DC Contact Improv
The place for info about Washington, DC metro area Contact Improv jams and other community resources. Check here for up-to-date jam status, info about joining the dc-ci mailing list, other local events, and more.
Welcome!
- Contents
This is the place for info about the Washington, DC contact improv jam and related activities. Check the current Status section, just below, to confirm the schedule for upcoming jams, and subscribe to the DC-CI mailing list (here's how) to be notified about any developments via email.
The Sunday Jam Current Status
The Sunday jam continues at 2:00 to 5:00 pm, at St. James and St. Monica Church parish hall.
The first Sunday Jam of each month is set aside for an Underscore or other coordinated improv structure.
The Sunday Jam
| When | Sunday afternoons, 2:00-5:00 pm |
| Where | St. Monica/St. James Episcopal Church parrish hall |
| Address | 222 8th St. NE, Washington, DC 20002 - here's a google map with directions from Union Station metro |
| Price | $5 to $10 donation - Supports church's community outreach program |
| Contacts |
The DC Jam community: dc-ci@python.org (Subscription info ** below) Ken tends the jam and maintains this online stuff. Use the contact link on the upper left of any page to reach him via email or phone |
| Liability Release |
All participating must agree to our liability release/waiver - we'll have copies to sign there, but printing one to bring with you helps. |
See What People Do At A Jam for guidance, and About Contact Improvisation for general info about CI.
Schedule, venue status, and other crucial info is kept up-to-date in the Current Status section, above.
Subscribe to the dc-ci mailing list (subscription instructions, below) to be notified about jam status changes and local ci-related activities.
The Sunday jam is an open event, welcoming everyone. It has been happening every weekend since around 1985, and typically includes people across a broad range of experience, from zero to a lot. It's not a class, but usually includes people happy to explore at whatever level, discuss questions, and, if asked, provide guidance. If you're willing to explore in order to find your way, the jam is a great opportunity to practice and enjoy contact improvisation.
As part of the insurance coverage that our hosts require, every Sunday jam participant must sign a liability release/waiver. We have some ready to sign at the Jam. If you haven't signed it already, and can print one and bring it with you, that helps with jam maintenance.
On the first Sunday of most months we do an improv structure, called the Underscore, to better orchestrate the jam. Originally adopted to help newcomers find their way in, we've discovered that it does that and much more. It's a great lead-in, helping your exploration process as be easy and stress-free as you want. (See below for more details about the underscore.)
See also DC Jam History and some dc jam moments [YouTube].
The DC Jam's (Nearly) Monthly Underscore
The DC jam practices an ensemble improv recipe, called the Underscore, during the jam on the first Sunday of each month. It started (December, 2003) as an experiment. The aim was to make the jam more accessible to everyone by providing some Jam-oriented structure. It stuck, big time. It does provide useful newcomer orientation. In addition, many - new and experienced - find that it helps to foster a great jam - with benefits carrying over to our non-Underscore jam days.
The Underscore is an improv recipe developed by Nancy Stark Smith, and evolving in practice lead by her and many others. It includes a carefully described trajectory and focus on connections. The structure cultivates connecting with oneself and with others, neither to the exclusion of the other. Having a room full of people tuned into it promotes an ease of involvement and discovery in moving with others. It's a great opportunity for exploring contact improv and group movement improv from a very body-based approach, whether or not you're experienced with jamming.
Our Underscores take place on the first Sunday of each month, with (usually) Ken providing an introductory description between 2:00 and 2:30, and then leading the path into the open score. We usually end the open score at 4:30, followed by the closing circle.
The structure works best if those previously unacquainted attend the orientation between 2:00 and 2:30. Also, the more of us that are on time - present and warmed up by 2:30 - the better the it works. (Particularly since someone has to break away to open the door for each person arriving late.) So, try to arrive on time, but come and enjoy in any case.
Ken rants about the underscore in Our CI Jam And The Underscore.
The DC-CI Mailing List
The dc-ci mailing list is a private list for current and former DC jammers. It's the central avenue for notifications about contact improv in the DC metropolitan area. Subscribe to receive emails about venue changes and special events. Conversation is held to jam and local dance topics, and it's a good way to be filled in on progressive dance and related arts in the area.
The list is self-service, with a subscription form in the middle of the dc-ci listinfo page. Membership is by moderator approval, but nobody is turned away if they're considerate and genuinely interested in CI.
For discussion about progressive DC dance not focused on Contact Improv, see the DanceDC yahoo group.
DC Contact Improv Web Log (Blog)
http://dc-ci.blogspot.com/ is a web log for notes about DC contact improv events and experiences. DC jammers, contact ken for privileges to add entries. (He's still figuring out how to work the blog.)
Because it actively notifies subscribers, the mailing list is best for notices about things that are going to happen. The blog is better for notes about things that have happened.
Other Local Resources
Local event listings of related stuff:
- DC Spirit Web lists activist / progressive arts and opportunities for the dc/metro area, including a dance section with links to this page and and other progressive dance activities.
- Free in DC keeps a running listing of upcoming events of many sorts.
- DCConsciousDance.com frequently hosts five rhythms and other ecstatic dance events.
- Glen Echo Park is a sort of local Mecca for folk and social dance, including Contra, Ballroom, Salsa, Swing, and more! See the Glen Echo Park Social Dances page for leads.
- See http://contactimprov.net for leads on CI events, including jams, around the world.
- Anyone wanting to keep informed about the status of the DC jam, please see the dc-ci mailing list section, above. Follow the subscription instructions in order to keep track of venue changes, workshops, performances, and other local ci-related events.
- Jammers are our main, best resource. Contact improv is a process of perpetual discovery, yet it is not just doing whatever. You can learn it in each dance, if you attend to what's going on, and you can also learn from asking questions. Feel free to ask for help, if you're feeling curious or lost.
- What do people do at jams? Here's a stab at answering that question that might be helpful: What People Do At A Jam
- The freedom in CI to explore and expand boundaries depends on careful respect for them, not disregard. Please see Respecting Boundaries for essential guidelines that support everyone's opportunity to enjoy the practice.
- (There are no ongoing local CI classes currently happening - we will include info here when they emerge.)
- For discussion about progressive local dance, in general, join the DanceDC Yahoo discussion group.
- http://contactimprov.net has an entry for the dc jams, as well as lots of other jams, and other ci-related resources.
-
This page and its subtopics have been supporting the jam since September 13, 2006
-
Online resources describing CI, eg the wikipedia contact improvisation entry.
-
I love what can happen when things click in a dance, and am fascinated with the process of getting there. I write about my perspective in About Contact Improvisation. I describe CI's distinctive challenges and rewards in Contact Improv as a Way of Moving.
-
The one item of specialized equipment used by many contact improvisers is "chinese knee pads", to cushion the knees while dancing. The preferred ones are available online from the contact quarterly.
(I'm a rare exception that prefers to go without knee pads, except perhaps when doing long-term intensives, or when I have a banged knee - and then I prefer the stretchable neoprene knee supports available from neighborhood drug stores, like CVS "futuro" open-patella neoprene knee supports.)
Any other suggestions for this list? Use the "contact" link at the top of the page, or the comment form below, to notify me about it!
Other Local, CI-Related Events
- Daniel Burkholder & Sharon Mansur Jan. and Feb. Workshops from Jan 22, 2012 10:00 AM to Feb 05, 2012 01:00 PM — 3225 8th Street NE, Washington, DC 20017 (The Dance Place),
- DC area dance artists Daniel Burkholder and Sharon Mansur offer three dance improvisation workshops, Sundays, Jan. 22, 29, and Feb. 5, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm at the Dance Place.
- Andrew Harwood CI Workshop, Feb 2012 from Feb 18, 2012 09:30 AM to Feb 19, 2012 03:00 PM — 7117 Maple Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20912 (The Dance Exchange),
- Master artist and teacher Andrew Harwood conducts a DC CI workshop on February 18 and 19, 2012 at the Dance Exchange in Takoma Park, MD. Cost will be a sliding scale from $100 to $150, and we will need sufficient preregistration, soon ,enough, to enable the plans to proceed - so if you plan to participate, and can commit, please do so soon!
Sunday Jam History
The Sunday DC jam has been happening just about every week since before 1982.
It's been at several places along the way, including substantial tenures at St. James' Church parish hall in Northeast DC, American University, Glen Echo Park, Joe's Movement Emporium in Mt. Ranier, MD, and George Washington University.
The jam returned to Church of St. James and St. Monica parrish hall as of October 29, 2006, and is continuing there for the forseeable future.
On the first sunday of almost every month since December of 2003 the sunday jam has practiced Nancy Stark Smith's Underscore. We find that it helps the jam to be more approachable, while also strengthening the focus on dance and discovery. See the monthly underscore section, above.
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0
Unported License