Consent, Social Currency &

the Erotics of Our Dance Spaces

How can you have your own erotic experience in a dance that doesn’t require the participation of your partner(s) or the room as a whole? Where are the gaps in our understanding of what we think we invite and how others perceive our invitation? How do we each act out our attractions and repulsions in our dances? What do we do when what we want is not wanted by another? Are we as open as we think we are (and is being open the point)?

Learn how to communicate with clarity, both verbally and non-verbally about what we want or don’t want in our dancing. Explore how our perceptions of gender, race, dis/ability and other markers of social currency, as well as our sexual/erotic attraction, affect these choices. We will move through a variety of guided exercises and laboratory space to explore our partner choices in dancing. Being a responsible participant in exploring higher risk activities requires self-awareness. We will build foundational skills, for all levels, together. We’ll engage in building tools around self-regulation, intimacy, verbal and non-verbal consent and some joyful improvisation.



Sasha Lasdon thrives on curiosity and learning. They have been teaching CI for 7 years, dancing for 18 and work as a Somatic Sex Educator, gynecological TA and circus performer. Their deep, lived understanding of intersectional identites and fierce commitment to kindness and liberation guides their teaching.

Janine Taylor is a curious monkey who pays her bills as a bodyworker and spends the rest of her time doing contact improvisation (6 yrs), authentic movement (5 yrs), co-counseling (5 yrs), hosting snuggle parties in her home (4 yrs), and spent the decade prior to those activities as an active participant and assistant in the Human Awareness Institute and practicing vipassana meditation. She is currently adding to her toolbox at the Feldenkrais Institute of NY, studying with Betty Martin (the wheel of consent) and lives in Ann Arbor MI.