Move! Evolution of Dance | Dance of Evolution

Alexei Kapterev

Move!Evolution of dance | Dance of evolution

IQ

EQ

Great metaphor, but… where is BQ?

(emotional intelligence quotient)

(intelligence quotient)

Yes, bodily intelligence

We are so much in the brains…

That we forget about the rest

What’s his EQ?

Zero. None.(no body — no emotions)

We think math is important…

And it’s true.

I think math is important… but so is dance.

Ken Robinson @ TED.com

Dance???

But isn’t dance just a stupid waste of time?

No, it’s a way to reclaim your body

It has many faces…

It was around since forever

It could be an ecstatic trance

An aesthetic endeavor

Means of expressing self

R.G. Collingwood, British philosopher and historian

Dance is the mother of all languages!

Or an extreme sport

But can you have them all?…

Ecstasy Aesthetics

AdventureExpression

Apparently, yes.The form is called...

Contact Improvisation

Alexei Kapterev, the presentation author

CI is not the only dance form in existence. But it’s the one I love. And I invite you to share the experience — which is amazing.

Dance evolves constantly

20th century70’s

60’s

50’s

40’s

30’s

20’s

10’sIsadora Duncan

(this is just one of many lines)

20th century70’s

60’s

50’s

40’s

30’s

20’s

10’sIsadora Duncan

Martha Graham

(this is just one of many lines)

20th century70’s

60’s

50’s

40’s

30’s

20’s

10’sIsadora Duncan

Martha Graham

Merce Cunningham

(this is just one of many lines)

20th century70’s

60’s

50’s

40’s

30’s

20’s

10’sIsadora Duncan

Martha Graham

Merce Cunningham

Steve Paxton

(this is just one of many lines)

20th century70’s

60’s

50’s

40’s

30’s

20’s

10’sIsadora Duncan

Martha Graham

Merce CunninghamSteve is the founder of Contact Improv

Steve Paxton

Steve’s recipe

Aikido ContactImprov

Modern Dance

+ =

Steve Paxton @ CI 36th anniversaryBy Paula Zacharias

Standing… this was my practice for 10 years.

Alexei Kapterev, the presentation author

The result was… a dance which was very physical, with unique aesthetics: fluid and animalistic; and also truly democratic.

There’s a great Force acting in the Universe… It is called gravity.

Fluidity

Yield to gravity

Use momentum

Be fluid as water

And light as air

Grounded like a rock

Unique (an unconventional) aesthetics

And sparkling like fire

If you're dancing physics, you're dancing contact.

— Steve Paxton

Karl Frost,CI teacher

My friend John LeFan used to say that CI is 5% creativity, 95% survival…

And it’s a beautiful thing: watching animal in action.

Anyone can practice CI

It’s a performing art

It’s a social dance

It is practiced at jams

With and without music

Jams

In round-robins

Outdoors

At small workshops

And really big festivals

Warm-up at CI36by Paula Zacharias

CI helps to boost your BQ

And maybe go even further

Because evolution is not over

It’s super easy to find

SF Bay Area: 50 CI teachers

CI teacher

CI teacher

CI teacher

CI teacher

CI teacherCI teacher

So… what are you waiting for?

Move!Evolution of dance | Dance of evolution

Contact Improv photos courtesy of Olga Zotova and Konstantin Voschanov

(kphoto.ru) unless otherwise mentioned.

All other photos obtained via sxc.hu and wikipedia.org unless otherwise mentioned.

Text and design by Alexei Kapterev (kapterev@gmail.com)

Credits