Exploring the Basics of Contact Improvisation Dance
Marielle Estelle
What is Contact Dance? Contact improvisation is a form of improvised dancing. It involves the exploration of one’s body in relationship to others by using the fundamentals of sharing weight, touch, and movement awareness. It has evolved into a broad global community of social dancing around “jams” characterized by their welcoming attitude towards newcomers to dance, as well as seasoned practitioners, and is often found overlapping with ecstatic dance communities.
American dancer and choreographer Steve Paxton originated contact improvisation, drawing from his past training in aikido, a martial art form, to explore and push boundaries with his colleagues and students to develop this new practice. Contact improvisation plays with the artistry of falling off balance, counterbalance, finding the shelves of the body, learning the mechanics of the body in order to handle someone else’s weight or be lifted, breathing techniques, and can involve the art of getting to know your partner past the physical point through the physicality.
As an Artist, Marielle’s passion for creation led her to explore different dance modalities (contact improvisation, dance therapy, dance, biodanza, ecstatic dance). About to become a dance therapist, Marielle is currently giving weekly workshops as well as working in collaboration with various dance therapists and populations. Using the medicine of Dance and movement, she explored Contact improvisation Dance which is also using the power of touch.
