Practice of the Underscore by NANCY STARK SMITH
Facilitated by Terhi Rasilo and Stephanie Gaudreau
Note : Terhi and Stephanie have studied the Underscore with Nancy Stark Smith.
Crédits : Carolyn Lee
1) SUNDAY NOVEMBER 17, INTRO AND THEORY FOR THE UNDERSCORE,
AT l’UQAM (local 4110), 2:30 to 4:00 pm
Cost : $3
Theoretical presentation of the score and some laboratory.
Intended both for experienced dancers (review) and for beginning dancers discovering contact improvisation.
This is not a technical course of contact dance improvistaion.
Bring notebook and pen to take notes
2) SATURDAY NOVEMBER 23, PRACTICE OF THE UNDERSCORE
AT UQAM (local 4110), 2:00 to 5:30 pm
Cost : $7
Note :You must have participated in the theoretical introduction to come to this practice.
2:00 -Arrival.
2:20 Opening circle, preamble
2:30 Beginning of the Underscore
5:00 End of the Underscore, exchange and closing circle
5:30 End
Bring your lunch and/or drink
More details : Link from Nancy Stark Smith
The Underscore is a vehicle for incorporating Contact Improvisation into a broader arena of improvisational dance practice; for developing greater ease dancing in spherical space—alone and with others; and for integrating kinesthetic and compositional concerns while improvising. It allows for a full spectrum of energetic and physical expressions, embodying a range of forms and changing states. Its practice is familiar yet unpredictable.
The practice—usually 3 to 4 hours in length—progresses through a broad range of dynamic states, including long periods of very small, private, and quiet internal activity and other times of higher energy and interactive dancing.
There are 20+ phases of the score—each with a name and a graphic symbol—which create a general map for the dancers. Within that frame, dancers are free to create their own movements, dynamics, and relationships—with themselves, each other, the group, the music, and the environment. Each Underscore is unique, providing rich and often inspiring experiences of the human and artistic phenomena of dance improvisation.