We are delighted to have Nancy Stark Smith & Mike Vargas here at Ponderosa this summer. Please read through thoroughly so you understand the different offers and application processes of both workshops!

Week 1 (held during P.O.R.C.H) is also open to those who have not worked with Nancy previously. Week 2 (during TanzLand Festival) is only for those who have already worked with Nancy. For those who have worked with her previously you are more than welcome to apply also to stay on for the second week, to refresh your skills and deepen your contact with Nancy and Mike's work. We are very glad to be introducing their work to those who have not had a chance to discover Contact Improvisation on this level or depth.

Nancy Stark Smith and Mike Vargas: States of Grace, June 14-19 (all day workshop)
An introduction to the full spectrum of dance improvisation work that Nancy and Mike are currently exploring using Contact Improvisation as a base. This will encompass CI technique and practice, solo and group improvisation scores (including the Underscore), compositional awareness, jamming, listening practice, and working with and without music.

Through these materials, we will deepen and refine our dancing in CI while expanding our awareness to include compositional details and conscious, varied relationships between what we hear and how we move. Nancy’s longtime collaborator, musician/composer/improviser Mike Vargas will contribute his music and his point of view.

Requirements: The course is taught in English, for people with at least intermediate level experience in contact improvisation. Experience with other forms of dance, movement, and improvisation is a plus.

Maximum Number of Participants: 30 people (total including P.O.R.C.H Training participants). The week includes Friday evening Underscore talk (June 18) and Saturday Underscore practice (see below).
Week 1 Orientation: Sunday 6pm, June 13.
Workshop: Monday, June 14 – Saturday, June 19.

Application: Please send a brief description of your background with CI, dance, and improvisation, and your specific interest in this course to s.maher@k77.org.

Application Deadline May 1

P.O.R.C.H participants wishing to participate in Nancy’s workshop ,should get their P.O.R.C.H applications in by May 1,  No need to apply to Nancy's workshop separately: please state your CI experience on your P.O.R.C.H application. (Also 10% reduction for P.O.R.C.H.Training Module (module 1) for applications received by April 1)

GLOBAL UNDERSCORE SOLSTICE 2010
Friday, June 18: evening talk-thru (required for Sat. participation)
Saturday, June 19: Underscore,   12–4pm
Description:
The Underscore is a long jamming/contact/improvisation score that Nancy has been developing since 1990. The Underscore guides us through a progression of “changing states” of body and mind—from solo sensitizing to gravity and support, into group circulation and contact improvisation engagements, opening out into whole-room compositional awareness and interaction, and back to rest and reflections.
The Underscore talk on Friday evening will give some background and outline the structure in detail, to be followed the next day by the physical practice itself (with minimal guidance from Nancy), including periods of silence and periods of live music improvised/composed by Mike Vargas.
The Global Underscore Solstice is an annual, synchronized practice of the Underscore at the summer solstice, linking many sites around the globe dancing the Underscore at the same time. This is the 10th anniversary of the Global Underscore Solstice, which has been initiated and organized by Claire Filmon and the Paris Underscore Group. This year’s event will have some special features to honor the anniversary! Our Ponderosa site will be one of the global network of sites practicing together on this day.

Participation: The Ponderosa Global Underscore group will be open for anyone with experience in contact improvisation that would like to join (and can come to the talk on Friday and stay for the entire Underscore). It will be the culmination event for Nancy and Mike’s week 1 States of Grace workshop and will be the beginning of the week 2 “States of Grace” (continuing) workshop. It will also be part of the transition into the Ponderosa TanzLand Festival as well as a link to dancers improvising in the Underscore all over the world!

Requirements:
* Previous experience with contact improvisation.
* Attendance at the talk and the full Underscore event.