Jo has been practicing Tai Chi since 1980 and teaching it since 1997. He fell in love with CI in 1998. He has since been trying to understand the connections and delights of both these life practices. His early CI teachers were Helen Clarke Lapin, Sara Chesterman, and Andrew Harwood. Later influencers include Joerg Hassman and Nita Little. He has enjoyed dancing CI and performing in many parts of Australia, and in short visits to the US, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Japan. His other project-based work has taken him to many countries including remote areas of Australia, Zimbabwe, Palestine, Mozambique, Aceh, and Bangladesh, but especially Timor Leste and Cambodia. In many of these places, he could not dance CI but was sometimes able to introduce the practice of following and leading. Jo has ongoing interests in waiting in awareness and in dances with more than one person.
Ok, yes, we know the floor is also our partner. So, a duet usually means two bodies and the floor. What about three or four or ten bodies (… and the floor)? CI (and nature) awareness and peripheral vision etc. allows us to notice more than just the one partner we are with. But how do we connect with those other partners? Are some people or cultures already more aware of “what’s happening in the space/room”? This workshop will help us experience group or ensemble dances with increasing attention, connection, confidence and fun. Connections may be in close touch, with or without weight sharing. They may also be at a distance. We will explore the complexity and joy of improvising with more people in the same space and time.
Dancers in dance image are Hannah, Kathryn, Jo.
Joanna is a passionate explorer of embodied connection, dance, nature, and community. Introduced to CI by her father, Jo Lin, in 1998, she was first happy to observe CI from a distance, eventually finding her own love for CI 10 years ago. She helps co-organise her local CI community, nurturing a welcoming and sustainable space. Her main teacher and mentor, Joerg Hassmann, is now also a close colleague. Since 2022, Joanna and Joerg have co-created immersive retreats in Newcastle, Australia. These gatherings weave together CI, somatic awareness, and deep nature connection, inviting participants into presence, play and care. Also, her recent training with Nita Little has strengthened her curiosity of presence and co-creation.
This workshop invites curiosity of how embodied presence might support improvisation and co creation in a contact dance. Drawing on nature connection practices, improvisation scores, and somatic explorations, together we’ll ask: How does our connection to earth support presence with ourselves, with others, and in dance? What supports deeper communication and responsiveness in dance? How might this enliven possibilities in contact improvisation? With our research mind, what works for me? Leaving pathways behind, we’ll tune into deep listening, soft responsiveness, and not knowing.
Mimi Lo @ MimiLOPADF (Mimi Lo Performing Arts Development Foundation) teaches contact improvisation at The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. She is a graduate of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts modern dance program, majoring in choreography and dance directing. Mimi followed Nancy Stark Smith in 2016 and 2018 to practice CI at EarthDance in the US and undertook the Long Dance Research project at The Dragon's Egg Studio, also in the US. She completed her DanceAbility® Teacher Training in Helsinki, Finland and her ContaKids Teacher training in Arezzo, Italy. Her current focuses are on contact improvisation and somatic dance and movement.
In the practice of contact improvisation, the application of momentum is generally emphasized. When you can master timing and make good use of momentum, your movements would become easier and more comfortable. But what if momentum is removed from the equation? Will you be able to better understand the different resources available to your body and find new possibilities? And then use them to dance in and out of momentum freely?
Maru is an inclusive dance facilitator, a postmodern dancer in improvisation, a live performance artist, and a dance sketcher. He participated in Nancy Stark Smith’s January Workshop in 2016 and 2018, and he was a part of her 2018 Long Dance project. In 2005, Maru encountered Alito Alessi’s DanceAbility Method, and he later completed his DanceAbility Teacher Certification in Bogota in 2012. Inspired by the DanceAbility Method, he began developing Symbiotic Dance in 2007, and with added inspiration from Nancy Stark Smith’s Underscore, he finalized what became known as the Symbiotic Score in 2015. In 2017, Maru completed his ContaKids Teacher Certification in Italy. Maru also makes kinesthetic sketches of dances and performances. His drawings have been featured in the Contact Quarterly journal, and he won first prize for a T-shirt design contest at Contact Festival Freiburg.
Sanat Mehta is a movement and a theatre practitioner, trained in jazz, ballet and modern contemporary, with a rich background in meditative and mind-body practices inspired by Buddhist, Advaita-Vedanta, Yogic, Javanese, and Taoist cultures and philosophies. In his pursuit to apply a holistic understanding of the living body towards his artistic development, he is currently studying and embodying contemporary theatre practices from the West and traditional theatrical practices from across Asia at the Intercultural Theatre Institute in Singapore. For the past few years, Sanat has been developing and sharing his knowledge of self-transformation through performing arts practices. He aims to create inclusive spaces, foster body-mind connections, and promote embodied empathetic language, while decolonizing minds along the way.
This workshop is designed to deepen our practice in contact and movement improvisation by focusing on the interconnected principles of flow, force, and time/speed. Through embodied investigation, we will cultivate awareness of the movement pathways our bodies create and the habitual patterns that shape our dancing. We will explore how to navigate moments that disrupt flow and discover creative strategies to maintain a continuous, responsive exchange with our partners. Rather than eliminating movement habits, the aim is to transform them into resources that enhance the dance’s momentum—while also remaining open to spontaneous shifts that invite new directions and possibilities in the shared dance.
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