Cristhy Mattos (currently based in Delft) is a Contact Improvisation dancer and architect whose work connects architectural and bodily structures, reading weight, organizing support, and composing in real time. She entered CI in Brazil in 2011 with Ricardo Neves, following a decade of Iyengar Yoga training with Vanessa de Lucca. She later expanded her studies in the US and Europe, joining intensives led by renowned dancers while deepening her somatic understanding with Feldenkrais master practitioner Juliano Vendemiatti. She continues exploring CI through research labs in the Netherlands and co-leads the Open Contact Improvisation Performance Laboratory in Amsterdam, focused on performance research. Her current curiosity blends precision and play with a deep softening of the body, cultivating attentiveness, fluid partnering, and compositional awareness.
Christy offers regular opportunities to study, practice, and research CI in Rotterdam, Delft, and Amsterdam. She is part of:
Roffa CI takes place in Rotterdam twice a month and offers a class + jam format open to all levels. The sessions combine guided exploration with time for open dancing, creating a space for learning, meeting, and deepening the practice.
DIGinCI takes place in Delft every Wednesday, starting in June. It offers a beginner-friendly CI class followed by a jam open to everyone. The project supports new dancers in entering the practice while also creating a regular local meeting point for the CI community.
OCIPLA — Open Contact Improvisation Performance Laboratory Amsterdam: an open research space in Amsterdam dedicated to exploring CI in relation to performance. It investigates presence, composition, perception, and the transition from improvisation into performative practice.
