A Birthday Card for Contact Improvisation

Dear C.I.,

Thank you for:

• a network of companions all over the world
• for resisting definition, codification and doctrine
• for not making us dress up
• for the desire and discipline of the practitioners to bring language to this dance form
• for not being trendy
• for a strong and supple body
• for many good C.I. performances, and some bad ones
• for the adrenelinnnnnnnnne

Thank you for:

• the generosity of the people who teach this form
• for not having to learn any steps
• for the challenge of dancing with people of all different abilities
• for being fertile ground for metaphor
• for being a dance inclusive of regional, temporal and personal variations
• for the friends, colleagues and lovers
• for deepening our capacity for pleasure
• for always being an incomplete form– so people can complete it with themselves

Thank you for:

• the range of touching and being touched
• for the reverence dancing with men and the rapture dancing with women
• for not having certifications, belts, diplomas, ranks, and hazing initiations
• for the laughter
• for getting to be around (and around) such wonderful bodies
• for being my living, my support, my lively-hood
• for often inspiring humility by how inclusive and magnanimous you are
• for being such a spontaneous yet consistent partner
• for keeping me so close to the worlds of paradox and mystery

          Happy 35th Birthday C.I. I love you,

                                  Martin Keogh