Contact Improvisation Class + Jam
Contact Improvisation Class + Jam at The Center SF
Join The Center SF for a playful evening of contact improvisation. Class will be from 7:30-9pm and then will flow directly into a jam until 10:30pm. In class, we’ll explore themes of weight-sharing, counterbalancing, signaling, listening, and everything in-between. The jam that follows is an opportunity to continue researching your movement & relational curiosities that sparked from class. First-timers and experienced dancers are all very welcome! Today's class will be taught by Cathie Caraker with live jam music by Nate Cavalieri :)
CI classes at The Center will be offered by a rotating mix of teachers every 2nd & 4th Wednesday evening. Check the calendar here for more contact improv across the bay area and to see who's teaching.
teacher/musical artist/host bios:
CATHIE | teacher. Cathie Caraker, MFA, SMT/E is a dance artist and educator who has worked in the fields of dance and somatics for 35 years.She has taught extensively across Europe and the Americas, sharing her work at dance festivals, institutes and universities. She worked extensively with the founders of Contact Improvisation, including Nancy Stark Smith, Steve Paxton, Karen Nelson, Andrew Harwood and others. Cathie is also a practitioner of Body-Mind Centering®, often integrating BMC and CI in her teaching. She has organized CI events in Europe and the Bay Area, and has collaborated with local luminaries including Rosemary Hannon, Miriam Wolodarski and Katarina Ericksson. More info: www.cathiecaraker.com
NATE | musical artist. Nate Cavalieri is an Oakland-based musician, accompanist and writer. He studied music at Oberlin Conservatory, where a work-study gig as a dance accompanist changed his life. He plays with the Dominican BFA program at Alonzo King Lines Ballet, UC Berkeley, and is a regular with the contact jam at Berkeley's Finnish Hall & The Center SF. He loves few things in this world as much as the conversation between improvised movement and improvised music. https://soundcloud.com/shimmeringride
MERRICK | evening host. Merrick Jacob is a lover of movement, continuously in awe of the body and its potential for unique expression, creativity, & authentic connection. Influenced by her practices of figure skating, acroyoga, hand balancing, and contact improvisation, she guides playful movement experiences as an opportunity for deep listening, exploration, and co-creation. She is a certified acroyoga instructor with AcroRevolution & AcroYoga Montréal. Merrick studied a variety of somatic movement therapy modalities with Dynamic Embodiment & The Moving On Center: School of Participatory Arts & Somatic Research, focusing on BodyMind Centering & Laban Movement Analysis. For more contact improvisation with Merrick, she hosts every 2nd & 4th Wednesday evening at The Center SF. Say hi to her here: https://merrickjacob.com/
Want to read more about CI? Here’s a good resource to start, and please make sure to review our class agreements before attending.
Looking forward to dancing & jamming together!