Weekly Contact Improv Classes in Leipzig

Contact Improvisation with Karl Frost / Body Research

Monday evenings – 17:30-19:30
Wednesday mornings – 9:30-11:30 (starting 3 November)
      at Fudoshin Aikido Dojo  Josephstraße 45 in Lindenau

• Class Cards: To facilitate the building of technique and a sense of training community that happens with shared commitment, participants are asked to register with a class card to be used within 2 months, which can be used interchangeably  with Monday and Wednesday classes. You should be able to miss a few classes now and then and still use all the classes.
  • 6 class card – 60-80 euros sliding scale. 12 class card – 100 – 150 euros sliding scale
    If you have left over credit from before the lockdown in the fall 2020, this can still be used through 2021.
    Drop-in classes: 12-15 euro drop-in for first class, if you want to experience one of the classes first, before committing to a card.  If you want to come to more classes, but can’t commit logistically to 6 classes every two months, write an e-mail and we can work it out)
• To register…
  • bank transfer fee to Karl Frost: IBAN  DE03860700240162275200 (or alternatively pay in cash at first class)
  • send e-mail to info@bodyresearch.org
• Corona Protocol: one of the following will be required for class — proof of vaccination, proof of previous infection and recovery, proof of negative test in the last 48 hours, schnelltest at the door
  See link for more details
• (Note: Karl is going to be out of Leipzig for 18 and 25 October.  Class will be led by Nikita Tiemann while Karl is away, with some suggestions by Karl.  Karl will be back to teach classes at the beginning of November)

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Contact Improvisation is a 40 year old artsport exploring the possibilities of bodies moving through physical contact.  Sometimes described as a “non-martial” martial art, CI brings together elements from contemporary dance, circus acrobatics, functional movement exploration, meditation, and “soft” martial arts.  Partners move together through a shared off-balance, exploring mechanical interdependence with an interplay of support and being supported, lifts, flying and falling together through space and into and out of the floor through rolls and inversions, the play of push, pull, yield, follow, and resistance.

It is a mainstay of training in contemporary dance and also an open-ended frame of experiential exploration in the context of open contact improv jams.

In the training, we focus on both the outer technique of movement and lift vocabulary and safe body use and on the inner technique of physical listening, efficient use of dynamic alignment, and presence through dropping of reactivity. We explore CI as a fusion of somatic meditation, acrobatic technique, physical sport, and body-based art-practice. We create together a convivial container for movement exploration.  Classes will emphasize technical development.  This base in technique will then be used to explore sensory and mechanical topics and curiosities in structured and open explorations

An interplay of collaborative physics and convivial challenge, we w

ork our bodies and our minds, and often work up a sweat.

Monday classes are at an Aikido dojo with tatami matt floors. We will take advantage of these to often explore the more dynamic and athletic side of CI.

Click here for more information on Contact Improvisation and on the the Body Research approach to CI.

Logistical details

The classes are meant as ongoing training, rather than as drop-in classes.  They are open level, which means that they are aimed to those who already have some experience, but are open to beginners who feel ready to jump in. I

f you do not already have experience with contact improvisation training, you should have experience with other movement studies, like contemporary dance, acrobatics, or martial arts, and thus already have both a physical preparedness and an understanding of disciplined, focused study. Exceptions are possible, but write first to check-in to see if it is appropriate. All are expected to be physically and mentally ready to engage in athletic activities and contact sports.

Clothes: Please wear loose fitting, stretchy, and easy to move in clothes, with pants that cover your knees.

Classes in English

Fees

60-80 euros sliding scale for a class card of 6 classes

Class cards are to be used within 9 weeks.  This should mean that one can miss a few classes here and there without it being an issue, while still having an expectation of relatively regular attendance.  As noted in the corona protocol sheet, corona (or other illness) related missing of classes also give an extension of the class card.  Also, for major holidays, where either class is suspended or most people would miss the class, cards are extended. For example, classes may or may not continue during the winter holidays, but class cards will be extended in consideration of those dates.

You can either pay in class or pay ahead of time via bank transfer … Karl Frost: IBAN  DE03860700240162275200

Drop-ins can happen on an exceptional basis, but please write first to check in.

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Bio: Karl Frost has been practicing, performing, and teaching contact improvisation and interdisciplinary, dance-based performance since the mid 1980’s in California. His work has been showcased over the last 3 decades across 5 continents, both in established institutions/universities and in independent studios and theaters. Known internationally for his dynamic movement style and for the edge-pushing nature of his work, physically and psychologically, both in process and performance, his performances take the body and emotionally and physically felt experience as their reference points. 

He is known for his articulate teaching and the depth of the material that he accessibly offers. He began his movement explorations in martial arts as a teenager, before expanding his studies to contemporary dance, contact improvisation, physical theater and a variety of somatic practices. His performance work, via his company, Body Research Physical Theater (www.bodyresearch.org), explores post-dramatic works rooted in somatic psychology and paratheatrical exploration, alternating between stage productions and highly interactive performance happenings exploring audience agency and personal meaning. A base of his movement practice and teaching is the Passive Sequencing work which he has developed, cultivating ease and presence in motion, soft power through movement intelligence, and the pleasure of finer moment-to-moment awareness of self and partner in motion. He has a BA in Physics, an MFA in Dramatic Arts, and a PhD in Ecology.  Currently, he has a position at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Department of Human Behavior, Ecology, and Culture in Leipzig, Germany. His CI and dance/theater work can be found at www.bodyresearch.org, while some of his visual anthropology work can be found at www.culturalvariant.org