During the weekend of 13-14 of June, I was leading a weekend workshop in Amsterdam together with a group of 7 dancers. The workshop was a TAB by LEAP project.

In the workshop, I have introduced my movement research (Animal Instinct - for further reading check this link: https://www.dropbox.com/s/x1byinhfvful4i4/Animal%20Instinct.pdf?dl=0).

The main focus of the workshop was to expand the perspective of what physical communication can be. In this work, I chose not to follow any specific style, form, technique or aesthetic and by that, to touch different aspects of movement and communication. One clear reference point for this specific work was to differentiate between physical harmony and physical disharmony. Both relevant for communication and both demands different focus. 

To be more specific and clear, I have defined physical harmony as an attempt to avoid loss of kinetic energy/potential kinetic energy while I am moving with my partner. It is of course impossible task as we are always losing some of energy due to the body structure, friction etc. But the focus is clear, I am trying to reduce the lose. On the other extreme, physical disharmony would describe a situation that I am deliberately disturbing the flow of my partner and myself. 

My interest in this work comes from a realistic point of view that the nature of life is a constant flux between these polars. Every person will find him/herself dealing with both extremes. Practicing those polars helps to expand our emotional landscape as well, enabling the individual to feel safer regardless the external content (harmony/disharmony).

During the workshop, I have realised that this work challenges many aspects from the ‘contact spirit’ and the foundation of the physical-political principle of those who initiated this never ending exploration. It allows to bring back into the dance things that in the historical context of the development of this form, were banned from it. 

I do feel that this transition is necessary in order to keep the exploration alive and relevant. When I share a dance with someone who is not open to experience something disharmonious, I can experience it as  violent, sometimes more than the actual disharmonious gesture in the dance itself (like pushing your partner). 

Since nowadays, many people study and learn CI rather then discover it, it implies a process of ‘boxing’ it into a definition and having a clear idea ‘what is contact improvisation’ for me/you. In this process, we can fall into the trap of consuming the dance rather then experiencing its nature - physical exploration based on improvisation together with a partner/group. The nature of it, cannot be describe as harmony nor as disharmony. Only as an attempt for harmony/disharmony.

By 'consuming the dance’ I mean that we come with an expectation and desire to experience certain quality of listening (softness, clarity etc). We end up disable to differentiate between physical harmony and listening to a partner. I keep on repeating in my workshops the example of two boxers in the fighting arena. They listen very carefully to each move of their partner/opponent (sometime much more then two contact dancers…) but they don’t generate any physical harmony with each other. 

I believe that keeping our minds sharp and alert to those subtleties is a necessary part of self evolution as a human-mover-dancer. It can enable us to step beside what we think we want and to maybe to understand that most of the time, the picture is wider than what we can grasps…