Jacqueline McCormick
Jacqueline’s work has been greatly influenced by her research into Contact Improvisation, teaching, performing and making dances for over twenty years. 

She has taught CI at numerous Contact Festivals and workshops throughout the USA and Europe, and from 1997-2003 she co-led the CI Teachers Lab in San Francisco, California.

Jacqueline has a B.Ed in Human Movement Studies, an M.A in Dance from Mills College California, USA and has been, Associate Professor in Dance at Western Oregon University (1985-1996) and Connecticut College, USA (2000-2004).

She directs and performs in her company DanceAbout, works that take a dancing journey through the outback of the self. 

Along with Contact Improvisation her curiosities lie in Authentic Movement, and the methodology of delivering dance where participants feel safe to explore their own movement freely. All of her work is informed by her extensive knowledge of anatomy/kinesiology of the body.

Jacqueline is in her 5th year as Co-Director for Cheshire Dance, UK. Her role as Dance Director is to lead the artistic direction of the organization. As a practising artist she is working alongside a core team providing the artistic advice, guidance, and input into all aspects of Cheshire Dance’s operation.

Barbara Stahlberger
Barbara's interests are wide spread from nursery over movement research, dance and performance to graphic design. She dances CI since 1993 and is greatly influenced by this form. As a freelance dance and movement teacher she uses tools and inspirations from the form and finds her main interest in Contact improvisation while teaching, dancing and performing.

She has learned much from the form, in her studies in New Dance and Performance with Keriac in San Francisco/USA, where she later also co-taught. In 1999 she took part in the CI Teachers Lab with Keriac and J. McCormick.

Returning from San Francisco in 2000 she co-founded the contactfestival freiburg and still is passionate about organizing it. The Festival can be seen as one of the biggest Contact events in Europe and is constantly growing, moving, and developing.

Since 2005 she has taught and organized the extra-occupational New Dance and Performance program Dancing In Between together with Anna Garms. This program has been developed and realised over many years before from Keriac. It is a great opportunity to teach in a curious, exchanging and exploring mode for finding your own creativity and movement.

Barbara's performances are influenced by the dialog of the mover and the audience and the interaction with another body, awareness, art and the grayzone of the visual to the unvisual.