Contact Improv Grand Dame

Peter Bingham, Andrew de Lotbinière Harwood
photo : Chris Randle

When I was dancing, I really loved the Contact Improv form. Essentially, dancers throw themselves at other dancers, are picked up, rebound off, slide under and around, balance, and flow. It's wonderful to do and less interesting to watch just because as an audience member you know how good it feels when it's really flowing and you want to be a part of the dance but you only get to watch. Ah well, live vicariously for a while!

I just found out about a contact improv show happening this weekend at EDAM, a Vancouver company and school, with Peter Bingham - the company founder and a huge name in CI - and Nancy Stark Smith. Nancy is one of the founding figures of CI; they call her the Grand Dame of the form, and as far as I know she doesn't perform much anymore. The opportunity to see her perform locally, with Peter Bingham no less, is irresistible. I've reserved a couple tickets for Friday night's show - anyone in Vancouver interested in coming with me?

EDAM also hosts a contact jam every Sunday afternoon - a contact jam is a random collection of dancers who have varying levels of skill in the form. The point is to play and explore. I've often been tempted to go drop in and refresh my dance senses but I'm nervous. I'm out of shape in dance terms and it's been years now since I was in a studio. Still...maybe.