Welcome

Delighted to invite you to our 7th Annual Regional Jam. Sky Camp 2020! Four days of dynamic dance, connection and play. Classes with the fabulous Angie Hauser and Chris Aiken! Live music, amazing meals, revelry on the lawn, sunsets over the lake. Come dance with us!

Gratitude for all of you who have been coming year after year, and excited to meet those who are dropping in for the first time. Inviting 44 dancers from Portland and 44 from everywhere else.

This will be the last year that I offer this jam. Let’s go out with a bang:) 7 is Magic! Register now!

April 30-May 3, 2020 in Fall Creek, Oregon

Early bird rates $380-$280 sliding scale. After April 1st add $50.

This year I am offering a wider sliding scale for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color with the intention to acknowledge systemic inequities for the purpose of accessibility. BIPOC rate $200-$250 sliding scale. Additional discount may be available.

All jam participants do 1-2 hours of work trade over the weekend. Work shifts are fun and build community.

Sky Camp is on 100 acres and has a gorgeous large meeting room with a great floor and a wall of windows overlooking a lake. If you’re coming from afar you can fly into Portland or Eugene and we’ll help you carpool from there. Sky Camp has dorms (BYO bedding); sleeping in your own tent or RV is also an option.

Some highlights from the 2016 Jam.

The Four Day Weekend Includes:

Lots of open jam time on a big beautiful dance floor
Healthy, organic meals and snacks
Classes each day with Angie Hauser & Chris Aiken
Guided warm ups
Underscore!
Quiet morning jams with live music
Evening jams going late into the night
Sleep in dorms, or in your own tent or van
A huge lake, rolling lawn, big trees, open sky
Community, connection, collaboration, play

This event relies on volunteer efforts! One way we keep the jam affordable is to ask that everyone pitch in and do 1-2 hours of work over the weekend. Work shifts are fun and also build community. Chopping veggies, kitchen clean up, sweeping, tidying up, etc. There will be a sign-up sheet when you arrive at the jam.

Contacters with all levels of experience, all bodies, all abilities are welcome. We strive to honor human diversity that includes, and is not limited to, the differences in age, sex, race, ethnicity, national origin, the spectrum of abilities, gender identity, sexual orientation, and financial means. We will not tolerate discrimination of anyone based on such differences.

The jam has filled completely every year, so sign up early:)

Workshop

Resonant Action

Our approach to CI has evolved from our efforts to support dancing that is skillful, poetic, and aware. We aim to develop skillful solutions to taking and giving weight, changing levels, falling and flying safely, and most importantly, communicating, through touch, one’s creative intentions, and physical/emotional needs. For us, the practice of CI offers opportunities to collaborate through movement and touch in ways that are ethical and inspired.

Our classes offer time for focused dancing that seeks ways to integrate action, perception and imagination. Resonant action balances listening and observation with the enactment of one’s movement impulses, connecting being and doing. We believe that sensitivity, confidence, respect and creativity can be fostered when we work together to create a clear, playful, supportive environment.

Our work is informed by our collaborations with many seminal figures in the field of contemporary dance and improvisation including Nancy Stark Smith, Andrew Harwood, Ray Chung, Kirstie Simson, Peter Bingham, KJ Holmes, Steve Paxton, Bebe Miller, Jennifer Nugent, and Darrell Jones.

ANGIE HAUSER is a BESSIE award-winning choreographer and performer. Her work is grounded in improvisation and collaboration. She is a principal collaborator with Bebe Miller Company contributing to the work as a dancer, performer, and writer for 20 years. She and long-time collaborator Chris Aiken create improvised performance projects which bring together musicians, dancers, and designers. In 2019 they toured Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan presenting their performance work, teaching workshops and connecting with professional dance communities. Other collaborators and influencers of her work include Jennifer Nugent, K.J. Holmes, Darrell Jones, Kathleen Hermesdorf, Paul Matteson, Xan Burley and Alex Springer and musicians Mike Vargas and Jesse Manno. She teaches dance technique, choreography, contact improvisation, and improvisation internationally. She received her MFA from Ohio State University and is currently an associate professor and chair of dance at Smith College in Northampton, MA.

CHRIS AIKEN is recognized internationally as a contemporary dance maker and teacher of dance improvisation, performance, and contact improvisation. His work has evolved through long-term collaborations with Angie Hauser, Andrew Harwood, Kirstie Simson, Ray Chung, Peter Bingham, Mike Vargas, Olivier Besson, Cathy Young, and Patrick Scully, as well as collaborations with Steve Paxton, and Nancy Stark Smith. His training includes extensive research of ecological psychology, neurophysiology, philosophy, poetics, design, Alexander Technique, bodywork, and ideokinesis. He has received numerous awards for his work, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and has been presented by Movement Research, Dance Theater Workshop, the Bates Dance Festival, the Seattle Festival of Dance and Improvisation, the Florida Dance Festival, Impulstanz, and most recently i-dance Japan, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, among many others. He is an Associate Professor and MFA Director at Smith College.

*Credits for photos of Angie & Chris, top to bottom, Derek Fowles, Christopher Chu, Derek Fowles, Christopher Chu, Chris Randle.

Schedule

Thursday, April 30
3 Registration, housing set up
5 Dinner
6:30 Opening Circle!
7 Mixer with Angie & Chris leading into jam
Studio open for late night jammers

Friday, May 1
8-9 Breakfast
9 Quiet jam (with live music)
10-1 Class with Angie & Chris
1-2 Lunch
2:30 Circle… We’re all here now!
3 Mixer leading to open jam
5:30-7 Dinner
7 Underscore talk through
7:30-10 Underscore
Studio open for late night jammers

Saturday, May 2
8-9 Breakfast
9 Quiet jam (with live music)
10-1 Class with Angie & Chris
1-2 Lunch
3 Mixer leading into open jam
5:30-7 Dinner
7:30 Mixer leading into open jam
8-10 Live music
Studio open for late night jammers

Sunday, May 3
8-9 Breakfast
9 Quiet jam (with live music)
10-1 Class with Angie & Chris
1-2 Lunch
2:30 Open jam with live music
3:30 2-minute dances
4 Closing Circle
4:30-6 Clean up!!

Details, details…

Early Bird Pricing / Regular Pricing (after April 1)

Sliding Scale: more info on the Registration page.

$380/430 I am comfortably able to meet all my basic needs, including food, shelter, and transportation.

$330/380 I may stress about meeting my basic needs but regularly achieve them.

$280/330 I frequently struggle to meet my basic needs & don’t always achieve them. (limited slots available)

$200-250 BIPOC Additional discount may be available. Contact Christine with inquiries.

Volunteer shifts: One way we keep the jam affordable is asking all participants to sign up for 1-2 hours of chores over the weekend. There will be a sign up sheet when you arrive. Work shifts are fun and build community!

No partial or shared registrations. If you need to come a day late or leave a day early, that’s ok… we will miss you, but there is no discount on the ticket price. The intention is that we start together and end together and immerse ourselves in community and in practice.

Work exchange positions are available. WEX participants arrive at 2pm on Thursday and stay until clean up. Helping Lizzie in the kitchen is the bulk of the work, plus some housekeeping and clean-up at the end. WEX participants pay for the jam in full and are paid for hours worked after clean-up on Sunday. If interested, contact Christine at agoatistodance@gmail.com. Please put WEX 2020 in email subject line.

Cancellation Policy

Once you have a confirmed space in the jam, $100 of your registration payment becomes a non-refundable deposit. Jam registration is Not transferable (to be fair to those on the Wait List).

On or before March 30: Your payment minus $100 deposit will be refunded.

After March 30th and until April 22: Your payment minus $145 ($100 deposit, $45 cancellation fee) will be refunded.

April 22: subject to loss of full registration fee, no refund.

The Site:
Sky Camp is on 100 acres in Fall creek, Oregon, not far from Eugene. The meeting hall, our dance space, has a fabulous floor. It’s a massive room with a fireplace at one end and wall of windows overlooking a lake. There’s a deck and lawn for alternative dance spaces. The lake is clean and swimmable. Bring a swimsuit! Map and directions.

Accommodations:
Sky Camp is a B.Y.O. camp… bring your own sleeping bags, pillows, bedding, towels, etc. We typically use four dorms, that sleep up to 6 per room. Two of the dorms have their own restrooms and showers. The other dorms do not. There is a separate “group use” restroom/shower facility for the dorms not equipped with restrooms and for people bringing tents or RVs. Camping in your own tent is a lovely option, as is sleeping in your van or RV. Again, there are showers and toilets available for all! The dorms with showers and restrooms will be offered on first come, first served basis.

Food:
All meals are included in the weekend… see the schedule for timing. I’m so grateful to have Lizzie Rojos as our chef. She’s a fellow contacter, has a wealth of experience cooking for jams and festivals, and her food is simple, healthy, and delicious! Meals will be organic and gluten/dairy/soy free. Either lunch or dinner will have separate portions of meat and there will be vegetarian options as well. Volunteers and work exchange folk will help with food prep and clean up. We’ll also have coffee, tea, and a variety of organic healthy snacks throughout the weekend.

Gratitude:

To Bee Tsuchen, Brandon Stewart, Tom Maxwell, and others, for brainstorming with me and adding their wisdom and knowledge to the planning of this jam.
To Sören Wacker and Peter Paul Ruben for the photos on this site (to view more photos from 2019 jam: click here and 2018 jam: and here) and to Loren Wheeler for site photo and the fabulous video.
To Aaron Podbelski for building this website. www.portmanteaudesigns.com and to Mike Detweiler for this year’s update.
To all the fabulous teachers that have made this jam so vibrant and inspiring. Thanks to Alicia Grayson, Ralf Jaroschinski, Katarina Eriksson (2014), Shel Wagner, Stephanie Nugent (2015), Ray Chung (2016), Katherine Cook, Brad Stoller (2017), Nita Little (2018), Paul Singh (2019), Angie Hauser, Chris Aiken (2020). So grateful!
To all who show up at these jams… for your inspiration and feedback and love.

How You Can Help

Help with Promo:
Invite your contact improv friends near and far. Who would you like to share this weekend with?

Ideas and inspirations?
Talk to me!

During the weekend:
One of the ways we keep the jam affordable is asking everyone to pitch in with chores. There will be a chore sign up sheet when you arrive and register. Many hands make light work, and working together is connecting! Please be ready to offer 1-2 hours over the weekend to help all go smoothly. Chores will include helping in the kitchen, sweeping, cleaning, straightening, etc, etc. Let me know if you have special skills you would like to share!

If you would like to come early for set up or stay at the end for final clean up, please let me know. Thank you thank you thank you!

So excited to dance with you!
Christine

Map and Directions

SkyCamp Address:
83930 Peninsula Rd
Fall Creek, OR 97438