March 28, 2007

Class was a lot of fun last night! We laughed so hard a few times that one or two people almost fell out of their seats - I suppose that's what happens when someone with brown hair wants to be called "Red" (No, Stephen. Yes, Stephen - you had to be there!)! We also laughed at the previous "Craig's List" lonely in middle-of-America improvs. (What is a "_____ hole" again?) What a wonderful and silly group we are! There are a lot of changes and transitions going on in everyone's lives right now - a lot of job changes and shifts forward. It's nice that we can come together each week and share our news and excitement and fears. Everything is moving in the direction we require to have what we want. Warm-ups were a little longer than usual, but boy does that little bit of kundalini yoga move tension and old habits out and open us up for whatever needs to move through us to create character and tell story! (FYI, Forest Whitaker started studying kundalini yoga before he worked on his Oscar-winning role for "Last King of Scotland" - there's gotta be something to it!) ;-) We did the firing line improv - and got pretty much out of our heads - working toward shifting mental constructs and habits that prevent us from connecting with our imagination and intuition! We also did silent (or not so silent for some of us) improvs to practice telling story and relationship without words. It's incredible to watch the variety that comes out of individual imagination. It's also so important to remember that there is no right or wrong, no good or bad - simply different ways that we each perceive and act. It's pretty cool. The scene work was clear and ultimately very specific - we're learning to make stronger, clearer choices and allow for vulnerability - in the characters and in ourselves. We also had quite a few sexy scenes this evening - and some wonderfully committed and full or whole storytelling from visiting guests. What a treat! Thank God for the openness, willingness and desire to share experience. Without that, we would most likely believe the fear that we are alone. (We are not, by the way - we're all one, and storytelling is part of the way we mirror each other and express ourselves and share our vision and spirit and connect with all of consciousness. But you knew that already, and I could go on forever.) Until next week...

First Blog

Class tonight was a lot of fun - we worked on making extremely specific choices and really allowing the essence of the character to move through. Improvs were based around partner charades - and we had some incredible true-to-movie performances. We then did some commercial work - and practiced slating and selling some wonderful products - mostly hair and Pepsi! With the scene work, we played with tone and making the strongest choice - taking the scene as far as the tone would allow, which led to some funny and transformative scenes. It is amazing how much everyone's confidence is growing - and the trust they are placing in themselves and their ability to make choices and tell stories! Yeah! What a beautiful process to watch unfold! Can't wait for next week!