My Name is Daniel and I started the Touch&Play Project almost 5 years ago to help broaden the concept of contact improvisation and to promote its use as a potent tool in the creation of authentic relations with oneself and others. My curiosity has shifted over the years starting with a desire to bring the “(al)chemical” body in to our dances, to a curiosity about the need for community in our intense yet fleeting physical encounters. With the birth of my first son my interest has shifted again and now I find myself looking for ways to communicate and connect with him through our bodies. By helping to organise this event I hope to share my experience as a somatic researcher, and my curiosity as a brand new dad to create a space that feels safe and stimulating to deepen the understanding and connection we have with our children. I very much hope that both you and your little one(s) have an unforgettable time and that what you take home with you from this festival will resonate in the way you relate for the years to come.
Fighting for our Lives
Playfighting and wrestling with our kids, besides being loads of fun and a good work out, is an important tool in the development of our little ones. Most mammals engage in rough and tumble play when they are young and research with monjeys and laboratory rats has shown that those who were stopped from doing so developed difficulties in estabilishing healthy social relationships during adulthood. For us humans playfighting with our parents, siblings and friends teaches us key skills to become confident and succesful social animals all the while strengthening the relationships with those we play with. Studies have shown that playfighting can increase problem solving skills and reduce the chance of actual aggressive confrontations in children. In specific three life skills are learned through playfighting: control of strong impulses within one self, decifering the emotions of others and realizing transmitting ones own feelings. For more information on this topic check out “The Dad Factor” by Richard Fletcher.
In this experimental workshop we will create various imaginary worlds where we will litteraly have to fight for our lives against dangerous creatures from outerspace, wild animals and angry post-apocalyptic robots. We will mainly focus on parent-child interaction but also try a number of group scores. And to add evenmore fun to the mix we invite everybody to bring their own soft and imaginary weapons (pillows etc.) for a final grand showdown…
This workshop is especially recommended for all you dads out there.