Contact Improvisation Jam: Inner Voice

接触即兴舞酱(Jam)：肢 · 点

Time: Saturday,  January 27th, 2024, 2–5PM

Location: Fou Gallery, 410 Jefferson Avenue, #1, Brooklyn, New York, NY 11221

Musician: LARAAJI

Coordinator: Ching-I, Mel

Event Organizer: Iris Zhang

Capacity:  20 People

Ticket Fee: $25 per person

NEW YORK – Fou Gallery extends a warm invitation for your participation in our special event, Contact Improvisation Jam: Inner Voice, featuring live music by artist LARAAJI and coordinated by dancers Ching-I Chang and Mel. This event will be a freely rhythmic experience and a profound exploration of Contact Improvisation Jam's distinctive art form, seamlessly bridging mindful and physical awareness.

活动时间：2024年1月27日， 下午2-5点

活动地点：否画廊, Jefferson大道410号#1，纽约布鲁克林

特邀音乐人： LARAAJI

舞者：张静宜 & Mel

活动组织：张琦

每场限制活动人数： 20人

活动费用：USD 25

纽约—否画廊诚邀您参加由音乐人LARAAJI与舞者张静宜, MeI联手呈现的《接触即兴舞酱(Jam)：肢 · 点》。这场活动将提供一场自由律动的体验，一次深入探索“接触即兴舞酱”这一独特艺术形式的机会，更将搭建心灵与肢体觉知的桥梁。

Contact Improvisation, initiated by American choreographer Steve Paxton in 1972, is a constantly evolving movement system. This dance form dissolves the traditional distinction between audience and dancers, as everyone's perspective and body language shift with the dynamic physical contact between bodies. Based on bodily communication, participants will navigate the relationship between gravity, momentum, and inertia, alleviating tension and embracing a state of natural expression. Physical practices include rolling, falling, inverting, and following a point of contact, thereby providing physical and emotional support to other participants.

LARAAJI's music will be an unparalleled guide in this event, with participants leveraging the fulcrum of rhythm, naturally transforming the FOU Gallery space into a domain. Here, dance transcends the nature of performance, becoming a connection of emotion and instinct. In the newly established balance, participants learn to perceive the external world more acceptingly, exploring the self in a state of randomness and achieving tranquility.

接触即兴由美国编舞家史蒂夫·帕克斯顿 (Steve Paxton) 于1972年创始，是一种不断演变的运动体系。这种舞蹈形式打破了观众与舞者传统意义上的角色区分，所有参与者的视角和肢体语言随身体间动态的物理接触而变幻。基于肢体间的沟通，参与者将控制重力、动量及惯性之间的关系，释放紧张情绪，达到一种自然流露的状态。肢体语言实践包括滚动、跌倒、倒立以及跟随一个接触点，从而给予其他参与者物理与情绪上的支持。

LARAAJI的音乐在这场活动中将是无与伦比的引领者，参与者牵连起律动的支点，将否画廊空间天然地变成一个场域：在这里，舞蹈不再有表演的性质，而是情感与本能的链接，在一次次为配合整体律动而新建立的平衡中，参与者学会用全然接纳的方式去感受外界，同时在随机的状态中探索自我，获得平静。

Ching-I

Ching-I is an artist dedicated to creating harmony between the environment, the body, and the spirit. She uses dance as a medium to narrate conceptual landscapes and life stories, attuning to the existence of every body and spirit. Her art is a profound listening and responsibility to the surrounding world; in Ching-I's realm, every dance step is a poem in harmony with life. Through creating and sharing stories, conceptual landscapes, and dances, Ching-I showcases her artistic talent, extending an invitation for everyone to participate and connect.

张静宜是一位致力于创造环境、身体和精神之间和谐的艺术家。她以舞蹈为媒介，诉说着概念风景与生命的故事，倾听着身体与精神的存在。她的艺术，是对周遭世界的深度聆听与负责，在张静宜的世界里，每一步舞动都是与生命和谐共舞的诗篇。张静宜通过创作和分享故事、概念性风景及舞蹈来展现她的艺术才华，向所有人敞开参与和连接的邀请​​。

LARAAJI

LARAAJI is a New York-based multi-instrumentalist, composer, recording artist, and laughter therapy practitioner. He received his education in music theory, composition, and piano at Howard University in Washington D.C. (1962-1966). He excels in arranging and producing new music genres, with his creative inspirations stemming from a love for dance movements, meditation, avant-garde sounds, and lifestyle. As he says, “When I’m Dancing I’m everywhere I Need To Be”​.

LARAAJI是一位多乐器演奏家、作曲家、录音艺术家、笑声疗愈师，目前居住在纽约。他在美国华盛顿特区的霍华德大学接受音乐理论作曲和钢琴教育（1962-1966年）。他擅长新音乐类型的编曲和音乐制作乐，舞蹈运动、冥想、前卫声音和生活方式的热爱是他创作的灵感源。正如他所言：“当我跳舞时，我就在我需要到达的每一个地方。”

Live Performance Demo:

演奏视频展示：

Laraaji: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apUE3nAeszw

Mel

Mel is an Architect and 6th generation Yang Style T’ai Chi Ch’uan practitioner. He hosts contact improvisation jams with his partner Ching-I to facilitate community remembrance and refinement of humanity’s innate perceptive abilities. Approaching the spatial ground of perception, the fluid mind can release the body to a place prior to form, action, and separation.

Mel是一位建筑师，同时也是第六代杨式太极拳从业者。他与搭档Ching-I主持接触即兴 jam，以促进社区对人类固有感知能力的回忆和提炼。在接近感知的空间基础上，流动的思维可以使身体回到形式、行动和分离之前的状态。

Iris Zhang holds a Bachelor's degree in Finance from China and a Master's degree in Arts and Culture Management from Pratt Institute in New York. Her experience includes organizing various independent music performances and large-scale music festivals in China, including West Lake Music Festival and East Sea Music Festival. She participated in the production of the independent film End of Summer (2017), which was recognized with the KNN award at the 22nd Busan International Film Festival. She has also worked for exchange exhibitions She Says, Her Story (Washington D.C., 2021), Fluid Boundaries: Four Artists from the Pan-Austro-Nesian Arts Festival (Washington D.C., 2022), and Hsin-Chien Huang: The Data We Called Home (New York, 2022). Qi is currently a partner and the Director of Communication and Special Events at Fou Gallery in New York. Her focus is on bringing diverse art forms to the gallery's community. She has designed and coordinated numerous special events, such as The Continuum of Migration: Improvised Music by Che Chen, 16mm Film Loops Workshop, and Mycology on Fire: Mushroom Cultures to Cultivation.

张琦Iris Zhang目前定居在华盛顿（Washington, D.C.)。她在国内获得金融本科学历后，又前往美国纽约普拉特艺术学院研修艺术与文化管理研究生专业。她的工作经历包括参与国内大型音乐节及独立音乐人演出的策划工作，如西湖音乐节，东海音乐节等。同时，她还是独立电影《西小河的夏天》（绍兴，2017）服装指导与执行。她所参与的艺术展览包括《她说，她的故事》（华盛顿，2022）,《流动的边界：四位来自泛南岛艺术祭艺术家》（华盛顿，2022），与新媒体艺术家黄心健在普拉特曼哈顿美术馆的个展《我们称作家的资料》（纽约，2022）等。张琦目前是纽约否画廊的合伙人及公共关系、特别活动总监。她策划及组织了否画廊多场特别活动，如《火上真菌学：蘑菇文化和栽培工作坊》，《连续迁徙：陈策即兴音乐会》及《16毫米胶片电影工作坊》等。