Revival

Coming out of a long comatose, the MIL is back. It wasn't a lethargic comatose though. More like a just-got-hit-by-a-train-gotta-lie-down-for-a-bit comatose.

A reminder that the MIL was created to explore forms of improvisation and provide a place for discover, exploration, experimentation and collaboration. It began with a group of individuals from both Denver and Boulder who shared their chops and raised the stakes. I see non-hierarchical forum, a quality of the MIL, as a valuable exchange for theses two communities.


A group of individuals have decided to get together at Naropa University once a week to improvise together in an incredibly open score. There are no limitations on movement, sound, spoken text, music, recorded or live. At the onset, people are wary of structure and show their affection for little outline. It seems that as the weeks pass, and the group matures, the group may eventually become more structured, carefully sculpted. I see structure here as a possible for more freedom, rather than less.

I see the MIL as having its own body. And the MIL as a guest for the group for now; taking up residency in a mostly empty room with wood floors and live bodies. Taking it one week at a time.

Moving on to the good and gritty now...

Photo by Amelia Charter

• Introductions... why are you here?

• Warming Up...(without it actually being named as a warm up) Working in a dark room with orange street lamp glow. Music in the beginning. Quickly turned off.

• Moving into the awkward, distance, stretching, yawning, struggle and shaking which eventually became familiar, spatial awareness, movement, exploration, play and community.

Some moments that came through. Moments that stood out:

A diagonal journey across the room continuously speaking, pushing to use words. Something like, "Well it feels like Tuesday, Orange spaces that rise and fill, travel the world and be rich and famous."

RICH AND FAMOUS. RICH AND FAMOUS. famous. fAmOUSs. RRRRiCH and FAMOUS famous

Exploring dialogue. The use of words. Really being able to go there and be in it, versus, being just a step back, not quite in it all the way.

Happy Birthday. Party Hats. Living in a Hostel. Giggles. Circles. Women.

RICH (rich) AND FAMOUS. famous.

Sewing up the arm and the heart. A little nip and tuck. I am using a circular needle and I noticed that you are not. Much better. I feel better. You look better. Better. A sale. I am a sale. For sale. Just a little gust of wind. shhhhoooooooooo........

Near the end we all ended up on the floor. Some contact. Some not. We lied there for what felt like a nice moment of finding chords together. Vibrating against the floor. Relaxed. Calm. Listening. Communicating. Simple.

Questions: Warming up? The beginning? Middle and End for that matter? Naming things and not naming them?

Sound, Body, Movement, Character.....

Joanna led this Lab, continuing this month's theme of Action Theatre and Ruth Zaporah inspired exercises; linking the body's movement with the voice/sound.

• moving from a certain body part, guided by a partner, rolling across the floor
• Layering sound with the kinetic response to partner's touch

• 1 Sounder, every-one else; Movers
• 1 Sounder tags in and out with Movers
• Play with looking and not looking a the group

• As a Sounder: Being a good leader...or more predictable vs. not- more self indulgent sound
• The Movers: solo exploration vs. group interaction (what does that dynamic feel like?)

• Flocking with Sound and Movement
• Moving into an Open Score
• Being highly vigilant of one another...less of an Open Score really because it began with an exercise
• Open Score needs to be clearly stated/introduced

Marc Licari Itching to Go
Courtesy of: www.baldwingallery.com/0109_ar-ml/ar-ml.html

• Within Open Score- finding a balance with the following: Awareness of Composition, Awareness of the whole group, having the freedom to step out whenever to be an observer, Performance practitioner "deep play," ensemble based work, allowing the ooey gooey, and being precise.

Patrick started this Lab with a warm-up that worked it's way up from the floor:

• difference between large and small quantities of the bodies surface area making contact with the floor
  
• Support vs. Propulsion

Throughout Patrick's warm-ups, the group was collectively gently using the voice here and there with movement; warming the voice up with the body; effortlessly and spontaneously

Joan took over and lead us through an accumulating series of exercises inspired by Ruth Zaporah:

• Moving through ranges of low planes and high planes with the body; linking the voice to body; If the body stops the voice stops- if the voice stop the body stops

• Partners:

-One partner is the SOUNDER; the other, the MOVER
-The SOUNDER closes their eyes and simply plays with the sensation of sound in the body without any movement whatsoever.
-The MOVER responds to the SOUNDER through only movement. If the SOUNDER stops, the MOVER stops.
-(switch)

• Working independently: you are your own SOUNDER and MOVER in one; working with SOUND and MOVEMENT simoltaneously, playing with the same impulse first with SOUND then MOVEMENT, and visa versa

• Phonetics-----> <------ Mechanics

• NOT:

Phonetics----------->
Mechanics---------->

BOMBADEER:

• One Vessel; all others approach the vessel one at a time in either a DIRECT or INDIRECT way with ONE gesture and sound
  
• The Vessel and the "actor" (for lack of a better word) repeats this back and forth
  
• The trick is: is that the gesture and sound need to remain the same
• The "actor" is allowed to change the Tempo, Spatial Relationship, Emotion, Movement Quality, (the viewpoints...) of the gesture and sound
• The "actors" exchange in and out for the Vessel who has to immedietly drop what they are doing with the previous "actor" to mimic the new "actor"
• "actors" should try to drastically propose the opposite of the current "actor"
  
• The next development is adding text
• The "actor" approaches the Vessel in a DIRECT or INDIRECT way with a repetitive GESTURE and LANGUAGE. (this may look like twiddling fingers and whispering mischievously about what you'll do to your little sister when she comes home)
• Listen to each other

Autobiographical Storytelling:

• Two people sit side by side
• One begins to tell a logical real story
  
• The other interrupts when ever to tell their own individual logical story
• The two keep interrupting one another remaining isolated with their own story

We had no Open Score......Baaaad Joan

Courtesy of http://www.banksy.co.uk/indoors/greenriotcops.html

Grounding the Lab

Patrick lead this Lab with a focus on Shape, Space & Mechanics

• propulsion
• Diversity in Contact: quick, abrupt, smooth, etc allows for more possibility with improvisation
• The group openly agreeing to explore more range of contact from passive to more violent
  
• coming back to bio mechanics- visualizing what is needed for the body to execute an impulse
• Flocking; an ebb and flow of individuals and groups moving in and out of pairs, groups and solos
• Honesty with your weight
• Playing with the influence of sound/music

Courtesy of: http://www.todayandtomorrow.net/2009/06/17/sarah-spitler/

During Open Improvisation:

Character, Sound, Voice, and nearly everything that had been explored in past Labs presented itself. The Open Improv provided a place for us all to articulate all the accumulating vocab from past Labs.



Next Week.... Bridging To Action Theatre....

BIRTH!

The Blog is Born! The first Movement Improvisation Lab Post!

It is my aim to post about our weekly discoveries and provide a virtual window and online archive of the MIL's discoveries, innovations, challenges and surprises. I will be documenting the groups feedback on the Lab with each post. Interact, comment, and add to the post. I will be posting visuals, links and videos inspired by each post.

The spine of this body:

Lab Structure

Individual Labs:

1- Warm Up

2- Exercises

3- Open Improvisation for 20-30 minutes

4- Closing Reflection/Set the next lab

Monthly Themes:

Every Calendar Month the Lab will focus on a theme, rooting it in Movement Improvisation. These themes or developments can be seen through lenses such as: Voice, Text, Contact Improvisation, Presence, Viewpoints, Action Theatre, Forsythe Improvisation, Methods/Styles, etc.

And as of now, The MIL has two main goals for the future:

• US tour in 1 year
• European tour in 5 years

And most importantly... SO many thanks to the Packing House Center for Arts;


YES! Thank you Packing House!

Check out all that this wonderful place has to offer:

www.controlgroupproductions.org