with Juliette Gomes and Miranda Busansky

Filling in a greatly felt gap in the Western Mass Contact Improvisation (CI) community, the Queer/Femme Lab meets every third Friday of each month and is for women, nonbinary, trans, and queer embodied movers. We will create an intentional container as a community for rigorous CI inquiry while incorporating a critique of the dance form and traditional CI spaces/culture.

This contact improv lab is the third in an ongoing series that continues to explore embodied and somatic movement practices through the lens of CI, endeavoring to expand our understanding of how to relate to our bodies and the bodies of others in a shared collective space. This week we will use the teachings of Robin Wall Kimmerer’s book Gathering Moss to inspire our movement practices, thinking about  the interconnected, resilient, and precise nature of moss. How can its ability to inhabit the small and in between spaces while organizing itself in the most optimal way to receive nourishment inspire new ways of moving in relation to others? This inquiry will include a variety of exercises involving weight sharing, listening, and reciprocal/collective modes of movement. 

What to bring:

• Comfortable clothing, preferably long pants and long sleeves with no harsh buckles, buttons, zippers, or other features that will get caught on or hurt other dancers

• Water and a snack for after class

• Most importantly, bring yourself and an open heart.

Friday, July 21st, 7:30-9:30pm (in-studio)

Sliding-scale pricing: $15–$50*

*Please reach out to inquire about BIPOC scholarships and other financial assistance.