Sunday Warmup Class

Practicing fundamentals of Contact Improvisation concentrating on leaning and falling, using the skin as a landscape to dive into dancing with a partner and  using the air and the floor to experiment with momentum and gravity.

Also exploring creative strategies for sourcing movement in improvisation. How to access ones own emotional landscape and imagination to support more expressive dancing?
This class is not exclusive to performers or centred on performance. However, with performance as my personal focus, I am interested in using some imagery and techniques from physical theatre and performance to find diverse physical qualities, densities and dynamics in the dancing.

Mary Pearson is a performance maker, dancer, teacher and organiser based in Liverpool, UK. In 2005 she co-founded Fool’s Proof Theatre, with whom she has toured nationally internationally in the UK/USA with their devised work. She is currently touring her solo show called FAILURE and facilitating interdisciplinary improvisation workshops called FAILURE Lab.

Mary has guest taught CI, Improvisation, Choreography & Performance at Liverpool Hope and Liverpool John Moore’s Universities (2009-2011) and has facilitated at various artist exchanges in Europe/US including: Ponderosa /P.O.R.C.H 2011/12, E/merge interdisciplinary artist residency Earthdance 2011/12, and E.C.I.T.E 2011/10. She leads ongoing CI classes in Liverpool in association with Liverpool Improvisation Collective.

Mary earned her B.A. in English Literature & Studio Art from Oberlin College (USA) and studied physical theatre at Kiklos Teatro International School of Theatre Creation (Padua, Italy). She has trained extensively in dance and diverse movement forms since always – including ballet and modern dance, yoga, capoeira, and CI.