Contact Improvisation in Amsterdam & Netherlands

What is Contact Improvisation?

Read also: A Short Introduction to Contact Improvisation

What is Contact Improvisation:

There are maybe as many defenitions or descriptions about CI as there are CI dancers.

Here is a definition from something called The Dictionary of Dance (no author listed - see if you can figure out their web site!)(now not online there anymore)

Contact Improvisation:
A style and technique based on improvisation, in which the dancers support and utilize each other's body weight while in motion; attributed to dance artist Steve Paxton working in the United States, beginning in the 1970's; normally performed as a duet and without music, the emphasis is on touching, falling, lifting, leaning, sliding, counter-balancing, and supporting the weight of another person. Characteristics of sharing, cooperation, egalitarianism, and informality define the social atmosphere amongst performers and with the audience.

Or on Wikipedia it says:

Contact Improvisation (CI) is a postmodern dance practice that explores movement through shared weight, touch, and physical awareness. Originating in the United States in 1972, contact improvisation was developed by dancer and choreographer Steve Paxton, drawing on influences from modern dance, aikido, and somatic practices. Contact Improvisation emphasizes the interplay of gravity, momentum, and improvisation, fostering an experimental approach to movement that invites both professional dancers and newcomers into its global community.

The practice involves continuous physical touch between dancers, where gravity, momentum, inertia, and friction shape their interactions.

The dance is further described by Paxton:
"The exigencies of the form dictate a mode of movement which is relaxed, constantly aware and prepared, and onflowing"

Known for its open "jams," contact improvisation is both a social dance and a tool for movement research, offering a unique blend of physicality and mindfulness Formally, contact improvisation is a movement improvisation that is explored with another being. According to one of its first practitioners, Nancy Stark Smith, it "resembles other familiar duet forms, such as the embrace, wrestling, surfing, martial arts, and the Jitterbug, encompassing a wide range of movement from stillness to highly athletic."

Contact improvisation has evolved into various formats, including performance art, experimental dance, and education. Figures like Nancy Stark Smith, Lisa Nelson, and Nita Little played significant roles in broadening its influence, integrating the practice into postmodern dance traditions and contemporary performance studies.

[...]
(extracted feb.2025)

Other Notes:

A jam is a dance event in which people get together and do contact improvisation, or related types of improvisation. It is not a performance for a seperate audience. It is for fun.

The first definition above says that contact improvisation is normally danced without music. However in many jams there is music which adds another dimension to the form. One can dance contact improvisation to to just about any musical style. I can remember dancing to classical music, house, jazz, and often to experimental new forms or free jazz. The freedom to dance to any musical style could arise from the fact that contact improvisation is not rhythmic in a literal sense; dancers are not required to move in a way that mimics a particular audible beat. Instead the timing of the dance may be set by a kind of internal physical and emotional rhythm. Thus anything that inspires an emotional or physical response can in principle help to guide a dance.

Touch is not essential for contact improvisation. Visual and aural communication between dancers provide plenty of inspiration to open the dance up.

The best thing to do to understand contact improvisation is to come see what its all about and to join in.