Some thoughts on the history and relevance of Dance Improvisation,
and its connections to Saskatoon
Relevance of Dance Improvisation:
We are dancers in a small city far from major centres, struggling to gain acceptance, recognition, and support for the practice at the heart of our work and art—the practise of dance improvisation.
KSAMB Dance Company, like other contemporary companies, uses improvisation to generate new material for scored and choreographed performances. More than most, we use improvisation as our main practice, and especially, Contact Improvisation (CI.) Unlike most modern dance companies, KSAMB does improvisation as a performance art.
Movement improvisation as a recreational activity and as performance is inclusive. It can involve virtuosic dance technique but, “…it is not the extent of the formal movement technique that impresses one watching these performers in action; rather it is the attention and air of simplicity given equally to all moments of moving” (Louise Steinman.) Influential American improviser and founder of Action Theater, Ruth Zaporah, calls it “the art of skillful being.”
In improvisation performance, elements of time, space, shape, and impulse are explored in real time. The processes of perceiving, discovering, and choosing are witnessed by the audience. “Improvisation is a process by which the evolving nature of the world around and within the artist is revealed by their actions. […] Improvisation is a form of immediacy, a discipline of spontaneity and awareness.” (Louise Steinman)
Improvisation, especially in performance, is devalued. With strong ties to play, improvisation is seen as frivolous and pointless. Considered an activity of children (also devalued in our society) and not conducive to production and commerce—ignoring the fact that play is essential to learning, social development and creativity. Improvisation is seen as an activity done by people who are not skilled. An exception is in improv comedy, a predominantly male entertainment/art form. The skills of improvisation are as difficult to learn as any other skills, and are invaluable in daily life and all disciplines.
(See—Reverence for Uncertainty, Chaos, Order and the Dynamics of Musical Free Improvisation by David Borgo, UCLA, 1999)
We battle the general suppression of dance as a valued art form in places of English colonial heritage, such as Western Canada. The liberating, playful, sensuous and ritual potential of dance is threatening to puritanical, ordered systems. In a misogynist, patriarchal system, dance has been disempowered – by being positioned as an activity and interest of oppressed cultures, classes, and women. In our society, women and girls are expected to give up their vocation at marriage. Training systems and mass media exploitation patterned after competitive sports discourage the artistic and ritual potential. The sensual power is warped by patriarchal insistence on adult social dance as a means of courtship and seduction, with popular music closely tied to the alcohol consumption industry. The lack of financial support for dance artists, compared to other art forms, is well documented.
Improvisation in performance has a long history in the arts, movement, jazz, clown, comedy performance, site specific and political theatre, post modern dance.
The skills of improvisation can apply to many different faculties, across all artistic, scientific, physical, cognitive, academic, and non-academic disciplines.
The Free Jazz movement of the late 50s and 60s had a massive influence on jazz music and parallels the relation of dance improvisation to contemporary dance.
Dance Improvisation is an important performative art, in the past and today. From Isadora Duncan to Steve Paxton, dance improvisation has greatly impacted the development of modern dance, and continues to be inspiring performance material.
Though common in the 1970s and 80s, dance improvisation often proves difficult for audiences. Artists such as Merce Cunningham and Yvonne Rainer however did gain international followings. Even in Saskatoon in 2019, Rainer drew capacity audiences for two performances by her company at the Remai.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvonne_Rainer
Judson Dance Theatre, based in Judson Church, New York, in the 60s was a famous experimental performance group and ‘Grand Union’, emerging in the 70s, was a movement improvisation performance group started by students of Merce Cunningham and Yvonne Rainer. Barbara Dilley and Steve Paxton, both famous performers and teachers of improvisation, were members of Grand Union. Though Judson Dance Theatre and Grand Union have long dissolved, Judson Church remains an important cultural centre for presenting dance improvisation.
Dance Improvisation in Saskatoon:
KSAMB Dance Company, Kyle Syverson and Miki Mappin, formed in 2009 from a friendship connected by several Saskatoon dance threads.
Patricia Dewar trained contemporary dancers and orchestrated site-specific dance performance in Saskatoon from 1980-85. Patricia’s The Moving Collective performed locally and nationally, including at the Dance in Canada conference (Toronto). She worked in an inclusive way, with interdisciplinary collaborations, such as with poets Anne Szumigalski and Elyse Ste. George, and sculptor Bill Epp. She believed that “dance has as much power to communicate as theatre or music.” Miki worked with Anne and Bill at that time, and saw some of this work.
The In Progress Dance Collective danced in the Albert Community Centre from 1984 to 1987. It included friends of both Kyle and Miki; Wendy Roy, Miranda Jones, Rebecca Van Sciver, and Joanie Sass. They met regularly, performed in public, and had dance exchanges with groups in Regina. The performances were usually not improvised, although they were choreographed using improvisation.
Synergy Movement Workshops was established in Vancouver in 1971 by Linda Rubin, who also taught at Simon Fraser University, where she taught Peter Bingham, a pioneer of Contact Improvisation in Canada. Both Kyle, and to a lesser extent Miki, have studied with Peter. Linda taught dance improvisation for performance from 1982-1993 in Saskatoon, under the name Synergy. Over the years, the group performed improv dance under her direction several times a year, including the River Dances (partly improvised) and the Wanuskewin opening (again, partly improvised). When she left to teach at the University of Alberta, her students formed the Saskatoon Improv Dance Collective which met weekly, on Thursdays, to continue the work. Kyle joined the group in the early 1990s.
It was in this community practice that Kyle and Miki met, in 2006. In 2009 Kyle and Miki formed KSAMB Dance Company, and while their first performance was choreographed, their second, for LUGO at the Mendel in 2010, was scored improvisation — a score of falling and catching... or not. In 2013, Kyle and Miki took over administration of the Improv Dance Collective, eventually changing the name to Friday Night Improv and amalgamating with KSAMB. In 2020 the group chose the name Wild Card Movement for this weekly improvisation practice in its outdoor adaptation to the pandemic. For over 30 years this practice has continued in Saskatoon, presently as a class every Thursday—Contact Improvisation and Ensemble improvisation.
Free Flow Dance Theatre Company has played an important role in KSAMB's development. Formed in 1995 in Ontario by Jackie Latendresse, the company began operating in Saskatoon in 2002. Both Kyle and Miki have taken classes and performed for Free Flow. Improvisation is taught in Jackie's Modern classes, and used by Jackie and the dancers in developing choreography. KSAMB as a company has been given the opportunity to perform at Free Flow events, from the first show by Kyle and Miki in 2009 at Free Flow's Back Alley Antics, to several Works In Progress showings of new work, including improvisation. In recent years Kyle has worked and performed as principal dancer for Free Flow.
https://freeflowdance.com/
The Big Fat Ass Dance Class®: Improvisational Dance for Ordinary Women, is a weekly improvisational dance group for women, started by Aileen Hayden more than 15 years ago, with emphasis on expression and healing rather than performance. Aileen also gave classes, which Kyle and Miki attended, and sometimes participated in KSAMB activities. The group continued after Aileen left Saskatoon. In the summer of 2020, an average of 10 participants danced together weekly for an hour and a half in Albert Park. http://bfadc.com/
Ecstatic dance has an ancient history in ritual, and is improvisational. A form of ecstatic dance, 5 Rhythms, was popularized by Gabrielle Roth in the US. In Saskatoon, Karla Kloeble organized 3 weekend 5 Rhythms workshops, with instructor/facilitator Evangelos Diavolitsis in 2015, 2016, and 2017. The Unitarian Church hosts a weekly 5 Rhythms practice, suspended during the pandemic. Miki has practised 5 Rhythms in these events, and Karla Kloeble dances with KSAMB.
In Saskatoon in 2012-13, Mischa Davison began a weekly practice called Dance Church, a form of ecstatic/aerobic nonjudgmental group dance to music. It originated in the US, and is registered as a trademark by an organization begun by Kate Wallich in 2010 in Los Angeles. It has been meeting on Sundays in Saskatoon since 2012. In 2013, Kyle and Miki took over the operation of Dance Church. Dance Church had been a weekly indoor winter activity, but since 2015 it moved outdoors in summer and operated year round. In 2018 Kyle and Miki changed the name to Not Church Just Dance and incorporated it into their other KSAMB dance activities. In late March 2020, it moved outdoors for the pandemic restrictions, and continues outdoors, weekly in all weather. Not Church, Just Dance
A similar event was begun in 2016 by a group of young people, and in a similar way the administration was taken over by KSAMB in 2018, and in 2020 it also moved outdoors, and continues to operate weekly as Buena Vista Boogie.
2013 also marked a change in KSAMB performances. Until then, improvisation had played a large role in the creation of KSAMB's work, but seldom in the performance. Working with larger groups of volunteer dancers, some from the improv group and from other dance activities, KSAMB began to score more loosely, and experiment using group improv skills live in performance.
Time Shapers was a KSAMB project in 2018: an improvisational performance of 45 minutes, uniting 12 dancers, 5-91, and a percussionist. With a Dance Saskatchewan Inc. grant, they practised for 6 weeks, honing skills and sensitivity that culminated in a well-attended, and appreciated performance.
By 2020 KSAMB was presenting shows that were mostly scored, but with live improvisation by performers and technician, such as To the Heart and shows that were mostly improvised, such as the WILD CARD MOVEMENT series.
and its connections to Saskatoon
Relevance of Dance Improvisation:
We are dancers in a small city far from major centres, struggling to gain acceptance, recognition, and support for the practice at the heart of our work and art—the practise of dance improvisation.
KSAMB Dance Company, like other contemporary companies, uses improvisation to generate new material for scored and choreographed performances. More than most, we use improvisation as our main practice, and especially, Contact Improvisation (CI.) Unlike most modern dance companies, KSAMB does improvisation as a performance art.
Movement improvisation as a recreational activity and as performance is inclusive. It can involve virtuosic dance technique but, “…it is not the extent of the formal movement technique that impresses one watching these performers in action; rather it is the attention and air of simplicity given equally to all moments of moving” (Louise Steinman.) Influential American improviser and founder of Action Theater, Ruth Zaporah, calls it “the art of skillful being.”
In improvisation performance, elements of time, space, shape, and impulse are explored in real time. The processes of perceiving, discovering, and choosing are witnessed by the audience. “Improvisation is a process by which the evolving nature of the world around and within the artist is revealed by their actions. […] Improvisation is a form of immediacy, a discipline of spontaneity and awareness.” (Louise Steinman)
Improvisation, especially in performance, is devalued. With strong ties to play, improvisation is seen as frivolous and pointless. Considered an activity of children (also devalued in our society) and not conducive to production and commerce—ignoring the fact that play is essential to learning, social development and creativity. Improvisation is seen as an activity done by people who are not skilled. An exception is in improv comedy, a predominantly male entertainment/art form. The skills of improvisation are as difficult to learn as any other skills, and are invaluable in daily life and all disciplines.
(See—Reverence for Uncertainty, Chaos, Order and the Dynamics of Musical Free Improvisation by David Borgo, UCLA, 1999)
We battle the general suppression of dance as a valued art form in places of English colonial heritage, such as Western Canada. The liberating, playful, sensuous and ritual potential of dance is threatening to puritanical, ordered systems. In a misogynist, patriarchal system, dance has been disempowered – by being positioned as an activity and interest of oppressed cultures, classes, and women. In our society, women and girls are expected to give up their vocation at marriage. Training systems and mass media exploitation patterned after competitive sports discourage the artistic and ritual potential. The sensual power is warped by patriarchal insistence on adult social dance as a means of courtship and seduction, with popular music closely tied to the alcohol consumption industry. The lack of financial support for dance artists, compared to other art forms, is well documented.
Improvisation in performance has a long history in the arts, movement, jazz, clown, comedy performance, site specific and political theatre, post modern dance.
The skills of improvisation can apply to many different faculties, across all artistic, scientific, physical, cognitive, academic, and non-academic disciplines.
The Free Jazz movement of the late 50s and 60s had a massive influence on jazz music and parallels the relation of dance improvisation to contemporary dance.
Dance Improvisation is an important performative art, in the past and today. From Isadora Duncan to Steve Paxton, dance improvisation has greatly impacted the development of modern dance, and continues to be inspiring performance material.
Though common in the 1970s and 80s, dance improvisation often proves difficult for audiences. Artists such as Merce Cunningham and Yvonne Rainer however did gain international followings. Even in Saskatoon in 2019, Rainer drew capacity audiences for two performances by her company at the Remai.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yvonne_Rainer
Judson Dance Theatre, based in Judson Church, New York, in the 60s was a famous experimental performance group and ‘Grand Union’, emerging in the 70s, was a movement improvisation performance group started by students of Merce Cunningham and Yvonne Rainer. Barbara Dilley and Steve Paxton, both famous performers and teachers of improvisation, were members of Grand Union. Though Judson Dance Theatre and Grand Union have long dissolved, Judson Church remains an important cultural centre for presenting dance improvisation.
Dance Improvisation in Saskatoon:
KSAMB Dance Company, Kyle Syverson and Miki Mappin, formed in 2009 from a friendship connected by several Saskatoon dance threads.
Patricia Dewar trained contemporary dancers and orchestrated site-specific dance performance in Saskatoon from 1980-85. Patricia’s The Moving Collective performed locally and nationally, including at the Dance in Canada conference (Toronto). She worked in an inclusive way, with interdisciplinary collaborations, such as with poets Anne Szumigalski and Elyse Ste. George, and sculptor Bill Epp. She believed that “dance has as much power to communicate as theatre or music.” Miki worked with Anne and Bill at that time, and saw some of this work.
The In Progress Dance Collective danced in the Albert Community Centre from 1984 to 1987. It included friends of both Kyle and Miki; Wendy Roy, Miranda Jones, Rebecca Van Sciver, and Joanie Sass. They met regularly, performed in public, and had dance exchanges with groups in Regina. The performances were usually not improvised, although they were choreographed using improvisation.
Synergy Movement Workshops was established in Vancouver in 1971 by Linda Rubin, who also taught at Simon Fraser University, where she taught Peter Bingham, a pioneer of Contact Improvisation in Canada. Both Kyle, and to a lesser extent Miki, have studied with Peter. Linda taught dance improvisation for performance from 1982-1993 in Saskatoon, under the name Synergy. Over the years, the group performed improv dance under her direction several times a year, including the River Dances (partly improvised) and the Wanuskewin opening (again, partly improvised). When she left to teach at the University of Alberta, her students formed the Saskatoon Improv Dance Collective which met weekly, on Thursdays, to continue the work. Kyle joined the group in the early 1990s.
It was in this community practice that Kyle and Miki met, in 2006. In 2009 Kyle and Miki formed KSAMB Dance Company, and while their first performance was choreographed, their second, for LUGO at the Mendel in 2010, was scored improvisation — a score of falling and catching... or not. In 2013, Kyle and Miki took over administration of the Improv Dance Collective, eventually changing the name to Friday Night Improv and amalgamating with KSAMB. In 2020 the group chose the name Wild Card Movement for this weekly improvisation practice in its outdoor adaptation to the pandemic. For over 30 years this practice has continued in Saskatoon, presently as a class every Thursday—Contact Improvisation and Ensemble improvisation.
Free Flow Dance Theatre Company has played an important role in KSAMB's development. Formed in 1995 in Ontario by Jackie Latendresse, the company began operating in Saskatoon in 2002. Both Kyle and Miki have taken classes and performed for Free Flow. Improvisation is taught in Jackie's Modern classes, and used by Jackie and the dancers in developing choreography. KSAMB as a company has been given the opportunity to perform at Free Flow events, from the first show by Kyle and Miki in 2009 at Free Flow's Back Alley Antics, to several Works In Progress showings of new work, including improvisation. In recent years Kyle has worked and performed as principal dancer for Free Flow.
https://freeflowdance.com/
The Big Fat Ass Dance Class®: Improvisational Dance for Ordinary Women, is a weekly improvisational dance group for women, started by Aileen Hayden more than 15 years ago, with emphasis on expression and healing rather than performance. Aileen also gave classes, which Kyle and Miki attended, and sometimes participated in KSAMB activities. The group continued after Aileen left Saskatoon. In the summer of 2020, an average of 10 participants danced together weekly for an hour and a half in Albert Park. http://bfadc.com/
Ecstatic dance has an ancient history in ritual, and is improvisational. A form of ecstatic dance, 5 Rhythms, was popularized by Gabrielle Roth in the US. In Saskatoon, Karla Kloeble organized 3 weekend 5 Rhythms workshops, with instructor/facilitator Evangelos Diavolitsis in 2015, 2016, and 2017. The Unitarian Church hosts a weekly 5 Rhythms practice, suspended during the pandemic. Miki has practised 5 Rhythms in these events, and Karla Kloeble dances with KSAMB.
In Saskatoon in 2012-13, Mischa Davison began a weekly practice called Dance Church, a form of ecstatic/aerobic nonjudgmental group dance to music. It originated in the US, and is registered as a trademark by an organization begun by Kate Wallich in 2010 in Los Angeles. It has been meeting on Sundays in Saskatoon since 2012. In 2013, Kyle and Miki took over the operation of Dance Church. Dance Church had been a weekly indoor winter activity, but since 2015 it moved outdoors in summer and operated year round. In 2018 Kyle and Miki changed the name to Not Church Just Dance and incorporated it into their other KSAMB dance activities. In late March 2020, it moved outdoors for the pandemic restrictions, and continues outdoors, weekly in all weather. Not Church, Just Dance
A similar event was begun in 2016 by a group of young people, and in a similar way the administration was taken over by KSAMB in 2018, and in 2020 it also moved outdoors, and continues to operate weekly as Buena Vista Boogie.
2013 also marked a change in KSAMB performances. Until then, improvisation had played a large role in the creation of KSAMB's work, but seldom in the performance. Working with larger groups of volunteer dancers, some from the improv group and from other dance activities, KSAMB began to score more loosely, and experiment using group improv skills live in performance.
Time Shapers was a KSAMB project in 2018: an improvisational performance of 45 minutes, uniting 12 dancers, 5-91, and a percussionist. With a Dance Saskatchewan Inc. grant, they practised for 6 weeks, honing skills and sensitivity that culminated in a well-attended, and appreciated performance.
By 2020 KSAMB was presenting shows that were mostly scored, but with live improvisation by performers and technician, such as To the Heart and shows that were mostly improvised, such as the WILD CARD MOVEMENT series.
