Aalia Hashem - Moving To Thailand, The Art of the Pauses, & Navigating Challenges in Communities

Our guest today is the multi-directional being Leilani Weis — Contact Improvisation teacher of 26 years. Originally from Chile, she helped develop CI scenes in Mexico and Italy, and now resides in Barcelona.In this episode, we discuss:✨ Her decades-long mentorship with Martin Keough✨ Dancing into impossible places✨ Preparing the body-mind for Contact✨ The dancer superpowers✨ Our mutual love of falling📍 Recorded during Saltspring Contact Festival 2023, on the unceeded Coast Salish Territory in British Columbia, Canada.🪩 Leilani on Instagram🎧 Our IG@momentumcontact📅 Upcoming events: msha.ke/momentumworkshop#contactimprovisation #momentumcontact #contactdance #dancepodcast #somaticpractice #contactfestival #leilaniweis #improvisationdance

🎙️ New Solo Episode ~ Faces of CI: Conversations on Contact ImprovisationIt’s Aalia here. I’m opening up in a raw and real solo episode:✨ Transitioning to Thailand✨ The Art of the Pause✨ Being vulnerably first in new CI communities✨ ADHD, mold illness & concussion recovery✨ Getting “cancelled” in community & the lessons that followed✨ Trusting the unknown + moving forward with graceThis one’s close to my heart.🎧 Instagram: @momentumcontact📅 Join Upcoming Contact Workshops🌐 Facilitator Trainings : www.momentum-contact.com#contactimprovisation #momentumcontact #consciousmovement #adhdjourney #healingthroughdance #dancepodcast #somaticpractice

Today I’m joined by Sasha Bezrodnova (Russia), recorded in Koh Phangan, Thailand.✨ Her work in the Ocean Dance community — where Contact meets Freediving and Aquatic Somatics✨ Entering the world of the sea and learning from dolphins✨ Creating the eco-political water dance film Aquas in Mexico✨ Reflections on movement, water, and community connectionFind out more about Sasha’s work: Instagram @theoceandance🎧 Instagram: @momentumcontact📅 Join Upcoming Dance Workshops🌐 Facilitator Trainings: www.momentum-contact.com#contactimprovisation #momentumcontact #contactdance #aquaticsomatics #oceandance #waterdance #freediving #somaticpractice

New Episode ~ Faces of CI: Conversations on Contact ImprovisationToday I’m joined by Andy Chen (USA / Portugal) — our newest graduate of the Momentum Contact Facilitator Training.✨ Reflections on the magic of CI jams:"I really love the jams where I get to dance with a lot of bodies. Then I had a nice dance. That idea that it's always different, and I get to choose to have another chance of feeling joy. For me that's a big change in my mindset. Where in other forms of activities, I might just leave and not come back. For some reason with contact, I keep wanting to go back. That's what it's about."✨ The mindset shift that keeps him returning to the dance floor✨ The role of joy and choice in movement practice✨ Lessons learned from facilitator training and beyond🪩 Find Andy on Instagram in Portugal: @casa_eira 🎓 Join our next trainings — online & in person: www.momentum-contact.com🎧 Instagram: @momentumcontact📅 Upcoming Workshops: https://msha.ke/momentumworkshop#contactimprovisation #momentumcontact #contactdance #dancepodcast #somaticpractice #movementtraining #improvisationdance

We’re coming to you live from one of our Momentum Beginners Contact Workshops — with a twist… our students are the guests!In this special episode, we hear their voices and insights on:✨ What it means to move authentically✨ How they see themselves as dancers✨ The discoveries and surprises that happen in a Contact Improvisation class🎧 Join Upcoming Trainings: www.momentum-contact.com📸 Instagram: @momentumcontact#contactimprovisation #momentumcontact #contactdance #dancepodcast #somaticpractice #authenticmovement---

In this episode, we sit with our students in a Momentum Contact Workshop, reflecting on the questions:✨ What is a dancer?✨ What is flow in your body?I’m in awe of my students’ shares each time we do this exercise. (Names have been withheld for privacy.)🎧 Join our upcoming Momentum Contact Workshops📸 Instagram: @momentumcontact#contactimprovisation #momentumcontact #contactdance #dancepodcast #somaticpractice #authenticmovement

New Episode ~ Faces of CI: Conversations on Contact ImprovisationOur guests today are Sunny Zheng (Beijing, China) and Janice Chen (Berkeley, USA) — new graduate facilitators from the first edition of Momentum Contact Facilitator Training.🎧 Reflections from both graduates on:✨ Learning CI history & culture✨ Building facilitation skills for safety and creativity✨ Gaining confidence to share CI in their home communities✨ Sunny shares: "I just completed the 10-day training with so many takeaways. It’s a journey about exploring my inner self and expanding the boundaries of my world. We learned the history and culture of CI, contact skills, as well as useful and practical skills to not be injured and dance safely. Not just dance but beyond the dance, helping us to become independent facilitators. Before this, I was not sure if I could make it, because maybe I don’t know how to communicate, but it happened naturally in the teaching, because of all that we learned here – with Aalia’s trust and guidance. This is more than knowledge, but confidence and support. I’m so lucky to be a part of this. I can’t wait to share this in my China Contact Community. If you want to be a facilitator, come and join us – it’s so worthwhile!"🎓 Join our next Momentum Contact Facilitator Training: www.momentum-contact.com📸 Instagram: @momentumcontact#contactimprovisation #momentumcontact #contactdance #dancepodcast #somaticpractice #facilitatortraining #contactimprov #danceteacher

New Episode ~ Faces of CI: Conversations on Contact ImprovisationOur guest today is Stuart Phillips — Contact teacher since the 1980s, joining us from Victoria, BC, Canada.From his wild roots at Bates College in the ’80s — all-day improvising and “contact as charades on steroids” — we explore:✨ CI as weirdness, allowance, shadow work, and therapeutic relief from daily life✨ His improvisational contact style — emphasizing improvisation, internal choice before flow✨ Depatterning and deconditioning our habitual “contact moves”✨ The patience and mystery of getting what you truly need in a danceStu 👂 "When I'm getting what I need in a dance, it’s shifting me — so it makes me more open to the world. It takes so much patience. It's such a mystery."🌐 Find out more about Stuart’s work: www.stulips.org🎓 Join our upcoming Momentum Contact Facilitator Training — www.momentum-contact.com📸 Instagram: @momentumcontact#contactimprovisation #momentumcontact #contactdance #dancepodcast #somaticpractice #danceteacher #improvisationdance

Peter Bingham is a force within the world of Contact Improvisation, teaching and creating performance works through his company EDAM Dance in Vancouver, Canada since 1980.In this episode we explore:✨ Peter’s origin story in dance✨ The physical mechanics of Contact in choreography✨ His daily morning class for professional dancers✨ Intone voice as a hypnotizing state✨ Leading by following✨ Changes in his practice with Parkinson’s diseaseEDAM has been a nest held by Peter — a thread holding a big part of the Contact world. Its floors hold “Contact energy,” having been graced by Steve Paxton, Nancy Stark Smith, Ray Chung, Nita Little, and many other high-level dancers for decades.🌐 EDAM Dance Schedule: www.edamdance.org🎧 Upcoming Workshops by Aalia: msha.ke/momentumcontact📸 Instagram: @momentumcontact#contactimprovisation #momentumcontact #contactdance #edamdance #dancepodcast #somaticpractice #improvisationdance #danceteacher

New Solo Episode ~ Faces of CI: Conversations on Contact ImprovisationIt’s me, Aalia! In this episode, I ramble and reflect on:✨ Cultivating joy, play, and weirdness in jams to reset and shake habits✨ Comedy improv and Circling as supportive mirrors to Contact Improvisation✨ What it means to be an embodied leader of Contact✨ Navigating self-compassion within the dance of life🎧 Follow Faces of CI & Aalia online: @momentumcontact📅 Upcoming workshops and Trainings #contactimprovisation #momentumcontact #contactdance #dancepodcast #somaticpractice #embodiedleadership #contactjam #authenticmovement