What's the focus of This festival?
A weekend convergence of contact improvisation in Seattle to develop skill, sensation, and shared inquiry.
This festival is a call to gather. This weekend we're bringing dancers together to pool our shared well of CI knowledge and expand our curiosity and creative risk-taking. This weekend is about reawakening our bodies through shared study and play. We'll have workshops, jams, an Underscore, and a few fun surprises.
Who Is it for?
This festival is designed for all levels with workshops on continually deepening techniques and exploration.
Newer dancers
If you’re newer to contact improvisation, this weekend offers a strong and welcoming entry point. You’ll build practical skills like falling without fear, giving and receiving weight, sensing momentum, staying oriented while upside down, and knowing how to say yes—or no—through touch. The emphasis is on trust: in your body, in the floor, and in the conversation between partners.
Experienced dancers
If you’re an experienced contact dancer, this is an invitation to shake loose what’s become familiar. To interrupt habitual patterns, refresh your flow, and rediscover responsiveness, nuance, and surprise. The teaching emphasizes clarity, choice, and presence—supporting you to get out of your head, into sensation, and back into the unknown edges of the dance.
At the heart, across all experience levels...
...this festival is for dancers who want to listen more deeply, move with integrity, take real physical risks, and stay in relationship while doing so. It’s for those who come to contact improvisation not to perform, but to practice—to keep learning what this form can teach us about gravity, collaboration, and being alive together.
Schedule
Ticket Info
Tickets for the range from $225–$275, with lower early bird prices available for those who register in advance. Your ticket gives you access to all workshops, jams, and the full festival experience.
Evening Jam Passes:
Prefer just to dance in the evenings? Join us for the Friday or Saturday night jams for $30 per jam.
Financial Aid & Work/Trade
We have 8 volunteer spots available. Volunteers receive 50% off the regular ticket price in exchange for working 2x shifts of 2–2.5 hours each. Shifts include setup, cleanup, caring for the space, and checking in participants. A perfect way to attend if you want to contribute while keeping costs lower.
Teachers & Facilitators
she/her
Carmen Serber is a movement artist researching the intersection between direct sensory perception, playful relating and dance. Contact Improvisation embodies those three interests. Her teaching is shaped by her understanding that bodies are cooperative and inclusive by nature creating an environment for students to find delight in being moved.
She was a co-organizer of wcciJAM and is currently organizing, curating and co-creating many Contact Improvisation events in Bellingham supported by her partner, Rajendra and the growing community.
they/them
Noé Khalfa is a Seattle-based dancer, teacher, and facilitator immersed in contact improvisation, swing, blues, yoga, hand balancing, and ecstatic dance. Their workshops and jams focus on somatic awareness, expressive potential, and the language of touch, creating welcoming spaces for dancers of all levels to explore movement and connection. Noé fosters community through inclusive practice, playful exploration, and supporting each participant in discovering their unique movement voice.
she/her
Karen Nelson is a longtime dance improviser and teacher who began exploring Contact Improvisation in the 1970s, participating in some of the early CI workshops and performances that helped shape the form. Her teaching emphasizes presence, embodiment, and curiosity, creating inclusive spaces where students can play and discover their own movement voice. She co-founded Dance Ability and Diverse Dance Research Retreat, and continues to mentor and support improvisational dance communities through workshops, jams, and collaborative projects.
he/him
Christian Swenson is a Seattle-based performer and teacher, pioneering Human Jazz, a playful fusion of movement, voice, and improvisation. He brings his decades of experience exploring body and sound to workshops, jams, and performances that invite curiosity, presence, and creative connection.
she/her
Michal Lahav is a contact improviser who has been exploring CI since 1998. She has taught workshops at festivals, universities, and community spaces, and has performed and shared improvisation across the globe. Michal organized the Orcas Island Jam for 11 years and currently facilitates a monthly Underscore in Seattle (and will be facilitating our festival Underscore). She integrates dance, yoga, and improvisation with curiosity and play, creating inclusive spaces where students can connect, explore, and delight in movement.
he/him
Serge Gubelman (Manna Presence) is a longtime improvising musician and contact improviser whose work spans percussion, voice, and live soundscapes. He offers acoustic music that is responsive, textured, and playful, supporting dancers in listening deeply, sharing weight, and exploring movement in real time. Serge collaborates with local and international improvisers, bringing his experience and care to workshops, jams, and community events that cultivate connection and creative risk-taking.
Location
We’re incredibly fortunate to dance at OmCulture on their legendary sprung wood floor. Unlike a solid floor, it absorbs impact and gently returns energy, making landings softer, joints happier, and shared weight feel more supported. So we can move with more ease, play, and longevity!
