Falling and Gravity in Contact Improvisation
Why dancers learn to fall, and what the library says about weight.
In contact improvisation, gravity is the shared teacher: dancers learn to fall and roll so that a topple agrees with the floor.1
- Field and figure. Paxton describes gravity as the perceptual field and the moving point of contact as the figure.2
- Relative up and down. Up and down become relative to your partner's body, so a back can be a floor, a wall or a ramp.3
- Falling as a skill. Repeated falling builds a sensitivity to weight until falling stops being frightening.4
Gravity as the field
Hubert Godard and Emma Bigé call gravity the repressed relation, absent from every pantheon.5 Bigé adds that every step is a modulated arc of falling and that each partner is a floor.6 Michael O'Connor tries to define the pull between living bodies as a second gravity, in a speculative essay.7 Sardo's foreword to Paxton's book lands on the idea that Paxton taught the part of gravity Newton left out: what it is to be the apple.8
Learning to fall
Asked how to keep people safe, Paxton's answer was to sharpen the senses, keep the sphere around the body lively, and teach people to fall and roll.1 Nita Little writes that trained attention slices a fall into many decisions where beginners get one chunk.9 Bigé argues against the cliche of shared equilibrium: equilibrium is death, and the partner's job is to help you lose your verticals.3
Catching
Bigé interviewed choreographer Sharon Fridman at the Ibiza Contact Festival on falling, catching and what happens when a choreographer builds finished work out of the fall and the catch.10
Read and watch more
Fall After Newton shows eleven years of Paxton and Nancy Stark Smith dancing.11 Paxton's lecture Swimming in Gravity runs an hour and covers gravity, the small dance and your feet.12 Ann Cooper Albright's How to Land takes falling, gravity and disorientation to general readers.13 For the practice that opens it all, see the small dance.
Frequently asked questions
Why do contact improvisers fall?
Repeated falling teaches a sensitivity to weight, giving and receiving it, until falling stops being frightening.4
How do you learn to fall in contact improvisation?
Paxton's answer was to make the senses acute and to teach people to fall and roll so that a topple agrees with the floor.1
What does gravity have to do with contact improvisation?
Paxton frames gravity as the perceptual field and the moving point of contact as the figure.2
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| What is Contact Improvisation? · The small dance · The Underscore · Jams · Steve Paxton · Nancy Stark Smith · Falling and gravity · Consent · Exercises · Glossary · How it is written · Contribute |
Sources in the library
1The Origins and Value of Contact Improvisation Steve Paxton in conversation with Maura Keefe, 1998; PillowVoices episode 16, hosted by Jennifer Edwards, Jacob's Pillow, released August 2020 (27 min. In the library: Paxton in his own words.
2Thoughts on Contact Improvisation Paxton interviewed 1981, annotated by his 2013 self (ed. Mazzaglia, Danza e Ricerca 2013). In the library: Paxton in his own words.
3Touch and the Fall Emma Bigé, "L'haptique et la chute," 2015. In the library: The gravity school.
4Automatism and Creativity in Contact Improvisation Serena Massimo, University of Ferrara, Philosophies 10(2), article 39, March 30, 2025; open access (CC BY 4.0). In the library: The gravity school.
5Moving-moved Hubert Godard & Emma Bigé, in the 2019 Culturgest book · published under the name Romain Bigé, Emma Bigé’s earlier name. In the library: The gravity school.
6Living Weight Emma Bigé, "Le poids vivant," 2018. In the library: The gravity school.
7Horizontal Gravity Michael O'Connor, 2015. In the library: The gravity school.
8Steve Paxton: Drafting Interior Techniques ed. Emma Bigé, Culturgest, Lisbon 2019. In the library: Paxton in his own words.
9Restructuring the Self-Sensing Nita Little, Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices 2014. In the library: Attention & perception.
10Catching the Fall Emma Bigé in conversation with Sharon Fridman, Contact Quarterly 41.2, Summer/Fall 2016 · published under the name Romain Bigé, Emma Bigé’s earlier na. In the library: The gravity school.
11Fall After Newton: the excerpts Videoda, 1987; excerpts via Martin Keogh. In the library: Video library & directory.
12Swimming in Gravity Steve Paxton lecture, 62 min, Contredanse. In the library: Video library & directory.
13How to Land: Finding Ground in an Unstable World Ann Cooper Albright, 2018, Oxford. In the library: Books: the complete shelf.
Cite this page
Alessi, Eric (curator). “Falling and Gravity in Contact Improvisation.” The Wiki of Contact Improvisation. Published 30 October 2026, updated 31 October 2026. https://ci-wiki.com/concepts/falling-and-gravity/. Accessed .