A Contact Improvisation Dance Workshop with Kieran Mitchell

n this workshop, we explore how two bodies can become an evolving architecture—swinging, spiralling, lifting, and returning each other through shared weight and momentum. Like coupled pendulums influencing one another’s arc, or spirals continuously unfolding, our dancing becomes a study of continuity: how one movement gives rise to the next.

We begin by grounding ourselves in the core principles of Contact Improvisation: the rolling point of contact, clear pathways for giving and receiving weight, and an embodied understanding of how structure supports both stability and motion. From this foundation, we enter the dynamic relationship between the over-dancer and the under-dancer, with particular attention to sharing weight through the pelvis and accessing the floor through the partner’s body.

What does it mean to offer the body as steady, reliable support?
What does it mean to surrender weight and agency with clarity and trust?
How do we guide a partner safely through flight, and back to their own centre?

We will explore transitions across levels—from bodysurfing on the floor to upright exchanges—investigating how the body’s architecture—bones, spirals, and shifting centres—can support another while moving through space.

Throughout the workshop, we weave technical clarity with somatic listening and moments of group composition. This invites dancers to sense when to anchor and when to follow, cultivating awareness within a shared field of movement.

Rather than seeking fixed forms, we practice responsiveness: attuning to momentum, shaping direction, and improvising in real time. The aim is not to master a set of techniques, but to inhabit a dance where stability and softness coexist—where we can become both the pendulum and the one who receives its swing.

TIMES

Saturday 10am to 4:30pm

Sunday 10am to 4:30pm

LOCATION

Main Hall

Glebe Townhall

160 St Johns Rd, Glebe NSW 2037

COST

$200

$150 supported

$250 supporting

REGISTRATION

For further information please contact Eamonn O'Flaherty via Messenger or at eamonnoflaherty@protonmail.com.

-----

USEFUL LINKS

The local Contact Improvisation Dance group:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/3993588900725636

Sydney events page:

https://eamonn-o-flaherty.github.io/Sydney-Contact-Improv-Dance-Community/

Contact the host of Shared Architecture: a two day CI immersion with with Kieran Mitchell