10 DAY CI INTENSIVE WITH MARK YOUNG + LILIANNA KANE

For the past many years, Mark Young has been teaching his approach to Contact Improvisation in a two-week format at his iconic studio, LEVIATHAN, on Lasqueti Island, BC. His approach connects Tai Chi, to disciplined spiral work from Steve Paxton’s Material for the Spine, to fundamental practices of Contact Improvisation such as rolling point of contact, weight-sharing, and nuanced listening skills. In 2023, Mark invited Lily to collaborate in teaching the intensive: Mark would lead his approach in the mornings (more systematic, mechanical, and accumulative) while Lily would lead the group in the afternoons through more improvisational, somatic inquiries, followed by a daily Contemplative Dance Practice (a practice combining mediation and improvisation developed by Barbara Dilley). The combination of the two approaches provides a comprehensive and unique way in to the ever-expanding practice of Contact Improvisation. We are SO excited to be bringing this intensive (for the first time) to the East Coast, for 10 days, in November, 2025. This is a rare opportunity.

In Mark’s class: This workshop connects Tai Chi to Material For the Spine to Contact Improvisation. It involves a lot of spiral movement. We start with floor work and slowly work our way up, rolling over each other, finding the floor with safe and gentle landings, we explore the fear reflex, overcoming old habits, exploring new pathways and possibilities.

The Tai Chi style that I studied extensively in the 90’s is based entirely on spiral movement. It is the natural organization of all life. Everything from the DNA to the Milky Way is spiralling. Our bones and muscles are designed and function in spirals. This way of moving accesses both strength and lightness. When lifting, we are stronger and more stable when utilizing spirals. When flying, we are lighter when twisted

In Lily’s class: Classes will begin with exercises focused around tuning our attention – to sensation, to timing, to the subtlety and surprise of how weight falls, to the inevitability of change, etc. We will practice opening up our back-space, modulating tone through pushing, pulling, pouring, and receiving weight, and getting comfortable being off-balance. We will exercise patience, falling and going upside-down. We will investigate ways of offering / using our bodies as structural supports. We will spend a lot of time incorporating active & embodied inquiry into our practice: When dancing Contact Improvisation, I am in a continual cycle of asking questions. The longevity of my dance relies on the capacity of my curiosity, and my willingness to be in unknown terrain. I ask questions with my body, my attention, my relationship to weight, space, my partner(s), time…How can we use inquiry and curiosity as our motor for our dancing? All of these explorations will function as warm-ups for longer scores and durational practices, such as Barbara Dilley’s Contemplative Dance Practice which we will practice daily.

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