About this project

Contact Improvisation: An Intimate Dance
A Feature Documentary In Production

Can a dance form cultivate human connection, empathy and self acceptance? Our film, heading for the editing room, explores this question. 

Our kickstarter campaign is raising money to edit the film. We've raised the costs of January's launch by meeting the initial $7500 kickstarter goal. Now in the last two days of the campaign, we're working on raising funds to sustain editing through February. If we can get to $14,000 in pledges, then February will be covered too. That would be GREAT!

If you already know about contact improvisation ("contact"), then you know why it needs a good film. We have filmed  a group of dancers learning contact over the course of a year. Our film is going to be beautiful and deep! We are doing a kickstarter campaign right now because with our core filming done, we need to hire a team to get it edited and completed.

If you don't already know about contact -- Contact improv is a dance form that is kind of hard to describe! It has elements of dances like tango, of Buddhist meditation, and of the martial arts. It's done more for how it feels kinesthetically than how it looks to the eye.  What's powerful about it is that it offers a connected and playful way of being, full of touch, nonverbal communication, and connection. It's a perfect antidote to the disconnection of modern life.

Contact can be simple enough to be accessible to just about anybody, even people with limited mobility.  But it can also be very advanced, acrobatic, and risky.

Most people have never heard of contact improv.  Our feature film intends to change that, and to make this form accessible to the world. We love it,  maybe you will too! 

Courageous explorers before our camera

We have been filming a group of beginners learning contact over the course of a year. We also filmed dances and interviews involving numerous experienced dancers and teachers. 

Our film is a deep dive into the world of contact, and a quest for answers: 

*  Skills:  What are the core skills of contact improv? 

* Connections and boundaries: What are the benefits and complications of dancing so closely with others, including strangers?

* Empathy, Flexibility: Does contact expand us as humans? Does it change our capacities for empathy, flexibility, equanimity, presence, connection, self-confidence?

* Safety, time and mind: With all that lifting and falling, why don't more people get hurt? 

Our cinematic journey will unveil contact's amazing fun and magical depths.

Producer's Message, from Behind the Camera:
Inspired participation and support already

Hi,  I'm Sanford Lewis, Producer of the film.  Behind the camera I have had great intellectual and moral support from a team of volunteer associate and consulting producers.  We are blessed with the participation of amazing dancers, as well as thoughtful producers. Consulting Producer Christopher Seward has amazing street cred - he edited Michael Moore's Sick and Fahrenheit 911.

About once a month, the Associate Producers and I have lively meetings to discuss the progress of the film, thematic developments and to plot its future.  

But when it comes to finances, as producer I have funded the filming entirely out of pocket, largely through the sweat equity of producing and filming most of the 200 hours of footage we now have accumulated.   I’m sure I must have spent 1000 hours on this film so far. As a  contact improv dancer  myself for the last 20 years, I love this form, and want to make a film that shows why we devotees are so passionate about it.  

Where we go from here: building momentum together
I  need your help to build momentum to complete this project.  Broadcast and film festival deadlines are coming up! I have already committed to attend a conference at the end of January where I can pitch this film to broadcasters from around the world.  I need to put together a team in order to assemble a compelling presentation for that event. I need a team in place to help me complete both a videographic and written presentation for those broadcasters.

Near Term Costs: January

Bare Bones Necessities
Transcribers for 50 hours of interviews - $,2500*
Editor  $5,000 per month
Travel and registration for Realscreen Summit  $2,000

Even more helpful scenario
Producer’s assistant – $2,000/month
Web designer/ desktop artist - $4,000
Consulting Producer (more on this soon!)

So as you can see, raising money right now, between $10,000 and $20,000 would help build the needed momentum for January and beyond.

We set an initial goal of $7500 to launch editing in January, as a safe bet that fans would surely be able to come up with this amount. We are deeply grateful to have found that to be accurate! Thank you to everyone for pledges so far!

Now we want to encourage you to continue making pledges. Though the LAUNCH of editing in January is now assured, we don't want to have to go back to fundraising to meet February's expenses! Help us create sustainable momentum by pledging to this campaign before it closes on Friday December 30!

None of these contributions will pay for the time I am putting in. My day job is as a public interest lawyer, advocacy on environment, human rights and corporate social responsibility. It's not particularly lucrative work, but it is a spiritually rewarding and impactful activity -- and it covers my living expenses while I work on the film my other waking hours.  I've spent down my available savings on the film already, so I need to turn to others to help me hire on a team to complete the project. 

Rewards aplenty
We hope the satisfaction of participation in our film will be motivation enough for many of you, we are also offering some pretty cool rewards for your donations.   If you’re in the US, your donations are tax deductible, minus the value of perks received.

 

Dancing forward,

Sanford Lewis
Producer

Contact Improvisation: An Intimate Dance

 

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View some more clips on our Website

 

 

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