Beginner Supported CI Space

Beginner-Supported CI Space

A gentle, inclusive pathway into the practice

At Emerging Hearts, one of our core values is inclusivity. We invite you to come exactly as you are. There is no need to arrive as a “good dancer” or to have anything figured out. This is a space where you can land, explore, and gradually find your way into Contact Improvisation with support.

We recognise that CI is a journey. Even after years of practice, it is still completely normal to feel like a beginner at times. The edges, the questions, the unknowns, these are not signs that something is wrong, but part of how the practice continues to open and deepen.

Whether this is your first experience or you’re reconnecting with the fundamentals, you are welcome here.

How We Support Beginners

We’ve woven beginner support throughout the camp so you’re not left to navigate it alone.

Progressive Workshop Pathway
Across the camp, the workshop programme has been thoughtfully structured to support a gradual and supported entry into the practice. There is a strong stream of beginner-friendly workshops, especially in the early part of the camp, focusing on the fundamentals and key principles of Contact Improvisation. Alongside this, there are also more experienced or development-focused sessions that you’re welcome to gently explore as you feel ready. Many people find that as the week unfolds, their confidence grows naturally, allowing them to dip into a wider range of workshops at their own pace.

Beginner-Supported Evening Jams (listed further below)
On the first two evenings, we’ll offer gently guided beginner-friendly jams led by John Kishore and Soledad de la Hoz. These spaces are designed to help you arrive into the practice with clarity, confidence, and support.

Opening Circle Orientation
We’ll share simple ways the whole community can help create a welcoming, inclusive space, where beginners feel met, not judged, and where curiosity is valued over performance.

Lunchtime Beginner Circles
Informal gatherings where beginners can meet one another, share their experiences, and ask questions. These will be supported by teachers and experienced practitioners, creating space for connection, reflection, and reassurance.

Question & Exploration Labs
Dedicated spaces where you can bring specific questions or challenges. Whether something doesn’t quite make sense yet, or you want to revisit a basic principle, these sessions are here to support your learning directly.

The Gate (New for this year)
An experimental space designed to support the transition into jams. Entering a jam can feel like one of the most vulnerable parts of the practice — wondering how to join, when to enter, or if you’re “doing it right.”
The Gate will offer simple structures and support to help you move from observing into participating, at your own pace.

Ongoing Community Support
We invite more experienced participants to help hold this culture of inclusivity. Many people remember what it felt like to be new, and this shared awareness helps create a field where everyone can grow.

A Shared Practice

No one here has it all figured out. We are all in an ongoing process of learning, unlearning, and discovering.

This beginner-supported space is not separate from the rest of the camp; it’s part of a wider culture we’re building together. A culture where curiosity is valued, where uncertainty is welcome, and where each person’s experience matters.

You are invited to step in at your own pace.

Beginner-Supported Jams

Joining and Leaving Dances

with John Kishore

This session explores one of the most common edges in Contact Improvisation: how to enter and exit dances with clarity and ease.

We’ll begin by arriving into the space through the body rather than the mind, developing awareness of connection before physical contact. Through practices such as witnessing, mirroring, and orbiting, you’ll explore ways of relating that don’t rely on immediate touch.

From there, we’ll move into simple points of contact, including light, exploratory touch (sometimes called “grazing”), allowing you to meet multiple partners in brief, low-pressure ways.

You’ll practice:

• Entering a dance and sensing whether it feels right

• Leaving a dance with clarity and care

• Joining ongoing dances

• Receiving or giving a “no”

• Staying attuned to your body while navigating social and relational dynamics

The focus is on building trust in your own timing and responses, so you can move with more ease and less overthinking.

Meeting Through Listening

with Soledad de la Hoz

In this session, we shift the focus away from “doing” and toward listening.

It can sometimes feel like you need to perform or be skilled to take part in a dance. This exploration invites a different starting point: presence. The most essential thing you can bring to Contact Improvisation is your ability to listen, respond, and be in your body.

Together, we’ll explore:

• Arriving into the dance through embodied presence

• Letting go of the need to “do it right”

• Listening to your own body and to others

• Communicating through movement rather than thinking

• Allowing the dance to emerge from shared attention

Rather than focusing on technique, we’ll be more interested in how we meet, how we sense, and how we move together.

From this place, skill develops naturally over time.