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VALENCIA JAM CLOSED PERMANENTLY ON JULY 28, 2004. THERE IS NO LONGER A THURSDAY JAM IN SF, HERE IS A PARTIAL ARCHIVE OF TEACHERS & DESCRIPTIONS.

We thank attendees for their 3 years of support for Valencia Jam on Thursdays. Please go to and support the longest running San Francisco Jam at CounterPULSE on Tuesdays 8:30-11:30pm 1310 Mission Street @ 9th.

WHAT WAS VJ?
Valencia Jam (VJ) was an ongoing, weekly, drop-in CI Ensemble Jam. It's different than other jams--it's a "clam" (less structure than a class, more structure than a jam). So we can get the best from the session there is no late entry after 8:30pm. We expect all dancers to have a firm grasp of CI Fundamentals [click here for a description] as basics are NOT taught at this session. [Looking for CI Fundamentals drop-in classes? click here. For HumilitySwim's Fundamentals workshops, click here.] VJ employs live musicians on the last Wednesday of each month, and uses sound/vocalwork of some participating dancers each week [if you have questions about this, please contact us.] VJ begins with music and time to warm-up in solo, a check-in circle for names and score ideas, followed by 90 min of Ensemble Jam time, which includes:
--score elements, decided by the group
--engagement with a whole room/all dancers present,
--opportunity to expand your range in group dances.
--ending verbal check-in to map challenges & successes.
(ps: be ready to sweat, and bring your kneepads!)

COMMUNITY SERVICE: DOCUMENTING THE JAM.
We log our experience with VJ sessions with a WIKI, a text-based web dialogue. Click here to read and/or contribute to the VJ WIKI.

VALENCIA JAM TEACHERS (partial list) JANUARY 7-FEBRUARY 25 2004 Ali Woolwich YAHOO: you-always-have-other-options. Choose rather than compromise or acquiesce, change levels with ease, break the duet habit, test your comfort speed, recycle your momentum & landings. Is this life or CI? Yes. Ali has practiced CI for 13 years, and taught CI since 1996. She credits Peggy Schwartz, Keriac, KJ Holmes and Karl Frost as her primary teachers. Ali coordinates Valencia Jam and directs HumilitySwim, a CI-based performance group that shows set and improv work around the Bay Area.

NOVEMBER 6-DECEMBER 18 2003 Bill McCully Mostly Trios. Let's put some improvisation into our contact Improv...Using the trio form we can explore being in and out of contact, try out our individual dance and support the contact duet. We'll explore weight & touch in motion-our usual contact skills-and also space and form something the trio invites. Bill McCully has been studying dance for 20 years. He has studied Contact Improvisation with KJ Holmes, Andrew Harwood and so many other dancers in the amazing form of the Jam. Lately, he is fascinated by trios.

JUNE 12 & 19 2003 Bill McCully This class will address continuous falling, rolling, and support for lifting. Bill studies/practices CI, Authentic Movement, and Yoga.

MAR-JUNE 5 2003 Leslie Seiters and Ron Estes (March: Leslie, April: Ron, May-June: Leslie & Ron) This series of classes is composed to help participants recognize their frequently referenced movement vocabulary, take advantage of it, and extend their immediate access to alternative movement options. We will build specific physical skills and investigate innovative scores as touchstones to recognize and recreate "states" on which our bodies can ride. Focused learning will happen, but we won't loose track of enjoying our dances. Leslie Seiters has danced contact style for 8 years. As a performer, teacher, and choreographer she practices CI as her primary movement training. Leslie is interested in this form as a way to be in a human animal body, making choices based on impulse, momentum, gravity, desire, rhythm, shape, and story. She is amazed by what the body knows. Ron Estes has been dancing and performing for 20 years, and has reveled in a focused practice of CI for the last decade. He imagines every single experience of ones life can intimately inform a facile relationship with CI, and uses his formal skills listening and teaching to cultivate a rich, investigative context for flight of body and imagination.

JAN-FEB 2003 Tara Brandel Focusing on passive/active dancing, each class starts with bodywork as part of the warm-up. Tara studied CI with Steve Paxton and Lloyd Newsom of DV8(UK).

DEC 2002 Tim O'Donnell Focusing on improving skills and getting better at dancing. Tim has taught CI at Arizona State University where he received an MFA in Dance. He has been teaching CI in the Bay Area for 2 years, including the 2002 West Coast CI Fest with Gretchen Spiro Shansby.

OCT-NOV 2002 Ali Woolwich (see current descrip above.)

SEPT 2002 Llewellyn Wishart Exploring CI through the lens of Body-Mind Centering® (BMC). BMC brings a subtlety and finesse to CI which gently challenges well-worn patterns, expands capacity for disorientation, and broadens movement choices for dancing solo and in groups. Llewellyn has been practising CI for the past 15 years with Nancy Stark Smith, KJ Holmes, (USA) Cathie Caraker & Can Do Co (Europe), and State of FLUX (Australia). Llewellyn taught in the University of Melbourne Dance and Dance Therapy Programs for 3 years and now lives in SF.