DANCE JAM VENTURA PRESENTS:

Contact Improvisation With Karl Frost

January 4-6, 2008 in Ventura, California

Contact Improvisation Journey and Two-Day Workshop

Contact Improvisation is an open-ended exploration of the physical and experiential possibilities of contact within a dance environment.

Karl Frost has been teaching contact improvisation internationally for 20 years. This is his first Ventura County workshop, which is being presented by Dance Jam Ventura.

ABOUT THE CONTACT DANCE JOURNEY:

On Friday, January 4, from 7:30 pm to 10 pm, Karl Frost, director of Body Research, will present a DJ'd movement and dance exploration, moving between connecting to self and with other. The participants will use the support of group intention to dive into their personal journey in movement. From there, people will explore, following what feels personal and meaningful. People will look at different dimensions of connection: the body and the play of physics, the mind and kinesthetic poetry, the heart and journey of feeling and emotion. People see how we can meet each other, where our curiosities intersect, and how we can support and be supported, literally and figuratively.

Karl Frost will help participants integrate the explorations of contact improvisation into an open dance context where they start from connection to self and connection to the ground. No contact improvisation experience required for the Contact Journey...just curiosity.

ABOUT THE CONTACT IMPROVISATION WORKSHOP

On Saturday and Sunday, January 5 and 6, noon to 6 pm, Karl Frost will facilitate an open level workshop. This workshop is a place for participants to dive deep into the explorations of contact improvisation, and is an organic mixture of physical technique and open questions to explore taking people into playful physicality and self-awareness.

The technique Karl facilitates involves working from the ground up in contact movement into and out of the floor, weight sharing, following shifting momentum, using structure and alignment for lifts and more easeful flow of movement through the space. Dancers will explore general techniques as well as specific movement vocabulary and lifts designed to open up their dancing, both on their own and with another, expanding into off-balance and inversion. People will cultivate soft power and gentleness in connection, allowing them to increase the dynamic range of their explorations. For beginning dancers, the workshops will provide a sold introduction into some basic technique. For more experienced dancers, they will see how some of the most amazing explorations of contact come from spiraling deeper into the fundamental explorations.

Questions that participants will explore during the workshops: Karl Frost uses technique not to define the dance but to support people in the questions they are dancing. "What feels engaging? How do we meet?" "What aspect of contact is interesting in this moment?" Different questions are explored to expand awareness and the range of the participants' curiosities. People will investigate the qualities of human connection--the beauty, the play, vulnerability, and darkness. Body work, mind work, play and a fair bit of sweat is expected of workshop participants.

PAYMENT: The Contact Journey and Workshops are a really nice holiday present to yourself or your loved ones.

Friday Contact Journey: $15 at the door

Ventura Nia Center

2343 East Thompson Boulevard, Ventura

Saturday/Sunday Workshop:

Price Break:

$105+ if deposit in by December 21

$125+ if deposit in by December 28

Pay $50 deposit to Pay Pal: info@bodyresearch.org

Or mail check to Karl Frost, C/O Dorie Zabriskie, 329 Princeton Ave., Ventura, CA 93003

Workshop Location:

Makoto Dojo, 3026 Telegraph Road, Ventura

For more information contact Dorie Zabriskie at (805) 650-7112 or send an email to dancejamventura2@aol.com.

Check our websites at:

http://www.waywebby.com/dancejam

http://www.bodyresearch.org.