Thoughts from Joerg Hassmannn – July 2021 The last years I was in the privileged situation to mainly teach Workshops experienced Contact Improvisers. Whenever asked to teach beginners or open level classes I got quite nervous. It is amazing to me, that new teachers usually have to cope with these much more difficult teaching frames. […]
“If you want to reach the maximum of your technical abilities you need to work on jamming and improvisational skills.” A recent workshop with our experienced Half Year Programme group in Berlin led me to this statement, which is refreshingly provocative for me.
It feels a bit embarrassing to write about our cats in this blog that has a main focus on dance, the moving body and teaching and learning. Anyways, I dare it and it won’t be too long … I am not really an animal person. I like the animalistic part of the moving human body, […]
Irgendetwas ist anders, es passt – fast, aber nicht so ganz … naja, nicht so wild, geht ja trotzdem. Bei meinem letzten Workshop habe ich das Anerkennen von Irritationen als einen Schlüssel für lebendige Räume erkannt. Es sind feine Momente, undramatisch und es scheint nicht wirklich wert groß Aufhebens drum zu machen. Aber in diesen […]
There are these moments in my practice where I suddenly think and feel ‘Now I am dancing!’ What makes me feel that? And what am I doing, when I don’t feel like saying that? A participant of our CI training programme asked this question. And I noticed that I have given conflicting answers in writing […]
I am running with my boy through an autumn forest on a winding path, that is covered with freshly fallen leaves. Suddenly my left foot gets caught behind a little root. Time will slow down very soon. Later on I will be amazed how much can go through my head and emotional body in one […]
In meinem letzten Workshop tauchte der Wunsch auf an einer spezifischen Form zu arbeiten: Vom Beckenlift jemandem rückenaufwärts auf die Schulter zu rollen – und ich war überrascht wie vollkommen involviert und emotional ich einige Teilnehmer begleitet habe, als ginge es um Leben und Tod. Als würde sich in der Art, wie wir diese Form […]
I am more and more intrigued by the mystery of focussed spaces. I guess it is a mayor part of my dedication to Contact Improvisation. I am almost getting used to being in a space, where people follow their own interests, diving into a personal investigation that is still in touch with the group. Moments […]
Katja Mustonen und ich hatten ein sogenanntes Dancedate in Berlin: ein bisschen reden, ankommen, checken wer was braucht und dann die simple Struktur eine Stunde lang zu schauen, was so passieren will. Sie als Contact Skeptikerin wünscht sich Gewicht zum Anfangen, ich als Contact Monofokussist wünsche mir Phasen von purem, nicht direktivem Hands-on. Nach 40 […]
Recently I got asked several times about how I approach my teaching and if that has changed over the years. So, I felt like looking at my own process of how I prepare workshops, and how my attitude and my values might have shifted. Maybe one thought beforehand, that I discovered pretty early in my […]