With the school year ending, seasons changing, injuries, and people migrating, the MIL has kind of lost an arm or two but it growing new limbs on the opposite end of it's organic blobby body.
I am going to write a little bit about collective consciousness and familiarity from an observational and scientific point of view. I want it to be clear that it is no way my intention to ostracize or make anyone feel that they are any less than a wonderful contributor to the MIL experience.
First, Let's recap from the beginning of this group's meeting starting back on Thursday, January 27th:
Completely OPEN improvisation. It was simply, "see you on the other side" and we worked the whole evening with the lights off.
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We'd found some kind of vocal Chord together at the end of the last session. We decided to begin at the periphery of the room and I led us through a brief group ritual called THE CHORD; finding our breath and vocalized exhales together.
from the open score: Rich and Famous
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Lights on. We brought in a sound-scape of a rainstorm with bells and also just rain. We began the evening working in "corridors," which eventually opened into more corridors and then "the grid."
from the open score:
We ate goldfish and all the students died in the corridor. They wanted us to crush their bones into parchment paper.
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Developing a vocabulary to identify and play with during open improv: "Ding" "End" Notice" "Direction." We continued to work with the corridors and the grid.
from the open score:
Christopher was introduced. A dead fish in the middle of the floor. And swimming in sticky buns, but pollution.
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I introduced The Six Viewpoint Theory and Practice and gave a taste of all Six - then focused on SPACE.
from the open score:
A lot of people came that day. Including that one older women who ended up breaking her ankle maybe? There was a lot going on but we were more comfortable I think.
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Starting with a warm up on the floor working our way into sitting. Then I transitioned into teaching about SHAPE. Working with the boundaries of the body and the architecture. Also, Entrances and Exits: 1 2 3 4 ...etc...
from the open score:
I'd talked about about the shape of the larynx and the anatomical shape of the body. A much more unified open score. Some ending sequence with a couple in the corner that slowly made there way to the ending reflection circle. We all wished we'd called 1 more often.
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We had a musician come and accompany the MIL that day. We began with a warm up on our backs watching our hands drift from side to side and then just the hands then other peoples hands and eventually laban and other image phrasing.
from the open score:
THE BIG MIS STEAK. and I died, for a long time...but eventually came to, maybe as something else. The lines between being in and out of the open improv were blurred. Was I talking to the group as an instructor or as a performer? Someone helped me find my father in a cave in the cornfield and I was a vegan in the end, who felt very sorry for all the cheese I'd eaten. A bit of a solo there at the end.
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Reviewing SHAPE and SPACE. Massaging the Jaw and very gradually noticing the shift between the lens of SHAPE and the lens of SPACE.
from the open score:
Iodine, the president, something else. Still working with calling out numbers for entrances and exits.
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TIME. we started with rolling across the width of the room and back and then we all decided to focus on whatever we thought TIME was without the definition.
from the open score:
Lots of exploration of rhythm and different qualities of time. I ended up writing and drawing and scribbling in my journal for most of the score.
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No expectations. A small group. We'd just stretch a little and then go into open score.
from the open score:
Thunderstorm sound scape. It was warm in the studio that day- we'd started to get more daylight and could leave the florescents off. We were using entrances and exits more loosely. St Patricks Day and one of us sang this kind of lullaby. Id told everyone to treat me as if I was a sculpture and they'd all congregated with me around me around each other in this incredible moment of slow thoughtless soft air beauty.
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EMOTION. Just learning to see and let yourself be seen. Feeling the state of being and questioning perception vs experience
from the open score:
Floorboards and changing shirts. I only want to wear this dress. leeches. grandmothers. cobwebs. Really slow. Feeling like we could keep going- just getting started there at the end.
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I wasn't there the last couple weeks with the regular group, sadly. But I hear it was slower and easy going for the most part. If you have something to contribute here, please do in the comments.
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We'd found some kind of vocal Chord together at the end of the last session. We decided to begin at the periphery of the room and I led us through a brief group ritual called THE CHORD; finding our breath and vocalized exhales together.
from the open score: Rich and Famous
|
Lights on. We brought in a sound-scape of a rainstorm with bells and also just rain. We began the evening working in "corridors," which eventually opened into more corridors and then "the grid."
from the open score:
We ate goldfish and all the students died in the corridor. They wanted us to crush their bones into parchment paper.
|
Developing a vocabulary to identify and play with during open improv: "Ding" "End" Notice" "Direction." We continued to work with the corridors and the grid.
from the open score:
Christopher was introduced. A dead fish in the middle of the floor. And swimming in sticky buns, but pollution.
|
I introduced The Six Viewpoint Theory and Practice and gave a taste of all Six - then focused on SPACE.
from the open score:
A lot of people came that day. Including that one older women who ended up breaking her ankle maybe? There was a lot going on but we were more comfortable I think.
|
Starting with a warm up on the floor working our way into sitting. Then I transitioned into teaching about SHAPE. Working with the boundaries of the body and the architecture. Also, Entrances and Exits: 1 2 3 4 ...etc...
from the open score:
I'd talked about about the shape of the larynx and the anatomical shape of the body. A much more unified open score. Some ending sequence with a couple in the corner that slowly made there way to the ending reflection circle. We all wished we'd called 1 more often.
|
We had a musician come and accompany the MIL that day. We began with a warm up on our backs watching our hands drift from side to side and then just the hands then other peoples hands and eventually laban and other image phrasing.
from the open score:
THE BIG MIS STEAK. and I died, for a long time...but eventually came to, maybe as something else. The lines between being in and out of the open improv were blurred. Was I talking to the group as an instructor or as a performer? Someone helped me find my father in a cave in the cornfield and I was a vegan in the end, who felt very sorry for all the cheese I'd eaten. A bit of a solo there at the end.
|
Reviewing SHAPE and SPACE. Massaging the Jaw and very gradually noticing the shift between the lens of SHAPE and the lens of SPACE.
from the open score:
Iodine, the president, something else. Still working with calling out numbers for entrances and exits.
|
TIME. we started with rolling across the width of the room and back and then we all decided to focus on whatever we thought TIME was without the definition.
from the open score:
Lots of exploration of rhythm and different qualities of time. I ended up writing and drawing and scribbling in my journal for most of the score.
|
No expectations. A small group. We'd just stretch a little and then go into open score.
from the open score:
Thunderstorm sound scape. It was warm in the studio that day- we'd started to get more daylight and could leave the florescents off. We were using entrances and exits more loosely. St Patricks Day and one of us sang this kind of lullaby. Id told everyone to treat me as if I was a sculpture and they'd all congregated with me around me around each other in this incredible moment of slow thoughtless soft air beauty.
|
EMOTION. Just learning to see and let yourself be seen. Feeling the state of being and questioning perception vs experience
from the open score:
Floorboards and changing shirts. I only want to wear this dress. leeches. grandmothers. cobwebs. Really slow. Feeling like we could keep going- just getting started there at the end.
|
I wasn't there the last couple weeks with the regular group, sadly. But I hear it was slower and easy going for the most part. If you have something to contribute here, please do in the comments.
|
So here we are NOW, approaching another MIL today on May 12th. Two people came back who were there at the very beginning few sessions, and then were absent until now. We've also lost a couple people due to several shifts in life.
So here are my questions:
How do we do it differently?
What stays the same? What do we bring back?
Do we review what 6 of the Viewpoints we've learned?
Should we move on to learning the last two and then come back to the other four (space, shape, time, and emotion) that we've already reviewed?
What is most needed?
Is there a way to expedite without rushing?
Is it possible to let the layers fall away more effortlessly?
Now that we are aware of our previous developments, will we slow down sooner?
Or does it need to go in whatever direction it does more subconsciously like before?
Last week when we met, the familiarity and unfamiliarity with one another was palpable. There was this need to fill in awkward moments with action. Or for some, it felt like filling expectations. For me, it was like time had shrunk and it crunchingly ticked off as I stressed to know what was going on. Little moments that worked happened more toward the end of the open score for brief blips and then quickly shifted down another path.
Through February, March and April- the core group had been developing a kind of collective consciousness and awareness with one another. We'd been able to kind of predict and know our unique and common characteristics and tendencies, and also click into a group mentality that had it's outside eye on composition throughout an open score. I believe that it was not only the ensemble building techniques and the time we'd spent together in the same room, but the learning of some of the viewpoints that allowed us to have this undercurrent of knowledge that supported the performance. It was this common foundation that lifted our play into more cohesive and commanding moments of theatre. The surprising moments where things work, started happening not only more frequently, but for longer periods of time. Transitions were happening more seamlessly; A through-line from beginning to end was drawn and we could all kind of gather around some volunteered awareness of one another throughout the duration of the open score. We'd made a significant amount of progress.
That is not to say that things are totally depressed or regressing now. Without this opportunity to kind of restart, I may not have seen these developments with the same gratitude or clarity. But that nurturing should be honored and noticed, so we can build that nest again.
Through February, March and April- the core group had been developing a kind of collective consciousness and awareness with one another. We'd been able to kind of predict and know our unique and common characteristics and tendencies, and also click into a group mentality that had it's outside eye on composition throughout an open score. I believe that it was not only the ensemble building techniques and the time we'd spent together in the same room, but the learning of some of the viewpoints that allowed us to have this undercurrent of knowledge that supported the performance. It was this common foundation that lifted our play into more cohesive and commanding moments of theatre. The surprising moments where things work, started happening not only more frequently, but for longer periods of time. Transitions were happening more seamlessly; A through-line from beginning to end was drawn and we could all kind of gather around some volunteered awareness of one another throughout the duration of the open score. We'd made a significant amount of progress.
That is not to say that things are totally depressed or regressing now. Without this opportunity to kind of restart, I may not have seen these developments with the same gratitude or clarity. But that nurturing should be honored and noticed, so we can build that nest again.
So here are my questions:
How do we do it differently?
What stays the same? What do we bring back?
Do we review what 6 of the Viewpoints we've learned?
Should we move on to learning the last two and then come back to the other four (space, shape, time, and emotion) that we've already reviewed?
What is most needed?
Is there a way to expedite without rushing?
Is it possible to let the layers fall away more effortlessly?
Now that we are aware of our previous developments, will we slow down sooner?
Or does it need to go in whatever direction it does more subconsciously like before?
