Rick
My dancing began socially as a teenager and the first technical form to channel my enthusiasm was Contact Improvisation. After some modern dance training I performed through the 90’s for British contemporary dance companies. As a choreographer and Improvisational performer, I have made work for many contexts, including major Opera houses, small theatres, art galleries, touring dance companies and warehouse parties. My choreographic practice has followed and sometimes led the development of my teaching. I started teaching CI in 1996 and gradually expanded the scope of my pedagogy to include performance improvisation, solo dancing and somatic exploration, ensemble composition and voice/movement techniques. For 20 years I taught Composition and Improvisation at London Contemporary Dance School. I have taught workshops in 12 different countries and more than 40 cities. I have been a guest teacher in many institutions, companies and festivals such as CNDC Anger (France), National Taiwan University of Arts, Hong Kong APA, Tanzfabrik Berlin, Freiburg Festival, The Royal Ballet School, Punchdrunk, DV8, Rambert Dance Company and contactfestival freiburg. In the last few years, in collaboration with Emilie Darlet, I have been developing an ecosystem for CI in London which centres around providing regular classes, workshops and pedagogical progressions for all levels of study within CI.
INTENSIVE 6th-10th May 2025
Seeing Sensation
Somatics, CI technique and Performance
Somatic openings: each session will begin with inward seeing through the functional language of anatomy and the poetic language of space and time.
We will inhibit visual perceptions through eyes-closed exercises that help us see what vision is hiding from us. Opening the doors to movement that emerges from internal sensation and clearing space in our attention to navigate our connection to the outside world through our skin.
These exploratory sessions are for developing personal dances that are finely tuned to both internal (sensation and anatomy) and external (gravity, surface, space) forces and connect us to our natural coordination. Mixing somatic and improvisational approaches with rising kinetic energies will articulate the soft athletics and multidirectional awareness of CI in solo movement. Deep solo movement practice will be the base from which we begin to connect with how our dance is influenced by, and influences, another person’s dance.
CI technique sessions will be about seeing the form and pattern in partnering exercises. Learning patterns that involve weight exchange at all levels and progress gradually in complexity and difficulty will be the core of these sessions. We will study the precision mechanics of making yourself light (flying) through shape, timing and intention, coupled with the study of support (under dancing) through following, suggesting, anchoring and an efficient use of force through rhythm and alignment. Observation, feedback, improvisation and repetition will be our tools for improving and building new vocabulary into your CI dancing.
Improvisation Performance sessions are about being seen and seeing. The focus will not be on looking good or perfecting our CI patterns for an audience, but instead, about the way that being seen supports us in seeing ourselves. We will work on including sensation and emotions while maintaining CI as a language within our improvisations.
We will develop CI practice into a larger space of whole group awareness and include witnessing each other dance as an expanded way of connecting. We will work on relating to multiple partners at the same time. We will work on how to get in and out of contact with a partner while maintaining the integrity of our own dance.
Difficult issues or blocks to our creativity related to fear, failure, taking space and confusion will be welcomed into our dances and conversations will feed our practice and our path forward.
This work is about integrating somatic awareness and CI skills into a broader sense of our artistry as dancers and it is about including our imperfect and glorious humanity.