Underscore Alchemy: Extending the Underscore for Creative Artists

McKenzie, V. (2015). Underscore Alchemy: Extending the Underscore for creative artists. Contact Quarterly Contact Improvisation Newsletter 40(1), Winter/Spring 2015.

‘Underscore Alchemy’ is a research project designed to investigate how artists from disciplines outside the performing arts might engage with Nancy Stark Smith’s collaborative improvisation model, the Underscore. It was inspired by my participation in Nancy Stark Smith’s January Workshop 2013, for experienced contact improvisers to develop this practice and other related dance improvisation work. The contexts for, and application of, the Underscore proved to be a vital and, for me, the most valuable, part of that experience.