Whether it’s your first time at Earthdance or your 50th, whether you’re new to Contact Improvisation (CI) or a “veteran,” attending an Earthdance seasonal jam is a full journey. Like any journey, those who attend will encounter a spectrum of experiences: meet their edges, expand their knowledge, feel the ups and downs of their dance, witness the joys and tensions of community, and have the opportunity for self-development. Many aspects of life arise and fall through the dance and jam.
Specific offerings at the jam include:
- Many kinds of connection, a practice of permission, and structured spaces for learning and practicing Contact Improvisation (CI)
- Your own experience of CI through the lens of education, exploration, and immersion
- 3 sessions each day, all community-led, developed through open-source offerings, based on the expertise and curiosity of participants and facilitators
- Sessions range from CI fundamentals and advanced research to dialogues on Diversity, Equity and inclusion (DEI); new movement and healing modalities; body work sessions; communication modalities; interdisciplinary dance, art, theatre, and performance education; yoga, Authentic Movement, and contemplative movement practices; community sings; and personal study
- Guidance by staff and community to ensure safety and consent, anti-racism and equity, as well as full expression of identities and experiences
- Jams every evening, with live music, silence, or distinct themes
- Opportunities to explore the land, experience the sauna, and swim in the quarry
- Rich conversations and intersections with new and old friends
- 3 healthy vegetarian meals each day
- Permission to fill your day with activity and education or to roam, rest, visit, and be available to happenstance
- Spontaneous gatherings, conversations, and dances
- Space and support to survive discomfort, momentary loneliness, overwhelm, and confusion with any and all available practices, activities, new and old friends, spacious restoration and gritty innovation
- A requirement that each participant contribute to 1-2 work shifts (typically meal cleans) to support the jam