Responsiveness, Resistance, Resilience with Ann Cooper Albright

Join veteran Contact Improvisation teacher Ann Cooper Albright for a weekend workshop focused on expanding our dancing capacity. Drawing on Body Mind Centering practices to structure a deep physical mindfulness, we will strengthen our connection to gravity, space and touch, creating a sense of responsiveness that encourages committed dancing. Exploring resistance will propel us into adventurous lifts and help us ride mutual momentum. Sourced at the level of our connective tissue, resilience will pave the way in and out of the floor and highlight the importance of playfulness and falling within our dancing. Some Contact training is wonderful, but all levels of experience are welcome. If desired, Ann is willing to give specific one-on-one coaching as well.

Ann Cooper Albright is a professor and chair of the dance department at Oberlin College. With over three decades of experience, Ann is a veteran Contact Improvisation teacher. She has taught workshops internationally, and facilitated Critical Mass: CI @ 50 which brought 300 dancers from across the world to learn, talk, and dance together in celebration of the 50th anniversary of this extraordinary form. Her latest book, Resistance and Support: Contact Improvisation @ 50 is an edited collection of writing developed from that event.

Some of her other books include Simone Forti: Improvising a Life and How to Land: Finding Ground in an Unstable World, which uses Contact principles to offer ways of thinking about and dealing with the uncertainty of our contemporary lives. 

Ann earned her MFA in dance at Temple University, and a PhD in performance studies at New York University. Her work has been supported by the NEA, NEH, ACLS, The Guggenheim Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, and the Ohio Arts Council.

Preliminary Schedule:

FRIDAY

7-9pm: Opening Jam

SATURDAY

10am-12pm: Workshop

12-1pm: Lunch

1-4pm: Workshop

SUNDAY

10am-12pm: Workshop

12-1pm: Lunch

1-2:30pm Workshop

3-4pm: Book Talk w/Ann (Open to the Public)

4-6pm: Closing Jam

Out of Town Guests: If you need housing in order to attend, please reach out to us at contactimprovphilly@gmail.com. We cannot guarantee housing but we’ll do our best to connect you with someone local who can house you.

Terms & Conditions: When you buy your ticket, you will be asked to sign a liability waiver that includes stating that you understand our community guidelines and COVID policy.

We are requiring all attendees to obtain a negative COVID test within 24 hours of attending the first event of the workshop. If you are are sick or come into contact with someone who is COVID positive, please stay home and contact the organizers. This event is mask optional; we support our community members who choose to mask up to attend.