Exploring the relationship between risk and flow in contact improvisation / Vanessa Reiser (2022)

Contact improvisation (CI) is a creative endeavor associated with risk taking and flow states, thus the focus of this study was to explore the relationship between risk and flow to understand how CI dancers engage with creativity. Conducted during the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, a secondary aim was to investigate how risk in CI was affected by this time period. Ten dancers, male and female, from a variety of dance training backgrounds were interviewed about their experience with risk and flow in CI using semi-structured interviews. Three overarching themes emerged from the results: embracing the nature of CI, the existence of choice in risk taking, and aiming for flow. From the results, CI was revealed as a practice that promotes risk taking and flow states but does not guarantee that flow will be achieved. The relationship between risk and flow was one of mutual enablement, managed by maintaining a balance of safety. Although COVID-19 initially increased the risk involved in CI, dancers were willing to take this risk for the sake of experiencing connection and creativity following the height of the pandemic.