**Your body is already communicating.

Can you listen to it?**

**How ​​the Body Works** is an open, weekly Contact Improvisation practice for people who have previously practiced contact improvisation, are comfortable in contact, can manage their own and others’ boundaries, and want to explore more KI and bodywork with us, as well as deepen their body awareness, technical skills, listening, and freedom of improvisation.

We explore the body as a system that feels, moves, and communicates—through gravity, weight, balance, touch, momentum, and the relationship with another body.

Each session leads from solo practice to conscious, consensual contact, developing the ability to feel, respond, and make decisions in movement.

## WHAT WE EXPLORE

Body and Mechanics—body positioning and organization, spirals, movement paths, coordination and economy of effort.

Weight and Gravity—leaning, falling, counterbalancing, support, suspension, and momentum.

Touch and Listening—receiving information through contact, pressure, weight, and subtle changes in movement.

Muscle Tension—noticing and regulating tension, discovering different qualities of support, softness, and responsiveness.

Relationship and Communication—leading, following, co-leading, timing, attention, and responsiveness.

Improvisation and Choice—creating movement without predetermined choreography and predictable outcomes.

## BODYWORK AS A PATH TO DANCE

Elements of bodywork, touch, and massage-inspired techniques may appear in practice—as a way to enter the body, prepare for dance, or as a form of exploration and integration after dancing.

Working with touch, pressure, movement, and muscle tension allows us to notice how the body organizes itself in movement, where it holds unnecessary tension, and how it can become more accessible to movement and contact.

Bodywork is not an end in itself. It can be a starting point, a transition, or a way to deepen the experience of dance**.

## CONSENT AND CHOICE

Contact is always an invitation, never an obligation.

We practice clear communication, listening, and respecting boundaries—through both words and movement. At any time, you can stop, change your mind, modify an exercise, or return to solo practice.

## FROM PRACTICE TO JAM

We use scores as questions, not instructions—creating an environment for exploration where structure meets freedom of choice.

The meeting concludes with a **mini jam**—a space where what emerged during practice can become dance.

The mini jam can seamlessly transition into an open weekly jam, where there is more time and space for free improvisation.

## WHAT YOU CAN DEVELOP

**Body awareness · Muscle tension awareness · Technical skills · Relationship awareness · Sensitivity to touch · Communication · Consent awareness · Freedom to improvise**

**LEVEL**
Intermediate

**FORM**
Weekly, ongoing practice, Wednesdays 7:15 PM

**TIME**
90 minutes

**Come not just to dance.
Come discover how your body works.

FACILITATOR INFORMATION:

AGATA ROMANKIEWICZ

She loves dance as a form of dialogue – carefully listening to her own needs and those of her partner, and exploring the soft yet dynamic movement of bodies in contact. For over 10 years, she has been exploring various dance languages ​​– blues, folk, balfolk, tango, and Lindy-hop.  She has been practicing Contact Improvisation for about five years, having had the opportunity to explore the subject at international KI festivals in the Czech Republic, Denmark, Austria, and Germany, as well as in Poland at the Flow festival and Cyrkulacje. She also practiced in Thailand during the month-long InSpiral – Towards Contact Center workshop, prepared by teachers Sasha Dodo and Dolores Dewhurst-Marks (https://towards.contact/). She also incorporates Aikido teachings into her KI practice.

A graduate of the Faculty of Medicine at the Medical University of Gdańsk,
she strives daily to combine the worlds of science and art and expand her knowledge of preventative health care and broadly defined psychophysical well-being.

DAMIAN OTERMAN

He studied Sports at the Academy of Physical Education (AWF) in Katowice and Nutrition Sciences at the Warsaw University of Life Sciences (SGGW). He is an educator passionate about intergenerational work with children, teenagers, adults, and seniors.

He has practiced yoga for 17 years, Acro Yoga and Thai Massage for 12 years, and Dance Improvisation for 8 years. He is trained in the Academic Yoga style (jogaakademicka.pl), and is a certified Acro Yoga Montreal teacher (acroyoga.com). He has completed numerous courses and workshops in Thai Massage and Contact Improvisation (CI). He is certified in Autogenic Training (AT) and Progressive Muscle Relaxation (PMR). He is trained in Nonviolent Communication (NVC). He was inspired by his participation in Conscious Cuddling Experience (CCE) workshops.  Licensed, but no longer teaching regular classes: snowboarding, skiing, swimming, tennis, and personal training. Multiple organizer of “Kids Space” at the “Acronia” and “Acroschwanchen” festivals. Participant of the GeRaBu social project in Rostock. Cultivates the Contact Improvisation and Acro Yoga community around Rostock.
Strives to co-organize Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), plant a forest, and co-organize the Skin-to-Skin Festival.

Inventor of the “Medytaton,” a unique musical instrument (www.medytaton.com).
Hobbyist: Alternative rapper.

Deeply grateful for the opportunity to learn from wonderful teachers in various fields. Their teachings and wisdom have had a profound impact on his personal and professional development.
In Contact Improvisation and Dance, he studied, among other things,  From:

Jörg Hassmann, Anjelika Doniy, Vega Gisela, Iiris Raipala, Angela Mara, Reimar Wen Shen, Natascha Golubtsova, Dörte Barss, Angelika Mizińska, Corinna Stache, Katja Scholz, Christos Listios, Katja Fiedler, Christoph Arndt