Important GUS info

Global Underscore (GUS) 2019

Saturday, June 22, 2019: 10:00 am–2:00 pm EST (UTC-04:00)


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Harvest from Montréal


Below you will find the Harvest from the UnderScore held in Parc Lafontaine, Montreal, Qc, Canada, on a gorgeous sunny day.

François : J’ai passé un beau moment. Merci. C’était lent pour moi, tout simple. Être ensemble, avec nous, être ici, c’est ce qui me nourrit. Être comme on est, avec nos limites.

Guillaume : Je suis ému. J’ai un genou blessé et j’ai participé sans danser, simplement en étant là. Je suis content de m’être senti relié, de créer des liens.

Christelle : J’ai aimé danser dehors et avoir des fourmis dans les yeux. J’ai trouvé ça plate que la moitié de la gang soit à Chertsey, mais bon… j’ai passé un bon moment, merci.

Nelson : Je trouve ça très cool de regarder nos pieds en ce moments (note de la preneuse de note : nos pieds sont verts et bruns d’avoir dansé dans le gazon).

Daniel : Quand j’ai vu le petit groupe, je me suis dit on va faire avec ce qu’on a. Mais au fond, faire du contact c’est entrer en relation. Quand il y a de l’écoute, ça marche, quand ce n’est pas là, on s’ennuie et on veut passer à autre chose. J’ai dansé avec plusieurs personnes aujourd’hui, j’ai fait des découvertes, ça m’a permis de sortir de mon espace de sécurité.

Camille : Découverte de la liberté. Pas de cadre, ce qui m’a permis de passer de gracieuse à ridicule. Je célèbre la liberté aujourd’hui.

Christian : C’est mon premier jam, super belle découverte.

Maty : J’ai trouvé difficile de faire l’UnderScore et de tenir le temps en même temps. J’étais pressée de passer d’une étape à l’autre. J’ai particulièrement apprécié la petite danse, observer mon bassin.

Bruno : Je suis content d’être ici. Ça faisait 2-3 ans que je n’avais as fait de contact-impro. Merci Mère Nature pour le temps parfait. J’ai beaucoup apprécié, c’est ce dont j’avais besoin aujourd’hui.

Catherine : C’était ma première fois en plein air, j’ai été déboussolée jusqu’à ce qu’on arrive dans l’engagement et l’échange de poids. C’est agréable de sentir l’herbe sous le pied.

Isabelle : Je ne savais pas qu’il y avait l’UnderScore, alors je suis allée danser au studio 303, puis je suis venue vous rejoindre après. Très agréable. J’espère apporter un peu d’énergie de la danse pour apporter de la vitalité dans ma prochaine activité.

Stéphanie : J’ai eu de la difficulté à embarquer dans l’UnderScore, pour toutes sortes de raisons… la nouveauté de faciliter (ce que j’ai beaucoup aimé et aimerait recommencer si besoin) le fait que la grande partie de la gang est ailleurs, être dehors. Aussi, j’ai fortement expérimenté la connexion de répulsion, ce que j’ai trouvé difficile. La répulsion est vraiment une connexion.

Serge : Mon moment fort a été de l’UnderScore a été dans le croisement des kinésphères, je me suis retrouvé à 4 pattes, moment de connexion très fort à l’enfance.

Nelson : Merci à Maty et Stéphanie.

Sophia Ribeiro in Lisbon, Portugal


It was really a great chance to circulate in another Underscore practice. In Lisbon it was the first time that the practice arrived with it's full logic structure and philosophy. Your communications were so strongly with us. All the participants in the thanksgiving revealed their 'obrigadas' and were grateful about the practice.
Many mentioned the feeling of a dynamic, generous and committed body and the often resonance of parts of the structure low and high kinesphere, pow-wow, idiot button, skinesphere and connections-intersections. in the next weeks will be feeding the Underscore blog with some more info also from the participants present in Lisbon.

hug from the other side of the Atlântic
sophia

Dey Summer in Watertown, MA (near Boston)




Our Underscore was lovely.  It was a small group of 9, and three of them were doing their first Underscore.  It was a beautiful day, and the studio was full of light and summer breezes.  It felt very timeless, and many commented on how deeply they relaxed into the afternoon's practice.
There was a bunch of wheeling around of the several large potted plants on wheels that were in the room, which was a fun element!


Harvests from Dani Schwartz in Moscow

An excerpt from Dani's letter to Nancy:
"Ecki and I were invited by Masha and Sasha, to facilitate the first ever Weekend Jam in Moscow.
We joined the Global Underscore on the 19th during the last hours of the event. As our schedule for the jam didn’t work with your timing, we joined your first 2 hours of practice. I did a very simple introduction for the group so everyone could join in.

You and Mike were very present in the space for me and others. The group was composed of about 60 people and 50% of them had practiced the Underscore with you. I guided them in the small dance (as many didn’t know what it was...) and faced St. Petersburg (they knew we were facing them).

We danced for 2 hours, in a very intense shared space. The energy of the room was really strong and focused. Many memories of other global underscores came to me, and I was very inspired to have all of you in images and sensations, which give me inspiration to dance for almost the 2 hours, even though I was sick (I got a strong viral flu as I landed in St. Petersburg which accompanied me for 2 weeks!)

I saw people’s dances blooming that night!

Because of the jam frame, I proposed the organizers start together...but if some arrived later they could also join (we had a paper with suggestions at the door). Also I invited all those who needed to leave earlier, to do it. But leaving without interrupting the dance and without offering to the space any "social activity". They could say goodbye internally... and just leave the space.

We sat with 48 people for sharing the harvest for about 1 hour. Words were deep and full of thought. Many of them named that it was the most focused jam they ever had experienced, some said all jams should be like it! Words of freedom, clarity, openness, inspiration, connection, energy, appreciation, thankfulness.”

daniela schwartz

People at the beach, Bordeaux ( FRANCE ) - Sat. 18


Presents : Céline FUZEAU, Haleh GHEYTANCHI, Florent, Tâm Antoine NGUYEN-MINH

* "Une danse sacrée au delà de l'océan, avec lui, avec vous, avec le grand tout...quand mon mouvement fait le tour de la terre et me revient en plein coeur, je suis là, plus que jamais vivante et mon corps s'émeut de ses rencontres ensablées.
A cet instant le ciel et la terre se confondent, les mouettes passent et le soleil poursuit son voyage vers le grand ouest, il décline, je m'incline. MERCI" . Céline

No translation

* "Le sable... la force gravitationnelle. Gravit'air, aussi ! Le sable, et la mer, le vent, tout d'abord ont été très présent. Et puis les directions, des amis, des inconnus, des villes au delà des yeux : Jesse, Nancy, Poitiers, Buenos Aires, Australie... D'abord : difficile de se bouger dans le sable, si meuble, sans rebond. C'est pas un studio de danse !!! Un premier engagement, et puis un autre avec Céline : nos doigts d'air et nos corps de vent s'allègent, intuition et intentions jouant entre ciel et terre. Et nous sautons et nous sortons couvert de sable gravitaire !" . Tâm
"Sand - gravitational force. Sand, Sea, wind moving the air with force...Then directions : friends, people, cities beyond the eyes : Jesse, Nancy, Poitiers, Buenos Aires, Australia... First difficult to move in the sand, wet and so limp...it's not a dance studio !!! First engagement, then another with Celine, our air hands and wind bodies get soft, flying from sand to sun, intuition and intention playing together...We jump ad get covered with sand happy." . Tâm

T h a n k s f o r t h e c o n n e c t i o n.

Eskimo proverb

I received an email on Saturday with this quote and wanted to share it with you all...so timely!

"If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance."
~Eskimo proverb

Brooklyn harvests

below you will find the notes I (Jesse) took during our harvest...4:30-4:55pm and then continuing again from 5:03-5:15 or so. we were eating homemade hummus with crudite and vegan chocolate muffins. a feast!
----
• memories of my first global underscore in 2006 with claire filmon in desolate santa monica.
• (lots of passing the talking "stick"/remote control on the first go round...)
• 2 moments, both where I saw something and liked it, but didn't think I could do it, and then I did! 1) swinging on the I beam... and then at the end with the paired handstands...
I think I even said it out loud, "I can't" but then I did! and then it was so cool that there was applause and we were the end.
• this passion takes courage. these floors are now soaked with your passion energy. ONE LOVE.
• it was as much fun to be dancing as to be watching, this joyous playful romp all the time.
during the 1st stand i felt hit 1-2 minutes in by DC. POW.
• this was my first underscore, my first jam. i'm glad they coincided.
• really happy to see this food.
• so rarely do i have positive experiences this close to the bqe (the brooklyn queens expressway, a huge 8 or so lane elevated highway just outside the windows)
someone called out: it's been renamed "the conduit of possibility"!
• it was serendipitous to run into old old friends and be brought here. i felt transformed, as though i progressed through time.
• everyone (literally) said thank you
• each time more is revealed about myself and how to interact with other people. it's interesting putting pieces from the contact class together here. interesting also coming up against internal blockages, choosing to stay, choosing to go.
• i was fascinated by the individuality of people's feet, the contact of seeing, the connection in just seeing someone's hands, one small detail draws me in.
accepting people from their ground...
worship, each time we touch each other's feet...
• magical sublime funny profound
• i watched a lot. everyone was so engaged, very much doing what they were doing. as we were doing this, i could feel a disappearing, almost as if you can disappear...
(we pause for small stand...)
• today was like eating this muffin. delicious & spongy. i feel blessed to have this connection in my life. i find it extraordinary. if i didn't have it, i don't think i'd be very happy. thank you for creating a space where we can dance like dolphins, like natural beings. no words to describe it. upside down, multidirectional, multidimensional, sensual, loving, accepting.
• i felt during the stand just now the history of everything that just happened. like the resonance after plucking a guitar string. all these dances have been recorded in my muscles, skin, psyche.
• this was my first underscore. i was so powerful! with so much energy. so relaxing.
• there was so much caring that we expressed for each other, it's part of the form. it struck me. we care for each other in this work.
• it's a mystery, coming from that place of no energy to the opposite place. i don't need coffee. i just need this. i want to live life like this. i am learning to apply to real life. it was a good underscore.
• during the first stand, i thought, "what does Chertsey need right now?" and was answered by a deep violet purple energy. during the second stand, i felt sad and asked everybody in the whole global circle to help me get home...

Doug MacKenzie and his daughter...

From Geneva to Utrecht and Paris

Dear Sebas and Geneviève,
Thank you for your messages and especially for your energy.
We in Geneva were very happy to be connected directly to you and indirectly to all the global contact improv community around the world.
We did our opening small dance facing Cavigliano in east Switzerland.
It was a great and inspiring event for the 13 of us here in Geneva on Sunday.

Keep streaming and hope to connect again soon!

Wassim.

From Utrecht to Paris

Hello Geneviève,
Thank you for your nice paris-report and your energetical support.

we had 2 lines taped in our studio, one facing paris, one facing geneve, crossing somewhere in the middle of the room. And although we didn't do a beginning- nor ending-small-dance, these 2 lines were there through our whole underscore and reminded/linked us to you every now and then, giving direction/lines/input/form to parts of our dances. that was a nice element.
And we had a nice harvest, reminding us of the beauty of this form of jamming.

--
yours / met vriendelijke groet,
Sebas van Wetten

Photos from Paris!

Hi,

Nathalie & I (Genevieve) had a 1h dance, plus harvest, beginning with a small dance facing Utrecht to receive the energy you send us. We then had a dance connected with 3 others directions (Wassim's group in Geneva, Jerome's group in Gif sur Yvette, Jesse's group in New York).
It was an open air dance, which we really appreciated.
Enclosed (sorry it's fuzzy) : our map, 1 picture of the spot.

Best
Geneviève


Glyphs in Cardona

Notes from Juliet Shelly in Wellington, New Zealand

this was posted as a comment, but deserves it's own posting...
---

Sunday, 19 June 2011
NZ Underscore Practise
Hello everyone! Here in New Zealand there was a three hour Global Underscore Practise led by Val Smith nine hours ago in Auckland from 1pm - 4pm and in Wellington a practise was led by Juliet Shelley seven hours ago, from 3 - 5.30pm. It was nice for us to know we overlapped so in New Zealand we had the Underscore practise happening over a period of four and a half hours in total. There was a photographer here in Wellington so we will post some photos soon. We faced Perth, Australia for one small dance and Boulder, Colorado for another.. we thought of you there. We thought of Nancy and Mike in Chicago and it was just a beautiful time that we all had here in Wellington, NZ. One dancer who attended said this was the first time she had relaxed,(while she was awake, not asleep..) ever.
Sleep time for me here now on Sunday June 19th in New Zealand at 10pm.
Enjoy your dancing and speak soon, Juliet :)

photos from Brooklyn's Underscore

Check out these amazing photos from our Brooklyn Underscore. Technology is RAD!

Here are just a few to tempt you!


Live gchat during first stand...

Final Update Letter

Dear Underscorers,

On June 19, from 1-5pm EST (New York time zone), we will hold a Global Underscore event. This event is directly inspired by Claire Filmon’s “Global Underscore Solstice,” an event which she created and developed with great care and vision from Paris over the last ten years with the Paris Underscore team and others. Claire will not be organizing the event this year as she is taking a sabbatical year from the project.

With Nancy Stark Smith’s direction and your participation, we have already begun an amazing event together! We are 31 locations in 14 countries. It’s incredible.

We are so excited to join together this Sunday for this special event, practicing the Underscore together and forming a circle around the world. Here is the list of facilitators and some of the participants, in the order we will face each other around the globe (we will face each other in the east direction to open, west to close)...

1. Chicago, Illinois Full Practice
2. Buffalo, New York Full Practice
3. Washington, DC Full Practice
4. Brooklyn, New York Full Practice
5. Chertsey, Quebec Full Practice
6. Montreal, Quebec Full Practice
7. Plainfield, Massachusetts Full Practice
8. Easthampton, Massachusetts Satellite
9. North of Quebec City, Canada Full Practice
10. Watertown, Massachusetts Full Practice
11. Buenos Aires, Argentina Full Practice
12. Cayenne, French Guiana Satellite
13. Lisbon, Portugal Full Practice
14. Bordeaux, France Full Practice
15. London, United Kingdom Full Practice
16. Poitiers, France Full Practice
17. Cardona, Spain Full Practice
18. Barcelona, Spain Satellite
19. Palma, Spain Satellite
20. Paris, France Full Practice
21. Utrecht, The Netherlands Modified Jam
22. Geneva, Switzerland Satellite
23. Cavigliano, Switzerland Satellite
24. Livorno, Italy Full Practice
25. Salonica, Greece Full Practice
26. Saint Petersburg, Russia Full Practice
27. Perth, Australia Full Practice
28. Coolah, Australia Satellite
29. Wellington, New Zealand Full Practice
30. Gothic, Colorado Satellite
31. Boulder, Colorado Modified Jam

We are doing the practice between noon and 4pm Central Standard Time in the US, (Chicago time) where Nancy Stark Smith and Mike Vargas are holding a workshop. This year, we are many, some simultaneous full Underscores, some non-simultaneous Underscores, some simultaneous stands with modified jams, and some solo satellites. Mostly we begin together and end together. Trust in the power of our intention to keep our global circle strong throughout the weekend, beginning at 5pm in Bordeaux on Saturday, and ending at 5pm Sunday here in New York City and along the east coast.

We will hold our circle with our focus, attention and intention, letting our slightly different timings echo throughout the circle.

In the full simultaneous Underscores, take your opening global small dance stand from 0:50-1:00 into your practice. Face the east, towards the city listed after yours above (Boulder, face Chicago). In the ending global small dance, from 3:55-4:00, face the west, towards the city listed before yours above (Chicago, face Boulder).

If you are doing a satellite, take time to send energy to your neighbors in both directions, and to receive energy from those directions. Our global practice will encircle the globe the whole weekend!

If you are linking with Chicago, follow the schedule below for our linked practice.

0:00 start time
0:45 preambulation
0:50 opening global small dance, facing east according to the map
3:55 closing global small dance, facing west according to the map
Note: you can start preambulating or small dancing earlier than specified.

Please collect your harvests from the practice, in your native language! Post your harvests, in text, photos or videos here!

We invite you to drop deeply into this practice and bring your personal, community or global intention to it fully.

Love and blessings,
Jesse & Dey

The Map!

Check out our map!


View Global Underscore 2011 in a larger map

We begin

Below is the current list of participating cities.  We are 23 locations in 13 countries, practicing simultaneously (or almost) during the weekend of June 18-19.  YES!
--

Perth, Australia
Coolah, Australia
Wellington, New Zealand
Gothic, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Chicago, Illinois
Washington, DC
Brooklyn, New York
Chertsey, Quebec
Earthdance, Plainfield, Massachusetts
Watertown, Massachusetts
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Cayenne, French Guiana
Lisbon, Portugal
Bordeaux, France
London, United Kingdom
Cardona, Spain
Palma, Spain
Paris, France
Geneva, Switzerland
Cavigliano, Switzerland
Livorno, Italy
Saint Petersburg, Russia
Perth, Australia (full circle)