CONTACT @ the DOJO
Contact Improvisation (CI) class & jam
Mixed level, open to beginners and advanced
Gabrielle Revlock and Kristin EttingerAikido Dojo, Florence MA 2024
2026
1st & 3rd Sundays
3/15 Lani Nahele
4/5 Patrick Crowley
4/19 Sarah Young
5/3 Patrick Crowley
5/17 Rythea Lee
3:00–6:00 pm
3:00 Class, 4:30 Jam
March 15: Cantilever w/ Lani Nahele
Do you remember being on a seesaw in the playground? Do you remember the moment when they would let their side of the seesaw hit the ground and your butt took a little air? Remember the yelp and the rush of excitement? We're going to find those moments as we explore the wondrous world of cantilevered weight, also the joy of falling with counter-support.
Lani Nahele has been a professional dancer, choreographer, dance company member, artistic collaborator, movement educator and bodyworker. Earning her BFA at SUNY @ Purchase, she then danced in New York City, NY with Ohad Naharin and then in The Trisha Brown Dance Company for seven years. Lani studied directly with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen and became a Certified Practitioner of Body-Mind Centering in 1994. She then spent several years in Europe: Spain, France, Austria and Germany teaching, making choreographic work and performing. Lani was awarded a commission in Germany and created a women's quintet. Collaborators have included Frey Faust, Dieter Heitkamp, Helge Musial, Ka Rustler, Eva Geueke, Catherine Musinsky, Olivier Besson, Jen Polins, Saliq Savage, Chris Aiken, and others. Lani taught dance and pedagogy at Springfield College while guest teaching at Bard, Marlboro, Smith, Julliard and Keene Colleges. Lani is also trained and certified in Circulatory Massage, Pilates, Gyrotonic, Gyrokinesis and Reiki. She directs Studio rEvolution in Florence where she centers her private bodywork practice, Embodied Healing.
CONTACT @ THE DOJO
Once a month, Patrick Crowley teaches the contact improvisation class, and once a month, he curates other teachers, who hold and convey Contact Improvisation with a comprehensive depth. Contact @ the Dojo began in Oct 2021, meeting twice a month on Sundays.
Dojo comes from “Do-”, a variation of Tao/Dao (the way) and “jo” (immersive learning space)
Teachers: Aaron Cantor, Chisa Hidaka, Chris Aiken, Danny Lepkoff, Erica Skye Roper, Frieda Kipar Bay, Funda Gul, Gabi Revlock, Jeff Bliss, Lani Nahele, Lilianna Kane, Neige Christenson, Patrick Crowley, Paula Choi Lionetta, Rythea Lee, Sarah Young
3-4:30 pm CLASS (general description)
A broad range of Contact Improvisation will be explored — states, skills, scores/Underscore, artistic practice, life learnings.
In Contact @ the Dojo, dancers play with movement pathways in contact with a partner — in relationship with weight, gravity, momentum, inertia, and friction. We work with ease and natural tone in our tissues and neurology. We explore rolling, falling, and flying in CI with the safety of the mats as our floor.
The slow and subtle brings us to the big and enthusiastic, and vice versa. Center, perception, integrated body, solo/follow/lead/3rd entity, reflexes, experimentation, readiness, rigor, heart, awareness, and enlivening will all be in the mix.
Please arrive a little early. Most people who come for class stay for the jam.
January Workshop 2012 © Emily Bowman4:30-6 pm JAM
The jam will be open space to play and practice — with some music and possible structure/warm-up.
For those experienced and new to CI, honoring different abilities. ~10–25 people. BIPOC & LGBTQIA+ welcoming. Please come w/ no symptoms: Health safety agreements.
What is Contact Improvisation?
WHERE: Aikido of Northampton
30 N Maple St, #14, Florence, MA 01062
(Park in parking lot to right of building. Come in entrance in parking lot. Go in and upstairs to right.)
Dojo Etiquette:
- Take shoes off outside the door
- Bow to space when entering & exiting.
- Hygiene & what to wear: Bathe that day. Clean feet, cut & filed toenails. Wash or sanitize hands upon entering. Wear pants that are free to move in — no belts. Little/no jewelry, no belt buckles.
Other Info:
- Please come early (5-15 min) to leave enough time (for finding the Dojo, parking, settling in the space, and making payment if you haven’t).
- The Dojo is in the center of Florence: 30 N Maple St, #14, Florence, MA 01062. Upstairs.
- Health safety: come with no symptoms; no exposure to someone with illness in the last 3 days. Health safety agreements
- Here is my approach to CI.
- Be ready. The class can be quite physical and there is a lot input in a number of ways. You may not be able to do everything so you can always modify and/or witness/take breaks.
- Bathrooms are downstairs to right.
Aikido of Northampton Dojo © Emily Bowman