Creative & dance journal

Teaching Contact Improvisation?

I started teaching Contact Improvisation at Oxford Contact Dance in 2015. But how do we teach contact improvisation – it’s an improvised dance after all.

Jamming at Oxford Contact Dance

We had a silent jam (dance session) for contact improvisation at Oxford Contact Dance on Sunday 17 March 2019. Here’s a few photos of a very juicy jam! Photos by Piotr Znamierowski.

Saluto! A dance

Offbeat – Oxford’s fringe festival – invited submissions for its 2019 programme and so I made a proposal. ‘Saluto!’ is a participatory dance performance based on Italo Calvino’s short stories. Here’s the details.

Teaching Props!

Tennis balls, balloons and cards are all ‘props’ or tools which can be used in teaching contact improvisation. But how?!

Learning to dance

Learning to dance seems simple: attend classes; practice; dance! But learning to dance is – for me – a highly reflective and investigative practice, and integrated into making dance – just like making any artwork. In 2018, I learnt that dance is not theatre; and that decorators are dancers.

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At the End We Begin by Richard Chappell Dance

‘At the End We Begin’ by Richard Chappell Dance was performed at the Pegasus Theatre on 26 October 2018. After the performance, Richard Chappell tells the audience that the performance is one which evolved from a solo dance to a duet and then a quartet.

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Garden Dance

An ornamental garden in Oxford, the light and shade of a beautiful autumn day, and much creative work lead to a great performance of ‘The Garden Dance’ by four dancers from Oxford Contact Dance on Saturday 29 September 2018. It was very special – almost enchanted.

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