[CI-Announce] SCOTT WELLS Contact Improvisation & Performance Workshop, November 2-6, 2009, Schwelle7, Berlin / Germany

[J.B.]

The Performance Jam Contact Ensemble.
5 Day Intensive Workshop by Scott Wells from San Francisco

WHEN: November 2-6, 2009, 12:00-18:00
WHERE: Schwelle 7 Studio, Berlin / Germany
WEB: http://www.schwelle7.de/Scott%20Wells.html
REGISTRATION: xs4jan at gmx.de
PRICE: 200 EUR
SLEEPING: We can host up workshop participants in our special sleeping  
cocoons. The cost is 10 EUR a night per person.


The Performance Jam Contact Ensemble.

I'd like to create an atmosphere that has more intention and group  
focus than a jam, but less stringent than a formal performance.  We'll  
develop our ensemble work and gain performance skills and resources.   
Contact Improvisation will be an element of our practice, an element  
to mix with soloing, ensemble and compositional work.

We will take single elements  (e.g. a flying skill) into scores.
We will use this progression:

1)  Connecting with yourself, using body sensations or images as they  
come up or the stories in your head.  Noticing impulses to move--being  
able to feel your impulses, and pick which ones to follow.

2)  Connecting with others  (Ensemble),  Awareness of others in the  
group.  For example, f  your working with levels, can you track the  
others’ levels as you move.  Mirroring or copying others is one of  
our skills for this.

3)  What is interesting to watch?  Connecting with the watchers  
(audience).  Do you sense what is interesting for them to see?    Do  
you sense what place onstage will be psychologically dynamic OR make  
the picture of what is happening see-able.   This is composition.

Scott Wells will support this score through teaching contemporary  
dance technique, improvisation, contact and partnering:

Contact Improvisation – Basic Skills and Thrills
With trust + skill, pleasure + technique we will venture into the  
realms of contact.  We will go for the pure contact moment and there  
will be lots of practical work for jumping, catching, landing, a  
variety of handstands and acrobatics. This skills based class is meant  
as preparation for jamming, choreography and to give you the tools to  
have your dance.

Contact Improvisation – Flying ≠ Jumping
Lose your head to fly contact improvisation:  Flight patterns, Fluid  
Acrobatics  and Pure Contact
We will work for clear, satisfying contact improvisation in which  
pleasure is the first teacher.  We will practice flying, catching,  
landing, fluid acrobatics, deft maneuvers.  For the acrobatics in  
particular everyone will work at their own level and will learn best  
by building group safety and trust--I think everyone will do something  
they never expected. We will practice integrating the flying and  
acrobatics into the contact flow.  That is: aerial interactions that  
increase the contact. Jumping ≠ Flying because jumping is is a  
muscular action, whereas flying is a joint nervous system based and is  
affected greatly by emotions and attitude.

Wrestling with Affection
We start with seeking the softest connective contact.  Then we venture  
into wrestling accessing a wide range of feelings, play, and  
sensuality. Introduction to techniques for safe and aggressive contact  
including soft takedowns, resistance and collaboration. Safety,  
listening, ease and quick reflexes are emphasized for this style of  
contact improvisation.

Partnering – Physics of empathy
We will learn partnering from Scott Wells’ repertory.  This will be  
contemporary partnering grounded in contact and air-born in dreams of  
flight. We will use improvisational tuning exercises to get in sync  
and learn set phrases that combine solo dancing, flying lifts, and  
fluid acrobatics. I will breakdown some ambitious lifts into workable  
steps. And approach flying and acrobatics as exercises in emotion and  
orientation and so give support to each as you expand your abilities.  
We go for honest moments of impact and desire; to articulate the  
delicious, perform the intimate, understand when to use force, where  
to soften, how to be empty and why we dance with each other.

Material developed in the workshop will be presented to the public in  
an informal showing at the end of the week, Friday, 6 at 8:30 pm


CV Scott Wells

In 1981 Scott he discovered the pleasure of contact improvisation  
shortly after becoming obsessed with the struggles of modern dance.   
He stuck with both and currently directs a company in San Francisco   
and tours annually to Europe.  In 2005 Scott received the San  
Francisco Award for Outstanding Choreography. and was selected by  
Dance Magazine as “one of the 25 To Watch in 2005”.  He is highly  
regarded contact improvisor.  “an electrifying style of contact”   
SF WEEKLY. Scott has trained extensively in contemporary dance and the  
Alexander technique. and has an MFA in dance (the highest academic  
degree for dance).  He has taught at festivals in Turkey, Canada,  
Seattle (SFADI), Vienna (Impustanz), Romania (Trans-Contact),  and  
Germany (Freiburg Contact Festival as a main teacher) and will teach  
this year at the Budapest Kontact Festival and the Barcelona Contact  
Improvisation Festival.

Scott’s style of contact is athletic and emphasizes freedom of  
movement, flying, fluid acrobatics (easy to advanced), safety,  
precision, pleasure and technique.  What students often like best in  
Scott's classes is the variance between the meditative, listening,  
slow and sensual dancing and the fun, playful, very physical dancing.   
And students appreciate how the scary or advanced moves are safe,  
relaxed and made possible.


----------- LOCATION --------

Schwelle 7
Uferstraße 6, HH 1. OG
13357 Berlin/Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 30-4736 3500
http://www.schwelle7.de
Email: info (at) felixruckert.de
TRAFFIC LINK: UB Nauener Platz, Pankstr, Osloer Str, SB Gesundbrunnen

  
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