Beginner friendly pre-jam warmup class 5-6.30pm followed by the jam 6.30-8.30pm. Doors will be closed for the duration of the class to keep the focus, so please arrive early to attend the class, you can arrive at any time for the jam. Dancers can come just for the class, £6, or stay for the jam, £9. Both also available to book via MoveGB.
For more information feel free to contact the teacher/facilitator or info@contactdance.co.uk. We send out regular emails of class descriptions, to get these, please sign-up to our mailing list.
Class Description
Contact improvisation can be seen as an open-ended exploration of the kinaesthetic possibilities of bodies moving in contact with one another. Sometimes dynamic, acrobatic, and sometimes quiet and contemplative, it is a dance form inclusive of all bodies and enquiring minds.
In this class, we’ll sharpen our communication skills, apply physics and train our openness for collaboration. We will embrace detail and sensuousness and train our ability to be
spontaneously, viscerally creative.
Born in Southern Germany and raised in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Ralf Jaroschinski graduated as a classical and modern dancer from the University of Music, Theater and Media in Hannover, Germany, and then studied several contemporary dance and composition techniques in New York on a stipend from the German Academic Exchange Service. He discovered contact improvisation for himself in 1994. From 1998 until 2002, he directed the dance company of the City Theater of Hildesheim, Germany, and included contact improvisation as part of the dancers’ training and the creation of his works. He also got commissioned to create choreographies for several European, Asian and American municipal and national ballet companies and dance universities – so far, he has created some 100 dance pieces and improvisation scores.
Facilitating contact improvisation classes and workshops more regularly since 2004, Ralf has taught at numerous festivals, universities, dance schools and studios all over the world. He has trained the dancers of companies such as the Brazilian Curitiba Guaíra Ballet, the Australian “Canberra Dance Theatre”, “Frontier Danceland” in Singapore, the “Bangkok City Ballet” in Thailand, the German “Tanztheater Braunschweig”, “Carte Blanche” in Bergen, Norway, and the Swedish “Cullbergbaletten” in Stockholm in contact improvisation.
The Jam
A jam is an informal gathering of dancers. There is no teacher, but space and time to develop skills and confidence. You are free to dance, rest, or sit and watch, as you wish. The jam provides an opportunity to explore and integrate techniques you have learned, and to find your own routes into dancing.
At some jams a teacher will facilitate a score to follow such as a focused (silent) jam, the Underscore (developed by Nancy Stark-Smith), or a blindfold (or eyes-closed) jam, this will normally be advertised via our regular mailout – so sign-up if you want advance notice.