There’s one more sessions left of “Rigorous Basics,” this Tuesday, December 26, from 6:30pm – 8:30pm. This is the Tuesday night “Contact Improvisation Basics” series in NYC, with monthly rotating teachers—I hand off to Julianne Cariño in January. I’ve been calling my month of classes “Rigorous Basics.” The idea is to take a detailed, systematic approach to CI basics. “Rigorous” doesn’t mean physically strenuous. But it does mean relatively information-dense, and detailed. My hope is to give you something in each class that’s coherent and fits into a larger system, rather than a set of differen ..read more

So I’ve taught two Tuesdays this month at 100 Grand Street in NYC, and all has gone well. There were handouts! I’m teaching two more Tuesdays before the end of the year, on Tuesday, December 19, and Tuesday, December 26, from 6:30pm – 8:30pm. This is the Tuesday night “Contact Improvisation Basics” series in NYC, with monthly rotating teachers—I hand off to Julianne Cariño in January. I’ve been calling my month of classes “Rigorous Basics.” The idea is to take a detailed, systematic approach to CI basics. “Rigorous” doesn’t mean physically strenuous. But it does mean relatively information-den ..read more

There will, I hope, be many CI50 celebrations this year. But Critical Mass: CI@50 (what does the “critical mass” part mean?1), starting today in Oberlin, Ohio, U.S.A., will be the CI50, the main celebration, the official one, the one that everyone will talk about until the next anniversary celebration. At least I assume so. But you could make a case that if say, the Freiburg Festival or the Israel CI Festival this year do a CI50 celebration, that those might be better attended, be longer, have more classes and prominent teachers, and better reflect both the current and future of the form.2 A f ..read more

Hi blog readers! I’m happy to introduce a new writer on my blog, Alexia Buono. Alexia is CI dancer with a PhD in education who specializes in teacher education and dance pedagogy in particular. I invited her to write on my blog to share her perspectives on how teacher education (teaching teachers to teach) can be applied to CI! This is the first of two parts examining these topics. Enjoy! – Richard Introduction At the end of a very long winter in Buffalo, New York, in March 2019, the Buffalo contact improvisation community and I tried something we had never done before: teacher education works ..read more

It’s been only two weeks since the news broke of Nancy Stark Smith’s death; it seems so much longer, somehow. Which is perhaps an effect of coronavirus time. And yet, isn’t she still alive? Aren’t we going to see her again when this is all over? I don’t yet have the words. I feel entitled to only some grief and drama about her passing; I knew Nancy, but not so personally. My relative silence so far isn’t so much from intensity of emotions, but confusion about my feelings and what to say, and hesitation to step into a conversation that others are filling so well. Maybe I don’t need to say anyth ..read more

Update Tuesday, March 17, 2020, 12:20am: As reflected on the Contact Improvisation in NYC page on this blog, all ongoing contact improvisation events in New York City have been suspended until further notice. This includes: Monday class, Tuesday pre-jam class, Tuesday jam, Wednesday class, Thursday class, Friday jam, Saturday jam, Sunday Underscore, and Sunday WMAC jam. Update March 7, 2020, 1:15pm: In addition to the New York City Tuesday jam, Saturday jam, and Tuesday pre-jam class, the Monday morning class is also suspended under further notice, per Tim O’Donnell. Update March 7, 2020, 9:35 ..read more

For months I had been hearing whispers on the wind. They started growing in the last few weeks into murmurs, until this week, all of the sudden, they seemed to explode into… well, a lot of Facebook posts at least, as something like 5-7 contact events were announced or apparently took place in New York City this week. I’m not a terribly reliable source of information at the moment. Lots of private get-togethers and jams have been happening in NYC over the past two years during COVID, and while I think I was invited to at least one, maybe two… I just wasn’t into anything that wasn’t going to be ..read more

This is the second of two parts by Alexia Buono, discussing teacher education in contact improvisation. Her first part, Teacher education in CI: What does teacher education have to do with safer dance spaces?, discussed how justice-oriented pedagogical teacher education might create more safety in CI and help build consent culture in our communities. Part 2 describes how Alexia applied some of those theories in Buffalo, her reflections on the experience, and her thoughts for future applications. Here’s part 2! Alexia Buono. Photo: Gary Kurtz. Re-introduction This article will describe how I fa ..read more

I think this hasn’t gotten much attention, but it should—CQ is ending its print existence and closing their physical offices, which means that they’re selling all their remaining print materials for discounted rates until this Tuesday, December 1, after which time it appears print editions will no longer be available! Back issues are $1, everything else is marked down as well. (https://contactquarterly.com/contact-editions/) Some of my personal recommendations for your libraries: CI36 DVD—only $7.50! Nancy Stark Smith’s “Caught Falling” book: All three CI Sourcebooks. Did you know there’s a v ..read more

Nancy Stark Smith passed away this past Friday, May 1, 2020, from ovarian cancer. I got the news on Saturday from a Facebook post by Christina Svane that was shared around the world; Contact Quarterly has also posted a brief announcement, and created a Facebook page, “Nancy Stark Smith Harvest,” to collect sharings. Here’s some other bits of news, information, and reflections: Here’s the obituary notice. I liked Keith Hennessy’s Facebook post about her. Dance Magazine did a nice article about Nancy. Another nice article from the Daily Hampshire Gazette. Nancy’s family requests that people mak ..read more