Dancers:
- Take the time to center yourself so you’ll be receptive to others and create harmonious contacts.
- Before making contact sensitize yourself to your partner’s receptivity by verbal or nonverbal means (eye contact, smile, energy, etc.)
- Accept or signal refusal to dance in a respectful, open and straightforward manner.
- Find an overall balance between your self expression and that of your partner’s.
- Keep the dance space free if you’re not dancing
- Be aware of the group; respect personal space, the physical and acoustic environments.
- Limit verbal exchanges. Hold conversations in a low voice at the edge of the room.
- Respect each dancer’s level, rhythm and physical capacity.
- In case of doubt, ask one of the organizers for advice.
Musicians (if present):
Contact improvisation is usually done without musical accompaniment. Musicians are nevertheless welcome if they respect certain principles:
- As a musician at a contact improvisation jam you should understand that you are a dancer like everyone else.
- Music is powerful. Please do not use it to create a personal mood or impose a rhythm. Instead practice your art in close contact with the dancers and the overall atmosphere, producing sounds inspired by their movements and moods.
- Contact improvisation springs from the intimate chemistry between bodies, not from ambient music. Music should therefore be subtle and improvised with a high potential for unpredictability. Music and silence go hand in hand. Moments of silence promote listening and creativity in a climate of perfect openness.
- By skillfully incorporating moments of silence, you remind the dancers that they are the source of the music.
- Neither silence nor the end of the music should give the impression that something is missing.
In case of doubt ask one of the organizers for advice.
