Contact Improvisation's 36th Birthday Celebration
Benno Voorham's first TI class session, June 9 2008 - notes by Nina Martin
[below is an HTML version of nina's notes from benno voorham's first training intensive class session. also attached, at the bottom, is nina's original notes as an ms word document.]
Begin with talk—Benno: "What is your intention in this moment? How can it become new?"
"Walk around, stand notice breath and rhythm to breathe. Notice your weight flowing down into your feet and simultaneously there is an energy flowing upwards toward the sky."
Approx. 20 students.
Whole group, each one chooses privately someone to be close to. (two times)
Whole group, each one chooses someone to be far from (one time). This time the structure ended with an extended trio in constant motion..
Whole group, choose someone to be close to and far away from simultaneously. At the end 3-5 minutes everyone allowed to take a few steps to realize being closer to one partner and farther from the other.
Next exercise:
Whole group on one side of space, crossing the space in duets.
1. Keeping head to head contact with partner, "wheels" of energy – circles through partner's head, down the partner's body, through floor, up my body and vise versa. Crossing floor several times while maintaining head to head dance.
After about 5 mins, "notice the rhythms of your duet, your dance as you cross."
Floor as concept:
Floor supports your body so that it can move. Contact supplies a "second floor that moves along with you and you are following it." It provides support that you can manipulate and play with.
In couples: again crossing floor, focusing of moving your pelvis closer and farther away from your partner. Referencing the head to head dance, now space opening and closing between you and your partner. Shifting point of contact between head through torso to pelvis. (3-4 times).
"Habit of destination" – Jeff Bliss
"It's like an accordion"- Alexis (tall and thin)
Cross the floor again with partner, as if you are in a bubble that is floating across the space. Avoid contact but stay within the bubble. Moving in the spaces where you partner is not. "Skin has millions of eyes, I see with my foot, my buttocks, my hand, seeking the available space where I can move." This dance as demonstrated is using the under and over possibilities within the bubble. Several crosses, last one with music- drumming. I experienced my solo body coming into its dancing.
I just danced with Munir who blew his AT tendon as an Olympic roller blader. He was in my trio from the exercise before. He told me that he shouldn't be running!
"Now continuing in a couple crossing the floor, move over and under your partner as before but now sharing of light weight comes into play." "You see opportunities for weight sharing". "Don't stop in your support, it is always in motion." Static "Don't hold the weight, keep the sense of keeping in motion. You are always in motion, even stillness is movement."
Beautiful progression into dancing, bringing our traveling bodies into deep and easy concentration.
New Exercise:
Duet that both feed, no leaders, when partner (A) chooses to go out of contact and the other partner (B) waits until her partner comes back to her. Partner can travel far away yet always keeping a sense of the duet. The moving person decides when to go back into contact dancing..
"Helps to play without overdoing, there is a sense of drama/playing in the dance without milking it." Student asks if she should be frozen like statue. Benno responds that she can be aware and follow with eyes, but not go so far as to turn the head. "You have someone waiting for you". "As dancers we have the habit of moving, sometimes too much. Take the advantage to be still with your partner who is waiting and watch them. When you come back into contact how do you do it, with what kind of energy?" Benno demonstrates coming back to his partner with a quick light force. Dance without changing roles for 10 minutes.
A score that supports my dancing!
Jeff Bliss—Found the structure very rich, was the music creating the drama?
Sue Lee -- The question of power… who is the powerful one, the one moving or the waiting?
Margaret Paek - Choosing to leave and to be still and wait.
An inquiry into stillness. "Five ideas about stillness…what is taking place in my waiting."
Josh: being still and present with partner.
Benno: "Ways to come back: smoothness or, 'here I am again darling'- sweetly. Or..Here I AM! Forcefully.
Abruptly. He witnessed students making strong choices about coming back into contact. He noticed that Catherine's and Keith's duet did not always pacify their dancing as opposed to most of the other couples who no matter how the contact dance began, it would tend to become more friendly or nice. He encourages us to articulate our choices about how we consider our partners.
Margaret making dramatic choices. Benno: He loves drama…he likes to see humans involved with the drama of their existence…perceptions…dancing as an emotional body.
Jeff Bliss: Discriminating awareness.
Maya, Josh, Leslie, Mary Beth, Alex, Ginny, Jeff, Margaret, Tina, Munir, Keith Catherine, Ray, Nancy, Emily, Jennifer, Sean, Sue Lee, Andrew Alexis, Nina.
CI 36 Benno Voorham Morning June 8, 2008 scribed by Nina Martin
Begin with talk—Benno: "What is your intention in this moment? How can it become new?"
"Walk around, stand notice breath and rhythm to breathe. Notice your weight flowing down into your feet and simultaneously there is an energy flowing upwards toward the sky."
Approx. 20 students.
Whole group, each one chooses privately someone to be close to. (two times)
Whole group, each one chooses someone to be far from (one time). This time the structure ended with an extended trio in constant motion..
Whole group, choose someone to be close to and far away from simultaneously. At the end 3-5 minutes everyone allowed to take a few steps to realize being closer to one partner and farther from the other.
Next exercise:
Whole group on one side of space, crossing the space in duets.
1. Keeping head to head contact with partner, "wheels" of energy – circles through partner's head, down the partner's body, through floor, up my body and vise versa. Crossing floor several times while maintaining head to head dance.
After about 5 mins, "notice the rhythms of your duet, your dance as you cross."
Floor as concept:
Floor supports your body so that it can move. Contact supplies a "second floor that moves along with you and you are following it." It provides support that you can manipulate and play with.
In couples: again crossing floor, focusing of moving your pelvis closer and farther away from your partner. Referencing the head to head dance, now space opening and closing between you and your partner. Shifting point of contact between head through torso to pelvis. (3-4 times).
"Habit of destination" – Jeff Bliss
"It's like an accordion"- Alexis (tall and thin)
Cross the floor again with partner, as if you are in a bubble that is floating across the space. Avoid contact but stay within the bubble. Moving in the spaces where you partner is not. "Skin has millions of eyes, I see with my foot, my buttocks, my hand, seeking the available space where I can move." This dance as demonstrated is using the under and over possibilities within the bubble. Several crosses, last one with music- drumming. I experienced my solo body coming into its dancing.
I just danced with Munir who blew his AT tendon as an Olympic roller blader. He was in my trio from the exercise before. He told me that he shouldn't be running!
"Now continuing in a couple crossing the floor, move over and under your partner as before but now sharing of light weight comes into play." "You see opportunities for weight sharing". "Don't stop in your support, it is always in motion." Static "Don't hold the weight, keep the sense of keeping in motion. You are always in motion, even stillness is movement."
Beautiful progression into dancing, bringing our traveling bodies into deep and easy concentration.
New Exercise:
Duet that both feed, no leaders, when partner (A) chooses to go out of contact and the other partner (B) waits until her partner comes back to her. Partner can travel far away yet always keeping a sense of the duet. The moving person decides when to go back into contact dancing..
"Helps to play without overdoing, there is a sense of drama/playing in the dance without milking it." Student asks if she should be frozen like statue. Benno responds that she can be aware and follow with eyes, but not go so far as to turn the head. "You have someone waiting for you". "As dancers we have the habit of moving, sometimes too much. Take the advantage to be still with your partner who is waiting and watch them. When you come back into contact how do you do it, with what kind of energy?" Benno demonstrates coming back to his partner with a quick light force. Dance without changing roles for 10 minutes.
A score that supports my dancing!
Jeff Bliss—Found the structure very rich, was the music creating the drama?
Sue Lee -- The question of power… who is the powerful one, the one moving or the waiting?
Margaret Paek - Choosing to leave and to be still and wait.
An inquiry into stillness. "Five ideas about stillness…what is taking place in my waiting."
Josh: being still and present with partner.
Benno: "Ways to come back: smoothness or, 'here I am again darling'- sweetly. Or..Here I AM! Forcefully.
Abruptly. He witnessed students making strong choices about coming back into contact. He noticed that Catherine's and Keith's duet did not always pacify their dancing as opposed to most of the other couples who no matter how the contact dance began, it would tend to become more friendly or nice. He encourages us to articulate our choices about how we consider our partners.
Margaret making dramatic choices. Benno: He loves drama…he likes to see humans involved with the drama of their existence…perceptions…dancing as an emotional body.
Jeff Bliss: Discriminating awareness.
Maya, Josh, Leslie, Mary Beth, Alex, Ginny, Jeff, Margaret, Tina, Munir, Keith Catherine, Ray, Nancy, Emily, Jennifer, Sean, Sue Lee, Andrew Alexis, Nina.
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