A year-long training program in contact improvisation.

​

The program is designed for dancers, bodywork professionals, couples, and anyone interested in movement who wishes to deepen their relationship with body weight, touch, and shared movement.

How does choreography emerge from touch without a predetermined form? We explore body weight, listening, support, balance, and how movement arises in partnership with another.

Contact improvisation centers on touch, weight sharing, space, and constantly shifting interaction.

In the exercises, we learn to listen to our own bodies and to others, to respond to movement, and to let improvisation guide us.

 

The work combines practical exercises with exploratory experimentation. It develops body awareness, presence, and the ability to act in the moment. In movement, there’s no need to perform or know everything in advance—learning happens through experimentation and encounter.

Over the course of the year, we’ll explore the information conveyed through touch, rolling, weight distribution, the basics of lifting and supporting, floor work, and improvisational movement.

​

The training progresses gradually and accommodates each participant’s individual starting level and physical abilities. This program offers an opportunity to deepen your own dance practice and explore what happens when we make space for another person, for chance, and for connections that arise in the moment.

​

Course Structure

​

The course consists of six modules running from October 17, 2026, to July 9, 2027, as follows:

1. The in-person session on October 17–18, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is an introductory weekend for which you can also register separately for €180/€200.

2. In-person session on December 12–13, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

3. In-person session on February 6–7, 2027, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

4. In-person session: March 20–21, 2027, 10:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

5. In-person session: May 15–16, 2027, 10:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

6th in-person workshop session: July 5–9, 2027, 10:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

The course includes approximately 40 hours of independent study.

You can participate in the first introductory weekend as a trial period for

180 € / 200 €

​

Those committed to the entire training program will be given priority if the course fills up.

Instructor: Mirva Mäkinen, Ph.D. in Dance.

​​

Program Title: CHOREOGRAPHY OF TOUCH, Contact Improvisation Training 2026–2027

Scope: 97.5 hours + 42,5 hours independent studies, total amount of studies 140 hours.

Duration: October 17, 2026 – July 9, 2027

Program Type: Short Courses

Application deadline: By December 7, 2026

Program start date: December 12, 2026. Introductory weekend: October 17–18

Instructors: Mirva Mäkinen

Inquiries: mirvamakinen@gmail.com

Tuition for 17.-18.20.2026 €180/€200

Tuition fo 12.12.2026-9.7.2027: €1,320 / €1,550

​

SIGN IN: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=kAedwMPi10Cmh8DMrbULWDZBwRx_e8VIlXqbYNTyb41UMVlISVNaWUQ1RzhOMFhESjZDMVo2U1RIWS4u