Claire Filmon and Stephane Els (Paris, France)

Mon.-Wed. June 15-17:
1-4pm Dance Improvisation and speaking
6-9pm: Contact Improvisation and Underscore

Cost: $50-80 (sliding scale) either workshop // $90-$150 both // Location: Camp Long or Grassroots Studio - 5200 35th Ave SW // For more info. or to sign up: info@PHFFFT.org

The day will be developed in two parts.

The first part of the day (1-4pm) will be devoted to experiment the relationship between movement (possibly including contact improvisation) and the use of speaking and words. How they articulate, and how they stimulate each other. How the speaking helps to achieve and support a movement and vice versa. How there meeting creates new images and new meanings, in the representation of movement we can have or give. This proposition is not specifically for performers: this work is mainly a chance to observe how our mind and body works when coordinating movement and speaking in an easy and creative way - whatever the context or the intention is. This work is inspired by Simone Forti’s Logomotion, and Claire’s experience in her approach of performing.

The evening (6-9pm) will be devoted to the practice of contact improvisation, revisiting its principles, and refining them (weight, contact, momentum, spherical space, relationship with the floor, the tonus, the partner, the space, etc.). So we will be able to open our attention and our perceptions to new possibilities of our body, playing with them, trusting the ability of our body to organize spontaneously and safely in a risky environment, searching for detachment and releasing so to face up the unknown of the duet.

There will be also a time to meet the main notions of Nancy Stark Smith’s Underscore : a score defined as a research and practice of contact improvisation in a group.

A proposition, indeed, is, with our experience of contact improvisation (whatever our level is) and in integrating these notions of the underscore, to have a group experience at the end of the workshop - the 20th in the morning - through this special practice known as the Global Underscore Solstice.
The GUS practice occurs each year, since 2000, at the solstice period, and links different cities in the world at the same time, in a 4 hours of dance experience.

Mirva Brigitta Makinen (Helsinki, Finland)

Sat. June 20th, 11-4pm

Cost: $75-$100 sliding scale // Location: Camp Long or Grassroots Studio - 5200 35th Ave SW // For more info. or to sign up: info@PHFFFT.org

Details in Dance

I am interested in the investigation of personal tools to help the each person's Contact improvisation dance. How can one create a live dancing dialogue by using touch, movement, weight and balance? What kind of details we can find from dance by listening the a "live" situation. What if I have every moment many possibilities where i can guide or allow a dance to go. How will we recognize when we are leading or following the dance? From light contact and softness we move towards more weight and intensity working with skin, muscle and bones and using this knowledge as a structure to build dance but also to build connection to the other person. We try to find safe and effective strategies of moving into and out of the floor; flying low and flying high. So this workshop will be lot about what kind of choices we make in dance and also about juicy details and basic principles of Contact Improvisation.