PLEASE NOTE THIS IS A REDIRECT PAGE AS WE SCREENING AND SELL OUR TICKETS THROUGH EVENTIVE
GET TICKETS AT https://contactdancefilmfest.eventive.org/
"Contact Dance Film Festival" is screening two evenings of short contact improvisation films as part of the "Falling Into Autumn" Long-weekend Dance Jam
The "Contact Dance Film Fest" celebrates films featuring dance by creators and dancers in the fields of Contact Improvisation and related dance forms that are momentum, touch, and relationally based. This October we are screening 24 films form 17counties in-person in Toronto and Online (Online screening is available for month from the opening date)
This year we are screening two programs of short contact improvisation films
- Friday October 9, 2026 at 8:00 pm
- Sunday 11, 2026 at 7:00 pm.
Just catching the film screening? Get your in-person or virtual film screening tickets here on this site:
https://contactdancefilmfest.eventive.org/schedule
"Falling Into Autumn"
The "Falling into Autumn" Jam is an annual weekend jam that aims to be a dance-focused exploration of Contact Improvisation featuring classes, workshops, and jams. Our two screenings occur as part of this festival.
This year "Falling Into Autumn" runs from Saturday October 10 to Monday October 12, 2026 (With a pre-festival film screening Friday October 9)
Do you want to attend the "Falling into Autumn" Jam which includes the Friday and Sunday night film screening?
Schedule of "Falling Into Autumn"
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1buhbkR3cg1l3-Xrp74nWkYmLQDSys9-c/view?usp=sharing
Get your weekend pass here: https://2026torontofallingintoautunm.eventzilla.net/e/2138681039
Contact Dance Film Fest Trailer
Falling Into Autumn Trailer
Film Line Ups
Friday Program - Friday Oct 9 at 7:00 pm
Held / Cynthia Reimers / Canada / Length 3:00 / 2026
Contact Improvisation: A Life of Impulse / Dancing Lobster and Kate Most / Indonesia / Length 2:00 / 2026
Contact Improv Trio / Gabrielle Revlock / United States / Length 0:46 / 2025
Strange Age / Fu Le / France / Length 4:14 / 2025
Reverdecer (To revive) / Ximena Monroy Rocha / Mexico / Length 5:30 / 2026
The Last Drop / Daria Lukina / Georgia / Length 6:24 / 2026
Sogna Fiore Mio / Jacopo Lepre / Italy / Length 2:26 / 2024
The battle we choose / Tiina Jääskö / Finland / Length 2:00 / 2026
Eve and Adam / Daria Lukina / Georgia / Length 7:52 / 2025
Contact Impro Last Dance in Freiburg Festival / Francesca Frewer & Jesus Alonso / Canada and Spain / Length 2:00 / 2026
THE WAVES / ZHI JIANG / China / Length 13:23 / 2023
Dancing with Stones / Alex St-Onge / Canada / Length 4:00 / 2026
Dance with Me / Litian Wang / Canada / Length 8:55 / 2026
Sunday Program - Sunday October 11 at 7:00 pm
#ThisIsDance ENVISION / Marisa Hamamoto / United States / Length 1:34 / 2025
Between Earth and Us / Kathleen Rea / Canada / Length 2:45 / 2026
The art of peer pressure / Lisa Cambours / France / Length 4:05 / 2026
As I Am Able / Fredhi Budin and Oliver Zimmermann / Germany / Length 6:35 / 2026
The _____ Between Us / Maayan Reiter / Germany / Length 9:30 / 2025
Te odiero / Candelaria Antelo, Arthur Bernard-Bazin and Alejandro Larumbe / Spain / Length 12:00 / 2026
Our Circle in the Storm / Ray Jacobs and Sabrina Scollan / United Kingdom / Length 9:41 / 2025
Pasodoble / mike bennion / United States / Length 3:24m / 2025
NOUAGE / FU LE and Magalle Lanriot / France, Portugal, United States / Length 9:51 / 2026
Expectations Sharpen the Blade with Which We Carve Joy / Olya Glotka and Ola Hasla / Canada / Length 3:00 / 2026
Location
Friday October 9 - 8:00 pm Film Screening
Home studio
306 Garden Ave, Toronto
{NOT wheelchair accessible but access for this screening is available virtually)
Location for all dance jams and classes that take place Saturday October 10 to Monday October 12, 2026
National Ballet School of Canada/ Celia Franca Centre
400 Jarvis Street, Toronto, Ontario.
(YES wheelchair accessible nd access for this screening is also available virtually)
Sunday October 11, 2026 - 7:00 pm Film Screening
Betty Oliphant Theatre
404 Jarvis Street, Toronto
{YES wheelchair accessible and access for this screening is also available virtually)
Watching Films Online?
Our platform for virtual screenings:
https://watch.eventive.org/contactdancefilmfest
and click the "pre-order now" button
You will be sent an email once you "pre-order now" with the screening link but you can also just rerun ot the above link to watch as well
How it works
The virtual screening can be purchased ahead of time and open at the same time as the live version.
Film Screening - Friday, October 09 2026 @ 7:00 pm (EST)
Film Screening - Sunday, October 11 2026 @ 7:00 pm (EST)
Cost for a virtual screenings: $1 to $20 (sliding scale)
The screenings are watermarks to protect the filmmaker's work.
To accommodate different time zones and work schedules we have this watch policy:
- Once this start time occurs you will have 48 hours to open your screening.
- Once you start watching, you have 48 hours to finish watching the program.
- Programs have forensic watermarks and are a one-time view.
See our tutorial for accessing our live streams
https://youtu.be/9yN1yobiGtw
Access
All text in the films is open-captioned.
Please email us at kathleen.rea@reasondetre.com if you have an accommodation that can create enhanced access for you.
National Ballet School of Canada - 400 and 404 Jarvis Street, Toronto
- Barrier-free entrance
- There is an elevator to get to the fourth floor
- Gender neutral wheelchair accessible washrooms
Friday October 9, 8:oo pm film screening Home studio screening is not wheelchair accessible but screening is also available virtually..
What is Contact Improvisation?
Contact Improvisation is a style of dance that is not codified or owned, so any one definition is simply that person’s definition. This is the founder of REAson d’etre dance Kathleen Rea’s definition of Contact Improvisation:
- Contact Improvisation is a social dance involving touch, in which momentum between two or more people is used to create and inspire dance movements.
- Contact Improvisation evolved from explorations of a group of dancers many centred around Oberlin College in the early 1970s, which included Steve Paxton, Nancy Stark Smith, Danny Lepkoff, Lisa Nelson, Karen Nelson, Nita Little, Andrew Harwood, and Ray Chung.
- One of the founders of Contact Improvisation Steve Paxton, was strongly influenced by his training in Aikido a Japanese Martial arts practice. Looking at the principles of CI its commonality with Aikido is clear.
- Techniques include rolling point of contact, balancing over a partner's centre of gravity, "listening" with one's skin surface, and “surfing” momentum. While there is technique involved, the aesthetic I reach for is the quality of the relationship and communication within a dance.
- It is typically practiced in a jam situation in which people gather to improvise together.
- Dancers move with a constantly changing physical reality. In Contact Improvisation there are no set leaders and followers as in other social dance forms. Instead, there is a back-and-forth with dancers sometimes leading, sometimes following, and all variations between these two roles.
- The form is potentially accessible to all people, including those with no previous dance training and people with physical disabilities. I say potentially because "-isms" such as racism and ableism as well as misogyny historically have reduced or inhibited access. The -isms and issues that are embedded in the broader cultures in which CI is practiced show up on the dance floor. There has been a growing movement to address these “ism” in CI but also resistance to this as well.
- Another limitation to access has been the lack of consent culture in Contact Improvisation communities, both on the dance floor and off. Since the "me-too" movement there has been a growing understanding of the value of building and supporting consent culture in Contact Improvisation, along with some backlash against this movement.
- I believe much of the resistance to addressing “isms" and consent culture comes from the idea that CI is an egalitarian form that transcends “isms”. The reality however for people who are marginalized by society is that “isms” show up on the dance floor.
- This definition of Contact Improvisation is my personal feeling of what Contact Improvisation is to me. Others will describe it differently, and this variance and diversity of opinions are for me one of the strengths of Contact Improvisation. One of the founders, Nancy Stark Smith, wrote: “Throughout CI’s development, a gentle anarchy has prevailed over its organization.” I feel that this gentle anarchy is a fundamental aspect of the form.
REAson d'etre dance productions (producer)
REAson d'etre dance produces CDIFF. REAson detre dance strives to provide artistic expression through movement, inclusive of age, ability, and level background. We stage and program works based on Contact Improvisation enabling us to utilize the inclusiveness that can be a part of this dance form. Our vision is for both professional dancers and everyday people to be inspired and invigorated by Contact Improvisation. This mandate involves initiatives that work to dismantle racism and ablism and other "isms" as their existence hinders us in achieving our mandate. We are committed to examining the art form of contact improvisation and acknowledging its history of inequity, ablism, and racism. We strive to engage in a continuing process of educating ourselves and acting for change.
https://reasondetre.com/
Land Acknowledgement
Land Acknowledgement is part of the process of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples who have been acknowledging the land before gatherings, ceremonies, and events for time immemorial. Being based in Toronto, Canada, we acknowledge the land this festival takes place on is the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples, and is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. In support of the process of reconciliation REAson d'etre dance donates 2.5 of all box office and jam and workshop fee to the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto.
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