Cathie Caraker

Cathie Caraker is a veteran dance artist and educator who has been working in the field of movement research, improvisation and performance for over 35 years. A native of San Francisco, she moved to Amsterdam in the 1980s, where she graduated from the innovative School for New Dance Development (SNDO), later joining the faculty there from 1995 – 2005. Her dance work has been deeply influenced by post-modern ideas and practices including the Judson Church movement, European new dance /music improvisaton, Contact Improvisation and somatics. She was privileged to work extensively with Nancy Stark Smith and Steve Paxton, founders of Contact Improvisation, with Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, founder of Body-Mind Centering® and many other pioneers in the fields of post-modern dance and somatics.

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Cathie’s Expertise

Body-Mind Centering® is an experiential study of the relationship between movement, body, and consciousness. Developed by somatics pioneer Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, BMC® invites us to embody our tissues, cells, body systems (bones, muscles, organs, fluids, nerves, and endocrine), and sense perceptions. Through movement, touch, voice, and exploration of developmental and evolutionary patterns, we deepen our awareness and connection to the felt body from within.
In Cathie’s classes, participants engage in guided explorations of specific body systems and movement patterns. Practices such as Contact Improvisation and Authentic Movement are woven in to support sensory perception, integration, and creative flow. Movement is recognized as a primary mode of sensing and knowing. Our early experiences of movement and touch are fundamental to how we perceive, relate, and learn.
Participants practice hands-on techniques and movement facilitation with each other, developing tactile sensitivity and relational awareness. These shared experiences transition into movement improvisations, where sensation and awareness guide our creative research. Embodied experience becomes a resource for creativity, learning, and discovery — grounded in curiosity and the body's innate intelligence.
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"Replace ambition with curiosity."
— Chögyam Trungpa Rinpoche, as often quoted by Nancy Stark Smith
Contact Improvisation is a dynamic and nuanced movement practice where two or more people move together, maintaining a shared point of physical contact while attuning to the forces of gravity, momentum, and inertia. Dancers develop skills such as falling, rolling, weight-sharing, and refined sensory awareness. Blending elements of martial arts, social dance, acrobatics, bodywork, and meditation, each dance emerges spontaneously, guided by mutual listening and play.
Since its emergence in 1972 through the work of dancer Steve Paxton, Contact Improvisation has grown into a global, open-source movement language. It has profoundly influenced contemporary dance and somatic movement education, offering an inclusive space where movers of all backgrounds meet through curiosity, play and shared exploration.