SERIOUS FUN!
a contact improvisation workshop with Karl Frost
Austin, Texas
31 January – 2 February, 2025
7-10p Fri, 3p-8p Sat, 9a – 2p Sun
Contact improvisation is a 50 year old artsport exploring the possibilities of bodies moving in physical contact. We play with the physics and sensory experience of shared structure and weight, mutual influence, moving and being moved by each other.
Two dancers lean or fall into each other, offer and take support, and adapt to the unpredictable possibilities generated from mutual following, initiative, and spontaneous choice-making. Sometimes quiet and meditative and sometimes more athletic with lifts, dynamic supports and 3 dimensional falling together through the space. Light hearted fun blending with a serious investigation body mechanics and the felt sense of body and contact.
Sourced in Karl’s three and a half decades of CI practice, this workshop will be an improvised flow of technical exercises, movement and lift vocabulary, and more open explorations of physical sensing and process. We aim to push our physical learning edges and together feed our shared curiosity in the body.
The workshop will be equal parts…
- focused exercises exploring movement principles,
- lifts, tricks, and movement vocabulary
- open exploration of themes of classic contact improvisation
An open level workshop for the physically adventurous.
All are expected to be excited to challenge themselves physically and to be comfortable moving through physical contact with another body. If you have questions if the workshop is appropriate, feel free to write with questions to info@bodyresearch.org
Space is limited to 24, so early registration is recommended.
Registration and Fees
For information, write to Laura, laurafarb@gmail.com
Fees
- $225- $350 sliding scale (pay what you can within the range)
- Early Registration (before 31 December): $175-$350 euros
As with most Body Research events, this workshop is “no one turned away for lack of funds”. This means pay what you can in the sliding scale range, and if you can’t afford the lower end, write a note and we can work something out.
Registration…
To register, do both of the following
-
- send payment via Zelle or paypal to culturalvariant@gmail.com and
- fill out the registration form here
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Bio: Karl Frost began his movement studies with the Hawaiian martial art of Lua in 1982. He began to study dance (contemporary dance and contact improvisation) in the SF Bay Area in the late 1980s and has been teaching, practicing, and performing works based in or inspired by contact improvisation since then. His work, influenced by studies in contemporary release technique, Alexander technique, and martial arts as well as paratheatrical work and somatic psychology, has been showcased internationally. He is recognized for his articulate teaching work, dynamic and sensitive technical work, and for the psychologically and physically edge-pushing nature of the performances he directs. His company, Body Research, is devoted to exploring how we live, think, and feel through the body. Much of the work is highly audience-interactive, with roots in somatic psychology and in Grotowskian paratheatrical exploration. Some of his projects have included the Dancing Wilderness Project, the participatory performance works AXOLOTL, PROXIMITY, and BODY OF KNOWLEDGE, and Contact Camp at Burning Man. He has a BA in Physics (UC Berkeley), and MFA in Dramatic Arts and Choreography (UC Davis), and a PhD in Ecology (UC Davis) and currently works as a research scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, Department of Human Behavior, Ecology, and Culture.
Of his performance work…
“ utterly compelling!” Brett Fetzer, The Stranger
“ extremely interesting” Ann Wagner, The Stranger, Seattle, Sept 2004
“ the most surprising performance experience i’ve ever had and … one of the most rewarding.” Brendan Kiley, The Stranger
“…something startling and strangely beautiful to behold.” Molly Rhodes, SF Weekly