If you’re looking for alternative ways to experience Crete, there is an option to combine your holidays with a unique festival, the only of its kind in Greece. The annual International Contact Improvisation Festival, organized for the second time in Heraklion, will take place from the 29th of September until the 6th of October 2012 and is framed by workshops of Contact Improvisation, offering a unique opportunity to experience Cretan nature, tradition and sightseeing while exploring your abilities in movement, dance and expression.
The festival in Crete is organized by a locally based dance group, Fysalida Dance Company, founded by Georgia Petrali in 2006, known for its inspired community dance projects, street art & performances, among others! The organization of this festival is part of a larger effort to attract visitors from all around the world, to continue the long dance tradition of the island and –most importantly- to bring people together!
Participants will explore techniques of CI, contemporary dance, movement and expression. The programme also includes partner yoga, contact tango, parent & kid contact, jam sessions open to the public, practice next to the sea and city tours!
You can see a short ‘preview’ of what this festival is all about in the video created during the 1st organization:
What is Contact Improvisation
Contact improvisation (CI) is a dance technique first developed by Steve Paxton in USA, in which points of physical contact provide the starting point for exploration through movement improvisation.
The basis of this technique is the physical (and mental!) interaction between two or more persons, motored by the laws of physics, gravity, controlled impetus, continuous flow, action-reaction and the unpredictability of each and every moment.
CI is a form of dance improvisation where bodies function as one entity, creating a web of movements which are constantly evolving and reforming, changing shape within space and time. As a form of movement and expression CI is extremely human, genuine and psychoanalytical at the same time!