'Meeting, Connecting ,Playing' Contact Improvisation WORKSHOP with Lucia Walker

Meeting, Connecting ,Playing
Meeting yourself, other dancers and the physical forces of this planet with more simplicity and depth. Connecting with more ease
Playing with more presence, consent and freedom.
Balancing the excitement of moving and connecting with the calm of receptivity and co-ordination.
Working with directing our attention we will continue to refine the ability to be present with ourselves, our partners and the dance that arises. Guided explorations will increase our discernment and enjoyment of the experiences of momentum, pressure, support, weightbearing and movement.
We will practise ‘not doing’ some of what arises automatically in order to access more possibility in our responses to stimuli and the creativity to be found with ease in the present. We will also learn to notice and support the flow of choices and co-incidences that allow us to enjoy and influence the dance.
The workshop will include quiet and subtle work as well as energetic and playful movement. Each participant is invited to participate according to their own ability and energy. It will be suited to experienced dancers and those newer to the form.

Lucia Walker
I am based in Wales and work internationally as an Alexander teacher and Movement artist. I have been dancing all my life and involved with AT and Contact Improvisation for 40 years. I continue to practise, perform and teach Contact Improvisation and Instant Composition, exploring how to easily enter a creative state of presence. I also teach AT to groups and individuals as well as training teachers.

Enjoyment of the sense of vitality and well-being that arose from learning Alexander Technique, and a desire to support people to be more fully themselves and to express themselves more easily in their chosen life activities, stimulated me to train as a teacher. I met Contact Improvisation in 1982, studying with Steve Paxton, Nancy Stark Smith, Kirstie Simson and practising through teaching with Jointwork Dance Group and others.Both AT and CI work with principles that enable us to consciously co-operate with our human design, able to be both active and receptive, calm and lively. I continue to practise, perform and teach Contact Improvisation and Instant Composition, exploring how to easily enter a creative state of presence.
I facilitate regularly for Independent Dance (London), Forgotten Angle Theatre Collaborative (FATC) at Ebhudlweni rural arts centre South Africa) and participate in collaborative projects as well as continuing solo work.Lifelong learning is supported by teaching people from a wide range of ages, abilities and cultural backgrounds. I love the way movement exploration, awareness practices and play can provide both a method of self-care and a ‘common language’ which lies beneath different cultural experiences and styles of dance