January project “Get in Touch” created space to discover authentic movement, contact with others and connection to our body. Hidden in between Slovak meadows and forests, in a centre beautifully called Lovinka, we allowed ourselves to slow down, speak less and simply be.

The project was led by trainers from Spanish organisation Ara en Moviment, in cooperation with Slovak organisation Priestor súčasného tanca.

Katka
Dance, movement and connection to body has always been something interesting for me and contact impro has been somehow appearing around me lately. At the same time, the idea of it was bringing certain discomfort, as it meant really letting somebody into my personal space, opening up, being vulnerable, I wanted to explore this and a week training seemed as a beautiful opportunity to dive into it step by step.

January was a period when I was a lot “in my head”, creating new projects, sitting at the computer. So getting a break from it and switching into body and movement was more than welcome, The training was beautiful and useful both personally and professionally. I understood how important it is to take care of my body, because I cannot replace it once some part stops working. And that movement is part of human nature, we knew it  as children, but started to forget, falling into office chairs, backs getting blocked and flexibility lost. Getting back to it, allowing myself to move how I want, right now, based on what feels good at the moment, and adding connection to another person to it, exploring contact and movement together, was a big discovery for me. At the same time, I take it as an inspiration for my work as a trainer, where work with body and nonverbal expression nicely complements verbal one.

Veronika

Contact improv got me from the first moment when I  experienced it. That is why I was very happy when Brno Connected gave me a chance to participate and to get deeper into this method.

And this is what actually happened. From the first day I felt that I am coming back to the basics – movement, touch, spontaneity and joy.

I have become aware of my body even more and explored various opportunities of the movement which I did not know before. I have got to know the whole new spectrum of touch and how wholesome impact it has for creating rapport with other human beings. I have learned to trust my dance partner as well as myself, and also ask for my own space when needed. And often, while in motion with myself or other people, I managed to let go all the outside stimulus and focus on the present moment.

So I can say that this training opened up new windows for me  as well as for my professional growth.

And, I do have a new hobby now and use a chance to go to an improv jam every now and then.

Danny

I listen and feel my body, I feel the partner who dances with me. I do not have to create anything, think of the right steps I should do. I listen to my body and the movement inside me and what my partner tells me. We are creating a dialogue. I feel incredibly free and smooth. I’m happy what we create together. These are my feelings and emotions that I spent in Slovakia on the project Get in Touch, surrounded by magical nature and people from all over Europe.

In addition to these experiences, the project showed me a touch as something beautiful and simple, free of all the prejudices and stereotypes we often have in society about touches.

Here you can watch video tutorials of body movement activites created by participants. Feel free to get inspired!

Written by: Katka Martínková, Veronika Pavlová, Danny Navrátil

The project was realized and funded through Erasmus+ programme