Contact Improvisation Essentials

 

What: an affordable, beginners-friendly contact improvisation workshop focusing on core practices of classic, physics-based CI
When: 10-11 May, 10-17h
Where: Fudoshin Aikido Dojo, Leipzig
With Whom: Olha Bershadska (Kyiv/Leipzig), Daniela Ciccolini (Buenos Aires/Leipzig), Laura Bein (Weimar/Leipzig), Deborah Manavi (Kassel/Leipzig)

Welcome to CI Essentials: Beginner’s Workshop, an introduction to Contact Improvisation (CI)!

CI is a playful and creative dance form centered on moving with others, physical connection, bio-mechanical exploration, and following curiosity.

CI invites movers to engage with their and their partners’ bodies through sharing weight and structure and through physical listening. It is sometimes gentle and meditative, sometimes wild and acrobatic, following the curiosities and initiatives of those exploring.

This weekend is intended as a very beginner friendly workshop focusing on basics and core practices of CI. We’ll dive into physical listening, offering and accepting support, and navigating shared balance through space and into and out of the floor. We’ll also practice some basic lifts and supports and practice working them into a flow, following a moving point of contact.

The primary aim of the workshop is to help those newer to the dance to feel comfortable in the more open exploration space of a “contact jam” or in using contact-based practices in other dance contexts. For those already introduced to CI, it is an opportunity to spend some time working on the fundamentals.

No prior experience is necessary—just bring curiosity, openness, and an active excitement to move and explore in physical contact!

For more information on contact improvisation, what it is and its history, go to https://www.bodyresearch.org/contact-improvisation/

Bios

Olha Bershadska is a CI dancer and co-organizer of the Leipzig CI Festival “Pelvis and Momentum” and the Leipzig Wednesday Focus Jam. She began practicing Contact Improvisation in Ukraine in 2021 while exploring movement as a way to help people feel more comfortable in their bodies—a natural extension of her work in adult education. Olha believes that CI is a unique blend of practical techniques, self-discovery, and joyful movement, and that the key to developing in CI lies in playfulness, curiosity, and the willingness to challenge oneself through small risks. With years of experience preparing people for teaching and group facilitation in invited workshops around Europe, Olha is an expert in creating “learning-by-doing” environments. She studies how skills are developed, has a wide variety of tools to help participants master new movement patterns more easily, and creates an engaging and supportive space where individuals can experiment freely and build confidence in their movement.
Daniela Ciccolini began dance/theater/performance studies integrating contact improvisation as a kid in Buenos Aires in the 1990s, and has been a dancer ever since. As a movement explorer and psychologist, she has a deep passion for embodied learning and human connection. With a background in psychology, she integrates body awareness, trust, and intuitive movement into her teaching. Her workshops offer a safe and engaging space for beginners to explore contact improvisation through playful connection and somatic awareness. She is currently based in Leipzig where she continues to develop her practice, blending movement exploration with psychological insight to guide participants in discovering new ways of communication, support, and self-expression through movement.
Laura Eleana Bein is a passionate dancer specializing in contemporary, improvisation, and contact improvisation. As a certified Holistic Dance teacher (trained by Sabine Parzer) and yoga instructor, she brings a deep somatic approach to her classes. With years of experience in Acroyoga, she integrates playful connection, trust, and dynamic movement into her teaching. Her workshops offer a space to explore effortless flow, embodied awareness, and the joy of movement in connection with others. She is currently based in Weimar, finishing her studies in Urbanism and Media Art.
Deborah Manavi (she/her) works as a freelance contemporary dancer and choreographer as well as a dance teacher and dance therapist. She started exploring Contact Improvisation in 2018. Her artistic practice and classes are characterized by an understanding of dance as a transformative force for the visualization of social conditions and as a power for change. She is interested in creating spaces in which individual expression can unfold, in which all of a person’s experiences flow into the dance, creating a unique language of movement, dynamics and utilization of space, as well as creating space for a collective experience. The guiding principle of her classes is to convey the joy of movement and to provide space to rediscover one’s own movement patterns. Working on the differentiated perception of one’s own body, the feeling and development of the individual dance, is the foundation in every class she provides. With Olha Bershadska and Karl Frost, she co-organizes the Pelvis and Momentum CI Festival.

 Logistics
Space is limited. The last workshop filled with waiting list, so early registration is recommended.
Space to sleep available for those visiting from out of town
Workshop in English

Fees
120-200e sliding scale. 
Pay what you can in the range, no one turned away for lack of funds
Early registration: 80-200e if paid by 1 April

Registration
To register, do BOTH of the following