Podcasts about contact improv

This is a unique Pray for Micah Podcast experience where Micah and some new friends from Asheville, NC (Scott Asbell, Elijah "E" Schneidewind, and Luca Rade) decided to bust out the recording equipment to capture a deep conversation they were having while sharing a late-night hookah. They cover a range of topics from human consciousness, artificial intelligence, technological advancements, post-modernism, religious constructs, Christian mythos, and the consequences they have on culture, society, and future generations. About Scott Asbell: Ever playful and ever the student of the Paschal mystery, Scott Asbell dances through dizzying and often concurrent life, death, and resurrection journeys to joyfully and artfully weave his life well lived. Growing up in the spiritual worlds of Young Life and the Presbyterian Church, Scott now feels most at home in the perennial tradition, including and especially mystical/contemplative Christianity. He is a student of the Enneagram and Integral Theory and credits those energies for initiating and ushering him into the second half of his spiritual life. While business management and entrepreneurship has been a cornerstone of Scott's life from an early age (he even bought and ran a bowling alley at the age of 21!), he considers his creative pursuits and endeavors to be his life's purpose and work. A self taught musician and song writer, Scott writes and releases music under the names Cardinal Folk, Absolute All, and Wander Yonder. His other main creative endeavor is building tiny houses and creating DIY carpentry videos via YouTube under the moniker Slacker Scott. About Elijah "E" Schneidewind: Elijah "E" Schneidewind is a dedicated and innovative healthcare professional boasting over a decade of diverse experience across various domains including physical therapy, athletic training, personal training, nutrition coaching, massage and bodywork, and Arvigo therapy. He maintains an insatiable thirst for knowledge and is deeply committed to leveraging integrative and personalized approaches to enhance human health and well-being. E is driven by a mission to instigate positive lifestyle changes and promote overall wellness within his community. His core values revolve around nature, sustainability, justice, equality, peace, and love. Beyond his professional endeavors, E finds solace and joy in spending quality time with his beloved family – his partner, Lizzie, his faithful dog, Terkie, and two adorable cats, CoCo Bean and Daisy May. Together, they immerse themselves in activities such as gardening, cooking, homesteading, and engaging in building projects on their picturesque homestead nestled in the Appalachian Mountains. About Luca Rade: Luca is the founder of Flourish, a platform for everyone to find the guidance, healing, or training they need to flourish. He is the author of The Infinitely Pronged Hunger for Life, an alchemical and prophetic book of poetry, and The Journey of Being Alive podcast series. Having taught Contact Improv workshops and worked as a decision coach in the past, he is now creating Rewilding and Playfight containers in Asheville, NC to enable deep and primal connections between people and with the natural world. He holds a BA magna cum laude from Princeton University. Flourish emerged from Luca's years-long journey of embodying, awakening, grieving, and loving, which brought him into contact with dozens of guides, healers, and teachers and sparked his own explorations in guiding others. He experienced the challenges and confusions of finding and trusting the right guides, healers, and teachers outside of limited mainstream-sanctioned options. He realized that without the right digital platform, the new yet ancient aliveness emerging across the world today will not break through the grip of our society's disembodied and disconnected ways of being. Flourish is the Portal, the Ark, and the Trojan Horse for this emerging aliveness.

Vivian loves to live creatively, and she expresses herself in all aspects of her life in this way. She has a rebellious spirit and loves being her own boss. With a history in acrobatics starting as a pre-teen, Vivian progressed to other forms of dance to express herself, and landed in the Contact Improv community. It's a form of dance that relies heavily on creative movement and flow, rather than standard motions or choreography.  A good friend of Vivian brought her to some photoshoots, and she fell in love with art nude modeling! Vivian is so passionate about artistic nude modeling in nature, she has become a co-organizer for multiple events that host model photography trips!  Check out her trips: https://www.venusdetierra.com/ and https://www.instagram.com/femmenuephotoretreats/  Also find Vivian on Insta: https://www.instagram.com/vivian.cove  and on her official website: https://www.viviancove.art/  Cover image by Frankie @fotos_by_frankie

Til interviews Alicia Grayson, an expert practitioner and teacher of Contact Improvisation dance, about that form's significance as an embodiment and movement practice. They explore its connection to other forms of movement and therapy, share their personal journeys, and discuss the similarities and differences between Contact Improv and hands-on bodywork, comparing methods and therapeutic goals. They also delve into topics such as the role of gravity, the benefits of touch sensitivity and human connection, as well as highlighting the joy and exploration involved in play. Check out the video (which includes visual examples of Contact Improv) or get the full transcript of their conversation at Til or Whitney's sites:  Til Luchau's Advanced-Trainings.com  Whitney Lowe's Academy of Clinical Massage Resources: Alicia's website and course schedule: aliciagrayson.com Contact Improvisation resources, worldwide: ciglobalcalendar.net Alicia and Til's collaborative workshop: https://bit.ly/AMTContactImprovisation  Film credits (used in video version, by kind permission): "In An Old Fascian Way" directed and edited by Sasha Dodo camera: Samuel Iwassaki, Veronica Olariu dancers: Sasha Dodo and Dolores Dewhurst Marks https://towards.contact https://youtu.be/X1GPjqxbi-o Sponsor Offers: Books of Discovery: save 15% by entering "thinking" at checkout on booksofdiscovery.com. ABMP: save $24 on new membership at abmp.com/thinking.  About Whitney Lowe  |  About Til Luchau  |  Email Us: info@thethinkingpractitioner.com (The Thinking Practitioner Podcast is intended for professional practitioners of manual and movement therapies: bodywork, massage therapy, structural integration, chiropractic, myofascial and myotherapy, orthopedic, sports massage, physical therapy, osteopathy, yoga, strength and conditioning, and similar professions. It is not medical or treatment advice.)

Improvising movement, using your body to communicate, and building relationships with people are core aspects of Contact Improv Jams. Dave Oehl is an organizer of a jam session that takes place on the last Saturday of every month in Malta, NY, and he spoke with Sina Basila Hickey about what this movement exercise is and how it's benefited him personally. See a video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBF0mjJaB6k website: https://capitalareacontactimprov.weebly.com

Are you feeling stuck? Cooped up in your head? Have you lost contact with your body? Perhaps you are spending too much time in the old attic. Come down to the basement for a little boogie woogie. Shannon Sahaja is leading the festivities and you're in for a treat, you little snack. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/generativity/message

Leilani and Kimberlyn interview Falki: Heathen wildflower, body talker, artist, yogini, shaman, ecstatic mover, healer, nomad, ancestor lover, witch, and so much more...Falki (and her work) can be found at:  www.falconandacorn.com Get exclusive content and support us on Patreon:http://www.patreon.com/WitchyWit  Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/WitchyWitPodcast  Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/Witchy_Wit  Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/3azUkFVlECTlTZQVX5jl1X?si=8WufnXueQrugGDIYWbgc3A  Apple Podcast:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/witchy-wit/id1533482466  Pandora:https://pandora.app.link/nNsuNrSKneb  Google Podcast:Witchy Wit (google.com)

Summary: Since she was a child, Krista loved to move and dance. Krista shares how movement can be a spiritual practice that guides us deeper into ourselves. Mentioned in this Episode:Derek Sivers TED talk: "How to Start a Movement"Freeingbodies.com (Krista's website)Krista on instagram: @freeingbodies_Gene KeysContact improvEcstatic DanceSupport this podcast:Discount link to purchase organic, raw ceremonial-grade cacao ethically sourced in Guatemala (a portion of proceeds support this podcast)Become a patron at: https://www.patreon.com/thefaroutcoupleMake one-time donation with PayPal (our account is aplambeck22@gmail.com)Leave a review on iTunes!Share this episode with a friend! :DConnect with us:Website: www.thefarout.lifeEmail us at info@thefarout.lifeWild Within @ www.thewildwithin.orgCredits:Intro music: "Complicate ya" by Otis McDonaldOutro music: "Running with wise fools" written & performed by Krackatoa (www.krackatoa.com)

Zoë Cobb joined a passing circus and was invited to sit next to a Lama in Tibet when she needed it most. These are just some of the stories of the mystical that “widen the scale of possible” in this episode of the Legends Interview Podcast. Zoë takes us on her journey across the world to where she is now in Milan, Italy with her gorgeous family, one of whom makes an appearance in this episode!   If you enjoyed this episode and it inspired you in some way, we'd love to hear about it and know your biggest takeaway. Head over to https://podcasts.apple.com/jp/podcast/legends-interview-series-presented-by-sarah-furuya/id1524551512?l=en (Apple Podcasts) to leave a review and we'd love it if you would come and say hi over on @sarafuruyacoaching on Instagram. In this episode you'll hear: The movie Zoë saw as a young girl that first widened the scale of possible Zoë's childhood growing up between Canada, the US and the UK What you can learn from Zoë joining a travelling circus  Creating a performance and events company and helping corporates  Moving again, but it wasn't so easy this time The experience of pregnancy for performers who are usually in total control of their bodies About Zoë  Zoë Cobb has a background in physical theatre, group development, circus, yoga and dance.  Academically she trained at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama with Masters in Movement Direction, and previously in Canada with a BA in Theatre and Modern Languages. She has expanded her training with The Thomas Richards and Grotozski workcenter, National Circus School, Moscow State Circus, 5 Rhythms and Contact Improv. She created and directed dance theatre with her company Artful Badger in England for the last 10 years.  She has delivered workshops internationally in Japan, USA, Italy, France, Germany, UK and UAE. She has lead group trainings for the last 5 years in the corporate, theatre, and education worlds. She currently teaches aerial yoga and circus skills in Italy, while continuing to deliver development workshops around Europe. Zoë works with personal and group development through a somatic or kinesethic approach.  Her unique, revealing work is a combination of practice in physical theatre, circus, nutritional studies and energy healing. She has worked with executive corporate leadership and development internationally for three years, specialising in Situational Leadership, Self Organisation and Masculine/Feminine balancing. She continues to direct and perform in artistic projects.   Connect with Zoë   Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flockingthemovement/ (https://www.instagram.com/flockingthemovement/) Links Mei Sawada: https://www.sarahfuruya.com/blog/legend-of-cirque-du-soleil-mei-sawada (https://www.sarahfuruya.com/blog/legend-of-cirque-du-soleil-mei-sawada ) Connect with Sarah Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sarah-furuya-coaching/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sarah-furuya-coaching/)  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarahfuruyacoaching/ (https://www.instagram.com/sarahfuruyacoaching/)  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarahfuruyacoaching (https://www.facebook.com/sarahfuruyacoaching)  Twitter: https://twitter.com/sarahfuruya (https://twitter.com/sarahfuruya)  Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXsuS_yVT9fMHjhAylVy8-w (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXsuS_yVT9fMHjhAylVy8-w) 

David Leung joins Allison Lindsay to talk about his journey with dance as an embodied practice, ways to experiences our lives through the body, dance as a healing practice for individuals and for cultures, paying forward, co-creating the story of humanity through sacred dance, using mundane movements to gain a deeper sense of our own embodiment, the origins of contact improv and how to use it as a way to make dance more accessible, adapting it to the capacities of our own bodies. Facebook: @davidleung / @somaticengineering

Emily Ritger is a director, playwright, performer and choreographer based in Chicago. As a teacher and director developing new work, she has worked for American Theatre Company, Redmoon, Cleveland Public Theatre, Northlight Theatre, ChiArts, The New Harmony Project and The National High School Institute. While Ritger’s focus is in ensemble based work, her diverse training includes Viola Spolin Theatre Games, Viewpoints, Puppetry, Contact Improv, experimental methods of writing and various forms of music, creating work that is saturated in movement, music and play. Her work draws from her experience of growing up in small town Wisconsin. It celebrates rural america - its voice, land, dialect, sense of community and the people who carry on the traditions and way of life inherent to living off the land. With the agrarian landscape as her cornerstone, her work explores the philosophy and religion inherent in nature and living off the land, and the cyclical birth and death inherent in life on a farm. Her current projects include her solo show, "Crud", part documentary style theatre, part fantastical music and shadow puppetry, examining a day her family never talks about. "Behaymas", a collaboration with playwright Aliza Bartfield, three humans and one animal blur the lines of domesticity and societal constructions of family. And her play "The Day Krissy LeDuke Fell Through the Ice", is a moment in time and its arrayed vectors of tragedy told through free verse and music. She has studied with theater artists Dan Hurlin, David Neumann, Sibyl Kempson, Tina Landau, Brett Bailey, Claudia Castellucci, Aretha Sills, Shirley Kaplan, Cassandra Medley, Stuart Spencer and Tom Lee, and received her MFA in Theater from Sarah Lawrence College and a BS in Theatre and Philosophy from the University of Evansville. Edited and Produced by Kyrie Ellison (SLC21) Interviewed by Anne Bakan (SLC20) and Kyrie Ellison (SLC21)

In this episode hosted by Jennifer Edwards, the history, practice, and importance of Contact Improvisation is explored through a revelatory 1998 conversation with the movement's founder, Steve Paxton.

My guest today is quite a world traveler. She has a strong background in Modern dance, Contact Improv, Blues, and Swing. And she is also a classically trained singer. In 2006, she fell in love with Argentine Tango! She was so taken in by tango that she spent several years in Buenos Aires studying the dance, and developing her tango singing skills as well. She has taught and performed all over the world, and is currently based in California, in the Bay Area... Let's meet Mira Barakat... More on Mira Barakat here: Website: https://www.mirabarakat.com Want to help support Joe's Tango Podcast? It's easy! Be a Subscribestar follower: https://www.subscribestar.com/tangopodcast Or you can make a secure donation here via Paypal: http://bit.ly/2T4woBP

In today's episode I sit down with  Sara-Clare.Sarais the Technical Director for Agatsu Joint Mobility & Movement Program. She has been a fitness professional since 2003. Her passion for physical fitness began at a young age through dance and continued on throughout her university years as a teacher’s assistant in movement for theatre arts. There she studied Voice, Dance, Alexander Technique, Pilates, Yoga, Feldenkrais and Contact Improv. Since graduating with a BFA in Acting & Performance, Sara toured the world as a professional performer for 12 years before settling in Toronto, ON.

Today’s guest is Daniel Mollner. For the past two decades, Daniel has combined his passion for dance and music with his Masters Degree in Education to create potent experiential containers for embodiment. As an Ecstatic Dance and Contact Improv expert and DJ, Daniel facilitates transformation and personal evolution through meditational movement.  You can learn more about him at www.DanielMollner.com. ONLY 7 SEATS LEFT for Your Authority Blueprint Live – the 3-day event that may actually change your destiny! To learn more about this premiere event for visionary solopreneurs and take advantage of the crazy last minute Special, go to www.MichaelNeeley.com or visit HERE for details (and use the code CRAZY7 for an 80% discount and your bonus offer - must show up at event to collect). Be sure to subscribe to Consciously Speaking so that you don’t miss a single episode, and while you’re at it, won’t you take a moment to write a short review and rate our show? It would be greatly appreciated! To learn more about our previous guests, listen to past episodes, and get to know your host, go to www.MichaelNeeley.com and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Did your school have mandatory square dancing lesson? Mine did, which may be why I’ll never wear western plaid again. Humorist and participatory journalist Henry Alford has not only written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Vanity … Continue reading →

In this episode, I lie down with Dr. HazelGrace Yates. In a twin bed. At a summer camp. In the wilds of New Jersey. HazelGrace is a clinical sexologist, a scholar, and the founder of The Cock Project and The Pussy Project. She holds a PhD in Human Sexuality, and a Masters in Education. The Cock Project offers those who identify with having a cock the opportunity to speak about their experiences living with it, and their feelings about it, directly to a group of others who self-identify the same way, while being silently and compassionately witnessed by a group that does not identify with having a cock, or would prefer to act as a compassionate witness. The Pussy Project is the inverse. Right after we recorded this episode, I had the opportunity to experience both workshops. HazelGrace and I were both taking part in Connection Camp, a summer camp for adults that’s centered around activities designed to encourage authentic relating. It is produced by The Connection Movement, which is based in New York and led by Amy Silverman. More info on that in the show notes. I felt extremely moved by my experience at The Cock Project workshop. Even though I live in a community in which we generally feel comfortable to speak openly about bodies and sex, I had never before heard even one cock owner speak in detail and at length about their experience with their cock. Certainly not more than an anecdote or two from a lover, definitely not to or in front of other cock owners, and decidedly not while witnessed by those who identify with having a pussy. I felt such admiration for their willingness to share. And I felt a kinship with their expressions of embarrassment, confusion, wonder, disappointment, and joy. I also felt a greater surge in my compassion for the challenges of growing up with an assigned male gender, as many of the feelings they expressed were inextricably intertwined with societal expectations of cock owners. I’ll be inviting HazelGrace to Hacienda Studio to give workshops! You can contact HazelGrace if you'd like The Cock Project and The Pussy Project to come to your town by visiting hazelgraceyates.com. In the first part of our conversation, we talk about hugging our parents, the touch palette, how intention changes the timbre of the way we touch, the human car wash, and nonsexual naked coconut oil contact improv movement, aka, the Coco Jam … Come lie down with us.   To become a patron of the horizontal arts, support me on Patreon, a website for crowdsourcing patronage! Patronage allows artists like me to buy equipment, schedule recording tours, and devote my time to creating more horizontal goodness, for you! Becoming my patron has delicious perks, ranging from exclusive photos and behind-the-scenes video content, to handwritten postcards, spring cleaning phone calls, and creative input on future episodes! You can become a patron for $1 a month on up, and the rewards just get more sumptuous. patreon.com/horizontalwithlila Horizontal’s theme music was created by Alan Markley. You can find his gorgeous blue eyes and rock star visage on Instagram as plasticcannons. My saucy cover art was designed and illustrated by Shana Shay - check our her gorgeous character illustrations on shanashay.com Every episode is mixed and mastered by Owen Muir, of Self-Disclosure productions. Find him on Twitter at @psychdisclosure - Owen’s podcast, Self-Disclosure, in which people speak openly, and often for the very first time, about their own experiences with mental health, is coming soon. For most things horizontal, head to horizontalwithlila.com and sign up for the mailing list. Detailed show notes with vocabulary words! And articles! And sensual photos! will be delivered right to your inbox.

Daniel and I talk about what life experiences brought him to this life, which he considers as the peak in terms of happiness and fulfillment. He begins with a story about his life back home and how her learned from all the struggles he overcame and what made him ultimately realize that needed to nurture his emotional well-being.   What stories do I have and how do they serve me?    Today, Daniel enjoys the connection he has with his inner self and is fulfilled at knowing that he is able to touch others’ lives through contact improv and ecstatic dance. I’ve personally been very hesitant about contact improv, but doing it now, it has certainly changed my life. In fact, it’s one of my favorite activities to do!   Lonely at a mountaintop is one thing, but lonely on the ground is painful. Resources: www.ecstaticdance.org Facebook Twitter: @ecstaticdancesf The Key: And the Name of the Key Is Willingness by Cheri Huber There Is Nothing Wrong with You: Going Beyond Self-Hate by Cheri Huber

Aaron Sherwood is a Tai Chi and qiqong instructor. He also teaches meditation and is a gifted body worker. Aaron is from United States and offers personal sessions and group workshops in the U.S. Aaron has dedicated his life to helping others with mindfulness and movement. He believes these elements have tremendous power to heal and transform a person. Aaron spent his youth practicing many movements arts including Hatha and Kundalini Yoga, TaeKwonDo, Hapkido, Contact Improv, and Feldenkrais. He has worked with high level teachers in all of these disciplines. His most important teacher has been Bruce Frantzis, founder of the Energy Arts System. Aaron is now one of the Certified Instructors in this system, which has benefited his own life to a large degree.Contact InfoWebsite: www.appliedenergyarts.weebly.comEmail: AppliedEnergyArts@gmail.comMost Influential PersonMy Tai Chi, qiqong and meditation teacher, Bruce Frantzis.Effect on EmotionsIt's been instrumental in me not ending up in jail and me not ending up dead or very, very miserable. I struggled with depression a lot when I was young and the more I got into these mindful practices the more that took me out, further away from that.Thoughts on BreathingIt's huge. It's one of the pillars that we build everything we do on. The particular tradition that I teach is called Taoist Longevity Breathing and the main focus of that is to be completely present with your breath and then how you can maintain that presence and just deepen not only the length of your breath, but all the different qualities of depth, smoothness. You just remove any and all gaps that relate back to your consciousness through that.Suggested ResourcesBook: The Tao of Letting Go by Bruce FrantzisAdvice for Newbie Test several methods. Don't just fall in love with your very first method. Use all the methods and really test them. Be your own laboratory. Find what really works for you and that can be a practice in it's own self where you decide that you pick four different practices that you want to work with and you take a week or a month and then you work through it, regardless of any kind of resistance you have and that will reflect what's going on inside of you and help you understand why you resist that particular practice.

You'll have a much better understanding of Contact Improv and the dynamic global culture around it after listening to this interview with environmental lawyer / documentary film producer. Listen now and host a screening party when 'An Intimate Dance' is released!

Certain threads run consistently through our lives and define both who we are and how we relate with the world. For the most part we remain unconscious of these threads that define our life story. This is a journey of becoming conscious of some of these threads and in the process the listeners becoming aware of their life stories.Today, we explore the drawbacks of dancing with Contact Improv:Impermanence of relationshipsGliding in and gliding outWatching beloved dance with another

Certain threads run consistently through our lives and define both who we are and how we relate with the world. For the most part we remain unconscious of these threads that define our life story. This is a journey of becoming conscious of some of these threads and in the process the listeners becoming aware of their life stories.Today, we explore dancing with Contact Improv:Intro to Contact ImprovRelationship with the Other and GravityImpermanence

One of the interviews I’m most proud of was conducted in late 2007 with dancer-choreographer Jen Abrams. I’m delighted to bring this episode out of the archives and present it in Body and Soul’s new home. When our "half-hour" interview concluded, we were amused to see that it had actually lasted a full hour! But that's what it takes to tell even part of the story of her work with the WOW Cafe Theater collective, an historic and essential part of the still-hearty cultural abundance of Manhattan's rapidly-changing East Village. Listening to Jen talk about her background in contact improvisation, I discovered a fascinating connection between contact improvisation and the "open source," grassroots nature of WOW. Her intensity and strength as an artist working in dance, theater and poetry are more than matched by the tenacity of this theater collective and space that she so clearly loves. And here’s her bio: Jen Abrams’ work has been presented at BAX, HERE, Dixon Place, the Nuyorican Poets Café, and the Bowery Poetry Club, as well as at WOW Café Theater, where she has been an active member for seven years. She has produced three full-length concerts of her own work at WOW: Itch (2000), Saturn Return (2001), and Surfacing (2002), as well as two shared bill evenings: As I Was Saying (2004, with Risa Jaroslow and Eva Lawrence) and Asunder (2006 with Clarinda Mac Low and Tara O’Con.). She was a 2005 BAX space grantee, and is co-curator and co-producer with Sally Silvers of TalkTalk WalkWalk, an annual poetry and dance festival. Her choreographic work has also been seen at WOW in the stage plays The Skriker by Caryl Churchill, All Eyes, All Sides – Beckett One Acts, Naomi Wallace’s Slaughter City, and Moira Cutler’s MetaMeshugenaMorphosis and Sonofabitch Stew, all with Dogsbody Theater. The Village Voice has called her work “quintessentially New York,” and her performances “convincing no matter what [she chooses] to do.” Jen has studied the form of Contact Improvisation for twelve years, beginning at Oberlin College, the birthplace of the form. She relocated to New York City from Chicago, where she presented and performed in five full-length concerts with the contact improv-based company she co-founded, Limbic Fix. She is classically trained as an actor, and performed in plays throughout Chicago before moving to New York City to focus on movement-based performance. She is also a writer, and has given readings of her work at St. Mark’s Poetry Project, Halcyon, and Bar 13. By day, Jen works as a fundraiser for a small poetry press, and serves as Managing Director for Risa Jaroslow & Dancers. She also teaches Contact Improv through Movement Research. Her roots in theater and immersion in literature inform her dances. Visit Jen Abram's Web site at http://www.jenabrams.org. Visit Eva Yaa Asantewaa's dance blog--InfiniteBody--at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com.

One of the interviews I’m most proud of was conducted in late 2007 with dancer-choreographer Jen Abrams. I’m delighted to bring this episode out of the archives and present it in Body and Soul’s new home. When our "half-hour" interview concluded, we were amused to see that it had actually lasted a full hour! But that's what it takes to tell even part of the story of her work with the WOW Cafe Theater collective, an historic and essential part of the still-hearty cultural abundance of Manhattan's rapidly-changing East Village. Listening to Jen talk about her background in contact improvisation, I discovered a fascinating connection between contact improvisation and the "open source," grassroots nature of WOW. Her intensity and strength as an artist working in dance, theater and poetry are more than matched by the tenacity of this theater collective and space that she so clearly loves. And here’s her bio: Jen Abrams’ work has been presented at BAX, HERE, Dixon Place, the Nuyorican Poets Café, and the Bowery Poetry Club, as well as at WOW Café Theater, where she has been an active member for seven years. She has produced three full-length concerts of her own work at WOW: Itch (2000), Saturn Return (2001), and Surfacing (2002), as well as two shared bill evenings: As I Was Saying (2004, with Risa Jaroslow and Eva Lawrence) and Asunder (2006 with Clarinda Mac Low and Tara O’Con.). She was a 2005 BAX space grantee, and is co-curator and co-producer with Sally Silvers of TalkTalk WalkWalk, an annual poetry and dance festival. Her choreographic work has also been seen at WOW in the stage plays The Skriker by Caryl Churchill, All Eyes, All Sides – Beckett One Acts, Naomi Wallace’s Slaughter City, and Moira Cutler’s MetaMeshugenaMorphosis and Sonofabitch Stew, all with Dogsbody Theater. The Village Voice has called her work “quintessentially New York,” and her performances “convincing no matter what [she chooses] to do.” Jen has studied the form of Contact Improvisation for twelve years, beginning at Oberlin College, the birthplace of the form. She relocated to New York City from Chicago, where she presented and performed in five full-length concerts with the contact improv-based company she co-founded, Limbic Fix. She is classically trained as an actor, and performed in plays throughout Chicago before moving to New York City to focus on movement-based performance. She is also a writer, and has given readings of her work at St. Mark’s Poetry Project, Halcyon, and Bar 13. By day, Jen works as a fundraiser for a small poetry press, and serves as Managing Director for Risa Jaroslow & Dancers. She also teaches Contact Improv through Movement Research. Her roots in theater and immersion in literature inform her dances. Visit Jen Abram's Web site at http://www.jenabrams.org. Visit Eva Yaa Asantewaa's dance blog--InfiniteBody--at http://infinitebody.blogspot.com.