This photo is from a residential jam that happened about 5 years ago. In the image Martin Hughes is holding my hand. We communicate through our hands constantly - shaking hands, waving hello and goodbye, feeding our babies, caressing our loved ones, nursing our ill and aged, doing whizzies in the backyard, carrying and cuddling and confirming our connections with people.
Touch is an essential communication tool and contact improvisation can be an exploration of this form of communication. Yet often, in a contact dance, our hands become areas we avoid using - where touch through our hands becomes loaded with socially prescribed meaning. How does touch as communication affect your life and your dancing? Let us know.
This edition of <proximity> features a contribution from Janice Florence, reporting on her experiences of working with Karen Nelson in the USA. Jo Lin gives us an insight into his background of Tai Chi and how it informs his contact practice and his view of the world. Israeli dancer Danya Elraz spent 3 months on an island in a dance and performance intensive organised by Karl Frost. Read about Danya’s experiences there and some shared insights gained into the connections between contact, dance and performance, and our social and political lives.
Finally thanks to Hellene Gronda for providing the quote and Marissa Treichel for sending in some of her poetry. Take some time to write down your thoughts, and then share them with us all!
