TEACHERS 2025.

It is with great enthusiasm that we introduce you to this great team of international teachers.
INTENSIVES >> Kirstie Simson y Kostas Gerardos.
CLASSES >> Bryce Kasson, Katja Mustonen, Ramón Roig y Sofía Brito.

>>> INTENSIVES.

There will be two intensives happening simultaneously with a duration of 3 hours 30 minutes for five days.

KIRSTIE SIMSON (UK).

Kirstie Simson (UK) has been a continuous explosion in the contemporary dance scene, bringing audiences into contact with the vitality of pure creation in moment after moment of virtuoso improvisation. Called "a force of nature" by the New York Times, she is an award-winning performer and teacher who has "immeasurably enriched and expanded the boundaries of New Dance" according to Time Out Magazine, London. Kirstie is internationally renowned today as an excellent teacher, a captivating performer, and a leading light in the field of Dance Improvisation, with a dance practice that spans over four decades. From 2008 – 2020 Kirstie held a position as a tenured professor in the Department of Dance at the University of Illinois.

In August 2020 Kirstie returned to her home base in Wales from where she continues to deepen the investigation of her work, sharing her findings with others around the world. Kirstie is framing her work now, in the light of our uncertain future, as practices that can help us develop resilience in the face of challenge. She uses her own experience of facing a life-threatening health issue as a foundation for her ongoing research into the power of embodied intelligence.

www.kirstiesimson.com

DANCE IMPROVISATION PRACTICES THAT OFFER RESILIENCE AND SUPPORT IN DIFFICULT TIMES.
FACILITATED BY KIRSTIE SIMSON.

There is deep inspiration and rigour in a practice of improvisation that posits vulnerability at its heart. Developing the skills to be able to care for, engage, respect, and respond to that state of openness in oneself, others and our environment generates creative work that is powerful and transformative. Learning from a place of interconnectedness can give us the resilience and insight to face life's challenges and complexities.

In this workshop Kirstie shares the movement practices and underlying philosophies she has developed over forty years of her committed involvement with dance improvisation as a ‘life-practice’ that has helped her negotiate life’s ups and downs. Integral with the physical practices she will elucidate how she views embodied practices as vitally important for developing the resilience to face into and respond to the challenging times we are living through. Having gone through recent life-threatening illness herself, Kirstie draws first hand on how grounded dance practices can guide and sustain us as we face into life’s greatest challenges, and the life-affirming health benefits they offer us.

Kirstie draws from her extensive experience of Contact Improvisation, dance techniques, the Alexander technique, Aikido, meditation, and her broad knowledge of improvisation in performance. She shares her work through facilitated exercises, open time for play and exploration, movement scores, observations, self-reflection, deep listening, discussion, and humour. Much of the work is experienced through partnering and connection with others, balanced with solo time for processing and reflection.

This is a rare opportunity for participants to delve deeply into the wisdom embedded within embodied practices, both in the studio space, as well as the possibility to explore movement scores in the natural environment. Kirstie will facilitate her work, guided by her own depth of bodymind-knowledge gleaned over the years in which she has pursued a dedicated practice of deep listening and inquiry, centered in the essential importance of life-affirming embodied knowledge.

KOSTAS GERARDOS (GR)

Konstantinos Gerardos started dancing at the National School of Dance in Athens when he was 11 years old. He continued his studies at the Morianova Professional Dance School and graduated from the Professional Dance School of Stavroupoli.

Between 1989 and 2004 he danced for the Thessaloniki Dance Theatre (National Theatre of Northern Greece). In 2001 he won the 1st prize at the National Awards for Dance for his interpretation as ‘Bluebeard’ at the performance of the same name, directed by K. Rigos. In 2012 he was invited by the ‘Machinenoisy Dance Company’ based in Vancouver, Canada to dance at the performance ‘Romantic Old Horses’ directed by Peter Bingham. His career as a dancer has continued until today.

In 2001, he founded his own company, ‘VIS MOTRIX DANCE COMPANY’ based at the Vis Motrix Performance Studio in Thessaloniki and has been creating and directing its performances (In Dreams, Safety Distance, Pessoas, In Between, Nocturne and others) in Greece and abroad (Great Britain, Germany, Spain). In May 2015 Konstantinos Gerardos directed the performance ‘TAN’ for the Thessaloniki Dance Theater (National Theatre of Northern Greece). He has also worked as an actor for the ‘Nees Morfes’ Theatre Company and as a choreographer for theatre and opera.

During his work as a dancer and choreographer for the past 30 years, Konstantinos Gerardos has also developed a great teaching experience in classical and contemporary dance, improvisation and Contact Improvisation, Partnering, Ensemble Improvisation, composition, choreography and performance in professional dance schools and acting schools. He has taught improvisation and choreography at the Dance and Performance course at the University of Lincoln in England and workshops in contemporary dance and contact improvisation in Spain, Germany,Israel and Canada.

He has collaborated with Chris Aiken, Angie Houser, Kirstie Simpson, Nita Little, Ray Chung, Eckhard Muller, Gregor Weber, Thomas Mettler, Yaniv Mintzer.

FLOW IN MOTION - Contact Improvisation
FACILITATED BY KOSTAS GERARDOS.

In this workshop, we will use the architecture and mechanical functions of the body. Through actions/physical actions we will explore the mechanisms of our movement. Through our imagination and our quriosity the dance will appear.

What happens to our dance when my body meets the other body?
How the solo dance becomes a Contact Improvisation duet?
How these bodies flowing in motion?

The purpose is to create physical and mental states that will help us to stay in contact with our partner and follow the dance that is appearing when two bodies come together.  

During our work together, we will zoom into the tangible body and its physiology, skin, soft tissue, muscles and bones to inspire our dance. Working solo and in contact we will clarify their role in our personal way of moving and in contact improvisation. Isometric positions will clarify the use of our muscles and playing with the soft tissue of our bodies solo and in contact will enrich the sensitivity of our perception through the skin. We will study the architecture, function and movement qualities of specific body parts like the spine, the hip joints, the torso, the pelvis or the extremities to improve our skills when we are in contact with our partner. Exploring different ways of rolling, sliding, on or off the floor and using the floor as well as a partner to support our travelling through space will bring light and clarify our relationship with space, time and gravity.
Starting from the known we will find the tracks to the unknown, starting from the familiar and the reliable we will travel to the unanticipated and the unpredictable. Starting from our own bodies (solo) we will investigate the elements of improvisation that will help us to improve our improvisational awareness, the ability of listening, not only to our own body but also our partner’s body and to experience a dance that is born from our mutual surrendering to each other using improvisation as a tool.  

>>> CLASSES.

There will be two simultaneous classes with a duration of 2 hours 30 minutes for 4 days with four international teachers.

BRYCE KASSON (DE/USA).

Bryce is an improvisor—dancer, clown, musician— and teacher who has lived and worked in the USA, Argentina and now Germany. For the past 30 years, the core practices of his dance research, performing and teaching have been Contact Improvisation and Tuning Scores. He is often invited to research and perform Tuning Scores in small groups with Lisa Nelson, Karen Nelson and other international Tuners. He is keenly interested in the moment when an action becomes meaningful, either to the mover or the watcher—whether it’s a new experience of the body in the studio, or a powerful image found or constructed onstage.

His first CI teachers were Karen Nelson, Scott Smith, Carolyn Stuart and Patrick Gracewood. From 2002 - 2015 he was based in Buenos Aires, making improvised dance performance as well as teaching Contact Improvisation, Tuning Scores and Material for the Spine to dancers as well as clowns and actors. Continuing to teach and perform as a dance improvisor, he is also currently engaged in the teaching, creation and performance of theatre clowning with his company Fort Willy. He has been based in Cologne, Germany since 2016.

www.fortwilly.org

EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE.
FACILITATED BY BRYCE KASSON.

Often, while dancing, our awareness is dominated by one or two juicy points of contact, while many other touch events fly by unnoticed. In this class, we’ll experiment with ways to bring attention and curiosity to these “hidden” points of contact, and to engage with multiple points simultaneously. 

Approaching Contact Improvisation as a moving, open-ended question we’ll play with points of featherweight touch, points of short time duration, points which are ‘unnecessary’ for physical safety. At first glance those points of contact may not seem to have much to offer in function of doing something, but they can be a training ground for expanding an active attention, and an expanded attention has the possibility to lead us into unexpected movements and timings. Either way, this state of expanded, active attention is a particular pleasure for me and one of my main sources of joy in dancing Contact Improvisation.

Relaxing our goal orientation, we will look for the play and pleasure in small fulcrums, tiny resistances, and unexpected constellations of touch. The class will finish with an opportunity to continue this subtle, multivalent dance, and/or experiment with how to maintain and even grow this awareness of multiple points as the dance gets bigger and faster.

KATJA MUSTONEN (FIN).

Katja Mustonen is a dancer, teacher and a choreographer from Finland. Since the past 20 years the work with dance has made her travel around the globe. She graduated as a dancer 2004, and holds MA degree in "Contemporary Dance Education” since 2010. Currently, she works as a dancer in The Dance Theater Minimi.

In dance, she is interested in the holistic performer, where strong physicality is joined with active imagination, energy work and embodied wisdom. Her special strength is in Contact Improvisation, partnering and improvisation, but she works versatile within dance depending of the context as a performer, maker and teacher.

RELATIONAL BODIES FALLING AND FLYING.
FACILITATED BY KATJA MUSTONEN.

”In my dancing and teaching CI, I’m curious of the space between trust and risk, support and fall, subtle and robust, instinct and wonder. During this workshop, I’d like to share my latest research and play within CI.”

The workshop will put focus on the weight of our bodies while studying mass as it grounds, releases, suspends and flies. We train our ability to listen and respond to mobile support while training our reflexes to move safely through levels. We play with projecting our bodies along spatial trajectories and find ways to alternate the speed of our actions. We explore, how scaling the physical tone can mobilize our alignment and generate dynamic momentum while giving us a sense of flight.

RAMÓN ROIG (CT)

Trained in classical, contemporary and traditional dance, Ramón has been a part of several dance companies in the city of Barcelona since 1991.

My knowledge of improvisation and CI has been expanded and consolidated by teachers such as Martin Keogh, Andrew Harwood, Daniel Lepkoff, Ray Chung, Chris Aiken, Karl Frost, Benno Voorham, Nita Little, Frey Faust, Jess Curtis, Jules Beckman, Charlie Morrissey and Mirva Mäkinen, among many others.

Knowledge that has helped me establish the foundations of my own personal and pedagogical concepts. Starting in 2000, I started teaching Contact-Improvisation classes and seminars.

Since then I have taught in civic centres and in regulated higher education centers and dance conservatories. I have created dance and community spaces in the city of Barcelona and I have traveled and shared my knowledge in numerous countries around the world.

I currently give regular classes and training in CI in Barcelona and Valencia.

As director of the SIAMB collective since 1999, I organise the Barceloneta Jam and create and participate in events related to Dance, Improvisation, Video-art and Performance.

PHYSICAL DIALOGUE.
FACILITATED BY RAMÓN ROIG.

The dialogue is born between determination and waiting, between the gesture of one and the other, which alternate and intertwine spontaneously, creating a specific musicality for each dance.

A way of speaking (2.5h.)

Delve into the mechanics of the body to discover the dramaturgy implicit in each movement. And from there, observe the roles that are generated and lead us to a living and vibrant physical dialogue.
Our physical language is born in order to interact with the environment, dance arises from the fall and from the desire to find balance.
To transition between intention and listening, between inertia and direction, directing attention and clarity to these alternations and giving space to the transitions.
Through the prism of the human body, we will be able to observe the world around us in a clearer and more serene way. Returning to our essential being, integrating ourselves into nature until we disappear into it.

Distances (2.5h.)

Distance is the first form of contact.
We will work on detachment and cessation of the contact, to find freedom within the bond.
Renewed and sincere.
When the spaces of mobility of both people overlap, we create a common kinesphere. A space-time bubble that transcends the tactile and is sustained by subtle rhythms, breathing and cadence, inhabiting concentric orbits that fluctuate in harmony between contact and waiting, allowing the small and the subtle to take on a significant magnitude for both.

SOFÍA BRITO (PT).

Sofia Brito, mother of Rita and Rodrigo, co-artistic director of AORCA and Festival Primavera Dança. Master in Performing Arts from the Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema (Lisbon). She graduated in classical and modern dance at the Cie Nacional de Bailado (Lisbon) school. She majored in contemporary dance and choreography at P.A.R.T.S.'s first promotion. Performing Arts Training and Research Studios (be), artistic direction Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker. His career as a performer began in childhood in classical dance, theater and singing, in Portugal. It was in Belgium that he discovered contemporary dance. Highlights include collaborations with ATK, Salva Sanches, Gisèle Vienne, Nadine Ganase, Jan Ritsema, Graciella Boggiano, Robert Wilson, J. Garcia Miguel, Nilsen and Thora Jorge, among others. Life improvisation researcher and performer formed by Randy Warshaw and David Zambrano, she collaborated with Steve Paxton on the DVD Material for the Spine (2006) and practiced with Nancy Stark Smith 'Underscore'. He made his creative debut with ACORDA! for children, it was performed by the Teatro Sénior de Portimão group. He has been exploring short creations in the search for a chorographic identity: 'Taking Shape', 'Changing Skin', 'Wild Breath', 'Untitled', 'Seeing the world through the window' and 'What's now!'. Sofia has extensive experience as a trainer in contemporary dance, Contact Improvisation and yoga. He is currently creating for teenage audiences: ‘Ser Animal Humano’ (2023) and ‘ Vamos Falar Sobre’ (2024).

CI-ORIGINS.
FACILITATED BY SOFIA BRITO.

In the workshop Sofia will offer a vision of Contact Improvisation as a practice of sustainable dances, of consent and active listening, referring to its origin: a vision of regeneration and belonging to nature, which we are. During the sessions we will practice and explore the fundamental principles of this score that supports the continuous research driven by Steve Paxton in 1972 that gave rise to CI: efficient locomotion and 'embodiment' of Basic Neuro-cellular Patterns; Physics forces applied to dance: gravity, inertia, momentum, centrifugal; Spherical space, disorientation and expansion of the senses; Release, reflexes and sustainability; Small Dance and mutuality (the 3rd element); Being in choice, invitation and consent; Spirit of research and traveling in a JAM. Sofia thus proposes that we look at the practice of Contact Improvisation as a score, with the aim of deconstructing patterns and experiencing something deeper, which is in us even before "culture".

Sofia has been practicing Improvisation and Contact Improvisation for 29 year, and received extensive training and research from David Zambrano, Randy Warshaw and Steve Paxton. She also had the privilege to practice and learn from Nancy Stark Smith, Julyen Hamilton, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen and Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker. She embodies the path of choreography as an artist that uses improvisation as a base of her life, artistic works, activism, resilience and a peaceful powerful contribution for the transformation in the world.

Each culture has an associated cultural physical body, a way of inhabiting the body that supports mythological and philosophical thought. Contact Improvisation was born in post-modern philosophical thought, which shows us the importance of freeing ourselves from narratives. CI is born from questions and becomes a revolutionary and activist practice for the changes we want to be and see. Sofia frames the exercises in original IC research and as training our innate animal being. CI is for Sofia a physiological practice that subtly deconstructs the myths of progress and human exceptionalism.