Levels of contact

As the field of contact exploration is anarchic, there is no one standard level description and even reasonable debate over whether there should be one or not or what the relevence of such would be.. Further, there are a variety of skill sets that have been developed over the years, some of which are horizontal in nature (able to be studied independently) and some of which are more vertical in nature (requiring knowledge of some principles before others can be learned effectively).

This set of level descriptions is meant primarilly for the context of the central vertical skill set that is the core of many of Body Research's contact work.

There are actually many explorations in contact that don’t require this skill set, although this skill set will generally make any other set of explorations more interesting. If any Body Research contact workshops doesn’t have an associated class level, assume that it is open level (meaning any can come) and that there will be teaching to different levels of practice simultaneously.

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In reality, no one falls neatly into a category, and that is what makes life and the dance of contact interesting. Asymmetric skill development is more the norm than the exception. These categories, then, are primarily for use in the class setting -- on the one hand as benchmarks where people can feel their progress and conceptualize what would be most interesting to work on, and on the other hand as a means of organizing classes so that higher level skills can be worked on more efficiently and safely. This is not meant as a strict divider and not meant to categorize with whom it is more or less interesting to work. These skills do not define all that there is to an interesting dance, and in the end, part of the skills that we are working towards is the ability to maximally enjoy and find curiosity in dances with a wider range of people. That said, new and interesting phenomena emerge with dancers working together at higher levels.

The following is a list of skills comfortably acquired by a given level. One is assumed to be working on the skills of the next levels and to be refining and developing the skills of the lower levels. In class, higher level skills will often be introduced at lower levels, as it helps frame skill development.

Generally speaking, levels 1-5 are primarilly about getting to know the classic Contact Fundamentals better. Levels 5 onwards are about getting more seriously into the release work of Body Research's contact approach, both developiong things more deeply that were introduced at earlier levels and introducing new phenomena..

1 – novice

2 – beginner: static support, understand concept of rolling contact, giving weight, moving while connected through force, movement into and out of the floor (falling, rolling, sliding, etc), physical listening skills..

3 – intermediate: moving support, efficiency in static lifts, basic lift vocabulary (back to back lifts, fireman’s carry, various table supports, hip carries), movement into and out of floor while maintaining weighted connection to partner, falling comfortably out of lifts (aikido rolls, side rolls, shock absorption, landing gear available).

4 – intermediate: readiness to catch falling partner when coming out of a lift, ability to set partner down in off-balance, dynamic efficiency, starting to organize partner’s body and allow organization of one’s own body, softening (1st layer of passive sequencing/release work), wider array of lifts (shoulder lifts, catches, etc), comfort with non-forcing manipulation and offering adaptive support, comfort and awareness through inversions, comfort with back space and articulating the back, comfort with “no hands” dance as an articulate and interesting dance.

5 – advanced: continuous readiness to deal in a soft and articulate way with dynamic incoming weight (one does not get distracted), ability to stay off balance & track partner’s structure, organizing into efficiency and power through off-balance and spiral, solidly comfortable with moving into and out of contact through inversion, equanimity of body articulation into contact (subtle and sophisticated use of all of body (low back, legs, etc), as opposed to a few preferred locations of articulation (hands/arms, etc).

6 – advanced: subtle level structure tracking, have rolling contact at more advanced level (requires higher level release work), beginning to get passive sequencing work in more dynamic settings, higher joint mobility in context of safe body organization during more dynamic dances, working more deeply on functional awareness through a wider variety of physical orientations..

7 – advanced: non-triggering touch (tracking nervous/muscle activation & body state), deep level passive sequencing and organization of partner’s body into efficiency and ease, integration of body use with partner’s body-use

8 – advanced: invoking release and organization in partner’s nervous system (lasting healing/integration work).

Some notes:

First, these skills are not meant to define all that is interesting in CI. Some fields of knowledge in ci have a more horizontal character (one can start anywhere and pick up material in a process of random acquisition) and others have a more vertical character (one must have step A down before you can really get step B). This set is for me a central vertical knowledge set for ci practice, but there are also a lot of other very interesting things within CI that don’t require its mastery, that can be explored from level 1. There are also horizontal fields that open up at each new level.

These levels are meant to be an objective measure of progress through what for me is the central physical exploration of contact. The realities of opportunity of study in the contact world usually means that we don’t move through these explorations in a systematically logical way, but “catch as catch can”. There is also sometimes something useful about jumping ahead a bit, so that one can start to get a sense of why the fundamentals are so important. Further, many come into contact practice with some of the skills of contact already existing in their bodies to some degree or another from sports, martial arts, body work, or dance. It is possible to have some intermediate or even advanced level skills, but be missing fundamental skill development. In fact, this is quite common, which is again, why it is important to continue to revisit the fundamentals. As with most physical arts, this skipping of real integration of fundamentals is usually the biggest block to progress.

This asymmetric skill development can either be something we use to pull us forward or an impediment to further learning, depending on our sense of humility. It is important to continuously go back and work the fundamentals with a sense of beginner’s mind, dropping attachments to being in any sense more advanced.

These skills are not strictly dependent on how long one has been studying contact. Some people progress through them more quickly. Others have been practicing contact for decades and/or are teachers and yet are not at an advanced level in terms of this skill set.

Also, these terms are used quite differently by different practitioners , so these level descriptions are primarilly meant for internal consumption within the circles of people studying with Body Research.

With regards to talking about "someone's level", one can talk of someone being solidly at a certain level, or perhaps centered at a certain level, but with deficiencies indicative of a lower level and/or some skills of higher levels. Again, our asymmetry is part of what is interesting in life.

Usually if class is level X, it means that it is for people who are centered at level X or above.

For reference sake, I see myself as centered at a low level 7. I feel the potential of level 8 skill integration and have some esoteric thoughts about level 9.

Karl