What is Contact Improvisation?
Contact Improvisation is an evolving system of movement initiated in 1972 by American choreographer Steve Paxton, based on the communication between two moving bodies that are in physical contact and their combined relationship to the physical laws that govern their motion—gravity, momentum, inertia. Formally, contact improvisation is a movement improvisation that is explored with another being, resembling other familiar duet forms, such as the embrace, wrestling, surfing, martial arts, and the Jitterbug, encompassing a wide range of movement from stillness to highly athletic.
Unlike conventional partner dancing, Contact Improvisation (often abbreviated CI) has no predetermined choreography, no defined leader or follower, and no set sequences. Practice includes rolling, falling, being upside down, following a physical point of contact, supporting and giving weight to a partner. Contact improvisations are spontaneous physical dialogues that range from stillness to highly energetic exchanges. The practice emphasizes sensory awareness, trust, and the capacity to respond moment-by-moment to physical impulses arising from the partnership.
Origins & Lineage
During a Grand Union residency at Oberlin College in January 1972, Steve Paxton made a work for 11 men in which they threw, caught, flung, collided and fell among one another continuously for 10 minutes. The dance was called “Magnesium”. Steve Paxton was in residence at Oberlin College during a tour with Grand Union, a collective where he collaborated with other prominent figures in postmodern dance, including Yvonne Rainer and Trisha Brown.
In the Spring of 1972, Steve Paxton received a grant from Change, Inc which allowed him to invite dancers to work on the form he was evolving. He continued to develop Magnesium in New York, inviting Nancy Stark Smith, Curt Siddall, Daniel Lepkoff, David Woodberry, Nita Little, Laura Chapman and others to join the process. In June 1972, Paxton presented the first formal demonstrations of contact improvisation at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, involving improvised duets and group forms.
Paxton’s early background was in gymnastics while his later training included three years with Merce Cunningham and a year with José Limón. Contact improvisation was developed by dancer and choreographer Steve Paxton, drawing on influences from modern dance, aikido, and somatic practices. Paxton was a founding member of the Judson Dance Theater, the 1960s experimental collective that challenged fundamental assumptions about what constituted dance.
Nancy Stark Smith was one of the earliest and most influential practitioners who worked closely with Paxton for many years and played a huge role in shaping and spreading the practice. She also co-founded Contact Quarterly, a journal dedicated to dance improvisation, which helped connect dancers and teachers around the world. Figures like Nancy Stark Smith, Lisa Nelson, and Nita Little played significant roles in broadening its influence, integrating the practice into postmodern dance traditions and contemporary performance studies.
How It’s Practiced
Contact Improvisation is learned and practiced through both structured classes and open “jams.” Contact Improvisation can be performed in a variety of settings, from informal jams and workshops to formal performances. In classes, students typically begin with exercises that cultivate awareness of weight-sharing, balance, rolling, and responding to momentum. Generally, a CI class starts as partners find a point of shared weight. Then, dancers maintain that shared point as they start to explore a wide range of movement possibilities, including lifting someone much heavier than you or getting to and off the floor with ease.
Contact Jams are open gatherings where people come together to practice contact, ranging from weekly gatherings of a few hours to weekend or week-long retreat gatherings. Contact Jams are normally unfacilitated, having no central instructor or guide. Known for its open “jams,” contact improvisation is both a social dance and a tool for movement research, offering a unique blend of physicality and mindfulness. Jams typically begin with individual warm-ups or a group warm-up sequence, followed by hours of open dancing where participants choose their own partners and the duration of each dance.
The body, in order to open to these sensations, learns to release excess muscular tension and abandon a certain quality of willfulness to experience the natural flow of movement. Practitioners describe CI as requiring deep listening—both to one’s own bodily sensations and to the subtle physical cues transmitted through points of contact. The practice can involve duets, trios, larger groups, or even solo exploration using the floor, walls, or other environmental features as contact points.
Contact Improvisation Today
From its early days on the East and then West coasts of the United States, Contact Improvisation (CI) has spread to studios, schools, and art centers around the world. Thousands of people practice, perform, and teach Contact on all continents except Antarctica. CI is enjoyed by movers of all kinds—professionally trained dancers, recreational movers, athletes, disabled dancers, old, young.
Today’s seekers typically encounter Contact Improvisation through weekly community jams, weekend workshops, university dance programs, intensive festivals, and online resources. Contact Quarterly magazine continues to document the form’s evolution. The Underscore was developed by Nancy Stark Smith, and many groups around the world continue the exploration and development. The Underscore is a structured score that guides ensemble improvisation and has become a widely-used framework within the CI community.
There is no teacher training or certification in contact improvisation. Anyone can teach contact improvisation and create their own curriculum and core elements that they feel are important technical skills. This was a conscious choice that Steve Paxton made early on. This decentralized, non-hierarchical approach has enabled the form to spread organically while also creating variation in how CI is taught and understood in different communities.
Many contemporary dance companies and choreographers incorporate CI principles into their work, even when not explicitly practicing the form. The emphasis on shared weight, responsive listening, and momentum-based partnering has influenced partnering techniques across the contemporary dance field.
Common Misconceptions
Contact Improvisation is not acrobatic partnering, though it may include lifts and inversions. Sometimes contact improvisation appears as an acrobatic dance, but unlike in acrobatics, the improvisers rarely seek a particular form, alignment or trick. The focus is on the ongoing physical conversation rather than achieving particular shapes or demonstrating technical virtuosity.
CI is not “anything goes” free movement. While improvisational, it has specific principles rooted in physics—weight-sharing, momentum, following points of contact—that distinguish it from general free-form dancing or other improvisation practices. Over the years, as the practice of contact took off in different directions and the specificity of reference point became less obvious, more and more people were drawn into jams from the reference of “open investigation” rather than the movement studies which started the investigation. People coming from an Open Movement Jam or “free dance” mentality to a CI Jam may disturb through a dilution of focus on contact.
Contact Improvisation does not require exceptional strength or dance training. Paxton believed that even an untrained dancer could contribute to his experimental dance form. The practice is accessible to people of varying ages, body types, and physical abilities, though beginners benefit from learning foundational skills around safe falling and weight-sharing.
CI is not inherently sensual or romantic, though physical intimacy and trust are central. The practice involves touch but is not primarily about emotional connection or attraction. Boundaries, consent, and mutual respect are fundamental to healthy CI practice.
How to Begin
The most direct path into Contact Improvisation is attending an introductory class or workshop in your area. Search for “Contact Improvisation [your city]” or consult online CI calendars that list jams and classes worldwide. Many communities host weekly or monthly open jams where beginners are welcome, though first-time participants often benefit from taking at least one introductory class to learn basic safety principles.
Key texts include Sharing the Dance: Contact Improvisation and American Culture by Cynthia J. Novack (the definitive scholarly history), Contact Improvisation: An Introduction to a Vitalizing Dance Form by Cheryl Pallant, and Caught Falling: The Confluence of Contact Improvisation, Nancy Stark Smith, and Other Moving Ideas by David Koteen and Nancy Stark Smith. Contact Quarterly magazine archives offer decades of practitioner perspectives and technical articles.
Video resources documenting early CI performances (1972-1983) provide visual reference for the form’s foundational principles. Steve Paxton’s “Material for the Spine” and explorations of the “Small Dance” (subtle standing meditation) offer entry points for solo practice.
Beginners should approach CI with curiosity rather than expectation, understanding that skillful practice develops over time through repeated experience. Dancers should come to class with a sense of curiosity and imagination so you’re improvising from the beginning. The learning happens kinesthetically—through the body rather than intellectual understanding—making direct participation essential.