“Somatics of Contact Improvisation”

The term “somatic” comes from the Greek “soma,” meaning “body,” and somatic practices focus on the perception and understanding of the body’s intelligence. Rather than emphasizing only physical movement, these practices invite people to develop a deep awareness of the sensations, emotions, images, and thoughts that emerge during the exploration of the body and movement. There is often a certain ambiguity in the discussion of the somatic dimension of Contact Improvisation. There is a tendency to bring other somatic practices into dance (Somatics in to Contact), rather than exploring its intrinsic somatic aspect. Exploring somatics in Contact should not translate into the direct adoption of one of these techniques within Contact Improvisation, as the latter is already a somatic practice in itself. The somatic aspects of Contact Improvisation must be examined from within the practice itself, with its gaze, its vision, its language. The founders of this discipline intentionally left its boundaries undefined, leaving the practice free to express itself and evolve, encouraging a continuous spirit of inquiry. It’s almost as if they were inviting us to define our own research framework within a broader framework called “Contact Improvisation.” We should also understand that somatics itself does not typically constitute “research,” but rather a tool through which we approach exploration. Somatic awareness, while fundamental, is only the springboard to embark on true research, which in effect represents a next step. In Contact Improvisation “Somatics and Research coincide” and the reason lies in the intricate process known as improvisation. The body’s responses are simultaneously a somatic process, a search and a continuous discovery that gives impetus to the dance.