On Wednesday, March 11, Center Dance, Dance WNY, and Center Pilates will be hosting a special guest artist – Paul Singh – who will be demonstrating the unusual techniques of Contact Dancing. The workshop will upend much of what you think about dancing, as it relates to body presence and movement.
Mission Improvable 2019 from Nancy Hughes on Vimeo.
The intent is to create kinetic connections between disparate limbs, in ways that are new and different to our senses and understandings of the body as it relates to movement.
To get to this level of fully integrated physical desire and curiosity, we will work with major concepts to help us get lost together so that we become our partner’s new kinesphere.
“What makes Contact Dancing special is the disorientation of considering your feet to be your hands, your legs to become your arms, and your back to become an extension of your eyes.” – Workshop hosts
The workshop allows participants to:
- Spread the surface area of our feet and hands to demystify the term “being grounded”
- Spend time pushing into exercises that create kinetic connections across the limbs
- Scramble our brains with mind-reading exercises
- Work on destroying the hierarchy of the body so that all surfaces can make us each into trustworthy under-dancers and limitless flyers
- Give up and trust your visceral nature
- Get physically stronger in your core and limbs
- Dance out the toxins of your previous self
Co-sponsors Pick of the Crop Dance and Urban Holistics & Juicing will also be in attendance at the Mission Improvable 2020 Dance Workshop: Contact Dancing with Paul Singh.
Registration for the Community Class & Jam is now open – click here for more information. The workshop will take place at Wasteland Studios – 700 Main Street, Buffalo, New York 14202.
Lead image: Dancers Paul Singh and Mor Demer