Contact Improv And Our Love-Hate Relationship by Sarah Wattles

This semester of contact improv has proved to be interesting. Upon entering the class, strictly for the credit to be honest, I was dreading the work. Throughout my career as a dancer I’ve rarely participated in work where I was required to avidly partner with somebody. Though I enjoy it in reparatory work, I don’t have the desire to roll around with other people just to do it. I’ve spent a lot of time in the city, and even though I lived in land of the hippies in Colorado for some time, I never became a touchy-feely person. However at the conclusion of these fifteen weeks, I can say that I have become much more comfortable with the form and even found myself utilizing it in some of my own work.

There were definitely some exercises that were more comfortable than others. I found that when we were working on specific exercises or tricks it was much easier for me to concentrate than during warm-up dances or round robins. That also really depended on who my partner was. I discovered that when partnered with men I had a lot easier time rolling with the movement and not over-thinking it. Especially when working with Josh from the class. I don’t know if it was because the partner dancing I have done, such as swing and salsa, has been with male partners or if it was a feeling of security when giving my weight. However when practicing rolls or lifts or back walkovers, I worked better with the women. The back walkovers were definitely my least favorite thing we ever did. I completely feel that there is justification in pushing your comfort zone and boundaries, but this typically just left me feeling sick. So if I ever decide to put that in my work it will be on someone else!

I did find it interesting how scientific this form can be. It taught me a lot about distributing my weight and how to give and take it better. I’ve been this size since I was twelve, so I’ve long had a lack of trust for people being able to take my weight, usually due to the height difference. I was dropped on my head once while swing dancing and that left a pretty deep imprint on my trust in the physical strength of others. It takes a lot for me to trust someone in both life and dance, so this was one of my personal challenges. Although I wouldn’t say the class made me a more trusting person overall, it did open up my confidence in the dance realm.

I most recently found myself using contact improv during a fight scene in my senior show. It was inspired by an exercise we practiced one day in class where we were partnered up and began by simply applying varying amounts of pressure to our partner on the floor. Progressively the floor partner would begin to try to move and the other would continue to push down one their body in different areas. This is exactly how the scene started out. Granted in turned into something more intense and forceful, but I was able to approach it differently so that I think it became more natural and believable. Also we rolled across the stage together which is something that before this class I probably wouldn’t have thought of.

Due to injuries I’ve had to sit out and observe a few classes. They ended up being close to the beginning, middle and end of the semester. I’ve found that in technique classes I spend more time looking at and considering my own movement, but with contact I’m more interested in what other people are doing. I don’t feel as judged, if you will, in contact the same way I do in ballet. Granted it is improv so that may sound a tad redundant, but watching the growth and development of the rest of the class has been one of the most interesting aspects for me. There was an interesting mix of students in our class, many senior and many sophomores, and each group originally preferred to stay within their cluster when partnering. I think there is definitely some credit in that especially when trying to begin the initial exploration, but as time went on and the groups intermixed, the class became much more relaxed as a whole. I had to observe about half of the class yesterday, and it was fascinating to see the growth in ability and risk-taking of the dancers. So although at the beginning of the class I found a great discomfort with the form, I feel that at the conclusion of the semester I am at least taking some new skills and ideas with me.