About this Event
Come dive into the world of contact improv with us!
On July 20, July 27, August 3, August 10 and August 17, we’ll be building confidence, finding our flow together, and tapping into that inner joy for embodied, creative exploration.
This five-week journey is designed for beginners who want to get into their bodies, learn new movement possibilities, and explore creativity in a supportive, curiosity-driven environment. Together, we’ll explore:
- Communicating through shared movement
- Creating steady, grounded contact through weight-sharing
- Balance, momentum, and leverage
- Connecting to your solo body and expression
- Giving and receiving support without force or strain
- Accessing your creative and improvisational spirit
- Beginner-friendly lifts
- Fluid, intuitive floor work
- Moving through doubts, hesitations, and mental blocks
- Bringing what you learn into your everyday life
✨ Series details:
- Mondays from July 20 to August 17
- 7-9:30 pm in Kensington Market
✨ Bonus for all participants:
- Complimentary kneepads to support your journey
- Social time after each class: we will head out for food after each class, and highly encourage you to join for that (even if you just come for conversation and not food), so you can get to know the group and be part/contribute to a sense of community. This is part of Colours in Contact's DNA and helps contribute to more ease, learning and growth for everyone :-)
- Free access to one jam per week throughout the series so you can play, practice, and grow alongside the community (6:30-9 pm on Wednesdays at 805 Dovercourt Rd or 3-5 pm on Sundays in Trinity Bellwoods Park)
- Connection to a wonderful and supportive community of movers!
✨ More Info:
- We encourage you to join a future series if you expect to miss more than one class, as consistent attendance is important for you and the group
- Advanced registration required for this series; no drop-ins
- Feel free to send payment of $175 through etransfer to [email protected] ($150 or Eventbrite promo code CICSERIESCREW for those of who have already taken a Colours in Contact series)
- Please note that refunds are not available once the series has begun
- You will receive an introductory email within a couple days of the first class
If you’re curious about contact improv and want to see what it looks like, what our community is like, or learn more about us, check out our Instagram and Facebook at @coloursincontact.
We can’t wait to move with you!
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This is the second level in a 4-part Colours in Contact progression series, corresponding to the Colours in Contact progression framework (see pictures attached) and designed to support people at different stages of their contact improvisation journey. Each level meets dancers where they are, and offers a different balance of structure, skill-building, and exploration. Rather than treating contact improv as a single entry point, this progression recognizes that people arrive with different levels of readiness, curiosity, and experience.
With no contact improv experience, you are welcome to start at Levels 1 or 2.
The four levels are:
🌱 Level 1: Leaning into Contact
(Corresponds to Connector Level)
A slow, supportive entry point focused on safety, consent, comfort with touch, and foundational awareness in shared space.
🌱 Level 2: Contact Improv Foundations
(Corresponds to Connector–Learner Levels)
A more structured introduction to core principles of contact improv, including weight-sharing, points of contact, and foundational options in standing, on the ground and in lifts.
🌱 Level 3: Contact Improv Skill Expansion
(Corresponds to Learner–Tinkerer Levels)
A space to deepen skills, expand responsiveness, and explore slightly more complex movement pathways, transitions, and shared decision-making.
🌱 Level 4: Contact Improv Play, Creativity & Freedom
(Corresponds to Tinkerer Level)
An open, playful space focused on creativity, flow, improvisational freedom, and personal expression within contact improv.
This framework is designed as a progression, not a hierarchy. Each level is complete in itself, and participants are invited to enter at the point that best supports their current experience and needs.
Together, these levels create a pathway from grounded entry into contact, toward greater skill, confidence, and ultimately, creative freedom in movement.
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About the Facilitators:
Emma and Pablo co-founded Colours in Contact in 2023 with a shared vision: to build a warm, culturally diverse, beginner-friendly contact improv space in Toronto where people can move, explore, and express themselves freely.
Emma grew up dancing, spending many years in ballet before falling in love with the freedom, play, and expressive possibilities of contact improv. She’s passionate about bringing people together, creating supportive spaces, and helping movers grow in confidence and creativity.
Pablo, a Toronto-born mover with Guatemalan roots, brings a rich background in contact improv, muay thai, tai chi, yoga, partner dance, and authentic movement. His teaching is grounded in curiosity, play, and care, inviting dancers to explore what movement, support, and expression can mean for them.
Together, they cultivate classes and jams that are beginner-friendly, inclusive, and rooted in the belief that everyone has a creative, expressive body waiting to be discovered.
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About Contact Improv:
Contact Improvisation (CI) is a partner/solo/group-improvised dance style developed in 1972 by Steve Paxton and Nancy Stark Smith, heavily influenced by Aikido and Modern dance. Due to the open-ended nature of the dance, each new dancer can add to this pot of creativity. This has lead to various influences weaving in and out of the form. Some of those influences include but are not limited to Tango, Zen, Zouk, Contemporary, Ballet, Hip Hop, Qi Gong, Capoeira, Ballroom, Salsa and the list goes on. This is the beauty of CI: it can offer such an open fertile ground for exploration in expression and movement. Your voice in this dance is what will drive the creative freedom possible at Colours in Contact.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Kensington Studio, 205 Augusta Ave, Toronto, Canada
CAD 187.71
