insights and creativity!!!
Some ideas on how to create a lab.
General Points:
• Be passionate about your question or theme
• Questions do not have to be answered. Question might produce more questions.
• Motivate people to explore rather than give your own answers
• Be open to let the explorations go in unexpected direction
• There is no right or wrong way to lead a lab
Practical Points
1. Introduce the question or theme – in verbal or practical way as appropriate.
2. Discuss and agree the working methods – make best use of time available. It’s often useful to dance more, to explore the theme in movement.
3. Time keeping – watch the clock
4. Give time for feedback and sharing
5. There is a possibility to share your results in various ways
- Documentation
- Performance
- Further lab
Creative Time
CREATIVE TIME
This is a special time of the day when you can concentrate on whatever is important for you.
Probably you would enjoy these options:
• Have some time alone, digest your experience, write down your thoughts…
• Talk to someone, share your feelings
• Make a small lab (e.g. work on the material of today’s intensive)…
• Give or receive bodywork…
• Make a photo shoot or video performance…
• Go on a dance date…
• Announce and facilitate a discussion on a topic that interests you – share your thoughts and find out what other people think…
• Make an unannounced performance for random audience…
• Announce place and time of your performance and perform (try out some creative ideas, collect feedback)…
• Rehearse for the evening performance…
• Connect with nature (go out for a walk or swim in the river)…
• Just have rest and sleep…
• Relax and think of something of your own…
If you want someone to join you at tomorrow’s Creative time, put an announcement on the information board in the “Creative time” section or speak up in the cafe during food break.
If you need support for your ideas feel free to ask teachers, organizers, friends and other participants.
ONE-2-ONE SESSIONS
These are 20 min long individual sessions with teachers. In the begining of the festival there will be list of teachers and time where you can write your name to reserve this time for your lesson.
