“From the beginning, people asked, “Well, is this dance?” Big question. It came from a dance-art mind and intention. It came at a time in American history, and probably world history, when established roles—of gender, authority, etc.—were being questioned. Part of it was a change in the way dance was made, that it could be made collaboratively. Also you had women lifting men; I didn’t think much about it then, but when we would show the work, people were amazed by things like that—by falling, by being on the floor, or by men being sensitive with each other, women being strong, people being a little bit out of control, and the pure physicality of it. People would see the work and get very excited and probably a little confused as well.” — Nancy Stark Smith
Here’s a video of a Contact Improvisation performance called “Yield” which was performed by Vitali Kononov and Rosemary Hannon at the West Coast Contact Improvisation Festival in 2007: Yield at WCCIF 2007
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