A performer comes through the door. With them comes dreams and ambitions, fear and needs for control, a history of “what the industry requires” and a want/need/longing to be truthful in their craft. As pedagogues, we are not there to judge. We are there to guide and mirror. With us comes experience, knowledge and access to our inner knowing. We open ourselves up and listen in to what is going on with the performer. What is their pitch? What would be the opposite of their pitch? That’s often a good benchmark of what perimeters or range we have to work with when it comes to their expression.
A single story can be told in many ways. And so there are many different methods that different people swear by, many different roads to Rome as it were. And so we work from the question: “what way fits well for the individual in front of us?”
“Highly recommend. It’s hard to put words on an experience that feels so utterly out of body while being the thing that has made me feel most grounded in my own body at the same time.”
A performer may experience fear of loosing ones bearings if one steps outside ones technique. Technique often painfully acquired over a period of many years. If, as an artist, you are exploring new ways, other ways, new material, possibly opening doors or discovering unknown paths, you have to understand what you have and where you come from. Constructive, positive feedback from the group is key. You are not loosing anything. You are gaining new tools, a new awareness, a new level of performing.
We often start by working from three simple questions: “what do you want to express? What do you think you are expressing? What is being perceived by the audience?”. It’s all very subjective. Therefore, as a pedagogue, you can’t look for the one “right” answer. Together you have to search and find and come up with a couple of variations in a crossroad, like 3-4 ways, and when the performer is finally aware of that, the different roads – then they can make their own, genuine choice.
And bravery. There is no process without failure and misunderstandings, which means these have to be embraced in order to be able to explore, create, and find solutions. Embraced by performer and pedagogue alike. We are all in the same boat. And we all have the same goal: for you to develop.
“You do physical work, but it feels like ten years of therapy in getting to know yourself. Be open, work hard, and the result is more than you could dream of. Easy? No. Priceless? Yes.”
Because of stress, cost, and production time, performers often acquire a mix of fear, stress and/or complacentness. Over time they start settling for less. Unfortunately, we sometimes meet performers who have ended up posing and representing emotion, leaving their creative process behind.
And then the easy, logistic part of things. A day looks like this: lots of floor time! Warm up where we come with a set of stock exercises that are fun and that allows us to get to know you. Thereafter custom made exercises in group and/or solo, specifically designed to meet YOUR needs. Coffee breaks when needed. Continuous individual feedback from the pedagogues and from the other performers who partake in the workshop (which of course means that while we are at it, we also train your artistic eye). Lunch. More custom made exercises with breaks taken as needed, and then a warm down.
These are just some of the things that goes on as part of our process. A complex process developed through years of experience, and not easily described in short on a website (which is why we are writing a book). But on the other side of complexity most often than not, you find simplicity. And the rest of our process, you have to be there to experience. Welcome!
