Stroud Five Valleys
Contact Improvisation
Workshops · Shared Food · Live Music Jam
Saturday 16th January 2027 | 2pm to 9.30pm
Maypole Hall - Stroud
Hosted by Richard Parker & Jocasta Crofts
Listening Through the Body
Bodywork as a Pathway into Contact Improvisation
A winter gathering for the emerging Contact Improvisation community across the Stroud Five Valleys and surrounding areas.
As we move through the quieter months of the year, this gathering offers an opportunity to slow down, turn our attention inwards and explore some of the foundations of Contact Improvisation through the practice of bodywork.
Across two afternoon workshops, we'll use hands-on bodywork as a way of waking up, tuning into and discovering different aspects of the body. Through touch, listening and movement, we'll explore how these experiences can open up new possibilities in our dancing, helping us develop a deeper and softer understanding of weight, connection, support and movement.
Bodywork offers a gentle and nourishing way into the practice, allowing us to explore some of the fundamental principles of Contact Improvisation without needing to rely on physical effort or high levels of energy. We'll combine this with some practical movement exploration and technique, finding ways to bring what we discover through bodywork directly into our dancing.
The afternoon will be followed by shared food and an evening Contact Improvisation jam with live music, bringing us together to dance, connect and enjoy the space as a community.
Whether you are completely new to Contact Improvisation, have been dancing for years, or are somewhere in between, you are warmly invited to join us. Come for the whole afternoon and evening, or simply come for the workshops or the jam.
The Workshops
with Jocasta Crofts & Richard Parker
Workshop 1
2:30pm to 4pm
More details coming soon….
30-minute break
Workshop 2
4:30pm to 6pm
More details coming soon….
Experience
These workshops will explore fundamental principles of the practice alongside some more detailed technical material, offering both newcomers and experienced dancers opportunities to develop their understanding and physical vocabulary. If you're not sure, please get in touch.
Shared Food
6pm to 7.30pm
Bring something delicious to share and join us for a communal meal.
A chance to eat, connect and spend some social time together before the evening jam.
Live Music Contact Improvisation Jam
7.30pm to 9.30pm
An evening Contact Improvisation jam accompanied by live musicians (tbc).
We will begin with a short warm-up to bring our attention back into the body and into the space, before opening into the jam.
Come and dance, play, listen, rest and follow whatever emerges.
There will also be a chill-out space available during the jam for anyone wanting to pause, rest or simply spend some quiet time away from the dance floor.
The jam is not suitable for newcomers to CI unless they have attended the daytime workshops.
Come for All or Part of the Day
You are welcome to join us for:
Workshops + Shared Food + Jam: £65
2.30pm to 9.30pm
Workshops: £50
2.30pm to 6pm
Jam: £15
7.30pm to 9.30pm
Arrive from 2pm
We offer a limited number of reduced-price tickets for those on a lower income (more info). We also have a small number of volunteer places available; these tickets are available directly through the ticket site.
Make a weekend of it
If you’re travelling to the Five Valleys Contact Improvisation event, why not make a weekend of it? My regular Contact Improvisation class and jam will be happening in Stroud on the Friday evening beforehand.
If you’d like to come along, you can find more details here.
Need somewhere to stay? Feel free to get in touch. We may be able to connect you with someone from the local community who can offer a place to stay.
About Contact Improvisation
Contact Improvisation is an embodied movement practice based around physical contact, weight sharing, momentum, listening and improvisation.
It can be energetic, playful, meditative, challenging, intimate, spacious and deeply creative. There is no fixed choreography. Instead, dancers develop a shared language through listening and responding to what is happening in the moment.
At the heart of the practice is curiosity: learning to listen through the body, to ourselves, to another person and to the wider space around us.
Five Valleys Contact Improvisation is intended as a welcoming space for both experienced dancers and newcomers, supporting the growth of a vibrant and inclusive CI community in the Stroud area and beyond.
This gathering is connected to the wider spirit of Emerging Hearts, creating opportunities for people to meet, dance, learn and explore together beyond the summer camp.
Teachers & Musicians
Richard Parker
Richard has been dancing Contact Improvisation since 2006 and teaching since 2011. Over the years, he has trained extensively with many pioneering and influential teachers from the early generations of Contact Improvisation, developing a broad and detailed understanding of the form.
He is the founder and organiser of Emerging Hearts Contact Improvisation Camp and has been creating and facilitating CI workshops, festivals, retreats and community gatherings for over a decade, working across professional, educational, festival and community settings.
Richard is passionate about the relational and deeply human experience that can emerge through Contact Improvisation. His teaching brings together clear and grounded technical exploration with creativity, play and open-ended investigation. He loves sharing both the fundamental movement principles of the form and the subtle nuances that help us embody them more fully.
At the heart of his approach is a sense of curiosity, care and co-creation, supporting dancers to develop their skills while cultivating deeper relational awareness and a sense of togetherness within the dance.
Jocasta Crofts
Jocasta is an experienced Contact Improvisation teacher, Body-Mind Centering practitioner, Tantra teacher, creative, healer and bodyworker. She has been part of the Bristol Contact Improvisation community for over 25 years and has been teaching and nurturing the CI community in Stroud and the surrounding area for a number of years.
Her approach is intuitive, playful and deeply embodied, with a particular love of bringing us into our animal body and exploring the intelligence, instinct and creativity that live there. Her work draws on Contact Improvisation, Body-Mind Centering, Tantra, meditation and embodied practice.
Alongside her movement work, Jocasta is a creative artist, having recently completed a BA in Fine Art at Bath Spa University. She is also a mama, temple priestess, tribal gatherer and a little bit witchy.
Live musicians - TBC
Venue & Travel
Venue: Maypole Hall, Stratford Road, Paganhill, Stroud GL5 4AN Google Maps Link
Facilities: Sprung wooden dance floor, good heating, natural and ambient lighting, soft rest space, toilets and changing facilities, as well as access to a full kitchen.
Free Parking: Outside the hall and on surrounding roads.