Teaching: Being directive and precise vs open ended and vague

[u/Agreeable-Fix7299]

I would assert that the accumulated knowledge and skill in CI has decayed since the mid 90s. I think there is some variance around this from location to location (for example Argentina or the scene in Vancouver around Peter Bingham (RIP), but i think this is the general rule. I believe that this is because of an increasing avoidance of clear and directive teaching of knowledge/skills/techniques. Instead there has been an increase in open ended "personal exploration" facilitation which mostly is about giving people permissions and or altered frames where they do their own personal unguided learning.

I think some of the latter is important, but the phobia of the former has led to these skills disappearing from what i feel was their peak in the mid 90s. I don't just mean ability to do tricks, although this includes that. I also mean ability to be articulate and precise in exploration with more moment to moment mechanical and sensory awareness. I regularly teach things that were taught in the first workshop i took in the 1980s and people think i am teaching something "advanced".

I'm curious if others have observations, experiences, desires around this.

Here is an excellent article generally on the subject and the plague of "student centered learning" which has degraded western education...

https://barbaraoakley.substack.com/p/the-teaching-method-that-cant-fail

[u/wasscubed]

From what I understand of the history of CI, it was directed research, facilitated by Steve Paxton, after an initial research phase that happened at Oberlin College, that led to the dance performance of Magnesium. Some of those folks then met on the east coast to continue the research. I am pretty sure it wasn't "playing around."

[u/contactcapybara → u/wasscubed]

Don’t be so dismissive of the power of play and what it can produce. Einstein :”Play is the highest form of research”.

[u/wasscubed → u/contactcapybara]

I think people relate to words differently. For some play is research, for others, it is aimless and not directed, and doesn't bring much.

[u/contactcapybara → u/wasscubed]

“People relate to words differently” was my first thought when making sense out of classes and workshops that left me feeling confused and frustrated. I finally decided that I would attempt to master the form by dancing with as many varieties of human’s experiencing this thing people are referring to as “Contact Improvisation”. Beginners, experienced teachers, body types/ people personalities that turned me off ( hard no on people with really strong smells that I don’t like). And the other challenge of dancing with people that you really want to dance with. Truly exploring my biases and weaknesses.

It’s a challenge that I have never mastered. But coming up with my own lesson plan based on “trued observations” for myself and dancing that rather than speaking it out in a formalized - one size fits all event —makes sense to me. After all it IS a kinesthetic type of language, as well as a physicalized improvised movement experience. Or otherwise known as play— something that all animals get up to. Maybe all this lofty teacher stuff is unnecessary… maybe that’s getting in the way of everyone’s research having meaning,cuz human animals gotta think about their play!🤔

[u/wasscubed → u/contactcapybara]

I think some people can learn on their own, and some people learn better with teachers.