Men In Motion Contact Improv Jam
Men in Motion is a day-long Contact Improvisation event that aims to provide a safe space for men to gather and deepen in healthy connections with themselves, in community with other men, and to explore how we integrate with the larger dance community.
This event is co-sponsored by Raleigh Ecstatic Dance and the Living Arts Collective! Please purchase tickets through our EventBrite page:
OVERVIEW
The day will begin with a welcoming circle and establishment of agreements led by Chris Holt and Gino Lerebours. From there, Ray Schwartz will lead the container through a guided embodiment inquiry and practice, and a moderated group discussion to increase presence and connection before breaking for a vegan, locally sourced community lunch that will be served by the Common Co-Op. After lunch, a song circle will be facilitated by Brü Roze and Scopey Mosley, and we will end the day with a Open Contact Improvisation Jam with instrumentation provided by Xylem (Donovan Moran).
The day will begin with a welcoming circle and establishment of agreements led by Chris Holt and Gino Lerebours. From there, Ray Schwartz will lead the container through a guided embodiment inquiry and practice, and a moderated group discussion to increase presence and connection before breaking for a vegan, locally sourced community lunch that will be served by the Common Co-Op. After lunch, a song circle will be facilitated by Brü Roze and Scopey Mosley, and we will end the day with a Open Contact Improvisation Jam with instrumentation provided by Xylem (Donovan Moran).
STATEMENT OF INTENT
Men in Motion aims to provide a container that cultivates a more expansive kind of community engagement for men — a setting that fosters brotherhood, makes space for intergenerational mentorship, and provides mutual support. As we explore, connect, and play, we prepare ourselves to show up in a more supportive way in the greater community.
Men in Motion aims to provide a container that cultivates a more expansive kind of community engagement for men — a setting that fosters brotherhood, makes space for intergenerational mentorship, and provides mutual support. As we explore, connect, and play, we prepare ourselves to show up in a more supportive way in the greater community.
By providing these community offerings, we are inviting men to bravely embrace vulnerability. On the other side of this embrace, there is a world of infinite Possibility and Opportunity:
– The possibility of finding peace and freedom through both movement and stillness
– The possibility of celebrating and accepting our highest and most authentic expressions
– The possibility of giving and receiving love
– The possibility of grappling with — and finding healing from — burdens and wounds tied to the male-experience
– The possibility of celebrating and accepting our highest and most authentic expressions
– The possibility of giving and receiving love
– The possibility of grappling with — and finding healing from — burdens and wounds tied to the male-experience
– The opportunity to acknowledge, and to be seen by others
– The opportunity to embrace our masculine and feminine polarities
– The opportunity to physically connect and hold each other
– The opportunity to honor our darkness as well as our light
– The opportunity to embrace our masculine and feminine polarities
– The opportunity to physically connect and hold each other
– The opportunity to honor our darkness as well as our light
WHAT TO BRING
– Comfortable clothing (for movement)
– Plate/Bowl/Cup/Eating Utensil
– Journal/Pen
– Personal Snack
– Blanket/cushion for sitting if desired- Kneepads for CI practice/jam.
– Comfortable clothing (for movement)
– Plate/Bowl/Cup/Eating Utensil
– Journal/Pen
– Personal Snack
– Blanket/cushion for sitting if desired- Kneepads for CI practice/jam.
TICKET OPTIONS AND SCHOLARSHIP INFORMATION
– Subsidized: $35 (for those that require financial assistance)
– Suggested: $50
– Supporting: $75 (being a “supporter” helps to subsidize the lower registration tier and makes this offering accessible to those in need of financial assistance, thank you!)
– Subsidized: $35 (for those that require financial assistance)
– Suggested: $50
– Supporting: $75 (being a “supporter” helps to subsidize the lower registration tier and makes this offering accessible to those in need of financial assistance, thank you!)
Please pay for the highest ticket level that you can comfortably afford; money from participants will go towards event space rental, and compensating collaborators. All profits will go to Raleigh Ecstatic Dance’s Contact Improvisation Scholarship Fund. Covering costs also allows for us to continue to provide sustainable offerings to our community!
Raleigh Ecstatic Dance has set aside a small amount of funds for scholarship for this event. If you need additional financial assistance please reach out to Gino Lerebours or the Raleigh Ecstatic Dance social media pages (email: raleighecstaticdance@gmail.com; Instagram: @RaleighEcstaticDance)
ADDITIONAL NOTES
This event resolves to acknowledge and embrace the full spectrum of manhood, and is an event that intends to serve all male identifying individuals (regardless of race, sexual orientation, background, sex assigned at birth, etc). If you are interested in participating and have further questions, please reach out to Chris or Gino directly.
This event resolves to acknowledge and embrace the full spectrum of manhood, and is an event that intends to serve all male identifying individuals (regardless of race, sexual orientation, background, sex assigned at birth, etc). If you are interested in participating and have further questions, please reach out to Chris or Gino directly.
Although all activities are optional, participants are encouraged to arrive on time and to stay for the entirety of the event. This helps create safety and connection, and strengthens the container that we will co-create together.
– Date: April 29, 2023
– Location: Shared Visions Retreat Center (3717 Murphy School Road, Durham)
– Age Restriction: 18 and older
– Location: Shared Visions Retreat Center (3717 Murphy School Road, Durham)
– Age Restriction: 18 and older
< Schedule >
8:30: Arrival
9:00: Welcome Circle
9:30: Embodiment Workshop
12:00: Moderated Discussion
1:00: Lunch (Provided by Common Co-op)
2:00: Warm Up
2:15: Deeper Dive into Consent
2:30: Song Circle
3:00: Open Jam
4:30: Closing Circle
5:00: Emerge
8:30: Arrival
9:00: Welcome Circle
9:30: Embodiment Workshop
12:00: Moderated Discussion
1:00: Lunch (Provided by Common Co-op)
2:00: Warm Up
2:15: Deeper Dive into Consent
2:30: Song Circle
3:00: Open Jam
4:30: Closing Circle
5:00: Emerge
< ABOUT THE FACILITATORS AND COLLABORATORS >
CHRIS HOLT (Organizer and Facilitator): Chris Holt is in love with the form of Contact Improvisation. Notably the opportunity it creates for connection, community, and the constellation of experience involved in being human.
CHRIS HOLT (Organizer and Facilitator): Chris Holt is in love with the form of Contact Improvisation. Notably the opportunity it creates for connection, community, and the constellation of experience involved in being human.
GINO LEREBOURS (Organizer and Facilitator): Gino Lerebours is one of the co-founders and current organizers of Raleigh Ecstatic Dance. He has been hosting dances and special events with this group weekly since 2019, and has collaborated on and facilitated ecstatic dance events for hundreds of participants in Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill, Apex, Hillsborough, Fairview, and Snow Camp North Carolina.
RAY SCHWARTZ (Embodiment Workshop and Discussion Facilitator): Ray Eliot Schwartz has a broad range of experience in arts education and administration, culture building, community engagement, and creative research.
His primary focus is embodiment as an artistic, cultural, and social practice. He co-founded four contemporary dance projects in the southern U.S. and has been a guest artist in the U.S., Turkey, Southeast Asia, South America, and Mexico
His somatic studies include certifications in Body-Mind Centering® and the Feldenkrais Method®. Additional studies include Zero-Balancing®, Gross Anatomy, Cranio-Sacral Therapy, and Traditional Thai Massage. He is a research associate with the Center for Body Mind Movement and served as Academic Coordinator of the Dance Program of the University of the Americas-Puebla in Mexico from 2008 to 2018. He is currently an Instructor in the Program in Dance at Duke University.
For many years he has responded to an urgent call to explore the meaning, myth and implications of embodiment around social constructions of gender. Among other activities and research, he was fortunate to attend men’s workshops with Robert Bly and Coleman Barks, has been a member of several men’s circles, and he has been part of development and facilitation teams in various events and projects which focused on people who identify as men coming together in solidarity to investigate and enrich one another’s perspectives on self image, community, creativity and understanding.
COMMON CO-OP (Vegan, Locally Sourced Lunch): Common is a co-op project that strives to build community sustainability through food, art, relationships, and sharing. Our goal is to open a space where these things can coexist and where people can connect, create, care, and be taken care of. All proceeds we earn through the Common food projects go towards this goal!
BRAD STACKHOUSE — along with being one of the co-founders of Raleigh Ecstatic Dance — is also one of the co-founders of Common and will be serving lunch for Men in Motion.
BRÜ ROZE (Song Circle): Brü is a Co-Creator, Artist, Musician, and Curator for both the Living Arts Collective and the Durham Salt Cave. Brü will be leading the Song Circle with SCOPEY MOSLEY a gifted Soundmaker.
XYLEM // PHLøEM (Live Instrumentation): Donøvan Moran is a sound alchemist living in Raleigh, NC. His creative sonic outlet has been multifaceted, continually evolving as inspiration feeds new melodic pathways. Through years of performing in bands, leading sound healings, and DJing ecstatic dances, Donøvan had found a way to fuse multiple aspects into a very unique experience. Deep melodic bass from the ethereal ocean, harmonic resonance and the hypnotic pulse of the celestial jungle ignite the inner fire of creative expression and cause the listener to drift on the breeze of an improvisational dream.