Contact Improvisation (CI) is a dance form based on the spontaneous communication between moving bodies that are in physical contact. We intend to explore the applicability of this methodology in youth organisations, taking physical Contact as a key element for inclusion and Improvisation as an embodied source of creativity in our mechanical world. This body expression form is a resource that can be used to promote inclusion, to work on the physical contact between people, to develop self-acceptance and to improve the active listening and awareness towards others.

Our objectives are:
– Introduce Contact Improvisation and its philosophy as an innovative methodology with broad potential from the artistic, pedagogical and social point of view, to youth workers and educators, providing tools that can be applied in their projects.
– Explore Contact Improvisation as an inclusive dance, enabling participants to question gender stereotypes, physical or age differences, finding attunement with themselves and others through non-judgemental body expression.
– Educate the holistic awareness of oneself and others, emphasizing the learning process through a balance between body and mind.
– Discover the physical, emotional and psychic benefits of human contact, dissociating it from the sexual perspective.
– Initiate an international network of organizations that are willing to include Contact Improvisation as a powerful resource in their future projects, both in the local and international level.

The target group we aim to offer this experience to are educators and youth workers actively involved in our partner organizations and working with youngsters on a regular basis. On another level, we also want to extend this opportunity to trainers and facilitators who are interested to include Contact Improvisation tools and exercises in their workshops and projects.

“Keep in Contact” is a project that contains one activity, a training course. It will take place in the ecological centre Kaprálův Mlýn near Brno (Czech Republic) during 7 days, from from 24/10/2018 to 01/11/2018 (including 2 travel days). It will gather 26 participants coming from 8 different countries: Czech Republic, Spain, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Romania and Slovenia. The hosting organization is Dobroti, the other partners involved act as sending, supporting and multiplier organizations.

The working methods will be varied and interactive in order to ensure a balance between practice on spot and application in the future in their organisations. Taking into account the diversity of the participants in terms of experience in Contact Improvisation, the methods will provide an effective group experience learning together and from each other, and will allow all participants to fulfill their expectations and needs through a progressive and valuable inter-cultural learning experience supported by reflection tools.

By participating in this project, youth workers will: learn what is Contact Improvisation by practicing it; be more aware of their personal development through connecting with their bodies in a deeper level; learn a set of Contact Improvisation exercises that can be applied in their organisations; and develop new ways how Contact Improvisation can be applied to Youth Work, connecting it with concepts such as inclusion, conflict management, sustainability, leadership, deep communication and creativity, among others. Our intention is that participants have an impact in the organisation level through sharing, spreading and applying Contact Improvisation in the local and international communities.

To apply to participate in Keep in Contact, fill in the application form provided in http://bit.ly/keepincontact , latest by the 18th of July 2018 at 12pm Central European Summer Time.

The selection results will be announced at the beginning of August.

For further information, read the info-pack.

Infopack:

Training course: Keep in Contact – Czech Republic – abroadship.org

Click to access Keep_in_Contact-infopack.pdf