"EARTH-BODY-SKY" - CI Workshop Inspired by Nature

with Bastien Auber

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This workshop will explore the dynamics underlying the movements between our body and the environment, and the interconnexion that exists in our relationship with the earth and the sky (the ground and the air) in the practice of Contact Improvisation. It draws on my research, begun over ten years ago, on the forms existing at different scales in the body, nature, and the landscapes that surround us (particularly spiral forms).

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This workshop will be structured over three days and three lines of inquiry :

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Day 1: SPACE AND SPEED

We will experiment with using the center (of mass) to master the precision of the periphery. From there, we will seek to control the accelerations and decelerations of our movements. We will then refine the amplitude of our gestures and their relationship to space. This will help us integrate into our dances the landscape that evolves at different scales: of time and size.

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Day 2: LANDSCAPES AND SYMMETRIES

Using the indoor and outdoor environment of the workshop space, we will explore the concepts of axes, verticality, and horizontality. The landscape will help us shift our perspective, as well as our levels (ground, middle, air). We will then work on front and back, the support of the hands on the ground, and the head beneath the feet. We will use spirals to disrupt our usual symmetries.

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Day 3: HARMONIES OF FORMS

The concepts of balance and imbalance will be our foundation for enriching our dances. We will develop the transfer of forces related to gravity (between traction and compression). Nature will inspire us to be channels between earth and sky, and to refine our lifts so that they become danceable.

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