Somatics Festival 2019

www.somatics2019.com

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Somatics Festival 2019 is a historical web archive of a special event that focused on the emerging work of Janet Adler, Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, Nancy Stark Smith and the 45-year heritage of Contact Quarterly in the l970’s-90’s in the generative landscape and culturescape of Northampton, Massachusetts and the Pioneer Valley in the U.S.A. 

Why this place? How did the confluence of distinct disciplines and practices support their development? When did the work itself move beyond time and place to include so many global practitioners and teachers? And what was the role of Contact Quarterly as a disseminator of ideas and an archival resource? These questions and many more emerged and were addressed in conversations over the five-day period. 

The intention of this website is to offer free access to primary views around these dynamic fields of inquiry—the Discipline of Authentic Movement, Body-Mind Centering®, and Contact Improvisation—while archiving material and ideas for the future. We hope to expand participation, serve as a resource and inspiration, and further the role of contemporary media-making in communicating embodied practices.