Missoula Contact Improv

Missoula Contact Improv Contact Improvisation is an evolving system of movement initiated in 1972 by American choreographer Steve Paxton.
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The improvised dance form is based on the communication between two moving bodies that are in physical contact and their combined relationship to the physical laws that govern their motion—gravity, momentum, inertia. The body, in order to open to these sensations, learns to release excess muscular tension and abandon a certain quality of willfulness to experience the natural flow of movement. Prac

tice includes rolling, falling, being upside down, following a physical point of contact, supporting and giving weight to a partner. Contact improvisations are spontaneous physical dialogues that range from stillness to highly energetic exchanges. Alertness is developed in order to work in an energetic state of physical disorientation, trusting in one's basic survival instincts. It is a free play with balance, self-correcting the wrong moves and reinforcing the right ones, bringing forth a physical/emotional truth about a shared moment of movement that leaves the participants informed, centered, and enlivened.

—early definition by Steve Paxton and others, 1970s, from CQ Vol. 5:1, Fall 1979

Contact Improvisation is an open-ended exploration of the kinaesthetic possibilities of bodies moving through contact. Sometimes wild and athletic, sometimes quiet and meditative, it is a form open to all bodies and enquiring minds.

—from Ray Chung workshop announcement, London, 2009

04/22/2022
04/22/2022
06/09/2019

We won’t be having contact today. World contact time instead. Check in next time!

08/23/2018

Contact Jam tonight in the PARTV building on UM campus 7-9pm FREE

08/12/2018

Contact Improv jams 1st and 3rd Sundays of the month beginning in September // 5-6:30pm at the Open Way Mindfulness Center. Next jam is September 2nd, 2018.

05/02/2018
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Anya Cloud will be featured--teaching Contact this year at MDF--register early for 15% off discount code EARLYBIRD

Mountain Dance Fest

03/15/2018

Carol Anne Lesser, LMT

Join us tonight for Sacred Shimmy! Dance and meditation for everyone, 7:45pm at the Downtown Dance Collective

09/18/2017
Port Townsend Jam at Centrum

Port Townsend Jam at Centrum

The Fall is the time we move indoors and need to DANCE!Join us for a five day Contact Improvisation collaborative residency hosted by Cyrus Khambatta at Centrum, December 13-17, 2017. Explore, research and practice CI, labbing and jamming with other dancers in a daily facilitated format. Afterward,…

09/16/2017

Why we practice CI- generated by a group conversation on Sept. 10, 2017, please add other reasons that aren't here if you want.

learn the form: weight sharing, lifting, rolling, diving, falling -fundamentals

community building-developing trust

collaboration/collective impact

metaphors for life

balance in life between verbal and non verbal or spoken/written and kinesthetic intelligence

feeling vibrant, alive, ease, goofy, having fun

free flowing/in flow

playful touch

touch that is neither confrontational or sexual

freedom from traditional gender roles -a chance for women to feel strength and men to feel sensitivity

sensual not sexual

reconnecting to our child mind/body

inclusivity of all bodies

safe space/environment-it has clear rules for participating

intimate, but public

builds comfort in our bodies

listening to our bodies

builds awareness

therapeutic applications

immediate change

engaged practice

cultivates embodiment

relationship and connection

06/24/2017

Images from Global Underscore 2017 in Missoula today. Delightful and simple beauty. Thank you for showing up and be brave in body.

06/19/2017

Missoula Contact Improv's cover photo

06/18/2017

The underscore-an extended jam for learning and improvising-is coming to Missoula on Saturday June 24 11:30am-3pm at the Downtown Dance Collective $15. All welcome.

06/01/2017
4 rituals proven by neuroscience to make you happy

Touch (contact) , making decisions in the moment (improv) and gratitude!

You get all kinds of happiness advice on the internet from people who don’t know what they’re talking about. Don’t trust them. Trust neuroscience.

05/19/2017
The Body Awake

A fantastic interview about Contact Improv with Martin Keogh on The Body Awake by our fellow CI dancer, Liam Bowler!

The Body Awake is a podcast for people interested in health and the human body, and wanting a conversation beyond just "the body as a machine." Part Western physical body, part functional training, part mental-emotional-spiritual investigation.

05/14/2017
Dance Ranch Marfa – Lower Left

Hey friends, I just registered for this! Marfa, TX contact improv and dance improv workshop: Dance Ranch Marfa.

DANCE RANCH is a five day workshop, created and led by Lower Left, intended to provide dedicated spaces, performances, and practice periods for collective and individual learning and exploration. We integrate Ensemble Thinking, ReWire-Dancing States, and other dance making techniques, including Cont...

03/27/2017
Mountain Dance Fest

Check out our very own dance festival: Mountain Dance Fest in Missoula, Montana!

Mountain Dance Fest is an adult-level contemporary dance technique, somatics, and improvisation training held at the University of Montana.

03/27/2017
What is the Global Underscore?

Saturday, June 24th is the Global Underscore Jam that lasts 3 hours, our time zone would begin at 12pm and end at 3pm. Is this something our Missoula Community wants to participate in? Please respond if you can attend.

Blog about Global Underscore, an annual event in which Nancy Stark Smith's improvisational score, the Underscore, is practiced all over the world.

03/24/2017

Contact Improv this Sunday, March 26th is happening AT THE OPEN WAY CENTER on Brooks St. // 5pm to 6:30pm

03/23/2017

Contact Improv is cancelled this Sunday, March 26th because The Downtown Dance Collective is refinishing its floors. Contact Improv will resume following Sunday, April 2nd!

03/15/2017

Contact Improv is cancelled this Sunday March 19 and will resume March 26th.

03/14/2017
Global Underscore

Global Underscore

Would You Like to Facilitate a Global Underscore Site?

02/27/2017
Global Underscore 2017

June 24th Global Contact Improv in the Underscore format.

Global Underscore 2017

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Missoula, MT
59802

Opening Hours

5pm - 6:30pm

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Videos

A Body Puzzle as shown here by Laurel.

November 10, 2013
November 10, 2013

Some of the topics of interest tonight: Connection, freedom, investigation, intention, solo, duet and group, responding and integrating sound's vibration. We were graced with live accompaniment and original compositions by Caroline Keys too. Thank you to all movers.

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