Olivia Shaffer and Hayley Gawthrop by Chris Randle, 2023
Before attending a workshop, please review the Important Info below, including what to wear/bring, FAQ’s, and accessibility info.
Building Entry: Buzz ‘02’ ONLY for entry. Please arrive 5 to 10 min before class to change and settle. Entry to the building is only granted 15 min before and 15 min after an activity starts.
For more information about our workshops, please contact us at info@edamdance.org.
JANUARY 20 - 25, 2025 at EDAM
FUNDAMENTALS WORKSHOP
Saturday, January 18, 2025
12:30 - 4:30pm
w Francesca Frewer
Early Bird: $60 when you register by Dec 21st
Regular: $80
Registration required, no drop-ins.
If you are new to Contact, this workshop is for you! This workshop will introduce Contact Improvisation basics, and will provide you with the fundamentals to begin your practice.
We will begin with a guided warm-up to deepen awareness of ourselves in relation to gravity. We will practice moving in and out of the floor with ease and efficiency. As we begin to dance together, we will deepen foundational skills of Contact dance, such as rolling point of contact, sloughing (sliding), meeting pressure (continuity of connection), weight sharing, and underdancing (offering mobile support).
What is Contact Improvisation? It is an improvised social dance, involving non-verbal communication between bodies moving through physical contact. It is a meditation on presence and body awareness, as well as a play of physics using gravity, momentum, and inertia to inspire dancing together. Every moment is a collaboration with a focus on “listening” through the skin surface at the physical point of contact.
Francesca's classes are informed by somatics (attending to sensory perception guides our approach to dancing and listening to our partner) and contemporary dance techniques (functional movement patterns and floor work assist us on the technical side.) You will be invited to try things out with an un-precious, experimental mindset, to hone your attention to detail, to get your body moving, and to practice pacing yourself. Options are always provided for multiple ways of participating, and you are always welcome to do as much or as little as you like. No need to bring a partner. Wear comfortable clothing - long sleeves & kneepads are recommended.
Please email info@edamdance.org if you have any questions about attending this workshop.
Our Fundamentals Workshop is held three times a year in September, January and April. Please email us if you would like to be notified when registration opens for our next workshop. If you missed the most recent workshop, our Thursday evening classes are also a good place for beginners to start! Read more and register for classes here.
DIMENSIONS OF IMAGINATION IN CONTACT IMPROVISATION
Saturday, February 1, 2025
12:30 - 4pm
w Arash Khakpour
SAVE THE DATE!
More info and registration details coming soon. Early-bird pricing will be made available in early January.
Please email us if you would like to be notified when registration opens for this workshop.
TEACHERS
Francesca Frewer by Chris Randle
Francesca Frewer is a contemporary dance artist who has been studying Contact Improvisation for 12 years. Her teaching is heavily influenced by training and dancing with Peter Bingham and the EDAM company, and her classes also draw on principles of the Feldenkrais Method, a somatic movement practice she teaches and of which she is an ongoing student. With a particular interest in efficiency, precision, and refined awareness, Francesca offers technical skill-building towards the end goal of finding ever more options within the moment to moment choice-making that is improvisation.
Francesca creates and performs in her own work, frequently in collaboration with Erika Mitsuhashi. She has also worked with Company 605, Emmalena Fredriksson, Company Saint Genet, Future Leisure, and Evann Siebens, among others. She is a co-producer and organizer of the interdisciplinary art series Here For Now, and the DIY performance space Boombox.
IMPORTANT INFO
Membership
To participate in workshops at EDAM, you must be a member.
If you are new to EDAM, please purchase a membership when you register.
EDAM Membership is a lifetime membership (one-time $5 membership fee).
Waivers
All EDAM participants (every person who attends an EDAM class, workshop or jam) must read and agree to: EDAM Waiver and EDAM Safety, Consent and Inclusion Policy before coming to the studio.
Refund & Cancellation Policy
Admin Fee: There is a non-refundable $10 admin fee for all workshop cancellations. This helps us cover the cost of managing cancellations.
Cancellations made at least 4 working days (Monday to Friday) in advance of the workshop start date are 100% refundable, minus the admin fee. Please email us.
Cancellations made 48 hours in advance of the workshop start date are 50% refundable minus the admin fee. Please email us.
Cancellations made less than 48 hours in advance of the workshop date are non-refundable.
If you know you will not be attending the workshop (for any reason) you may give your spot to a friend. Please email us.
Sick Policy: We understand and respect that sickness happens unexpectedly. Cancellations made due to illness are 50% refundable minus the admin fee. Please email us.
EDAM reserves the right to cancel the workshop for any reason. Registered participants will be contacted and full refunds will be issued.
EDAM reserves the right to change the teacher if the booked teacher can no longer attend. Registered participants will be contacted and may request a refund if they no longer wish to attend the workshop with the new teacher.
What to Bring/Wear
Wear comfortable clothes that you can move and slide in (we recommend long sleeves and full-length pants, as they are helpful for sliding on the floor), wear minimal jewellery, and bring knee-pads (optional/personal preference).
We sell knee-pads for CI practice ($35) at the studio. Ask your teacher or email us at: info@edamdance.org.
Bring a bottle of water.
EDAM is a scent-reduced space, please help us keep our studio odour-free.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a difference between a class and a workshop? A class is a short focused session. A workshop is a longer session (with small breaks at the teacher’s discretion). Both are facilitated around the teacher’s interests and knowledge.
What is a Contact Jam? Jams are leaderless practice environments in which dancers practice CI with whoever gathers — friends, strangers, experienced dancers, newcomers. In our Open Jams, an EDAM teacher will hold the space, however, there is no instruction.
I have never done Contact Improvisation. Can I join any class or workshop? If you have never done Contact Improvisation, please sign up to a Thursday evening class our our Fundamentals Workshop, to acquire some skills and tools. Depending on your experience and previous training, you may request to join our advanced Morning Classes. Our teachers can support you in this journey.
Accessibility Info
Read our accessibility info here.
EDAM respectfully acknowledges that our activities and events take place on the ancestral and unceded Indigenous territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations.