Posting by Jordan Beyeler

The old saying, things aren’t always as they appear describes my exploration of the improvisational art form. I had walked into improvisational exercises with the initial feelings of discomfort and a preconceived notion that I wasn’t good enough to excel in this foreign dance style. To me improvisation wasn’t worth all the stress because this style didn’t seem as valuable as perfect technique. My first semester in contact improvisation opened my eyes to a world where improvisation was not only used as a perfect tool for getting in touch with one’s body, but also choreographing routines. Once I was asked to form my own definition of improvisation I stumbled upon a paragraph that really opened my eyes to how closed minded I was towards the idea of improvisational aspect of the contact improvisational technique. According to Ann Cooper Albright in Taken By Surprise, “we read that it’s the process of letting go of the minds thinking so the body can do its moving in its own unpredictable way” (6-7). After researching, I found this definition to be far from the actual experience and technique of any improvisational form.

The first common misconception within this definition is the idea that to improv one has to “let go” of thinking. The improvisational technique is full of awareness that is found through a deep relationship between the mind and body. The art form includes actions where the dancer is required to think in advance and actions where the motion requires the dancer to become more conscious of the physical tendencies of the body. These actions keep the mind constantly thinking in a state of “hyperawareness” where both the body and mind can come to an agreement of the movement they would like to initiate. In contact, this idea is even more important because the dancer has to be aware of the needs of their partner almost more than that of themselves. This is hard to do if the dancer hasn’t established a strong bodily awareness within himself or herself before attempting to understand another individual. With improvisational dancing, especially contact, the dancers aren’t in a state of choice between following the body itself or the mind (isolated self). The body is not an object within this style and after many years of silence needs to be re-taught how to develop consciousness (Albright 15). This consciousness will allow the body and mind to acquire that hyphened relationship to engage the individual into the improvisational form. The dancer needs to gain an “awareness that expands to hold entire self” (Albright 22).

Another element that separates the contact improvisation from other dance forms is not just the formation of a mind and body relationship, but being able to listen and adhere to the physical desires of the body and compromise this with the partners desires as well. In Bruce Curtis’s essay, the idea that improvisational dance is not about controlling the body but “to listen to it, accepting whatever movement was inherent” is quite different from that of ballet (Albright 16). The style focuses more on what the body needs than what is technically perfect so there is no stress or strain on the body thus allowing it to feel less venerable. The mechanical mode that dancers constantly place on their body is difficult to break, yet once broken it becomes easier for the dancer to keep focused in the deep bodily communication. Thus, the excitement of the performance comes from the dancer’s constant fading in and out of listening to the body and its connection between another individual. This sense of uncertainty is the experience many often mistaken for “being free” and “letting go,” giving the improvisational technique the inaccurate definition it has come to hold.

Before further studying the complex technique of improvisational dance, I would have referred it to it as a way of releasing the mind and just dancing. Now I have come to realize the more almost spiritual technique to the form that is both a dance experience and sensation of dancing combine. I now have a greater respect for contact improvisation and when asked how to describe it to newcomers I would have to say it is the ability to listen to the entire body while extending this hyperawareness through to their partner making an immediate formation of natural movement that satisfies both souls.