Onset of European Contact Improvisation Teachers Exchange 2019

As the 2 organizers, 2 facilitators and the documenter, at the end of our first team meeting we came to define our stance – as I understood it – for “creating a physical force field and let the forces happen (let them play their gravitational game) and than observe and “post-rationalize” if/when needed” and as Katya clearly stood up for “let the group self-organize and figure things out within the frame we will suggest at the very beginning”.

Of course more questions on many different levels immediately started to arise in me, in us to further our discussions:

How to be part of the field? What are the gravitational forces in this field (physical, emotional; conscious, unconscious; personal, collective; …)? How do we track our own attention, our own research? What skills do we need to have to post questions, to track our personal inquiry and others inquiry and relate them to each other – if /when needed or possible? What resources do we have? What is collaboration? What is exchange? 

In the end it was very clear for all of us, organizers and the international support team, that there should be a gentle structure where there is time for practicing, harvesting and sharing in the timetable. And the tone of hosting is not directing but containing – open enough for creative, self-regulating, responsible group dynamics.

Pillar Events

To set the tone we planed pillar events. Opening night was to emphasize the fact that “we are here to interact in and for the dance. It is about the dance, it is about CI.” Following the opening circle, with very few talking, was dancing and meeting each other in the dance as soon as possible. There was the corner where movers could go and write arising questions from their dances, if they will.

Next morning was planned a group warm up session for “building awareness and attitude of witnessing – ourselves, others and the space”. Following Inna’s strong desire to start the morning with a warm-up all together before we continue with jamming; Anya and Arye proposed her to facilitate a warm-up in the first morning and have this moment as the physical welcoming of the organizing team as well. Inna’s proposition (quoting Anya) was “to be, to see, to be seen in dancing in order to realize what needs to be inquired”!

Inna did that…

And following this warm up, I was invited to bring forth the idea of “finding our individual questions” for the week and introduce the reflective documentation idea further.

I did that…

For me the practice Inna lead was about listening, noticing, observing; naming, stating – mindfully attending and articulating. I took over the facilitation from her for turning the observations and statements in our mindbodies into questions. I suggested letting them out loud into the space. We moved with questions arising for about 15 mins. Than the last 20 mins we returned to silent dancing before we shifted to small group sharings to verbalize and formulate our individual research questions/inquiries for the week. This shift was also discussed, agreed by the team and planned in our preparation meeting the day before.

Followingly, after a short break, we created time to individually finalize and share our personal research questions in the bigger circle. The intention of this sharing was about emphasizing the importance of questioning, not taking things for granted, and revisiting inquiries via taking notes and reflective sharing practices along the week. As a start up, I suggested every one to speak up and write their questions on the big sheet of paper. Than I hung that collection of questions in the big studio where we jammed every night. And I put up a sign asking us to re-visit our initial questions at the end of every day and check-in with ourselves where we are at in regards to that inquiry. (List of Questions noted and photographed by me during the sharing can be found here)

Apart from the first night and first morning activities, to set the ground and frame, the team decided not to structure or make further decisions about the following events with the exception of keeping one of the nights for some kind of harvesting, updating/ reporting to each other on how our group exchanges were going on (attached below you can find the voice recording of the sharing). In addition, one afternoon was asked to be reserved for Ukranian Teachers Community Meeting and another session for Past, Present and Future of ECITE Meeting by the organizers.

We did that…

As the announced facilitators Arye and Anya was willing to hold the frame of time and help with scheduling if needed but not direct any further the decisions to be made and leave it to the collective after the first morning. Arye was asked, by the team, to make an introduction to collectively dive into labs, sharings, exchange groups by "seducing people into themselves". I – now the holder of words in the space with my documentation hat – was asked to assist him via a score of "physical brainstorming" with group generated keywords gathered on the floor.

He did that…

I did that…

And all the participants did what they needed to do…

Some were willing to follow our propositions, some were wondering why there was all this facilitation to start with, some were suggesting to do things in other ways, some were suggesting to follow what was proposed and give that line a chance and than suggest alternatives if it does not work…

We all did what we felt, perceived, understood, and could do…

At the end we were divided in sub groups around some key words… Some groups turned into discussion teams, some into one-session labs, some into ongoing closed groups… All continued to be organized formally on the bulletin board and informally on hammocks, studios, breakfast tables, lake side chats, jams…

The field did that…

What happened between 13^th to 19^th July, 2019?

As far as I personally could follow, the following Meetings, Sharings, Labs and Exchange Group Meetings took place: 

• Past Present and Future of ECITE Meeting
• Ukraine CI Teachers Meeting

• Cut the Bullshit Exchange Group
• Sensitivity, Sensuality, Sexuality and CI Teaching Ethics Ongoing Closed Exchange Group
• Authentic Relating Exchange Group
• CI Performance Exchange Group
• Sharing Cool Moves Exchange Group

• Embriology and CI Sharing lead by Alistair Edmundson
• Feldenkrais into Round Robin Sharing lead by Anya Cloud and Noa Dar
• Authentic Movement Sharing lead by Anastasia Leto
• Thai Chi Sharing lead by David Leung 

• Tried and True Lab lead by Phoenix Fly and Frederic Holzwarth
• Rolling Rolling Rolling Lab lead by Kaisa Kukkonen
• Embodied Speaking into Moving Lab lead by Sergey Semichev
• The Cacao Lab lead by Ola Hasia
• Extended Support For CI Dancers in & Beyond CI Meetings Think Tank Meeting initiated by Defne Erdur and Mario Blanco

I was also informed that there were some un-announced sharings:

Anya Cloud, Kaisa Kukkonen were working on CI Teaching Ethics Document, and an Angel Group was formed to give support to each other to survive the ups and downs of the event.

Details about most of these sharings in the form of short video interviews with facilitators and some participants; some audio, visual and verbal impressions from teachers and some personal poetic reflections of few teachers shared following the event can all be found in the documents linked above and compiled in ECITE 2019 Folder here on idocde.net. Besides, a visual overview of the meeting can be watched below in the attached video by Sergei Semichev.

And Arye is right “Whatever I do not state here will be imagined” … Trust your imagination!

I did trust my imagination during ECITE 2019

Being there was one of the best decisions of my life lately... I found my dance back! I found more questions to pursue and dance and live with... I found interested colleagues to accompany me in my inquiries! I found maturity, respect, love, joyfully serious seriously joyful dancers! What could I ask for more? Nothing but this simplicity of sharing being!

Many seeds found their soils, many fruits of this meeting are already ripening in the field! 

I am personally holding a few of those fruits (general reflections on physicality-chemistry-instant composition), sexuality lab sharings and future projects and my stance,) in my branches with care, love, gratitude and dedication; waiting for gravity to do her work!