ON-GOING CONTACT IMPROVISATION CLASS & JAM

Rachel Saudek (she/they) is a mover, outdoor educator and facilitator in service of deepening connection with self, others and the earth. She is passionate about empowering people to feel, move and explore their own body’s wisdom, while offering healthy technical approaches to movement. She began dancing Contact Improvisation in 2010 at Oberlin College and has since studied dance and somatics with many incredible teachers while living and working at Earthdance, the Field Center, in Boston and the Bay Area, as well as studying at the FUNCEB School of Dance in Bahia, Brazil. She is dedicated to movement as a pathway to deep listening and radical presence. 

Will Magid: Embark on a journey of rhythm, vibrations, and dance by Will Magid - musician, composer, producer, and trumpet player known for his project Balkan Bump, and work in various genres of music, including jazz, electronic, and world music. Will invites you to explore the marriage of movement, improvisation, and sound. Through the interplay of looped Trumpet, Kalimba, and percussion, each session unfurls as an authentic, improvised adventure, drawing from a rich blend of jazz, ambient, Eastern European, West African, and western classical influences. As you move, Will Magid's musical background and passion will unfold in real time, creating an improvised live score that resonates with the dance happening in the room. Allow this journey to be a dynamic exploration of expression through the universal language of dance, guided by rhythms, vibrations, and melodies.

AJ McKinley is a Bay Area multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer whose work flows between performance, collaboration, and improvisation. A longtime presence in the local music scene, he plays guitar, keys, bass, voice, and electronics, moving fluidly across genres and roles. With over 20 years of experience as both a performer and educator, his practice centers on listening, responsiveness, and real-time creation—from live looping and studio production to scoring for film, games, and collaborative projects. His approach invites a shared, embodied experience of sound, where music emerges as a conversation between space, movement, and collective energy.

Merrick Jacob is a lover of movement, continuously in awe of the body and its potential for delightful expression, wild creativity, & authentic connection. Influenced by her practices of contact improvisation, figure skating, acroyoga, and hand-balancing, she guides playful movement experiences as an opportunity for deep listening, research, and co-creation. Merrick teaches & hosts contact across the SF Bay Area and beyond.