[CI-Announce] DC 4th International Improvisation Plus+ Festival

[Maida Withers]

Dear Contact Improvisers:

Thank you for taking the time to read through information regarding performances and workshops that involving contact improvisation. I hope you will consider joining us.  Thank you. Maida Withers

DC 4TH INTERNATIONAL IMPROVISATION PLUS+ FESTIVAL FEATURING DANCE/MOVEMENT AND MUSIC PERFORMANCES & WORKSHOPS TO BE HOSTED BY GW, DECEMBER 3 - 5

Improvisation festival features dancers, contact improvisers, musicians and performance artists from DC, New York City, England, Germany, Portugal, and Poland in two performances, "THIS SPACE OCCUPIED!" a site-specific event at the Corcoran Gallery of Art and "EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED" at GW's Marvin Betts Theatre, along with WORKSHOPS in dance, contact improvisation and theatre/movement improvisation

PERFORMANCE / FREE
"THIS SPACE OCCUPIED!"
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 3, 1998, 7 PM
Corcoran Gallery of Art - 
500 17th Street NW, Washington, DC

PERFORMANCE & JAM	$10
"EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!"
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5, 7 PM	
The George Washington University
Marvin Betts Theatre
800 21st Street NW, Washington, DC
Tickets available from Ticketmaster (202-483-SEAT)
For information call (202-994-0739)

WORKSHOPS	$25, entire day; $10 per session	 
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 5 - 10 AM - 5 PM	 
The George Washington University
Studio J - 2131 G St. NW, DC
(2 blocks from Foggy Bottom Metro)

WORKSHOP SCHEDULE:
10 AM Transforming Patterns of Tension for Expressivity (contact based) led by Caroline Waters, England; 11:45 Advanced contact improvisation, led by Karl Frost, San Francisco; 11:45 AM - Movement & music improvisation, an intimate dialogue led by Maida Withers & Joseph Mills; 2:00 PM - Improvisation as performance practice led by Martin Sonderkamp,  Germany; 2:00 PM (tentative workshop with Ana Baratta and Eduardo Lopez of Portugal and Spain regarding theatre games and dance);  3:30 PM - Merging dance and theatre - six viewpoints led by Cyrus Khambatta, New York City.

INFORMATION & WORKSHOP RESERVATION:
202-994-0739; withers@gwu.edu.

EVENT:

The DC 4th 	International Improvisation Plus+ Festival, curated by choreographer and dancer Maida Withers and jazz musician and composer Jim Levy, promotes the art of improvisation in dance, contact, music and performance art.

The Corcoran Gallery of Art will host of the opening performance of "THIS SPACE OCCUPIED!" Dancers and musicians will interact with each other and the architectural spaces of the Corcoran in intimate proximity to the audience. Jazz musicians will be situated throughout the Gallery with rebounding acoustics for interplay with the dancers. The artistic collision and synthesis of international diversity of styles, creates an evening of spontaneous choreography and music in the Corcoran's staircase, rotunda, spacious atriums and select galleries. 

"EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED!" the closing performance of the Festival, features individual international solo artists and groups in dance and music improvisation performances of 15-20 minutes each in GW's Marvin Betts Theatre, a theatre in the round. Artist/improvisers, dancers, musicians and performance artists engage the audience through humor and, often, audacious behavior.

Improvisation Workshops for contact improvisers, dancers and actors include improvisation as performance practice, contact improvisation and partnering, dance and music improvisation and merging dance/theatre, "six viewpoints."

BACKGROUND:

The DC 4th International Improvisation Festival dancers include: Ana Baratta and Eduardo Lopez, theatre and dance artist-partners and producers of site-specific festivals in Portugal and Spain;Jo Blowers, Kate Brown and Caroline Waters, dancers with the Group of 5 Theatre and Dance Company from London (contact based); Iwona Olszowska, dancer from Poland; Monstah, popular performance art ensemble in Washington, DC; Maida Withers, artistic director of Maida Withers Dance Construction Company; Martin Sonderkamp, dancer and contact improviser from Germany; Cyrus Khambatta, director of the Phffft Theatre and Dance Company in