Wednesday Open Class & Jam

Acland Burghley School studios, Tufnell Park

When:  Wednesdays, 6:30pm to 9:00pm,

Autumn term from Wednesday September 09th to Wednesday December 16th (no class on 23rd September and during Half Term 28th October)

Spring term from Wednesday January 20th to Wednesday March 31st (no class during Half Term 17th February)

Where: Acland Burghley School Sports Centre, Churchill Rd, London NW5 1AN (5 minute walk from Tufnell Park Tube, 10 mins walk from Gospel Oak Overground, 12 mins walk from Kentish Town).

What: Contact Improvisation is a structured, but improvised, partner dance based on communication through touch. The technique  develops physical awareness and coordination, pleasure in movement and bravery in exploring the possibilities of dance.

How: an hour and a half class will lead into one hour of Jamming

Who: everyone is welcome

Tickets:     £20, £16 concessions, £15-16-17 with carnet

Info:      contact@ricknodine.com

Monday Beginners course & classes

Acland Burghley School studios, Tufnell Park

When: Mondays, 6:30pm to 8:30pm

Monday Beginners Level 2: Improvers (Course of 6 classes): from Monday November 02nd to Monday December 07th

Monday Beginners Level 1 (Course of 4 classes): from Monday January 18th to Monday February 08th

Monday Beginners Level 2: Improvers (Course of 5 classes): from Monday February 22nd to Monday March 22nd

Monday Beginner Classes:

• November 02nd, November 09th, November 16th, November 23rd, November 30th, December 07th

• January 18th, January 25th, February 1st, February 08th

• February 22nd, March 01st, March 08th, March 15th, March 22nd

What:

BEGINNERS 1: This course is a carefully crafted syllabus that will support beginners in understanding the conceptual and physical world of Contact Improvisation (CI) so that they can trust their own opinions about what they want as they dive into the CI experience.  Connecting with other people is at the core of this practice and you will learn how CI roots connection in the reality of touch and movement.

Class 1) A talk about what CI is and what to expect from it, a lead somatic warm-up and a solo physical exploration about moving comfortably in close connection with the floor, exercises about communicating with a partner through touch and physical listening, discussion of consensual touch and freedom of choice in dancing, a space for questions and concerns to be expressed and addressed.

Class 2) We will learn some simple patterns that open different body surfaces to meeting in contact. Exercises that clarify how to get in and out of dances will strengthen your agency in following your interests within a group.

Class 3) Exercises about exchanging body weight with a partner will be the beginning of the thrill of taking risks, understanding that good communication leads to pleasure in weight exchange and a lack of communication leads to discomfort, feeling your strength and understanding your limits.

Class 4) Exercises about how to fall safely, learning more CI vocabulary to expand  possibilities in physical communication, building confidence in starting and ending dances.

Class 5) We will explore creativity and improvisation so that we can maintain joy and curiosity in our dancing

Class 6) Understanding Jamming and how to decode its rules and etiquette, responses to specific questions and a discussion about transitioning to open classes and jams. Integrating previous learning into free dancing and connecting to fun and risk in movement.

BEGINNERS 2: IMPROVERS: This course will build on what we started in Beginners 1, deepening your understanding of the basics and developing more vocabulary for giving and receiving weight, moving in close connection with the floor, rolling and falling. We will work on expanding confidence in:

• Expressing what you want and do not want in your partner dances.

• Creativity and playfulness.

• Starting and finishing dances.

• Deep physical listening.

• Dancing in trios

• Lifting and being lifted

• Jamming skills

Where: Acland Burghley School Sports Centre, Churchill Rd, London NW5 1AN (5 minute walk from Tufnell Park Tube, 10 mins walk from Gospel Oak Overground, 12 mins walk from Kentish Town).

Who:  everyone is welcome.

Tickets: Beginners1/Beginners 2: Improvers, 6 Class Course: £100 (£85 concessions), 5 Class Course: £85 (£70 concessions), 4 Class Course: £70 (£55 concessions), single class: £20, £16 concessions, £15-16-17 with carnet, Beginners 1+2 : 12 Class Course: £195 (£165 concessions), 9 Class Course: £150 (£125 concessions)

Info:      contact@ricknodine.com

Tuesday Intermediates course & classes

Acland Burghley School studios, Tufnell Park

When: Tuesdays, 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Classes taught by Rick Nodine.

From Tuesday September 15th to Tuesday October 13th

From Tuesday November 10th to Tuesday December 08th

From Tuesday January 19th to Tuesday February 09th

From Tuesday February 23rd to Tuesday March 23rd

Tuesday Intermediate Class & Jam:

• September 15th, September 22nd, September 29th, October 06th, October 13th

• November 10th, November 17th, November 24th, December 01st, December 08th

• January 19th, January 26th, February 02nd, February 09th

• February 23rd, March 03rd, March 09th, March 16th, March 23rd

This course is aimed at dancers willing to improve their embodied confidence, expand their technical CI skills and deepen their improvisational repertoire.

It is designed to offer a platform for dancers who want to continue their CI journey beyond Beginners 1 and Beginners 2:Improvers and to Open Class dancers willing to learn the building blocks that I think are necessary for dancing the athletic side of CI.

3 sections:

Floorwork, Partner Technique and Improvisation.

Floorwork is solo training that involves agile and efficient pathways for moving from laying on the floor to standing and back again, forward and backward shoulder rolls, inversion and disorientation patterns and falling manoeuvres for safe landings at speed. These are the solo skills that make us brave and confident when we give our weight to a partner, fly through the air and organise our centre/pelvis to lift another dancer.

In Partner technique, we are reaping the benefits of repetition, working classic CI patterns in iteration so that we can unpack the hidden details that make them flow.

In Improvisation practice I have been codifying common CI improvisational modes that we often use when we jam. By naming and practicing them we can improvise our dances with more awareness.

Where: Acland Burghley School Sports Centre, Churchill Rd, London NW5 1AN (5 minute walk from Tufnell Park Tube, 10 mins walk from Gospel Oak Overground, 12 mins walk from Kentish Town).

Who:  everyone is welcome.

Tickets: Tuesday Intermediates 5 Class Course: £85 (£70 concessions), single class: £20, £16 concessions, £15-16-17 with a carnet.

Info:      contact@ricknodine.com