How to contribute
The library is built together. Anyone can propose a work, point out a mistake, or annotate a text they know well. A curator reviews every suggestion and writes or edits the entry.
| Who can suggest | Anyone |
|---|---|
| Who edits | The curator, after review |
| Cost | None |
| Credit | Named in the entry if wanted |
| Contact | eric@ericalessi.com |
In short: send the title, the author, where the work can be read or watched, and one sentence on why it belongs. If it fits the library's scope, it goes on a shelf with a note, usually within a week.
How Wikipedia does it, and how this wiki differs
On Wikipedia anyone can press Edit and change a page at once; other editors watch the changes and talk pages hold the arguments. That model works for a site with thousands of editors. This library has one curator and a few hundred readers, so it runs the older way an encyclopedia was made: readers propose, an editor checks and writes. Every entry still shows its source, and every sentence on a guide page carries a numbered note that links to the work behind it, so a reader can check the library the same way they would check Wikipedia.
What gets in
The library collects texts, essays, films and books on contact improvisation and its close relatives: the practices Steve Paxton drew on, the people who shaped the form, and the research written about it since. A work is added when it meets three tests.
- It is about the form, or about something the form directly grew from or feeds into. A general book on improvisation can qualify; a general book on dance usually does not.
- It can be found. A link to a free full text, a publisher, a library catalogue or a film archive. Works that exist only as rumour wait until a copy surfaces.
- It adds something. A new argument, a first-hand account, a teaching score, a history that is not already on a shelf.
Free and open works are preferred, and the library marks what is free to read or watch. Paid books are listed when they matter.
Suggest a work
Write to eric@ericalessi.com with:
- Title and author, or director.
- Where it lives: a link, a publisher, or the name of the archive that holds it.
- One sentence on why it belongs, and which shelf you would put it on.
- Whether you want to be named as the person who suggested it.
A suggestion is answered within a week. If it goes in, the entry carries the standard note: what the work is, what it argues, and who should read it.
Correct an entry
Dates, names, spellings and dead links go wrong. A correction needs only the entry's title, what is wrong, and where the right information comes from. Corrections are made as soon as they are checked, and the page's date is updated.
Annotate a work you know well
Some entries carry only a short note because nobody who has read the work closely has written about it yet. If you have taught from a text, translated it, or studied it, a paragraph in your own words is welcome. It is edited to the wiki's voice, which is plain and third person, and credited to you by name if you wish. Opinions are kept out of entries; a view on a work's value is marked as the annotator's.
Translate
The library holds works in seven languages. A translation of an entry's note, or a pointer to a translation of a work that exists but is not listed, is treated like any other suggestion.
Frequently asked questions
Can I edit the wiki directly?
No. Unlike Wikipedia, pages here are written and edited by a curator. Anyone can suggest a work, a correction or an annotation by email, and suggestions are answered within a week.
What kind of works does the library accept?
Texts, essays, films and books about contact improvisation and the practices it grew from, that can be found and that add something not already on a shelf. Free and open works are preferred.
Will I be credited?
Yes, if you want to be. Suggested works and annotations can carry the contributor's name in the entry.
How is the wiki funded?
It is run by its curator without advertising. Readers can support the hosting and the hours of reading through a small donation.
| Guides in this wiki |
|---|
| 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 |
Cite this page
Alessi, Eric (curator). “How to contribute.” The Wiki of Contact Improvisation. Published 31 October 2026, updated 31 October 2026. https://ci-wiki.com/contribute/. Accessed .