[CI-Announce] Contact Improvisation Survey

[Kerry Farrell]

Hi, my name is Kerry Farrell.  I am student at Denison University, in Granville, OH, studying in the Dance Department.  For a "Cultural Studies in Dance: Beyond Traditional Boundaries" class taught by Dr. Gill Wright Miller, I was asked to investigate some aspect of dance and sexuality.  The department I am studying in is sympathetic to Contact Improvisation.  We had hosted contactors Chris Aiken, Peter Bingham, Andrew Harwood, and K.J. Holmes recently, and had just completed a two-week residency with Karen Nelson, so I thought perhaps I would look more carefully at individuals' experiences within the genre of Contact Improvisation.  Part of my interest was to see how the individuals practicing Contact Improvisation had dealt with the issue of touch as beginners in Contact Improv, and as people continuing with more experience in the form.


When I started this research I learned that sexuality within Contact Improvisation seems to be a heavily discussed issue.  Contactors had written and discussed issues regarding their own sexuality within CI extensively.  For instance, Jeff McMahon wrote an article for the Winter/Spring issue of Contact Quarterly in 1996 in which he described his experience with homosexuality in CI.  On the other hand, in the same issue of CQ, Lori B and Steve Paxton contributed an interview with each other that was centered around sexuality within CI, including whether or not issues of sex should be addressed by teachers of CI, how each had handled uncomfortable situations with CI partners, and other relevant topics.  What occurred to me was that touch and sexuality can be related, and therefore beginner improvisers might often get them confused.  The area that continues to hold my interest has more to do with the social understanding of touch and intimacy, often private in nature, compared to the understanding of touch and intimacy within the Contact Improvisation dance. 

 

I am writing to you to ask you to participate in my research, to help me better understand a variety of opinions and perspectives about this topic.  These questions listed below are designed to stimulate conversation, so I am asking you to improvise around the topics.  Please also feel comfortable sharing these questions with other members of your Contact community so that I can get as broad a response as possible. 



Should you choose to participate, your responses may be anonymous, or if you choose to identify yourself, your identity will be kept confidential.  However, at the invitation of Nancy Stark Smith, some responses or parts of responses may be selected to be published in a future issue of Contact Quarterly.  Consequently, I would appreciate your decision to attach your name so you may be contacted regarding consent for publication.  




  1. When did you first come across Contact Improvisation?  

How old were you?  

What other movement experiences had you had?  

In what context did you meet CI? 

When you were beginning your involvement with Contact Improvisation, what were your initial feelings (about the form? about the body? about what was being asked of you?) Etc.

 

2. How was touch discussed with you when you were beginning Contact 
Improvisation?  

Did you have whole classes on the sensation of touch?  

Did you engage in exercises that helped you somatized touch?

Were ways and kinds of touch ever discussed?

Were issues of intimacy ever addressed? 

     .
3. What were your initial responses to dancing in close proximity with other 
people?  

Did you find it familiar?  New?  Relaxed?  Comfortable?  Disconcerting? Troubling?  

Were there other locations (sports, etc.) in which you were familiar with intimate,  non-sexual touch or something 

similar to your CI experience?  

            What was your initial comfort level with these touch experiences and 

            situations?

 

4. What discoveries did Contact Improv lead you to make about your body and the bodies of others? 

What did you discover regarding your feelings about touch?  

What were your feelings about touch in relation to your body and the bodies of others?




Please feel free to provide any other relevant information regarding your experiences with Contact Improvisation.

Thank you for helping with this survey.  Please submit any responses to me at farrel_k at denison.edu, or by mail at Slayter Box 819, Denison University, Granville, OH 43023.  I really appreciate receiving responses by October 24th.
 

 

Kerry Farrell, farrel_k at denison.edu  
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