Nancy Stark Smith (born 1952, Brooklyn, New York) is a dancer and founding participant in contact improvisation.
An alumna of Oberlin College, Smith initially trained as an athlete and gymnast. She studied and performed in modern dance and postmodern dance shows in the early 1970s. She danced in the first contact improvisation shows in 1972, and has since worked as a dancer, performer, instructor, author, and organizer. She has travelled the world to teach and present shows of contact and improvised dance.
She has collaborated with numerous partners including Steve Paxton, Julyen Hamilton, Karen Nelson, and, recently, the musician Mike Vargas. In 1975, she founded Contact Quarterly, an international journal of dance and improvisation, which she continues to co-edit and produce.
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“Pain and fear and hunger are effects of causes which can be foreseen and known: but sorrow is a debt which someone else makes for us.”
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