PHYSICS meets CHEMISTRY:
The Pleasure of Motion
A Contact Improv Workshop w/ Moti Zemelman
November 19-20, 2016
Sat. Nov.19th, 2:30-6:30pm
Sun. Nov. 20th, 1-5pm
WHERE:
CORE Studios, 139 Sycamore St, Decatur
Founder of CI, Steve Paxton, is quoted 'If you're dancing physics, you're dancing contact. if you're dancing chemistry, you're doing something else.” Let’s challenge this notion in our dancing. Investigating the chemistry underlying the physics of this form asks us to deepen our awareness of sensations, emotions and desires that arise before during and after a dance. Conscious touch is practiced in CI through the art of consent - a devoted listening for the “Yes” and “No” our bodies offer each other moment to moment.
We’ll start by examining some of the basic physical principals of CI like gravity, momentum & inertia to observe where sensuality, intimacy and physical principles already intersect. We’ll work on breaking physical habits that keep us disconnected. We’ll do some myth busting to challenge false dichotomies in the “Dos” and “Don’ts” of CI (ie: don’t use your hands, don’t manipulate, always be in the flow). Incorporating eye-contact, energetic awareness, and tantric principles we'll explore being even more deeply present with our partners.
…Another quote of Steve Paxton’s I love is:
“Just the pleasure of moving and the pleasure of using your body is, I think, maybe the main point. And the pleasure of dancing with somebody in an unplanned and spontaneous way, when you're free to invent and they're free to invent and you're neither one hampering the other - that's a very pleasant social form!”
Whether you are new to CI or a seasoned dancer this workshop will offer new skills and ways to enter the dance.
Moti Zemelman, MFA, began practicing Contact Improv 28 years ago. Over the past 20 years he has taught and performed across USA, Canada, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Europe and Israel. In 2008-09 he taught as Dance Professor at the Instituto Naciónal de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Moti has been both a teacher and a board member at Earthdance Retreat Center in Plainfield, MA. He was an original member of Wire Monkey Dance Co., (Holyoke, MA, USA) and is a featured dancer in Sanford Lewis' documentary film about CI "An Intimate Dance." As a musician Moti plays vocal-electronic music for Contact Jams and in 2007 released his debut CD, Doorwaves. He also designs and moderates the international Contact Improv resource website www.contactimprov.com.
Workshop Cost Options are on a sliding scale based on income:
