Falling in Love With Contact: Contact Improv

HAVE YOU EVER wanted to roll around on the floor with a complete stranger? Welcome to the world of contact improvisation, a form of dance in which folks pull, lift and tumble across the floor together.

Developed in the 1970s, contact — as it's affectionately called by aficionados — shares characteristics with martial arts, yoga and even ballroom dance. But unlike the latter, there's no set leader or follower, explains Daniel Burkholder, who teaches a contact class at Joy of Motion Dance Center in Friendship Heights.

Start by imagining that you're standing shoulder to shoulder with a partner. You're leaning into each other, touching arms at a single spot. That place — called the "point of contact" — will shift as the two of you move, and so will the amount of weight you put on each other.

Giving in to your impulses, as well as those of your partner, creates a dance that's almost like a physical conversation. One person may take the initiative while the other supports. And then, suddenly, the roles can shift.

Despite the fact that it's improvisation and thus does not require fancy footwork, contact is a specific technique that takes time to learn. That's where Burkholder's class comes in. In each session, he pairs up students and presents exercises that highlight the form's key elements. A dancer might drop to all fours, for example, while the other rolls across his back, making an effort to keep both pelvises aligned.

While classes provide a structure to learn and practice skills, much of the serious dancing takes place in free form get-togethers called jams. Washington has two each week: One on Thursday nights at the Dance Exchange in Takoma Park, and a second on Sunday afternoons at Capitol Hill's St. James Church (Myriadicity.net/Sundry/DCContactImprovJams). Both are open to the public, and beginners are welcome.

"It's incredibly unintimidating," says Shoshanna Sumka, who lives in Silver Spring and started taking Burkholder's class last year. "People are really open, down-to-earth and noncompetitive."

On a recent Sunday at St. James, slow-moving bodies were sprawled all over the floor. Within minutes, however, they had sprung into energetic pairs tumbling about. Contact improvisation is done without music, but the patter of bare feet and participants' laughter served as accompaniment.

The most stunning moves resemble routines straight out of the Olympics. A woman lifted her partner onto her shoulder, while someone else did a handstand onto his partner's back. But advanced skills aren't a prerequisite to a satisfying experience, emphasizes Burkholder.

"Contact can be the kind of dance you want it to be. You can make it daring and exciting — but if you want something that's almost meditative, it can be that, too," he says.

In any form, contact builds muscle tone and core strength, and can provide a serious aerobic workout. Plus, fans point out that because the movement is rarely repetitive, injuries associated with many sports and dance forms are unusual.

"It's a totally all-body workout," said Ken Manheimer, a Dupont Circle computer programmer and one of the Sunday jam's organizers. "It's probably the most satisfying physical recreation available to me."

Written by Express contributor Amanda Abrams
Photos by Lawrence Luk for Express