Spiral & Root Earthdance Professional CI Training
Contact Improvisation, Body Mind Centering, Underscore, Performance
With Ray Chang (US), Mirva Mäkinen(Fin), Chris Aiken (US), Lani Nahele Schmidt(US), Itay Yatuv (ISR), Sarah Young (US), Keith Hennessy (US), Meta Bobbe (US), Pilar Echavarria (COL)
Welcome to Spiral & Root: Earthdance’s Professional Contact Improvisation Training. For those who are longing for a deep and durational dive into CI research, pedagogy, and professional training, you’re invited to gather with us for three weeks in January 2025.
With nine teachers from Europe, North & South America, and the Middle East representing some of the highest quality of CI instruction available, this one-of-a kind professional training promises to deliver a container for the continuation of targeted and passionate CI research. Visit main page
Who is this for?
Spiral & Root is a place of meeting and dialogue between elders and newer generations of dancers, facilitating the continued development and evolution of CI. In addition to developing and refining the necessary technical skills for practicing and facilitating CI, this training will likewise focus on career development and for those who wish to further their professional tools, networks, and offerings. This intensive is especially valuable for those who wish to further integrate CI training and research into their careers and practices of community building. Further, there will also be opportunities for dialogue and inquiry around the original values and intentions of CI.
There has been some rich discussion and questioning of the term ‘professional’ in the title of the intensive. In the end, we are deciding to keep it, and, to also make it clear that we are using the term to mean the support of participants’ professional development and resourcefulness as teachers, facilitators, and organizers, as opposed to any sort of certification process or top-down bestowing of credentials or authority.
Diversity, resources, and access
Questions of diversity, access, and how to best spread out limited resources are already alive and well amongst us. We hope to strike a healthy balance between acknowledging that this training is happening in the U.S. and will be coloured by U.S. politics and frameworks. However as this is an international training with students and teachers from around the world, we also don’t want to reproduce U.S. cultural hegemony by centering U.S. political themes, strategies, and framings. We wish to create space for the diversity of cultures, languages, and positionalities which will be present throughout the three weeks. Students, teachers, and organizers will have various levels of proficiency with English, and we aim to take into consideration that everyone won’t have the same fluency, and therefore find various ways to communicate and negotiate beyond language and comprehension barriers. As part of our desire to address the need for a variety of diversities, we will be opening up applications for 3 half-scholarships to assist in making the training more financially accessible.
Team
Mirva Mäkinen
Itay Yatuv
Chris Aiken
Pilar Echavarria
Ray Chung
Meta Bobbe
Keith Hennessy
Lani Nahele
Sarah Young
Program
Arrival
By BUS
There are Peter Pan and Greyhound bus stations in Northampton, MA Pittsfield, MA (30min away). Guests most often travel to Northampton. You will then need to find a ride either through sharing a Lyft/Uber with other dancers or find a carpool to Earthdance. Unfortunately, there are no public transportation options to Earthdance.
By PLANE
Closest Airport: Hartford/Springfield, CT: Bradley International Airport.
Options from Bradley International to Northampton include:
* Seemo Shuttle from Bradley to Northampton: Shuttle with others: $42 each. Private car: $89 plus 15% for driver. Service hours: From 4:00 am to 1:00
am. Call 413-586-1120 between the hours of 8AM – 7PM (Mon-Sun) to make a reservation. http://www.seemoshuttle.com
* Valley Transporter: Shared service arrives at Bradley Airport every hour by quarter past the hour (ie. 8:15) and departs every hour on the half-hour (ie. 8:30). Bradley to Northampton: $57 for one, $25 for second, $15 each additional. Bradley to Earthdance: $132.25 for one, $25 second, $15 each additional (fares include gratuity). Reservations accepted up to 3 months in advance, more notice is better for availability. Service hours: From 5 am to 12:30am. Call (413) 253-1350 to make a reservation (must reserve at least 48 hours in advance). http://www.valleytransporter.com.
* Taxis from Bradley Airport to Northampton are around $60 and can be shared by up to 4 individuals.
* Unfortunately, Peter Pan bus line no longer offers service between Bradley Airport and Northampton, MA.
Other airports nearby are Boston (Logan International) and Albany, NY.
Accommodation
Housing
Housing is provided in the Gratitude Lodge (a.k.a. Earthdance dorm) next door to our Farmhouse at 262 Prospect Street. The dorm has 3 floors of co-ed housing for guests, with rooms ranging from 3 to 12 occupants, and shared bathrooms. A private, handicap accessible bathroom is available on the first floor. A few private rooms are sometimes available for an additional fee but cannot be guaranteed (email contact@earthdance.net three weeks prior to an event). Most beds are singles, though a few doubles are available.
We provide pillows and blankets, with extra blankets available for cold nights. All of our beds are first-come-first-choose. Bring your own bed linens or rent them for $15.
In Summer, Fall & Spring, guests can camp on the land. The camping area is near the main Farmhouse, where there are bathroom facilities (including showers). Discounts are available for camping for most Earthdance hosted events. Bring your own sleeping bag(s) or rent bed linens and blankets for $15.
Bring your own towel(s) – we recommend two: one for showering, one for the sauna — or rent them for $10 each.
Facilities:
Our facilities include the Gratitude Lodge, main Farmhouse (featuring three studios, a library, dining room, living room, and massage room), a wood-fired sauna, groundwater-fed quarry, and approximately 100 acres of wooded land. Learn more about our facilities.
Earthdance’s buildings are ADA accessible. More info here.
Food
Earthdance provides healthy, vegetarian meals each day (unless meat is specifically requested for a rental program), sourcing locally as much as possible and from our garden during Summer and Fall. Dietary needs are submitted either through registration (for Earthdance hosted events) or the point person for any rental with us. We do our best to accommodate as much as possible. Guests are permitted storage space in the guest refrigerator during events. The nearest grocery store is 4.1 miles (6.6 km) away: The Old Creamery Co-op. Bring your own food items as needed.
Weather:
Earthdance is situated approximately 1,400 feet (425 meters) above sea level and surrounded by forest. The weather ranges from cold and snowy in winter to warm but not usually really hot in the summer:
Spring weather can be very variable. It is common for their to be snow on the ground through much of March. As the snow melts mud is very common until the ground thaws in April. Average temperatures in March range from lows of 22°F (-5°C) to highs of 40°F (4°C). By May the average lows are 44°F (7°C) and the average highs are 65°F (18°C).
Summers tend to be warm but really hot days are rare. The average high in the summer months is 75°F (24°C) and the average low is 55°F (13°C).
Fall, like spring, can be quite variable. In September the average high temperature is 68°F (20°C) and the average low is 48°F (9°C). By November the average high is 45°F (7°C) and the average low is 29°F (-2°C). Snow is possible but not that common in late October and November.
Winters are cold and by early January there is usually snow on the ground that will not melt until March. The average high temperature through the winter is 31°F (-1°C) and the average low is 14°F (-10°C).
Remember that these are average temperatures and the weather can be very variable. We advise checking the forecast when packing and bringing clothes to accommodate many different temperatures and weather patterns.
Participatory Culture:
Depending on the type of event you join us for at Earthdance, you may be asked to participate in chores (typically house cleans, meal cleans, or meal preps), respecting the staff and fellow guests, as well as caring for the space as a shared space.
At the dorm, we request quiet hours between 9pm and 9am. Almost all rooms are shared, and we ask you to be respectful of your roommates’ needs for rest.
Ticket Infos
Application is open!
Included: all classes & jams, three times a day local vegetarian food. Accommodation in a dormitory. Earthdance is using a sliding-scale tiered payment system for participation in this event.
$2,450 – 5 ticketsSOLD-OUT$2,650 – 5 ticketsSOLD-OUT$2,850 – 5 ticketsSOLD-OUT- $3,050 – 1 of 5 tickets remaining
- $3,250 – 5 of 5 tickets remaining
- $3,450 – 5 of 5 tickets remaining
Three subsidised scholarships ($1170) as part of our Equity & Access program /SOLD OUT
Three partial scholarships ($2150) specifically for international participants /SOLD OUT