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CONTEMPORARY DANCE

Traditionally contemporary dance technique has been trained as learning different movement phrases or combinations, which you need to memorize. This is one way of teaching, I love it as well and I also love to explore what are the main principals in contemporary dance technique: floor work, practical human anatomy, movement through the space and management of mechanical and gravitational forces. I also research kinetic energy generation for understanding the contemporary dance.

Teaching Dance & Artistic Research: Welcome

CONTACT IMPROVISATION

Contact improvisation is based on the communication between two moving bodies that are in physical contact and their combined relationship to the physical laws that govern their movement; gravity, momentum, inertia. The body, in order to feel these sensations, learns to release excess muscular tension and abandon a certain quality of willfulness to experience the natural flow of movement. Contact improvisation often include rolling, falling, being upside down, following a physical point of contact, supporting and giving weight to a partner. I like to aim towards movable support and gentle flying technique.

MIrva Mäkinen has been teaching contact improvisation worldwide. Don´t hesitate to contact her, if you are planning to organize a workshop: mirvamakinen@gmail.com

Teaching Dance & Artistic Research: Who We Are

ARTISTIC RESEARCH

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My artistic research is focusing on values in contact improvisation and how it is presented in a somaesthetic performance context. The motivation for this artistic research is to find new information and experiences within dance. 
The artistic research involves diving deeply into embodied experiences and from there investigate new information. This artistic research is based on art and artists or artpedagogs, and has a long tradition in the University of the Arts, Helsinki. Contact Improvisation was originally founded by Steve Paxton and is defined as the meeting of two (or more) moving bodies. The main focus of this artistic research will be the values found within contact improvisation. 
Values are defined as important insights that were obtained through interviews with contact improvisation dancers. From a somaesthetics point of view, I research specifically bodily perception and thinking through the movement.

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Here opportunity to read my research:
https://actascenica.teak.fi/makinen-mirva/

Teaching Dance & Artistic Research: What We Do
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