Short time. Short film. Great minds. Great results.

Just 40 minutes, a stimulus, a smart phone and a group of brilliant young minds produces this...

This video was produced by a group of ISB Middle and High School students at our recent devising weekend lead by Gemma Paintin from the performance company Action Hero. Starting with Bob Dylan's A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall the students devised together in various ways, resulting in a wealth of quality performance material being produced.

I find it incredible that the students could have created the concept for this film, planned and shot it in various locations, recorded and edited the voiceover and then cut the whole thing together in just 40 minutes, using only one smart phone.

I love that we have that much technological power in our hands, but it is to the credit of the students that they know how to use it to this capacity.

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Artist Toolbox: Chance Encounters

Favourite exercise for generating movement: 'Chance Encounters'

This is an exercise in chance encounters and can be really useful for stimulating storylines, situations and movements scores. As a whole group, in a clearly visible place like on a white-board or flip-chart, write a 10 point list of short gestures/movements. It can be something like this or it can be your own variation on this.

e.g. 1. Turn head

2. Raise hand

3. Put head in hands

4. Smile

5. Stand up/Sit down

6. Move behind a chair

7. Put your hand on someone’s face

8. Close eyes

9. Cross/uncross arms/legs

10. Clench fists

Set up a bench or a row of chairs for 3-5 people, on the stage. During the presentation, performers can only choose and complete movements from the list. There is no limit to how many times each movement is completed, if at all, and the order is up to them. As the exercise runs, chance encounters will happen such as: two people turn their heads to look at each other, while the person sitting between them puts their head in their hands; or one person smiles while another puts their hand on their face; and so on. 

As the exercise works on chance, there will be moments that do not work as well as others, but push through these and encourage the performers to ‘listen’ to the each other instead of trying to force pre-planned situations out of the material. There are moments when a pause is also necessary and eye contact can be key. Except from a set action like a Smile, neutral faces is also recommended. Also, feel free to add a range of background music to set/change the tone of the exercise.

After running it for a while, take a break and get feedback from the audience. What was working? What storylines appeared? Which characters emerged? And then start it up again for some more!

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Artist Toolbox: Architect's Brother

Here is some fascinating art that I find particularly inspirational for using as directives when making performance. It comes from the work of Robert and Shana ParkeHarrison. Check them out!!

The Architect's Brother portfolio

The Counterpoint portfolio

Gautier's Dream portfolio

Incredible right?!!

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Artist Toolbox: Fizz/Bang

In my personal practice and as a teacher too, I've always been inspired by the making process of the performance company Goat Island. In their books Small Acts of Repair and the wonderful but hard-to-find School Book 2 you will find a wealth of ideas, advice and reflection on the process of devising performance. Both books continue to guide me in my development in this world.

There are two resources that are particularly useful though and these are as follows:

Firstly, the idea of directive-response-response is an important one for me. It often defines the way I work when devising. Simply put, the directive is a starting point; a stimulus. It can be anything; a picture, a poem, an idea, a provocation...

From these directives, each person in the collaboration creates a response; a piece of art, dance, song, writing, performance, etc, which is inspired in some way by their own directive or to a shared one. They then present this first response back to the group in an informal sharing. Each person then responds to there presentations with a new response, in the form of a new presentation. This second response, can reproduce, develop, change, contrast, combine (see the Richard Serra verb list for more ways) the first responses in some way (including your own response). Then repeat this with other responses and/or new directives, to build a piece.

It is this way of responding to another's ideas again and again that results in performance material being created which is inextricably linked from every thing that has come before it in the process. Everybody in the collaborative has an equal share in what is created and what is created could not have existed in the same way with out every individual's contribution. It is a beautifully organic way of devising which delivers many surprises along the way.

What I have for you then, is a short list of directives, that you find useful as starting points. Some of them are Goat Island's and some of them are my own.

Create an event of bliss.

Create an event of terror.

Invent an arrival.

How do you say goodbye?

Describe the last time you were kissed.

Create a shivering homage.

Make imbalance.

Describe a perfume.

Give a gift to someone you have lost.

Before, when you looked up, what did you see?

Present your recurring dream.

What will you be when you are 60?

Be your mother.

Why are you nailed to that wall?

Remember your ghosts.

Can you kill this animal? TRY.

Examine a part of your body.

What was your first mistake?

Who is waiting outside?

Describe falling.

Make something of abhorrence.

Window.

Sing of loneliness.

Is she innocent?

Is he wrong?

What are you holding on to?

Describe losing faith.

Describe awe.

Make an escape.

The second awesome list, that I use from Goat Island, is their list of Dynamic Oppositions. Like the Serra verb list, these are great for applying to physical and spoken material to change various qualities of it. 

Give them out in pairs, or mix them up and let the makers pick, and you'll be fizzing, oozing, chasing and rattling in no time!

rocket

topple

meander

sidewind

cradle

still

chase

dart

wind

slip

rattle

roll

shudder

stick

twirl

grind

rupture

lean

startle

boil

blend

trip

glide

slide

dart

fizz

spread

wobble

ooze

bang

splatter

squirt

stitch

rip 

moan

rumble

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Artist Toolbox: The Runway

Favourite warm up activity- ‘The Runway’

One of my favourite activities for igniting fun and energy in a group is called ‘The Runway. It’s basically a repeat-after-me dancing exercise but it puts students in the driving seat and is especially good for younger groups. 

It works like this:

First, define a 2m wide ‘Runway’ space from one corner of the room to the opposite one. Students should get into pairs and line up beside their partner at the start of the runway. The first pair will present (/invent) a dance move, not Gangham style or Nightfever but something original and interesting, maybe including physical contact or thinking about the use of different levels.

Then you drop some funky electronic music to kick things off. Tracks like Pop Culture by Madeon, D.A.N.C.E. by Justice or A Little Less Conversation by Elvis vs JXL work really well. The first pair head down the runway doing their dance move, the next pair wait for a second and then join them copying that move and so on, so that everyone goes down the runway doing that move. At the end, the pairs split up and head opposite ways around the room back to the start of the runway. The next pair then do their dance move and everyone copies that.

Here’s the slightly tricky part though. In order to make it work, the pair who have just done their move at the start of the line then need to do it again, at the back of the line, to leave the front open to the next pair. So the rule for a pair is- you always do your own dance move two times, once at the front and once at the back.

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Artist Toolbox: Weightless in Space

Favourite ensemble building activity- ‘Weightless in Space’

This is a great one for building trust in a group and for the person who is weightless, it’s a really wonderful experience. It comes from Augusto Boal and can be found in the fantastic book Games For Actors and Non-Actors but the exercise is titled The actor as ‘subject’: the Greek exercise.

“One actor in the middle and at least seven or eight others around her. She starts a movement and everyone else must use their bodies to help her complete this movement. For example, if she lifts a foot, someone immediately places his body under this foot so that the actor’s foot is supported. The protagonist extends a limb here, a limb there, leans this way or that, does whatever she likes- and the rest of the group help her, inventively using their bodies to support her as she raises herself up, rolls onto her back, stretches out on her side, climbs into the air, etc., inserting themselves into the relevant space.The overall effect should be almost as if the protagonist was weightless, in space.”

It’s important with this one that the protagonist moves slowly so that the group has time to discover her intentions, and I usually ask the group to keep constantly communicating with each other, especially when they are carrying the whole weight of the protagonist. I also usually assign two or three people to ‘spotting’, i.e. making sure the protagonist’s head is always supported and protected and that if they are raised off the ground that they are ‘spotting’ them in case of a fall.

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Artist Toolbox: The Rock Off

Favourite whole group activity- ‘The Rock Off’

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to the 296th annual Rock-Off World Championships! I know all of you have been training day-in day-out, practicing Rock, Paper, Scissors with your friends, mum, dad and even dog in the run up to this event but today there can only be one winner! First though, let’s remind ourselves of the rules…

The Rock-Off, is a great way to warm up voices and team spirit and the larger the group the better. Basically it’s a Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament. Before you start, clarify the calling order you will use, for example “Rock, Paper, Scissors, SHOOT,” for when to reveal your weapon. Then everyone finds a partner in the room to be their first opponent. They play the best of three rounds of the game to decide the winner. 

Next is the key bit as the loser of the battle then becomes the winner’s cheer squad, chanting their name and supporting them in their next battle. The pair then finds another ready pair and the two winners (flanked by their loud and supportive cheer persons) then go head-to-head in another three rounds. The losing pair then joins the cheer squad of the winner and the four set off to find another four.

And so on and so on until you have just two competitors left each with large cheer squads. Keep an eye out for this moment and pause the proceedings just before this happens. Get the cheer squads on opposite sides of the room with the competitors in the middle. Build up some hype with some more ‘announcer voice’ talk, get the squads to cheer the loudest for their competitor etc, then let the battle commence. After the best of three rounds give a huge final cheer for the runner-up and then the winner is crowned ‘The 296th Rock-Off World Champion’.

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Artist Toolbox: Group Juggle

Favourite name game- ‘Group Juggle’

My favourite name game is good at getting the name-learning started but could certainly be followed up by another one. It’s also good for building focus and attention in a group. You need about six balls, differently sized for extra difficulty if you want, which can be juggled by a group up to about twenty people max.

Get in a circle. You as the leader start with the amount of balls you will use depending on group size and level. Four is usually easily achievable, five is a little harder, six can be tough. Start by saying the name of someone across the circle (if you don’t know their name now is the time to ask) and at the same time looking in their eyes, so you know they are ready to receive the pass. Then you throw a ball to them. They then say a name, connect eyes and pass it on. Once the ball has been passed to everyone once it should come back to you as the last pass. This is now the order for the juggle, so everyone needs to remember who they received from and who they are passing to.

So you can start the juggle now, maintaining the system of name--eyes--pass, and try getting two balls around the circle at the same time for a couple of rounds. Then continue making it harder by adding more balls, until you manage to achieve something World Class in group juggling!

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