Creative Process from Tuesday, June 8, 2021

On Tuesday we started with another guided warm up which eventually led us to exploring the space.  I invited each participant to find a space to occupy and to find out how and why they felt that they belonged there.  Following our warm up with proceeded with a check-in, which allows everyone to hear from the others as to how each of us is entering the space from a physical and emotional place.

We then began with our creative process which focused our attention on ‘setting the stage’.  We are making use of several props and pieces of furniture, and so we collectively decided where each of the items ‘belonged’ in the space.  After arranging the space, we occupied the chairs and began improvising with one of the small, wheeled dollies, by passing it from one person to the next.  Eventually we explored the possibilities of people riding/scooting on them, still passing through the constellation of chairs with occupants.

We are becoming good at the ‘Valuaction’ step of the RSVP Cycles, and ultimately turning those conversations into more Resources with which we can adapt the Score.

We then shifted the space both physically and energetically by organizing ourselves into a straight line in the chairs, with backs to where the audience will be, and with our focus on the table in the corner.  We set up a structure of ‘Rounds’, which is a creative tool that I learned from ‘The Performers Guide to the Collaborative Process’, written by Shelia Kerrigan and others.  In this form, each person takes a turn improvising a ‘scene’, and the process continues until everyone has had a chance to improvise.  This can continue through many ‘rounds’, or just one.  We only had time for one.
​
In the Valuaction of this activity many remarked on how each person was clear in their intent with their ideas, and how it was clear when people were building on the ideas that others had presented.
In the check out process, I remarked that it was good to hear Susan share what she had to share, as this being her first rehearsal, she was sort of a ‘test subject’, and the ideas and themes that we are exploring were clear to her.  I also remarked that I am now more clear in how we can structure the score, alternating between chaos and order.