Julia Robinson has been moving around the world since she left university in 1996. She first began her adventure into Contact Improvisation in Boulder, Colorado in 2013. Her first experiences were disastrous and, frankly, filled with fear, angst and vulnerability. On and off she (bravely) dipped in and out of the dance. Later, in England, she helped form the Totnes Contact Improv group and as a result in 2016 she went and lived in a Contact Improvisation Intentional Community in Spain for 6 months in the 'Monastery of Dreams'. It sounds idyllic and it was, but there is no light without shadow. Moving through the shadow aspects has been the real gift that has had long lasting effects. The final motto on closing the monastery doors was, 'It was worth it in the end!' Contact Improvisation is many things to many people, a dance form, a movement practise, a physical exercise, a practise in intimacy, a psychological investigation or even a glimpse into the mirror of Self.
Having studied a Master's in Jungian Psychology and immersing herself into the world of meditation (coupled with the plain fact that she is not a natural born dancer) Julia sees CI as a possible way to become conscious of ourselves. CI can in this way be considered a 'meditation on the move' - spreading the effects out from the cushion onto the dance floor and further into daily life.