Contact Improvisation Class + Jam

Contact Improvisation Class + Jam at The Center SF

Join The Center SF for a playful evening of contact improvisation. Class will be from 7:30-9pm and then will flow directly into a jam until 10:30pm. In class, we’ll explore themes of weight-sharing, counterbalancing, signaling, listening, and everything in-between. The jam that follows is an opportunity to continue researching your movement & relational curiosities that sparked from class. First-timers and experienced dancers are all very welcome! Today's class will be taught by Carmen Serber visiting from Bellingham followed by live improvised jam music by Will Magid :)

CI classes at The Center will be offered by a rotating mix of teachers every 2nd & 4th Wednesday evening. Check the calendar here for more contact improv across the bay area and to see who's teaching.

instructor/musical artist/host bios:

CARMEN | instructor. Carmen Serber: I teach dance because I love dancing and because I want to share that. I teach because I love to learn in community and believe in the infinite potential of exploring movement together. I teach dance because probably nothing else kept me more engaged and intrigued about life and guided me toward the places that I needed to look at. I teach because I had a hard time in many dance classes just because I couldn’t remember the freaking phrase! I want to create an environment where every-body can feel welcome, learn and play with presented material and apply it in their own dance practice. I am annoyed about ideologies that preach what is the right way of moving and I strive to offer something different.

In the last 25 years I have been exploring and deepening my practice of embodiment. Extensive studies in perspectives of anatomy and movement practices that are not limited by this study are relevant for my offerings. I am interested in investigating embodied attention within improvisational movement practices which are both creative and relational. My teaching is shaped from my longtime study of the Axis Syllabus and Contact Improvisation, from my work as a biodynamic craniosacral therapist, the exquisite exploration of the subtle realm of the body and my longtime practice and study of contemplative and improvisational dance scores. www.carmenserber.com

Photo credit: Briana Jones

WILL | musical artist. Embark on a journey of rhythm, vibrations, and dance by Will Magid - musician, composer, producer, and trumpet player known for his project Balkan Bump, and work in various genres of music, including jazz, electronic, and world music.

Will invites you to explore the marriage of movement, improvisation, and sound. Through the interplay of looped Trumpet, Kalimba, and percussion, each session unfurls as an authentic, improvised adventure, drawing from a rich blend of jazz, ambient, Eastern European, West African, and western classical influences.

As you move, Will Magid's musical background and passion will unfold in real time, creating an improvised live score that resonates with the dance happening in the room. Allow this journey to be a dynamic exploration of expression through the universal language of dance, guided by rhythms, vibrations, and melodies.

MERRICK | evening host. Merrick Jacob (she/her) is a lover of movement, continuously in awe of the body and its potential for unique expression, creativity, & authentic connection. Influenced by her practices of figure skating, acroyoga, hand balancing, and contact improvisation, she guides playful movement experiences as an opportunity for deep listening, exploration, and co-creation. She is a certified acroyoga instructor with AcroRevolution & AcroYoga Montréal. Merrick studied a variety of somatic movement therapy modalities with Dynamic Embodiment & The Moving On Center: School of Participatory Arts & Somatic Research, focusing on BodyMind Centering & Laban Movement Analysis. For more contact improvisation with Merrick, she hosts every 2nd & 4th Wednesday evening at The Center SF. Say hi to her here: https://merrickjacob.com/

Want to read more about CI? Here’s a good resource to start, and please make sure to review our class agreements before attending.

Looking forward to dancing & jamming together!