Breitenbush Jam and Conference

The Breitenbush Jam is a nine-day Contact Improvisation event produced every year in March by Joint Forces Dance Company. The Jam is held at the lovely Breitenbush Hot Springs Retreat center in Detroit, Oregon and features much open dancing as well as workshops with leaders in the contemporary dance world. www.breitenbush.com ».

The 2013 Breitenbush Contact Improvisation Jam will be on March 14th - 22nd, 2013. $701 includes 8 nights lodging in a forest cabin and vegetarian meals. Regular cabins are available half-time at $371 for 4 nights. Cabins with a bathroom are $816. For cheaper options (limited availability dorms, or half-time), call or email us. $125 deposit due February 24th, but send it sooner to ensure your spot. Checks can be made to Joint Forces Dance Co., PO Box 51257, Eugene, OR 97405.

Contact Improvisation is a dance form of communicating, experiencing and relating through physical contact between two or more people. Basic skills such as falling, rolling, sharing weight and moving with momentum encourage a freedom of expression and communication unique to the form. Dancing ranges from simple to complex, depending on experience. It is an accessible form in which people of all physical abilities can meet on equal ground and explore the movement possibilities that exist between them. An international gathering, the Jam is open to all experience levels and includes facilitated warm-ups, open dancing, conference sessions and performance evenings. Jam tradition generally includes some limited live music in the space, and an ‘all-nighter’ halfway through the jam.

In March, 2013, inquiries on "joys, challenges, and personal strategies" in jamming will be led by Katarina Ericksson.

The workshop this past year (2012) was called "Forty-fi and RE-new." Falling was key. Steve Paxton was on hand to share his insights and Karen Nelson guided sessions investigating our own invention and development of the form over the decades.

Click on the link below to learn more about the Breitenbush Jam by reading some intriguing excerpts from a conversation among key participants at the 25th Anniversary of the Breitenbush Jam.

PDF: Reflections at the 25th Anniversary of the Breitenbush Jam »