wcciJAM
2024 Theme
Lineage & Collective Futures
Jam Guidelines and Protocol For Response to Incidents
Following years of discussion in CI circles regarding the frequent failure of jam culture to create safer spaces for women, People of Color and LGBTQI folks, we continue to reflect and learn, engage each other and our teachers, and welcome disruption of business as usual. We are grateful for the community that challenges us to do better.
Please also check our living document of Jam Guidelines and Protocol for Response to Incidents. By jamming with us, you are agreeing to abide by these structures.
This year's theme is Lineage & Collective Futures. Our intention is to honor the history of Contact Improvisation, lean in to mutuality and collaboration, and vision future iterations of this community festival. Following the recent loss of key dance ancestors— Steve Paxton, Nancy Stark Smith, Jess Curtis, and many others — we feel called to give thanks for their profound contributions, reflect on our own practices, and pay it forward to future dancers. wcciJAM (formerly WCCIF) is the longest running CI festival in the world. It has always been a grassroots effort: by dancers, for dancers. This year, miniWCCI will be a time for people who love Contact Improvisation to come together to look backwards, share in community, and commit to building skill, care, and equity at CI jams and classes in years to come.
Please see to the Writings & Resources page for more thematic reading!
Past and Future
We have the fortune and misfortune to "live in interesting times." As festival organizers, we are keenly aware that what we do takes place in a specific sociopolitical context. At the 2017 wcciJAM, organizers put out a statement meant to generate dialogue about inclusivity and diversity in CI practice. Click here to read the 2017 Statement. Since then, wcciJAM has leaned in to its focus on addressing inequity, adopting yearly themes to help bring our practice more integrity. miniWCCI 2024 will feature community fishbowl conversations about the history and future of CI, as well as opportunities to collectively brainstorm on the future direction of this specific festival, addressing core questions such as:
* What do we most value in the practice of Contact Improvisation?
* What should be the festival's priorities?
* What are the biggest challenges and problems our community of practice faces?
* How should the West Coast Contact Improvisation Festival be organized?
* How should the festival be financed?
