Touching Into Myth

I am story-obsessed; I live and breathe stories.

Into the dance

All day, it's like I am waiting

to dance, to dance

with others

Waiting? To dance.

Touch into here+now

contact what's truer

than this, with you.

I have a story

a million stories

and only dance has answers

Story? Questions.

And dance has all my answers.

Contact Improvisation brings us into a mythic time. A space without telos, without end or goal. Here, our bodies tell stories. The practice invites us to create spontaneous ephemeral meaningful human connection.

I'm Curious: what do we call fiction, what do we consider fact? When I approach you to dance, what story do I imagine is unfolding between us? What do I expect? How do you feel about what's going on? Are you dancing the same story? How do we initiate dances? Rush in, leap into patterns that are familiar or well-worn? Do we skip the introduction, assume prior knowledge? What if every time is the first time? Who told us about formula and scripts? Can I turn disgust into compassion? Hatred into compassion? Exasperation into compassion? How do we heal? What does it means to inhabit our bodies?

I am concerned with stewarding a community of practice engaged in finding freedom within a violent, chaotic world. No small task. Some of the keys are: movement, storytelling, participation, collaboration, relationship, and self-knowledge. The intention is liberation.

How can weaving movement through out bodies bring about a new imaginal? What is impossible without touch? Do you consider yourself a storyteller? Why/not? Who gets to enjoy touch, enjoy contact? Is there a direct link between capacity for being-here-now and capacity for immersing yourself in a story? Where do stories live in your body? Are they mobile, stuck, fluid, ossified? What stories am I reiterating when I dance? When I initiate? When I wait? How do we care for eachother and the space? How can I possibly move into the world?

This improvisation workshop will take the shape of a group score, in which I will guide us into asking our bodies some of these questions, that we may discover together the mythos underpinning our individual and collective practice of contact improvisation.

This is not a technique class, nor is it a jam. This workshop is for anyone with an ongoing movement or storytelling practice, and an interest in exploring both of these. The partner+group work pre-supposes basic familiarity with contact improvisation, but beginners are welcome.

This is not a technique class, nor is it a jam. This workshop is for anyone with an ongoing movement or storytelling practice, and an interest in exploring both of these. The partner+group work pre-supposes basic familiarity with contact improvisation, but beginners are welcome.

Contact Improvisation is an aspect of the fool's journey. It begins with each step. Our naivete is exquisite. That innocence is in fact a skill, a thing of beauty to be cultivated. The Fool is not-doing, not productive, not consuming. They walk forward with momentum, gravity, the wave function. Like a plum-blossom kick, a spiral roll, it's not a muscular effort, it's an unwinding. This is not about what we may gain by the end, but about how the blossoms smell right now.

I can learn about the world's past, its patterns, to inform my ongoing process, but not to choose a future. I can only choose a present, the gift of now. Time doesn't stop. No matter my invlinations or desires, it will spiral on. Neither a line nor a scrapbook, it's something like a moebius strip.

Interested?

Join me in an experimental dance workshop that delves into the myths we hold in our bodies. During the workshop, we'll be exploring the question: What stories are we dancing? This event is perfect for anyone looking to expand their horizons and explore new ways of expressing themselves through dance.

This improvisation workshop will take the shape of a group score, in which I will guide us into asking our bodies some of these questions, that we may discover together the mythos underpinning our individual and collective practice of contact improvisation.

This is not a technique class, nor is it a jam. This workshop is for anyone with an ongoing movement or storytelling practice, and an interest in exploring both of these. The partner+group work pre-supposes basic familiarity with contact improvisation, but beginners are welcome.

• July 11th, 2023
• 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm
• White Wall Studio located at 4532 Ave Laval.
• 25$
• Sign up via email at laure [at] mxmarin.ca.
• Facebook event: https://fb.me/e/5PmtjUfl3

Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to explore the intersection of dance and storytelling!

Addendum

Based on exchanges I've had recently, I want to reiterate and clarify my offering.

When I use the words "myth" and "story," I mean the conscious and unconscious patterns that shape individual and collective behavior, not the craft of storytelling. In my hurry to get the word out, I was unclear in my original message.

The workshop is about listening. First to yourself, then to each other, and noticing what arises without judgment. As such, the workshop will largely be a process of guided inquiry and group reflection, supported by somatic practice, especially contact improvisation. This is not a technique class.

It is an experimental, emergent process. I invite you into my inquiry. Sharing, in the belief that coming together as a group can deepen our practice. My background thinking is in the spirit of Keith Hennessy's work, Questioning Contact Improvisation, which I highly recommend:

https://dancersgroup.org/2019/10/questioning-contact-improvisation/

I believe that Keith's questions are fundamental to the development of contact.

The workshop is a space for practitioners of all levels to come together to explore some of the questions that inhabit my body. Questions about the assumptions and stories that underpin the form, as well as our broader socio-political context. This workshop is my first attempt to continue a conversation about some of the underlying patterns that inhabit all of us to varying degrees.