all carpet session posts

September 1 and 8: Lets raise the tone

| ndenboeft

Hi all,

today we closed the carpet year with a nice session with many different frames for playing.

The summer awaits and after the summer another season on the carpet lies wide open. On september 1 and 8 I propose two afternoons on working on the higher tone end of our spectrum. Being loud, working with physical tension and also with conflict.

I am interested in this since I tend to be quite harmonious (not strange conflict was a no-go in my upbringing…) but I do very much like working with higher shades of muscle tone and what colour that can bring into the work.

So I propose to let the reins loose some and see what we come up with. Closer towards the date I will write a slightly longer proposition. If anyone is interested in co-hosting please contact me.

Have a great summer!!

Natanja

a living/moving Wikipedia for Improvisation

| Thomas Johannsen

image

For the end-of-season gathering of the Carpet Sessions coming Thursday, what are your wishes to spend the afternoon?

My own proposal would be to toy around with ideas and work forms how improvisers (from different disciplines) could build a dictionary of their work, together.

Backed by the foundation behind the Carpet Sessions, and in collaboration with Instant Pudding in Paris and ImproXchange in Berlin, I am preparing a project in exactly that gist, and this could be a way to give direction to the Carpet Sessions organised by different people in the coming year, if we would feel like it.

Making such a Wikipedia of improvisation (like a dictionary of everything relating to improvisation) is actually taking the open improvisation knowledge base that we started here on this website to a professional level and making it editable and adjustable for a much bigger community.

It is also provoking several questions, amongst which
– how can you define at all things about improvisation (that by nature likes to be undefined)
– in which way the words/media in such a dictionary can relate as closely as possible to the actual work being done on the floor (rather than the dictionary becoming a purely academic exercise)

Let’s speak/play/dance/sing about it further on Thursday. Looking forward to it… 13:00-17:00

See you there!

Thomas

What are the Carpet Sessions? / Where is the studio? Click here.

Gathering to close the season: 30 June 2016

| Thomas Johannsen

Dear improvisers,

let’s gather next week Thursday (13:00-17:00) to play / improvise / talk and close the Carpet Season of Interdisciplinary Instant Composition together.

We can look back and ahead, or just enjoy each others company in performing and being. It’s up to us!

For an idea of how big the group will be, please announce if you want to come as well by writing a comment to this post below.

There will be at least 11 of us: Johnny, Kristien, Weijke, Suzan, Tanaquil, Thomas, Zwaan, James, Esmeralda, Manuela & Natanja

See you then!

Thomas

Clowning Around: Instant Composition with a Red Nose

| suzanlemont
Hello Improvisers! On Thursday June 16th and 23rd, Suzan Lemont (along with as yet unknown research partner) will lead sessions around the theme of creating instant composition performances as a clown (using only the red nose, though we may explore what else might be useful/necessary in this endeavor or if the nose is even necessary).

NO EXPERIENCE WITH CLOWNING NECESSARY – these are sessions for the curious and the brave. I have red noses for 15 people but feel free to bring your own if you have one. And any other attributes you think would be fun/interesting to explore (& try not to get attached to being able to use it 😉 )Statue with red nose
The main aspects we will focus on: creating meaningful spontaneous performances with people you may not have ever worked with before, using either only a red nose as prop, or possibly going completely “naked” (prop-wise; don’t worry we’re not going to run around with no clothes on 😉 ) but still keeping in the spirit of being a clown. This brings up these questions (for me – this might change depending on who I find as research partner, or in the sessions themselves as the process unfolds within the group):
* the minimum required to be able to call it “clowning”.

* how does the use of a single attribute (the red nose) shape the performance, provide structure, open up or limit the possibilities?

* exploring the effects of the metaphorical and actual use of the red nose, and other clown attributes
* how is it possible to partner up with someone, perhaps a perfect stranger, and perform improvisationally? And then in culturally varied contexts.

* Can you make a meaningful performance with a nearly complete stranger and minimum of preparation?

* What role does language and defining the parameters play in the preparation stage, and does it impact the performance itself, or does clowning have the possibility to supercede the normal language engagements? And if yes or no, what makes the difference- is it the amount of experience/training each person brings to the performance, a question of matching characters, context, pure craziness/willing to take risks…?

I trained in Expressive Arts Therapy practices, and one of those was clowning, so I’m also interested in using these practices with various populations; most especially people who have experienced trauma, displacement, or have language barriers. This research will potentially help inform my choices and open up the work to previously unavailable audiences.
This is a deep well of complex and exciting questions and this is only a small cupful of the water from the well, I hope you’ll feel compelled to join in the play! Bring writing materials as well – I expect many ideas, more questions, and introspection to arise. You can direct questions to Suzan at suzanlemont@gmail.com or by leaving a comment below.

Proposed structure of sessions:
13:00-13:15 Arrival & settle in
13:15-13:30 Framing the sessions
13:30-14:00 Warm up led by Suzan and/or partner
14:00-16:00 Explorations unfolding

There are requests to use the studio for private work, so I have made this schedule to end at 16:00 to make some space for that, but if the requesters done’t need or are unable to use the space for just that hour we can go on until 17:00.

It should be a rich and stimulating afternoon. Hope you’ll come and play!

LANGUAGE ~ fish°hooks

| ronbunzl

–

28 April (13:00 – 17.00), Vredenburg studio

Session III on language in improvised performance, guided by Ron Bunzl & Ralph de Rijke

In this follow-up to the sessions on 10 and 31 March we will use tropes from other, more familiar disciplines to play with words, casting them like fish-hooks to catch meanings and images rising up from the depths of our imagination and memory. Words and silence. Movement and stillness. Things experienced and remembered. Things envisioned and recalled in the here and now, in the action of the moment. Speaking truthfully, and making every word count.

Ron Bunzl and Ralph de Rijke

RESPONSIBILITY – the ability to respond

| ronbunzl

RESPONSIBILITY – the ability to respond

After “The speaking body and the speaking bubble”, the first Carpet session investigation into speaking, we continue to explore the challenges of improvisation with words on March 31, 2016 (doors open at 14h session begins 14:15 – 17h)

Improvisation is the art of being in the now, following the flow of what emerges and making choices as to how to respond and develop what is happening as it unfolds into what is becoming. This also naturally applies to improvised text, but for many of us it is a struggle to make words free, authentic, and poetic.

So as performers we often fear the weight of words. They can shut us down and kill the magic that’s unfolding. Talking seems to be a huge responsibility. That’s exactly what we want to explore! 

Responsibility is also the ability to respond – to move with, and be moved by, the waves our words create – like stones tossed into the still waters of a pond. Attentively listening, feeling, and following the drift our words set in motion.

During this session we will use interdisciplinary improvisational structures and exercises designed to evoke, trigger and play with words.

We will play with words like fish-hooks thrown out to catch meanings and images rising up from the depths of our imagination and memory. Words and silence. Movement and stillness. Things felt, experienced and remembered. Things envisioned and things recalled in the here and now, in the action of the moment. Poetry in motion.

Ron Bunzl and Ralph de Rijke

The speaking body and the speaking bubble

| Thomas Johannsen

Inspired by a recent Action Theatre workshop Maria Michailidou and me joined with Sten Rudstrom, we wanted to dedicate a number of sessions on looking at the act of speaking/producing words in Improvisation context.

We will do this for the first time in a Carpet Session on the

10th of March 2016

13:00 (doors open/warming up) / 13:30-17:00 work session

Not only improv theatre has usually lots of ‘speaking bodies’ on stage, but also in music, dance and other performative events, someone speaking tends to appear ever so often. Sometimes prominent, sometimes only as a minor event.

We will look at both the enjoyment and pitfalls of speaking in improvisation performance and depart from a physical/body approach to the act of talking.

More so than maybe other Carpet Sessions, this will be a truly open research, as we just feel the necessity to train and research this aspect of improvisation from an interdisciplinary (rather than a purely theatrical) context more deeply.

The session is open to everyone and we are very curious towards all knowledge/experience to the subject that will be shared by other professionals who will join.

What are the Carpet Sessions? / Where is the studio

The session will be facilitated by Maria Michailidou and Thomas Johannsen, in collaboration with the group who will gather.

Please let us know if you want to come by writing a comment to this post, below.

 

 

Call for research sessions 2016

| Thomas Johannsen

Fireworks-1Happy New Year to you all!

We are looking back at a buzzing half year of virtually every Thursday a session on a specific theme, lead by our pool of improvisation professionals from various disciplines. Thanks a lot for that!

So what’s up for the coming months?  Esther Eij will do at least one more “Can I go solo?” session about the dynamics of group vs. soloists, and Bettina Neuhaus and me are brooding on a fitting follow-up for the very fruitful “Groove & Ground” research we had. Are there other plans that I don’t know about?

Do you want lead a research? You are welcome!
The agenda is still very open. Please let us know if you would like to make use of the Carpet Research Studio to facilitate a session on a theme that you are interested in between now and June 2016. A one-off session or a series of multiple sessions, all is possible.

Get in touch here.

With warm greetings and a big hug to everyone!

Thomas

(What are the Carpet Sessions? click here)