What is Touch & Play?

The Touch and Play Project is a movement emerging out of the International Contact Improv (CI) community, exploring beyond the traditional CI boundaries.

The Touch & Play Project started in Berlin, Germany in 2010 as an experiment in challenging traditionally held CI boundaries.  In the first festival, teachers of CI and a various other body-based practices, were invited to explore the ‘Chemistry in Contact’ by inviting participants’ to explore emotions, sexuality, aggression, politics and everything else traditionally kept out of the dance.

The success of the event reverberated through the European and N. American contact communities raising discussions on the boundaries of our practice and the perceived (un)safety of our attempts to exclude chemistry from our dances.

Successive T&P events have focused on the exploration of the ‘Edges of Contact’ by working one specific frontier (e.g. the Contact community, children & families, embodying intimacy) or by providing spaces where all edges are equally welcome. The T&P Project is run as a disseminated network of interested researchers, teachers and practitioners whereby any individual or group is encouraged to voice their own questions or concerns and to create a safe space to have them addressed in an authentic and playful manner.

Contact Improvisation continues to evolve. We invite you to be an active participant in its evolution.  When we create clarity around our verbal and non-verbal communication, it enhances our connections.  As we learn to articulate intentions, boundaries and desires in the dance more clearly & honestly, it deepens our capacity for authentic connection with ourselves, our partners and our community.  This Fall’s T&P theme will focus on recognizing the light and shadows in ourselves and our dance partners with extra attention to how we integrate the lessons we learn into our everyday lives.  The weekend is open to anyone who is ready for this kind of exploration.