MAZOPALOOZA IS A DANCE FESTIVAL which has been quietly thriving in the dead of winter in a tiny town in Southwest Wisconsin for over a decade. We’ve filled the streets, galleries, community spaces and storefronts of Mazomanie with spontaneous physical composition; enjoyed exquisite afternoons of focused movement; explored aerial, vocal, musical, silent, site-specific, physical, theatrical and contact-based improvisation, welcomed the curious via free classes and performances, and accrued rich memories of retreat and reconnection in a peaceful, beautiful rural setting. It is always a delight to witness new eyes opening to the lifelong practice and joyful play of improvisational movement, and to welcome back old friends for whom Mazopalooza has become a New Year’s tradition. Here are some photos from past ‘paloozas.
Our festival this year will feature a day-and-a-half-long workshop with guest artist K.J. Holmes (New York), shorter (1-2 hr) offerings by regional teachers and facilitated warm ups leading to open jamming. On Saturday evening, we’ll create and witness some improvised performance.
Mazomanie is a lovely small town in Southwestern Wisconsin’s Driftless region, about 25 mi. west of Madison. Cozy local accommodations and locally-sourced meals are also available for the weekend.
The Athletics of Intimacy with K.J. Holmes (Friday Jan. 6, 11-5:30 and Saturday, Jan. 7, 10-1) This workshop will combine skills and applications of Body-Mind Centering® systems and patterns of development and evolution, practices of Contact Improvisation, and tunings of somatic approaches within solo, duet (strong emphasis on partnering) and ensemble dancing. I am interested in the very physical, sensorial and imaginative, and in discovering new challenges and risks within our movement, of both body and mind that unwinds and weaves improvisational and compositional processes. We will make the invisible visible, learning more about the interior of the body and our ideas and explore pathways to space, time and place as we also learn basic anatomy and physiology to better understand the mechanics of movement. Body-Mind Centering ® (BMC ™) is an eclectic and dynamic approach to somatic training and re-education developed by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen. Skills and applications of BMC will include differentiating body systems, developmental/evolutionary patterns and fluid states through experiential anatomy and touch and repatterning. Contact Improvisation is a dance of improvisation and partnering based on the physics of touch, weight, balance, momentum, stillness, flow and resistance, and perceptual play. Begun by dancer Steve Paxton in 1972, Contact Improvisation is a vital practice in contemporary dance and theater, combining aspects of martial arts and yoga, modern dance, gymnastics and social dancing.
K.J. Holmes is a Brooklyn based dance artist, actor, singer and educator. She travels throughout the world performing and teaching at universities, festivals and venues that range from theaters to site specific spaces to living rooms. She has collaborated extensively with dancers Simone Forti and Troupe, Karen Nelson, Lisa Nelson and Image Lab, and Steve Paxton, poet Julie Carr, dancer/playwright Karinne Keithley Syers, and trumpeters Roy Campbell, Jr. and Dave Douglas. She is adjunct professor at NYU/Experimental Theatre Wing and Juilliard; Teaches through Movement Research where she was Artist in Residence 1993 – 94 and 2012-14. More info at kjholmes.info
Our shorter workshop offerings will include:
What’s New Pussycat? Discovering New Dances for a New Year with Holly Jaycox and Andrew Brightman. (Friday, 7-8:30 p.m.) Holly Jaycox and Andrew Brightman love dancing and teaching together, especially with lovely Midwesterners. We dance together often in Indiana, leading a regular jam and training the next generation of dancers.Our annual time at Mazopalooza is always an inspired start to our new year!
Let’s Dance: Improvising with Contact with Margaret Paek. (Saturday, 3:30-5:30 p.m.) We will experiment with ways of being together, valuing a wide range of possibilities that arise within the dance, and play with comfort and risk. How do we keep dancing? *Open to beginners.* Margaret Paek is dedicated to collaboration and sees dance as a life practice. She is a Lower Left collective artist (www.lowerleft.org), director of dance at Lawrence University, and deeply influenced by her relationships with contact improvisation, Ensemble Thinking, Alexander Technique, Barbara Dilley, Nina Martin, Shelley Senter, Loren Dempster, and their daughter. www.margaretpaek.com
“Awakening through Contact” with Daniel Halkin (Sunday 8:00-9:45 a.m.) Daniel Halkin is a leader of the Chicago Contact Improvisation Jam and is incredibly grateful to be fascinated by teaching CI and leading jams after 16 years of exploration.
Sound Dancing with Bobby Kokott. (Sunday 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.) Beginning in the deep nurture of creating resonant toning with and for each other through sound, we will move into movement aligned sublimely with each other. Bobby Kokott has been leading Sound Healing workshops for 4 years, and teaching Contact Improvisation for 8 years.
Here’s our schedule for the weekend:
Time | Event | Location |
Fri 1/6 | ||
10:30-11 | Arrival, registration | Rumpus Room |
11-11:30 | Opening circle | Rumpus Room |
11:30-1:30 | Workshop with K.J. Holmes | Rumpus Room |
1:30-2:30 | Lunch | Rumpus Room |
2:30-5:30 | Workshop with K.J. Holmes | Rumpus Room |
5:30-7 p.m. | Dinner | Rumpus Room |
7-8:30 p.m. | Class with Holly Jaycox and Andrew Brightman | Rumpus Room |
8:30-10 p.m. | Jam | Rumpus Room |
Sat 1/7 | ||
9:00-10:00 a.m. | Arrival, Registration | Rumpus Room |
10:00 a.m. | Opening Circle | Rumpus Room |
10:15 – 1:00 | K.J.’s class | Mazo Community Bldg |
10:15 – 1:00 | Jam space available | Rumpus Room |
1:00-2:00 | Lunch | Mazo Community Bldg |
2:00-3:30 | Performance-making minimarathon! | Rumpus Room |
2:00-3:30 | Warmup 2 jamming with ___ | Community Building |
3:30-5:30 | Class with Margaret Paek | Community Building |
3:30-5:30 | Warmup 2 Jamming with ___ | Rumpus Room |
5:30-7 | Dinner | Community Building |
7-8 p.m. | Some Assembly Required | Rumpus Room |
8 -10 p.m. | Live music jam? Or just another jam? Anyways, let’s dance! | Rumpus Room |
Sun 1/8 | ||
8:00-9:45 a.m. | Morning practice with Daniel Halkin | Rumpus Room |
10:00-11:15 a.m. | Brunch | Maria’s |
11:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m. | Sound Dancing with Bobby Kokott | Rumpus Room |
2:00-2:30 p.m. | Closing Circle |
Date/Time
Date(s) - 01/06/2017 - 01/08/2017
10:00 am - 10:00 pm
Location
The Rumpus Room
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