I took a leap and became a bit impulsive in teaching Company today. I have been working to combine both self-awareness in life with the physical self awareness that is the cornerstone of the work we are doing on Viewpoints. After a full class of playing with Tempo, Duration, Repetition, and Kinestetic Response, we sat on the floor in a breathless circle to disect the exercise and see what new awarenesses came to the surface. They are getting so much better in a variety of ways. First off, they are simply getting stronger and more limber. That is key to theatre – and if that’s all they leave the class with, then I will have done some good. They are also trusting their own stories – they are doing less apologizing and less minimizing of their experience. They are more present.
And here is the curve shot: Just as the bell was about to ring – just as we were wrapping up the dissection of the day’s activities, I went around the room and asked them to name one thing they were not going to tolerate from themself that night. What change in their personal life were they going to put into practice TONIGHT? They were dumbstruck by this question. It’s funny, – I am wondering why they are not being asked this question each and every day before they are heading home . . .