Radical Embodied Improvisation (REI) is a form of physical, musical and spoken improvisation rooted in ignorance. The practice is to stay in the light long enough for coherence to appear without being imposed. Nothing is planned, nothing is fixed. Each time we jump into the unknown. Sometimes we fly. Sometimes we crash. When we fly, we fly. When we crash, we learn.

“The theatre is the place where something can go wrong.” (Peter Brook)

It is radical because it has no interest in performative spontaneity (as in please, bitch, just be real) and thrives on genuine self-forgiveness (sometimes we’ll poop on the carpet, and that’s OK). The fun and the pleasure come from discovery, from what appears when we stay with the mess, rather than from successful reiteration.

It is embodied because the source of all memories, thoughts and feelings is flesh and bones, so we might as well dance with what we’ve got. Here, our lungs are wiser than our brains.

It is improvised. No tricks. No intention. No coming on stage with an emotion. No archetype. No underlying irony. No nothing. Just you and us.

When language is not the mother tongue of improvisation, substance is created through movement and silences, while narratives emerge from nothing. Meaning is (also) a comfort drug we extract from our environment to keep anxiety at bay. The moment we stop trying to fill the gap is when the gap begins to fill us.

Impro on the beach, Vintage Improv Festival, Main, USA, 2024

In a world of accumulation, this isn't easy to fathom, but the courage to stay with nothing is the source of all inspiration. Provocation can encourage play and invite disclosure, both of which facilitate storytelling. But there is precisely nothing to start with, and a major part of an improviser’s craft is to stay at ease if and when "nothing" shows up.