Steve Paxton and contact improvisation

At the start of the lesson we were showed contact improvisation videos and the class was shocked at how intune they were and that it all looked planned and not improvised. The key is the focus with your partner and to sense what the person will do next and know how the other person reacts to your movements. A way of getting to understand this is columbian hypnosis where your head stays two inches away from your partners hand so you follow their movements. Because you had to focus soo much and following the other person you went into a trance and when they staopped you felt really confused. During this we also learned about how much your partner could move and their limitations.

The  performers also share a vocabulary of practised contact work so that ones you have shown the other person what you are trying to do they can understand and do the contact.

Vocabulary

1. Sitting back to back with you partner and pushing against each other to stand up and sit back down. I personally found it very hard because we accedentally went over each other which lickily we could actually use in our vocabulary. 
2. We sat on our bottoms with our legs bent faceing each other and holding hands in front. From there we pulled each other up and down with a seesaw motion.
3. One person would lean forward with a flat back for the other to balance on. We first did it with them both back to back and the lifted person ballanced. But later we also did it where the lifted person balances their hips on the others persons back and balanced on their front.
4. Both stand side ways on to each other hip to hip and one lifts the other off the floor
5. For those who have prier experience triend more complicated lifts like areplanes. One was on the floor on their back as the otherwent into a crucific shape above them. This can be varied with doing it backwards and with one leg.

When we performed our improvisation it was clear to see how the focused groups movements were very fluid and those who didnt were much more rushed and not controlled. The next lesson we told a story through our contact work. We practised walking to a chair and sitting down exactly the same as each other to focus our selves. We we performed we made the story about me stealing her shoe and she kept having to try to reach across we to get if back and their was alot of tug of war.