Every 2 weeks from Thurs 18th Jan 7-9pm Liminal Space, Blackstaff Mill Belfast
Welcome, newcomers and experienced movers!
I am delighted to invite you to a space for Contact Improvisation (CI) in Liminal Space, Blackstaff Mill Belfast, happening every two weeks from thurs 9th May 7-9pm.
CI Foundational skills:
- Explore playfulness, consent, energy awareness, sensitivity, authenticity and confidence.
- Engage in warm up and connection exercises that set the tone for the improvisational movement ahead.
- Learn different ways to move with and without contact.
- Use weight-sharing, balance and momentum, effortlessly leading to lifts.
What is Contact Improvisation (CI)?
Contact Improvisation is a form of movement that originated in the 1970s and has since evolved into a global phenomenon. It's a dynamic exploration of embodiment through presence, movement, expression, connection, and spontaneous collaboration. What happens can be slow and sensitive, playful and joyful and/or skillful and artistic. All parts of you can be expressed and held in a compassionate container of freedom and safety.
What happens at the event?
1. Warm-Up and Connection Exercises: Ease into the experience with a guided warm-up to prepare your body and mind individually and as a group. Engage in connection exercises that set the tone for the improvisational movement ahead. We will introduce some principles of consent, energy awareness and sensitivity, as well as playfulness, authenticity and confidence over the weeks.
2. CI Foundational skills: Learn different ways to move with and without contact, develop playful exploration, use weight-sharing and balance, as well as momentum, which can effortlessly lead to lifts.
3. Guided Jams: Experience the magic of CI jams, where dancers come together in spontaneous collaboration. Guided by facilitators, these sessions offer a supportive environment for creative expression and connection.
4. Reflection and Sharing: Take a moment to reflect on your experiences and share insights with fellow participants. This is an opportunity to deepen your understanding of CI and connect with others on a personal level.
5. Bodywork warm down: a fundamental part of CI is taking care of, opening and softening into the connective tissues of our animal bodies. We share deeply nourishing release and massage techniques which you can use on yourself or with each other as you reflect on your evening’s experience, or simply allow yourself to melt into the floor at the end of the session.
Consent
Consent is a foundational principle for safe and enjoyable exploration. There is absolutely nothing you have to do. Everything is an invite/optional. You can come along and choose what you do or do not want to participate in. Saying no to things that don’t feel good to you is actively encouraged, and we practice thanking each other for taking care of ourselves when we do decide not to participate in something either partly or fully.
Guidelines
- Respect personal boundaries and communicate openly
- Embrace curiosity and be open to the unexpected
- It's okay to make mistakes—CI is about exploration and learning
Key Takeaways
- Discover the joy of moving authentically and spontaneously.
- Cultivate trust and communication through physical connection.
- Explore the transformative power of movement, expression and shared creativity
Facilitation - a vision of co-creation
Rachael Nitya, supported by Mike Ditchfield, is sharing a foundation of CI principles for our new community for the first couple of months of sessions, but ultimately the vision is for a co-created collective space, where different people share exercises and hold space session by session. We will invite this gradually with guidelines and discernment, as well as playfulness and community spirit. For this reason we are keeping the price low to cover costs. Rachael is offering this space and skills from the heart because she is so passionate about bringing this to Belfast, so no payment is taken. Any profit goes towards inviting experienced CI practitioners for masterclasses, or to use for other resources, now and then. The vision is that this will be a deep playground where divine inspiration and emergence of the unknown are possible.
About Rachael
Rachael has practiced CI on and off since her undergrad in theatre - too long ago to mention ;). She has engaged more consistently in CI in the last few years, attending an intensive month long seminar in Thailand as well as week long retreats in Thailand and Portugal. She also draws on her consent and healing work in tantra and as a somatic intimacy coach and bodyworker. She brings creative wisdom from her arts training (Masters in Performance Studies) and careers in teaching and performance of theatre, clowning, circus and music. She is a certified yoga teacher and kundalini activation practitioner. Her mission is to inspire and uplift, play, flow, live through abundance, dive into and trust the intelligence and magic of the divine infinite unknown, while keeping her heart open and her centre strong.
Mike is supporting with his enthusiasm and organising. He is a drumming, breathwork and men’s work facilitator. Put simply Mike is passionate about helping people connect with themselves and others. He believes that rhythm is a key component of that, either through the rhythm of your breath, the rhythm of your movement or connecting to your inner rhythm. Mike will help you bring out your inner child and explore your movement with curiosity and playfulness.
- Energy Exchange
- You choose £8-20 per session - absolute bargain!
- 6 session pass £40 - you get 1 session freeWhat to Bring:
- Comfortable warm layers of clothing for unrestricted movement - long sleeves and trousers are best
- An open mind and a willingness to explore
- Water to stay hydrated
Location: Liminal Space, Blackstaff Mill, Belfast
Directions: it can be a little tricky to find within the building the first time so please...
Put "Springfield Autos The Blackstaff Mill" into google maps. Once you arrive, as you look at the Springfield Autos sign turn to your right and there is an entrance to the building. It has a feint sign for a snooker club. Go all the way to the top and it's the first door you come to - It's your first quest to enter the labyrinth ;)
Get ready to move, connect, and explore the world of Contact Improvisation in a supportive and welcoming environment. Let the journey begin!
Variable
Buy now
Saturday 2-6pm £44
Location: Body Conscious Studio, Botanic Avenue, Belfast
Embody and channel the power of your sexual energy to become magnetic and manifest your most precious wishes and wildest dreams!
This is only for women who have some sexual healing or empowerment work experience, or that have attended my Sacred Yoni Circle.
What happens
- Sharing circle of intentions and presence
- Yoni-heart connection meditation
- Love shower
- Dance through the energy of the Chakras
- Breast massage
- Self pleasure ritual
- Channel our built up energy to manifest our dreams through the Chakras - consecrating with intention towards the highest good of all beings
- Group nurture - giving and receiving touch, affirmations and or presence
- Share our experience with fruits, treats and tea
See my about About section for information on my training, experience and purpose.
Location: Body Conscious Studio, Botanic Ave, Belfast & online
Circle every 2 weeks
1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th & 8th circle at Body conscious Studio
2nd, 4th , 6th circle online by zoom.
Sign up is for the 8 circle journey. We are building a community of trust and connection.
This is a cosy space for adults with vulvas/yonis, of all ages (+21), bodies and identites, to come together to explore, celebrate, support each other and heal our sexuality.
*Yoni is a yogic Sanskrit term for our sacred sexual portal to pleasure, creation, mystical experience and a core expression of who we are. It is the Source, the eternal process of all creation. It is the vulva-vagina-womb, but so much more! Our whole body, heart, mind, being & spirit are part of the Yoni. It is that which connects us to our divine nature & our erotic feeling intelligence.
What happens in the circle?
- We get to exhale. We get to make ourselves cosy with cushions and tea. We get to remember the sacredness, power, softness, wildness, beauty of our particular flavour of sexuality. We get to do or not do whatever we want, and we get celebrated for it all!
- Everything is an invite / optional and you can simply be with yourself or adapt the practice to your own needs in the moment. I will always be guiding us to feel what is right for us, and within our consent / comfort-learning zone. Nothing has to happen. We are here to empower each other into our inner wisdom.
- In the circle I will offer somatic exercises, using breath, sound, movement and loving touch that connect us to our sacred sexuality, primarily through our breasts, heart and yoni.
- Through consent and embodied feeling practices we create more and more safety and grounding in our relationship to our body, feeling and sexuality. This supports us by rewiring and balancing our nervous system, which can often be stuck in imbalanced fight or flight as a result of a culture of disconnection, shame and unrealistic standards and ideas around bodies and sexuality. When we feel safe we become more free and open, more confident and able, to express and celebrate our fullness, our boundaries, our desires, our pleasure, our purpose and our gifts in service to Life itself, with out shame. What a beautiful, powerful and exciting world that is for everyone!
- In the circle we will also have time to verbally reflect and share with each other on our challenges and desires in the practices and our experiences of our bodies, sexuality and relationships in our lives.
The circle is an opportunity to create a community of compassionate solidarity & support between people with yonis in our shared & diverse experiences. We…
- celebrate all ages, bodies & identities
- co-create a non-judgemental, confidential space to show up in all your shit & all your glory
- practice deep listening; moving away from the idea of fixing another or giving unsolicited advice, into presence and witness, allowing and empowering each individual to more deeply see themselves, find their own power, authority, pleasure and answers within.
- promote deep care for seeing, feeling and healing our individual and collective wounds, and supporting the evolution of higher levels of consciousness in our bodies and lives that the world desperately needs.
“A woman who does the work to reclaim her pleasure, female body, sensuality, and creative power is unstoppable…And a worldwide network of women embarking on this path together, supporting each other to thrive, changes the world, one yoni at a time.”
Hilary Kimball
(One of my holistic sexuality teachers)
Example practices
We will have a lot of solo practice, with some pair work and group experiences. Everything is optional / adaptable. I will also be feeling into and getting feedback from the group.
- Meditations to connect to our yoni, heart, breasts, power, self love, sensuality, sexuality etc
- Breath work to move energy and vitality into our yoni, breasts and whole body
- Mindful movement where we focus on awareness and love for our yoni and breasts
- Guided self touch to slow down, feel more, find new ways to relate to ourselves with more love and awareness of what our body, heart and soul really wants.
- For the first circles we will focus on our body generally and solo breast massage.
- Sensual dance and nurturing touch based on consent, and verbal exercises in pairs and groups
