FREE Contact Improvisation Course
This course consists of three weekend meetings during spring term 2025.
During these course meetings, you will be able to immerse yourself in the practice of Contact Improvisation (CI), where recurring meetings offer an opportunity to develop together as a group.
During the course we will work with different technique exercises that offer concrete physical tools to use in your dance as well as develop our ability to improvise as part of a group. We will work both in physical contact with others as well as out of physical contact with a threefold focus on own body awareness, the ability to listen to a dance partner, and the ability to relate to the whole room.
The course will include teaching sessions that focus on developing your technical ability regarding specific anatomical placements and functional movement patterns, as well as technical abilities regarding different qualities of touch and physical responsiveness. Some course sessions will take the form of a lab (short for laboratory) – a format where there is more room for your own exploration of a theme together with the group. In some lab sessions, participants themselves will be able to suggest the theme, with a focus on co-creation. The course will also include some shorter sessions that focus on CI history, complementing and enriching our dance practice through watching films and reading texts. In the evenings we jam!
The course is aimed at those who have danced CI before and have the ability and desire to explore the practice together with others. You should be familiar with CI, have a curiosity about your process, and the desire to deepen your practice. However, there is no requirement for a certain level of technical ability. If you are unsure if you have the right experience for the course, please get in touch. The course is held in English or Swedish depending on the group’s preference.
The course weekends start on Thursday/Friday at 18.00 and end on Sunday at 12.00. You apply for the whole course but can participate even if you are unable to come to one of the weekends.
Places are limited and are on a first come, first served basis.
About the teacher:
Elise Mae Nuding works as an artist-researcher and educator in dance and choreography. Originally from the UK but based in Sweden since 2015, she is active as a dancer, choreographer, and educator both in Sweden and abroad. Her teaching experience includes extensive teaching on higher education programmes as well as a range of other contexts, including professional training for dancers and community education. Most recently she held the position of lecturer in dance at the University of Gothenburg from 2022-24.
Contact Improvisation has been a central aspect of her dance practice, both as technique and artistic expression, since she first encountered it in the US in 2010 studying with Nancy Stark-Smith. She has been deeply involved in developing and sustaining the CI community in the Stockholm area since 2016 and teaches Contact Improvisation regularly both in Sweden and abroad, most recently at Contact Festival Freiburg 2024 and India Contact Festival 2025.
When:
February 3 2025 Online meeting
February 6-9 2025
March 21-23 2025
April 25-27 2025
Where: Härnösand, Sweden
Find more information at: https://hfs.se/course/kontakt-improvisation/
Deadline for applications: December 31 2024
Cost: The course is free of charge