Posting by Dana Cosgrove

Looking back on the semester of contact improvisation I have really seen my growth as an individual. I have not become an expert at contact improv but I have become proficient with many of the skills that have been taught to me during the course of the semester. Going back over my strengths and weaknesses from the midterms and I can gladly say I have overcome all of them especially my biggest struggle, giving someone the control and going upside down.

Giving someone all of the control has always been hard for me not only in dance but also in life itself. I felt that if I didn’t have that control it was a way for me to become vulnerable as well as a way for me to get hurt. As I slowly came to grasp with pinpointing my fear it was easier for me to push past it. It wasn’t until the class before thanksgiving where I really felt I have completely let go of my weakness of always having to be in control. It was during a round robin, where I just let my body get into the dance and ignore what was going on around me by focusing on the point of contact with the other body. This made my movements flow together and disregard any awkward moments due to the commitment between my partner and I. I finally let my dance partner take control at times and that being so turned it into a satisfying dance.

As far as my other weakness of going upside down that too also has to do with being in control. I cannot say I have fulfilled my goal with letting myself go upside down but I have come really far from where I use to be. It was during a class exercise where we had to go up in inversions and have our partner catch us when they thought we were ready. This exercise made me realize that my dance partner was not going to let me fall and they were there to catch me, all I had to do was use my breath and push past my insecurities.

My last weakness was getting out of the awkward moments and I can now say I don’t even realize when there is an awkward moment in a dance anymore. Now that we are at the end of the semester and have learned many different skills, it is now easier to get out of an awkward moment by moving the dance into something else we have learned throughout the semester and just letting our movements flow.