Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Dell' Arte: Be Ferocious. Be Human.

Week #3:

This week we were re-assigned Nature Day for Friday's p-lab (performance lab).  Everything we did in the first week was to be thrown out and we were to start completely over.

Some people were not enthused about this.  Working with fifteen others on creating this nature day experience was hard the first time around. Now we had to do it again and people showed their true colors.  It made me extremely aware of how little tolerance I have for those unwilling to devote themselves and their time to the task at hand.  I also realized just how much I hate bad attitudes.  All of this is not productive and hinders the work.

We tried to create something real; a place where the audience could dwell.  However people ended up being bored.  We were very timid and safe with our work.  Our challenge: Be ferocious.  Yes we work hard and it's obvious we care about the work, but we need to be ferocious.  We were also comforted that nothing we do is worthless.  What is good today is terrible tomorrow. We strive to grow and improve.

In poetic voice I learned that emotions are not tied to an idea, but concrete descriptions.  We wrote for five minutes not stopping on different images.  Then the task was to imagine addressing a group of people at your dear friends grave.  Laura had music in the background and helped us along.  There were many humorous and sad moments, but what we found out was that words didn't matter when expressing emotion.  That what we feel can live on it's own and doesn't need to be told, but could just live.

This week opened my eyes to the idea that this place is more than a place to study theater.  Here we have the opportunity to learn to be human.  How do we think from day to day?  How do we be alive?  During our colloquium, we watched videos covering these things and discussing the way necessary to approach the work. Vulnerability is key.  Only there can we live whole-heartedly.  Yes it will hurt, but that's the only way to truly live.  A main point discussed was that we have to be gracious with one another and ourselves.  Our only duty is to show up and be here.  That's all.  Everything else will go as it may.


Below are the links to the videos we watched.  I was most taken with "This is Water".  BUT each one made me step out of myself and think about what it takes to be truly alive.  I hope you take the time to watch these, because I believe they apply to anyone. No matter where you are or what step you're at in life.

These are for you.

This is Water
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaVrn1Sz0H8

The Power of Vulnerability
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o

Your Elusive Creative Genius
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86x-u-tz0MA







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