Radical Embodied Improvisation is a form of physical, musical and spoken improvisation rooted in ignorance. The practice is to stay with what appears, long enough for coherence to arise without being imposed. Nothing is planned, nothing is fixed. Each jump into the unknown calls for the wings of creation to carry us through. 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).
It is embodied because, in this instance, our lungs are wiser than our brains. The source of all memory, feelings and inspiration is flesh and bones, and since nothing has been convincingly documented to exist outside the body, we might as well dance with what we’ve got.
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.
Language is not the mother tongue of improvisation. It can help us name what is happening, but little else. Creative flow arises from sensation rather than thought. Stories emerge from a void. At the centre of it all is precisely nothing. The craft is to be at peace with this 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 starts filling us. In a world of accumulation, this isn't easy to fathom, but the courage to stay with nothing is the source of all inspiration.
A certain laziness in these matters helps keep the work from hardening into a cult. Beware of systems and rituals. Of maximum efficiency. Of auditioned brotherhood. Of sure wins. Of truth in purity. Invente. Relate. Forgive. Dare to disagree. Pay attention.
Radical Embodied Improvisation is dangerous, compassionate, and anarchist. Self-regulating chaos. Sublime incompetence. A listening machine. What you do with it is up to you. Build communities. Have fun. Learn to breathe. Become slow to judge. Find beauty everywhere. Demystify your own bullshit. Get a life. The list is endless.
