Program structure 2016
As you can see on the schedule, this festival offers various frames to learn, practice and to share the dance...
Intensives
The intensives give a sense of continuation - happening every day in the morning with the same teacher and the same group. They will all focus on fundamental principles, in a way that is accessable for people with basic skills but at the same time provides opportunity for the more advanced dancers to deepen their knowledge.
Classes
The other classes are single classes with one specific focus. Each time there will be one class focussing on fundamental principles in CI. The teachers will share what they found to be essential and still inspiring. The other two classes will be more specific or advanced and create links between CI and contemporary dance technique. A focus on Improvisation and the desire to give tools and inspirations to be tried out in the Jam Sessions and dance scores will be the link between all classes.
CI Skills
We want to offer two or three times in the afternoon one hour sessions, where very concrete CI skills will be taught. It is meant to support beginners but also people who want to focus more on the technical aspect of the form.
Supported Practice
'Supported practice' is inspired by the common festival format called one2ones. People dance, explore and research while teachers are available for feed back - as a request or offer. It is a way to have the dance as the motor for individual labbing. We will have one afternoon for this format and are willing to develop it further.
Jam session
We imagine a space, where CI can be practiced and contemporary dance can be actually danced (instead of being only a preparation for the dance on the stage). We are curios how the classes, performative frames and the personal reflections will inform the jams sessions.
Soothing mind & Body
We usually won't have a guided warm up for the Jam. But half an hour before the Jam starts Nina Wehnert will offer a simple practice to sooth the body and to calm and clear the mind. So most of the Jams will begin with a un-pressured focussed energy, where people easily take on responsibility for their own journey through the Jam. We were super happy how this approach developed the last years.
Dance Score
Once or twice the Jam will be started by a dance score - a set of rules or a clear comon focus - and will create a different flavour for the jam.
Performative frames
We acknowledge the need for a night, where dance can be watched. We are also aware that 'performing' is not a main focus of this festival. So we are always trying out formats, where the pressure of 'being good enough' is reduced for the people who perform. Let's see what kind of frame we'll develop this year.
Labbing
We will keep the 30 minute time slots after each intensive session to play in a simply structured frame and a more selfresponsible way with the given input. We believe that in a festival with the overload of information an important part of learning is - next to resting - to have non guided phases. We support laboratory phases in classes and the supportive Practice is another way to have this kind of learning present.
Interactive Lecture
In the one hour foramtas in the afternoons we'll have three times interactive lectures, that want to stimulate the mind to look at familiar practices and attitudes from a new perspective. A question of this format is, how to kep the listeners mentally and physically engaged.
Do what you need
As we are back to a week long festival we put our 'do what you need' slogan three times into the schedule to remind us, that this should be the main attitude for the individual journey through this festival.
Experience level
We designed this festival for people who have at least a good basic knowledge in CI and/or contemporary technique with a sense for improvisational work. Our experience is that complete beginners get easily overwhelmed by the amount of new information and the mass of people.