Monday Beginners Level 1+2 (Course of 12 classes)

Mondays 07/09, 14/09, 21/09, 28/09, 05/10 and 12/10 (Beginners 1)
And Mondays 02/11, 09/11, 16/11, 23/11, 30/11 and 07/12 (Beginners 2)
from 6:30 to 8:30pm. Classes taught by Rick Nodine.

Beginners 1:
The course is a carefully crafted syllabus that will support beginners in understanding the conceptual and physical world of Contact Improvisation (CI) so that they can trust their own opinions about what they want as they dive into the CI experience. Connecting with other people is at the core of this practice and you will learn how CI roots connection in the reality of touch and movement.

Class 1) A talk about what CI is and what to expect from it, a lead somatic warm-up and a solo physical exploration about moving comfortably in close connection with the floor, exercises about communicating with a partner through touch and physical listening, discussion of consensual touch and freedom of choice in dancing, a space for questions and concerns to be expressed and addressed.

Class 2) We will learn some simple patterns that open different body surfaces to meeting in contact. Exercises that clarify how to get in and out of dances will strengthen your agency in following your interests within a group.

Class 3) Exercises about exchanging body weight with a partner will be the beginning of the thrill of taking risks, understanding that good communication leads to pleasure in weight exchange and a lack of communication leads to discomfort, feeling your strength and understanding your limits.

Class 4) Exercises about how to fall safely, learning more CI vocabulary to expand possibilities in physical communication, building confidence in starting and ending dances.

Class 5) Exercises about how to fall safely, learning more CI vocabulary to expand possibilities in physical communication, building confidence in starting and ending dances.

Class 6) Understanding Jamming and how to decode its rules and etiquette, responses to specific questions and a discussion about transitioning to open classes and jams. Integrating previous learning into free dancing and connecting to fun and risk in movement.

Beginners 2:
This course will build on what we started in Beginners 1, deepening your understanding of the basics and developing more vocabulary for giving and receiving weight, moving in close connection with the floor, rolling and falling. We will work on expanding confidence in:

• Expressing what you want and do not want in your partner dances
• Creativity and playfulness
• Starting and finishing dances
• Deep physical listening
• Dancing in trios
• Lifting and being lifted
• Jamming skills

I will be working with new material, so it will be a way of revisiting the fundamentals while learning new pathways.