ITS:

Abstract :

http://sites.coloradocollege.edu/atb/2017/03/08/contact-improv-offers-an-experience-for-every-body/
Contact Sue with any questions: slauther@coloradocollege.edu
Whether you’re a dancer, parkour athlete, rock-climber, campus leader,
disabled artist or outside-the-box thinker, CI offers a fun way to
explore your limits. Come check it out.
Cossit

Full Message :

Dance instructor Sue Lauther teaches the course, which will be available again
in Block 7, and says it’s not just about dance or movement, but about learning
to communicate with one another through touch. By doing so, “students will
become more aware of the physics of their own bodies and learn how to better
handle unexpected surprises or find their way through unplanned situations,” she
says. Additionally, by creating physical awareness, dancers can also check in
with themselves emotionally.
As Lauther explains, “Contact improv for me is another language. It’s learning
to stand up for yourself. To reach out to others. To negotiate, communicate
desires, joys, and disappointments. It’s good for any soul.”
It’s not just for any soul; contact is also beneficial to any body. Monica Black
’19 adds, “I’m not by any means a dancer, and it takes the onus off of figuring
out something cool to do. Instead you can just focus on the energies that you
and your partner are giving each other. It’s also a really vulnerable form of
dance with lots of lifts and obviously very close contact, so you have to trust
the other person to support your body.” This intimacy is important when our
day-to-day lives often lack platonic physical touch, Lauther says. In contact
improvisation, dancers learn to advocate for themselves as well as address group
needs nonverbally.
As a dance major, Trevon Newmann ’18 finds benefits as well. “Contact improv has
been about experimenting and adjusting. I’ve really learned how to work with a
variety of people and how to give and earn trust. It’s good for getting out of
your comfort zone.”
This experimentation leads dancers to a self-awareness pivotal in various
aspects of their lives, and Lauther loves helping them find it. “It just
delights me when somebody is amazed by the changes within themselves, doing
things they didn’t think they could do,” she says.
Students, if you’d like to experience contact improvisation, you can enroll for
the Block 7 course, running Tuesdays and Thursdays, 3-4:30 p.m. Or, show up in
the Cossitt South Studio on the first day of Block 7. Contact Sue Lauther with
any questions: slautherincolorado@gmail.com