BIO
Iiris Raipala is dance artist, performer and teacher based in Helsinki. She graduated in 2004 as Master of Arts in dance from the Theatre Academy of Finland. She also has Master in Art Pedagogy. She been working closely with improvisation and contact improvisation in several performing groups and has performed in the choreographies of many internationally acknowledged choreographers like Tomi Paasonen, Rosalind Crisp, Mirva Mäkinen, Lisa Nelson and Nancy Stark Smith. She is part of artistic-scientific Liminal Art -collective working in the field of improvisation and ritual art. (www.liminalart.fi). She has been practicing, teaching and performing CI for over 20 years, and she is one of the founders of Goa contact Festival and Skiing on Skin Festival.
Contact Improvisation Class and ritual : power of the earth /maan voima
Teacher: Iiris Raipala
Level: Open Level (some CI experience recommended)
THE POWER OF THE EARTH
We are earth and belong to the earth. This continuous relationship is also manifested in the laws of gravity. The earth pulls us towards it and we pull the earth towards us – this creates a state of mutual coexistence.
This workshop is an invitation to connection, to ourselves, to each other and to the larger web of life. In the workshop, we explore working based on the principles of contact improvisation and other somatic methods. We work alone, in pairs, and in groups. Each exercise can be done from one’s own perspective, listening to and respecting oneself and others.
We carry the entire history of evolution within our bodies. The life force flows through our veins and runs in our limbs. Our tissues remember the movement of tectonic plates, the roots that dig through the soil, and the agile spine of animals. Through the body, we connect to the earth, instincts, and the wisdom that arises from the core. The body supports us and is on the side of life.
In times when various ecosocial crises shake us, it is meaningful to return to the basics. Although different opinions and ideologies divide people in the present moment, we can find comfort and meaning in what connects us: we are a part of the planet and are subject to gravity – just like all living things. Touch enlivens, sensitizes, and grounds us. It anchors us to the present moment. We become sensitive to the sensations of the body, the movement of weight, and intuition. We explore gravity as a continuous state of questioning, to which the body responds with movement.Through dance, we can surrender to continuous change and allow life to flow through us without the need to control.