Philly Contact Collective

Rowen Scares Neighbors in the UK

phillycontactcollective — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 20:32:51 +0000

Rowen: Copious amounts of bacon, flares of temper and loads of soccer and tennis – it summertime with the family in England again. Backstory: my dad’s English and since I was a baby we’ve spent a number of summers here with the grandparents. Since it’s the only time of year that we see them, and it’s so expensive to come, the general length of stay is 4+ weeks. As a liberated adult now I don’t, of course, have to stay that long, but my travel dates were determined by my grandfather’s 95 birthday (mid-June) and an international performing arts conference on the tail end (late July). So, 5 weeks it is.

One of the zaniest things about this is that I haven’t had anyone to dance with since I left. I’ve tried to coax my mom into trying out some moves with me, but there’s always something else for her to do. I end up feeling like a petulant child (and likely end up acting like one) with no friends to play with. Which is how I ended up walking like a gorilla and throwing unripe fallen apples at the conservatory (sunroom) windows a couple of weeks ago.

After a particularly snarly day of being cooped up in a small bungalow in the village – and yes, village is the accurate term – of Middleton Cheney, I decided that rolling around and dancing must happen. And so I did. On the back lawn. By myself. At a certain point, when I’m in England, I find I have to put on blinders and just pretend that no one can see me as I do bizzare things in a semi-public location (and likewise when I speak with an accent or wear strange, not in fashion clothes). I figure my mom has primed them enough by sunbathing on the lounge chair in the back, so what can it really matter if I’m rolling and leaping, spiralling in and out of the ground, and playing with the fallen apples?

I miss having a space to dance in, as well as a supportive, participating community. I find it hard to dance by myself, but when I don’t dance or move expressively I feel stifled and out of sorts. Which, truth be told, is the attitude that much of the trip thus far has been governed by.

mis/match

phillycontactcollective — Sun, 23 May 2010 19:02:47 +0000

June 12th at 8pm // June 13th at 5pm

mis/match

Starting from autobiography, mis/match investigates our identities as queer and as queer allies as well as our assumptions, beliefs, fears and comfort zones. We model, manipulate and create different realities in this improvised performance.

Some of them are realities we know.
some are realities we fear.
And some are realities for which we hope.

date June 12th at 8pm // June 13th at 5pm
venue Arts Bank // South & Broad Sts // Philadelphia
tickets traversetheater.org

Lee Fogel // Rowen Haigh // Jenny Sawyer // Kate Speer // Henken Bean // Rachel Feldman

Truth or Dance: a PJ party with PCC

phillycontactcollective — Wed, 19 May 2010 14:34:35 +0000

Friday, May 21st // Studio 34 // 7:30-11 pm

Truth or Dance! Discover the juicy secrets of the Philly Contact Collective who will be sharing snippets of their upcoming evening length work Mis/Match. Come in your PJs and be ready to enjoy dancing to some essential 90s music and munching on some slumber party essentials.

In addition to dancing together as the Philly Contact Collective, our component members also create dance and art outside of the group. As a way to support each other and share all this creative goodness with the rest of the world the program will also include our individual work.

PCC members Henken Bean, Rachel Feldman, Lee Fogel, Rowen Haigh, Jenny Sawyer, and Kate Speer will offer a rich array of works ranging from dance improvisation with live music, to movement meditation, to dance video and contemporary choreography.

But wait, that’s not all! Following the performances, audience and performers will have a chance to merge, mingle, munch, and dance the night away with the help of a special mystery guest DJ!

Truth or Dance: a PJ party with PCC

Friday, May 21st @ 7:30 pm
Studio 34 Yoga, 4522 Baltimore Avenue

$5-$15 sliding scale
(proceeds will fund future PCC projects, including Mis/Match, our upcoming show in June 12th & 13th, 2010)

Red Light Special, April 30th

phillycontactcollective — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 20:52:23 +0000

April 30 // The Wolf Building // 8:00-11:55pm

Local choreographer and dancer Annie Wilson is hosting an evening of dance, music, and more music to fundraise for a journey to Amsterdam to study with Katie Duck (www.katieduck.com). The Philly Contact Collective will be there, dancing up a storm, and you should be too! Come support Annie, the PCC and the other amazing artists who are performing.

Red Light Special

April 30, 2010, 8:00-11:55pm
The Wolf Building, entrance in the alley just south of Callowhill between 12th and 13th

Tickets: $15-$25 suggested donation
There will be refreshments provided

Performances by:
Pink Hair Affair
Curt Haworth
Nicole Bindler
Your Name Here
Kate Stevens file
Philly Contact Collective

Flat Mary Road- house band
DJ Paulito and Blame the Kid are spinning tunes to dance to until the wee hours of the morning!

Please come out and support!

*** if you enjoy another of Philly’s awesome dance events earlier in the evening, such as Ann-Marie Mulgrew, Subcircle, Koresh, or Kun-Yang Lin, present a program/ticket and get in for $5-15!!!

Check out the Facebook invite: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/event.php?eid=109568432413387

Workshop/DEMO at FEET ACTIVE dance party!

phillycontactcollective — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 02:05:18 +0000

Join us this Friday evening, from 7:30 pm- midnight and beyond for an incredible dance party with performances by local artists, midnight yoga, and a introductory Contact Improv workshop and demo by yours truly, the Philly Contact Collective.

7:30 Vocal Performance by Fatima Adamu
8 Philly Contact Collective Workshop/Demo
9:30 Dance party hosted by DJ Ginko and Ross of Love
12 midnight yoga

This event is pay-what-you-can and is a fundraiser for two of our local Philly artists/yoga enthusiasts to go to Yoga Teacher Training.

Free drink and Preview!

phillycontactcollective — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:26:06 +0000

Philly Contact Collective presents a sneak peek of their latest improvisational score Get Curious! at Plays and Players’ On Stage Philadelphia. This project is currently in development for the 2010 GLBT Festivale (June 6-14). You can learn more about PCC and their improvisational process by listening to their candid interview with Rep Radio, available online here.

Ticket includes free drink and mingling with the likes of Rowen, Henken, Lee, Jenny, Rachel, and Kate.

What better way to start off the week?

On Stage Philadelphia
Monday, February 8, 2010 at 7:00pm
Tickets $10

Plays and Players
1714 Delancey Place
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Come see our January show!

phillycontactcollective — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 02:17:09 +0000

“Get Curious”
PCC’s newest work is a experiment with storytelling and movement will be performed as part of the January Studio Seires: “Kosoko Performance Group Winter Party”. A series of improvisational structures involving the union of spoken word and movement. Curious? Come see what its all about.

Saturday, January 23, 2010
7:00pm – 10:00pm

Studio 34
4522 Baltimore
Philadelphia, PA

Pay what you can. Suggested Donation is $10-$15

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The KOSOKO PERFORMANCE GROUP presents A Winter Performance Party hosted by Winston Hemm (Jaamil Kosoko) and Margo Deboreau Hemm (Karama Butler). Events include a free artists chat 7-8p with performances starting at 8p featuring work by NYC and Philly dance artists: Philly Contact Collective, Jen Rosenblit, Sydney Skybetter, Justin Bryant, Jaamil Kosoko, Kathryn Tebordo, Nora Gibson, and Luke Gutgsell. Light refreshments will be provided.

a relay race of creativity

phillycontactcollective — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:59:24 +0000

As a collective, we created a relay race of creativity, a game of telephone in which the message was an actual creation. Beginning with Lee, each member created/felt/performed an experience by collaborating with someone new in an unlikely place. Afterwards we each passed stories, pictures and a physical object to the next member in line which affected her ideas and sparked her creativity. The snowball effect is still ongoing, an unending tag team of art making.

6. Rachel

phillycontactcollective — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 13:17:15 +0000

Front Porch Culture

By: Rachel Zimring Feldman

In West Philadelphia, the front porch is the space where lines between private and public life are blurred. Front porches become the portal into our neighbor’s lives and the place that we choose to display elements of our private life to the outside world. From enchanting urban gardens, potluck dinners, flea markets, and gossiping neighbors, West Philadelphia porches are always ebbing and flowing with activity. In the past few months since I moved here, porch culture has been educating me about the diverse community I live in. In turn, my own porch is providing the vantage point from which to appreciate the complexities and often unexpected interactions in daily urban life.

It is this same element of the “unexpected in ordinary spaces” that I was inspired by when viewing Jenny’s project. By placing “joyful affirmations” under car windshields, Jenny’s art will surprise and infiltrate the private world of the morning commuter before they head off to work in their car. The joyful affirmations will make the car owner feel in awe of the city, which is teeming with spontaneity. I hope to inspire the same emotions in passersby that view the improvisation taking place on my front porch tonight. Working in collaboration with my neighbors, we will activate our front porch as a performance space.

5. Jenny

phillycontactcollective — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:07:57 +0000

A Joyous Suprise! Passed on.

Recently, a friend of mine shared with me a joyous surprise. It made me feel special, happy, connected, loved, grateful, and filled with joy. It focused on the positive instead of the negative! It reminded me how much love I am capable of feeling and giving! It was infectious and made me want to share the joy!!!

So today, with the advice and added creativity and enthusiasm of my housemates, I hand-wrote 28 Joyful! and Joy-filled! positive affirmations on strips of bright neon orange paper and walked around my neighborhood, placing them sporadically under the windshield wipers of cars as I passed.

I felt happy bringing a surprise and the possibility of a moment of joy to people I don’t even know. I know deep down every single person deserves an acknowledgment of their worth. I found myself wishing I had one to put on every single car so I didn’t have to leave some people out of the special moment 28 people will have when they go out to their cars tomorrow morning.

Trying to share love with others gave me a wonderful new experience of myself in the world. I hope receiving a surprise will give one to some of them.

Jenny