Embodiment in Contact, Three Ways In
Intensive Workshops in Contact Improvisation
with Alicia Grayson
December 7 – 9, 2018
Explore three ways into Contact Improvisation through these Intensive Workshops. Alicia Grayson guides us on a journey into The Delight of Flying, The Elements & Chakras of CI, and Active Witnessing.
The Delight of Flying
This workshop will begin with supporting new and effortless pathways to the ground. Once we have had a solid deftness with falling we will find our way into the air with an ease and fearlessness that allows the body to experience flight with relaxation and delight. Read more about this workshop…
Active Witnessing
Experience deep interpersonal trust on a cellular level. Integrate transformative embodied awareness of body/mind, self/other, and inner/outer relationships. Read more about this workshop…
Sign up for the whole weekend, or one or more days.
Workshops at the Warren Wilson College Bryson Gym
In Swannanoa, North Carolina
Schedule
Friday – The Delight of Flying
1-4pm Int Level Workshop
5-7pm Dinner Break
7:30-10pm Jam
Saturday – Grounded Lightness – Exploring the Chakras and Elements of Earth and Air & CI
10:30am Registration
11-6pm Workshop (lunch break time TBA)
Evening Community Time
Sunday – Active Witnessing: The Art of Authentic Movement in Contact
9:30-4pm Workshop (lunch break time TBA)
Registration Open
Sliding Scale Pricing
See Registration for Per-day Costs
Full Weekend
Suggested $180-300 Range
$225 average needed to cover costs
Free for Warren Wilson Students – Please Pre-Register!
Walk in Registrations accepted.
Cash, Check or PayPal/Credit
About Alicia Grayson:
Detailed Workshop Descriptions
- Discover and practice specific techniques for navigating the descent to the floor from any level
- Learn new tools for creating lightness and ease in your ability to fly
- Experience how to dance underneath the flyer so your body loves being the “under-dancer”
- Explore how the momentum of falling creates the opportunity for delicious flying
- Receive individual feedback to support more choice and creativity in your dancing
Grounded Lightness
An exploration of the elements of earth and air and their corresponding chakras to support clarity and freedom in the dance.
Focusing on the elements of earth and air and the first and forth chakras that correspond with these elements we build skills and states that support delicious dancing. We will expand our abilities to listen to ourselves and our partners so that the flow of life energy can move effortlessly through us as we improvise in contact.
The following investigations, drawn from the qualities of the earth and air chakras, will weave their way into the workshop:
Earth: creating and deepening a felt sense of safety, refining one’s ability to listen and respond though touch, continuously sensing the ground through own and partner’s body, integrating feet and legs to pelvic floor and spine.
Air: expanding the awareness of the lungs and breath as well as the arms and hands and their relationship to the heart, developing strategies for creating lightness in the body, allowing the spectrum of heart qualities to dance us.
Active Witnessing: The Art of Authentic Movement in Contact
Combining elements of Authentic Movement, Contact Improvisation, and non-judgmental active witnessing, we will co-create a safe container in which to explore a deeper and more embodied connection with yourself while relating with others. Experience deep interpersonal trust on a cellular level. Integrate transformative embodied awareness of body/mind, self/other, and inner/outer relationships.
Working in trios, we will discover the powerful lessons that come from these three roles:
- As a mover with eyes closed, we deepen our ability to follow our own authentic impulses, inspired by our own internal sensations, imagery, emotions and/or story. We have the opportunity to experience staying true to our own inner impulses and journey, while being relational (if we choose) with an active witness who is supporting us.
- As a sitting witness we learn to cultivate our own ability to cultivate non-judgmental witnessing of others while simultaneously witnessing our own inner process
- As an active witness we learn to stay true to our own impulses, while actively supporting the mover’s process with or without touch/contact
- After each movement segment, we will engage in a speaking practice to bring more consciousness to our movement and witnessing experience
No experience in either Authentic Movement or Contact Improvisation is necessary, though a previous orientation towards personal awareness practice is useful. While this work can be highly therapeutic, it is not therapy.
