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Woot WOOT!! It’s time for our monthly gathering, and we can’t wait to dance with you! 🫶☺️💪🥰�We’ve been having such sweet turnouts—40 dancers last month!!Need to unwind, relax, and find a safe space to connect with others? This is the night for you. 💖�Beginners are warmly welcomed and supported by a friendly, open-hearted community.
Join us on Tuesday, April 15th, for another incredible evening of contact improv dance, community bonding, and heart-opening connection.�We’ll co-create a well-held, consent-forward container where you can down-regulate, connect with fellow humans, and release the stress of the day.
Enjoy a Snackluck (bring something to share if you’d like!), cozy snuggles, and the company of kind, curious people. What could be better on a Tuesday night?
If there's interest, we might include another blindfolded warm-up during the intro—let us know if you're into it!
🌀 Monthly Rhythm
Our gatherings take place every third Tuesday of the month:�4/15, 5/20, 6/17 etc.
🍓 Snackluck!
Bring a snack to share with your community, or just come and enjoy what others bring. 🥰 It’s fun to get to enjoy others enjoying what you brought.
💫 Agreements-Based Container
This dance space is held with clear agreements and a focus on moving from our embodied Yes. Please review the agreements below before joining in (we will also review these at the event).
📍 When & Where
🕢 7:30 – 10:30 PM�📍 Santa Cruz Yoga, 402 Ingalls Street #11
Flow of the Evening
* 7:30 PM – Doors open for stretching, chatting, connecting
* 7:45 - 8:00 PM – Opening Circle: Passing chocolate, check-ins, and setting the agreement field (required for newcomers)
* 8:00 - 8:15 PM – Group movement exercises to blend and connect
* 8:15 - 10:00 PM – Open jam with downtempo music (periods of silence may be introduced for self-attunement)
* 10:00 - 10:15 PM – Closing circle
* 10:30 PM – Cleanup
💸 Energy Exchange
* $20 General
* $15 Students
* BIPOC Identifying: By donation�(This option is here to make the space more accessible for people who may not otherwise feel safe enough to try it. If you try it and feel comfortable to come regularly, we encourage you to contribute the regular amount —but we leave that decision up to you and trust your flow.)
* Worktrade/Scholarships available—just reach out to MichaelDavid to chat options.
📝 Notes for New & Returning Dancers
* Newcomers: Please arrive by 7:45 PM to participate in the opening circle—it's key to setting the tone and agreements of the space.
* Returning folks: You’re welcome to join the circle or arrive by 8:00 PM for just the opening exercises if timing is tight. Your presence is appreciated in the opening, but we understand there may be other needs.
This is a beginner-friendly, intentionally held, and inclusive container. The structure and activities help support you in tracking your Yes, navigating consent, and flowing in and out of connection with ease.
Support tenders are present and available to check in with at any point.
Come play, dance, and connect!�Let’s build this beautiful community together. We can’t wait to see you. ✨🥰✨
✨What to expect?
This is not a contact “jam” in the typical sense.
This is a carefully crafted container, with a focus on the development of the individual and group field toward supporting every dancer being in their Yes throughout the night.
This is a dance container where there is a high value on Community and Trust Building.
Contact dance is different from other modalities in that there is the ability to track, moment to moment, where your Yes is and to leave a dance when you are no longer feeling it or even when you just feel like seeing what it would be like to leave a still enjoyable dance and float off to something else enjoyable.
It is my belief that the most important skills a contact dancer can develop are their ability to track their Yes and to advocate for themselves coupled with an ability to be resilient around receiving a No from another dancer.
The agreements, exercises, and invitations in our opening circle/container setting are specifically crafted to form a group field that celebrates fluidity in engaging and disengaging with minimal “story” about it.
With a group field set up that celebrates fluidity of engaging and disengaging, each dancer can explore freely the types of dances they want to, without fear of getting stuck in something that doesn’t feel aligned.
The energy in a space like this is very different from a typical jam or ecstatic dance experience. It is exciting and flowing and moving in a very special way.
The agreement field helps to set the stage for a laboratory of exploration. The potential for learning and growth in a carefully crafted container is exponentially greater than what can be experienced in a more loosely held container. Your personal experiments in the space have context and setting and reference points in a way that you may have never experienced before.
There’s so much more I could say about this. I’m deeply passionate about these explorations and how they affect our interactions in all aspects of our lives. Attending this dance will almost certainly deeply and positively impact your human relationships of all kinds and support you in moving toward your Yes in all aspects of your life. This is not just about a dance form it is about finding your Yes and advocating for it.
Below are a few answers to possible questions and below that you can find the agreements that we read and agree to each week.
Feel free to message MichaelDavid with any feedback or questions.
See you on the dance floor soon! 🥰
~Why a deep circle container?
This is a space where there are a lot of folks who are new to contact improv dance and to the flowing style of close physical interactions. Especially for these newer folks, a trust building connective circle assists them in feeling like they understand the space better and leaves them feeling more in an open trusting state. The group goes deeper if we take some time to connect ourselves and set a container.
~Why should I be at circle if I’ve been dancing a long time?
Each of us helps to set the tone for the whole group. If you’ve been dancing awhile, having your energy present in the circle palpably affects the forming container. When we all hear each other’s voices and hear where we’re each at, emotionally and physically, there is a deeper layer that becomes available beyond the usual “show up and dance” type of spaces.
As well, when dancers enter the space without being a part of circle, newcomers miss out on hearing their names and getting a feel for them in the exercises.
One of the focuses of this group is on community building. Having everyone attend circle supports that. However, if you’ve been to several opening circles it isn’t required for you to attend circle.
~Why do we read the agreements each week together?
There is a magic in continuing to state the agreements and see a show of hands that we are in agreement with each other. Also, each time we hear the agreements it allows another opportunity for them to become more deeply embodied.
My hope is that restating and connecting with these concepts each week will support us in staying in our Yes more and more consistently throughout our evenings together and even out into our daily lives.
Agreements:
Self:
I agree, to the best of my ability, to tune into myself and to track my Yes in interactions in this space and to advocate for myself and to make shifts when I need to, to stay in my Yes.
I agree, to the best of my ability, to pause and take some space when I am no longer clear about where my Yes is.
When I am unable to make those shifts I agree to track myself in that process and to learn and grow in my ability to be resilient and to courageously advocate for myself.
I am aware that there are Tenders to support me, and I will consider getting support from them if I am feeling like I need that support.
Each Other:
I agree, to the best of my ability, to attune to those I’m dancing with and sharing space with and to value them being in their Yes.
In that attunement I will be aware of dynamics that might affect the other dancers’ Voice and Choice in interactions with me including the possibility of there being gender and ethnicity dynamics, differences in experience level, or the possibility of someone being new to the community.
I agree to practice my resilience around receiving a No.
I agree to consider checking in if I’m sensing that someone may not be a Yes to an interaction.
I agree, to the best of my ability, to track the story I’m making up about the dance I’m having with someone and to be aware that the stronger that story is the less likely it is that I am attuning to my dance partner’s actual experience.
I agree to leave dances on the dance floor and to not expect another dance, nor a hug goodbye, nor a phone number nor anything else.
Space:
I agree to value inclusivity, and community building in this space and to have awareness of how my movements affect the space.
I understand that this is a sober space, and I agree to honor that.
Although dancing with another can be a deeply sensual experience, I understand that this is a non-sexual space.
If a dance feels like it’s becoming sexual for me or (in my perception) for the person I’m dancing with, I agree to either shift my energy, have a check in, or simply take a break from that dance.
(MichaelDavid understands that this last agreement offers the idea of a sensual to sexual spectrum and that that can be confusing for some.
Please ask for clarification!
I’m happy to discuss this and anything else.)
See you dancing soon!! 🥰
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Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Santa Cruz Yoga, 402 Ingalls St, Santa Cruz, CA 95060-5800, United States,Santa Cruz, California
