Sheila Skemp | Movement & Art
Beginner's Mind
Fall 2025
Contact Improv One Day Intensives in October, November & December
Dates:
October: Sat 10/4 1-5:30pm, Sat 10/25 1-5:30
November: Sat 11/15 1-5:30pm
December: Sat 12/6 1-5:30pm
Cost: $95/Day
In these small groups we will….
Focus on qualities of touch, both received and offered, pausing and connecting, cultivating awareness of tone and sensation within the body.
Explore developmental patterns as fundamentals for solo and partner dancing, and simple improvisational structures.
Build familiarity and cohesiveness within a small group.
In my cozy studio, we will explore how to enrich our dancing within and around the body in nourishing, joyful, and intentional ways.
Open to all levels. Beginners welcome! Groups will be capped at 8 dancers. Studio is near the waterfront in Mukilteo with beautiful parks and walking.
Address provided when registered. Please fill out the form below to register.
Beginner's Mind Registration form:
There Are No Rules!
Contact Improv Collabortion with Sheila Skemp & Tal Shibi — A Dance Immersion focusing on Solo Dance Delight heading into Sweet Scores and Connected CI.
Sunday November 9,2025 12:00 pm-4:30 pm at Khambatta Studio: 5609 34th Ave SW Seattle
Join us for a special workshop designed for movers who crave a richer, more integrated connection to their dancing.
Blending foundational elements of Contact Improvisation, floor-based somatic practice, and expressive solo exploration, this workshop opens a space for cultivating both skill and freedom, nuance and boldness in how you move — with others and with yourself.
We'll begin by diving into somatic awareness through slow, floor-based sequences, where gravity and the ground become partners. From there, we’ll build confidence and sensitivity in contact work, developing trust through weight sharing, skillful touch, and tuning to our own nervous systems.
On the solo front, we’ll explore moving beyond flow into the realms of the awkward, the subtle, the raw, and the surprising — expanding your expressive range and freeing habitual patterns.
Whether you're newer to these practices or returning to deepen your inquiry, this workshop invites you to:
Cultivate a bodymind that can access both relaxation and readiness
Explore skillful contact as a foundation for more easeful and open dancing
Embrace the full texture of solo movement — from weird to wonderful
Broaden insight and philosophical richness around CI and Dance
Reconnect with the joy, intelligence, and expressive power already living in you
This workshop is held by two artists and facilitators with a rich, embodied lineage in CI, somatics, and improvisation who share a deep belief in the power of dance and somatics as a life practice.
About Sheila Skemp: I am dancer, occupational therapist, and visual artist. I have been investigating and practicing contact improvisation and somatic movement realms for over 30 years. I look forward to collaborating with you!