Contact Lab Group

[Jonathan Leake]

Hello all,

Something I brought up at the last class and jam was the idea of setting up a monthly CI "lab". I went to my first CI lab in Hawai'i in the beginning of January, and I really enjoyed it and thought it would be cool to recreate what I saw there in Southern MI. If you heard me talking about it and are interested in joining a group that explores this, here is a link to a WhatsApp group I started: 

https://chat.whatsapp.com/D0dXwhZ9q8iLnj5iFXpN7p?mode=gi_t

For those of you who weren't there and have no idea what I am talking about, here is the jist, and will be in the description of the WhatsApp group: 

What is a CI Lab vs a Jam vs a Class?: A CI Lab is somewhere between a jam and a class, where we come together as peers and transfer skills/knowledge between each other. There would be aspects of jams and aspects of classes, but it is not quite either of them on their own. If you have ever just hung out with a CI friend and tried to troubleshoot some moves or ever philosophized out loud with another person about movement, that is sort of the idea :) 

Rotating Facilitation: During sessions, we rotate the facilitation allowing different lab members to help the group approach our theme or research question from different angles. The hope is that everyone in the group facilitates at some point. There can also be co-facilitators, or multiple topics in one session. Lab members are able to redirect facilitators, suggest that the lab head in a different direction, or give active feedback to the facilitator and one another. This will often feel like multi-directional collective peer-to-peer work rather than unidirectional teacher-to-student work. 

Collective Decision Making and Responsibility: As a group, we do our best to make big decisions together. Our research topics, direction, and session length and participants are all decided collectively. The lab doesn't have a leader or head organizer. We split the cost of studio space equitably, with no one making a profit.

Core Organizer Group: As far as pace and timing, right now the "core organizing group" just consists of Melea and I. We are comfortable handling the logistics for this lab on a once per month basis, on Sundays avoiding any conflicts with Cara's jams/classes. We think the first date could be February 22nd. If other people want to take on logistical responsibilities for this, it is possible we could do this more frequently on different days of the week. Taking on logistical responsibilities should not confer power or direction over others in the group, and should be viewed as a voluntary service.