Contact Improvisation emerged out of the post modern dance era of the late 60’s and early 70’s as a series of experiments instigated by dancer and choreographer Steve Paxton. One of which took place in 1972, when he and a group of dancers worked together during a two-week residency in New York City which culminated in a durational performance at the John Weber Gallery. The group of 12-15 students and colleagues danced for 5 hours at a time while audiences could come and go at their own pace.

Later in 1973, a smaller version of that group, Steve Paxton, Nita Little, Karen Radler, Nancy Stark Smith, and Curt Siddall toured the West Coast with a show called You Come, We’ll Show You What We Do. Around this time the CI jam started to emerge and in response to growing interest, Nita Little, Nancy Stark Smith, Steve Paxton and others began teaching the form which contributed to the emergence of Contact Improvisation dance companies, trainings, workshops and jams across the world.

As this is a brief summation, we encourage you to explore further. For more information visit:

Contact Quarterly, One History of Contact Improvisation

FoundSF, The Experiment Called Contact Improvisation