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Contact Improvisation Jam
There is no chance of confusing the Contact Improvisation Jam with the high school dance. Unaccompanied by music, duos and trios of dancers move through the space in nearly constant contact, be it ear to shoulder, knee to hip, or foot to forehead.
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CONTACT IMPROVISATION JAM
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Time: Tue., 8-10 p.m.
Price: $6-$10 sliding scale.
Location: YWCA, 7 Temple St., Cambridge.
Contact: Patrick Crowley at 617-685-3496.
Get directions
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No one asks a partner out loud to dance. Rather they slither across the floor until they bump into you - if you respond, it's a yes. Or two people might make eye contact, scramble toward one another like mischievous crabs, and meet in a burst of dancing that looks like a cross between a tango and the bump.
Yes, the Jam is for the bold and the adventurous, but it is also for anyone who wants the challenge to become so. "It's hard to feel uninhibited," says biotech software engineer Steve Enzer from Somerville. "Contact classes teach you to enter and interact without feeling shy." The crowd makes this easier. "This is a group that tends to be very open-minded, open-hearted, healthy, and warm," he says. "Through contact, I rediscovered my inner dancer."
Born out of the experimental dance movement in early 1970s New York, contact has grown popular with regulars of the other free-form dances. But the Jam is where you can experience its pure form - that is, without music to distract you from listening to your body and the movements of your partner.
As with all the free-form dances, limberness and age are unimportant. What you need is "a desire to learn and to be a part of things," says Jam organizer Patrick Crowley. If you want to "learn how to fall, to be upside down, and how to feel the floor through someone else's feet, " this is for you.
Starting with a class is helpful:
Introduction to Contact Improvisation, Jan. 23, 1-5 p.m. $30 advance/$40 door. The Dance Complex, 536 Mass. Ave., Cambridge. Contact Debra Bluth at 781-395-9428.
Beginning Contact Improvisation, March 2-April 20, Tuesdays 6-7:30 p.m. $80. Green Street Studios, 185 Green St., Cambridge. Contact Shakti Smith at 978-371-2569.
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