This class is meant to address the experiential disconnect between what happens in the rehearsal studio and what happens “on stage”. So often in my experience of performing I have the feeling that I lose time, that time inside of the act of performing moves so fast that I feel I’ve missed the experience somehow. There can be a strange distance between the actions of my body and my conscious mind. This can be interesting in the context of exploring trance however this class is an exploration of what it is to be fully conscious inside of the altered state that is performance. Can we slow down performative time for ourselves and experience it in all of its bodily and fleshy mystery? In an attempt to address this question, we will approach each class as though it were a performance from its very beginning to its very end. We will begin with a guided improvisational body/mind activation and continue performing together in instantly created fictions. Emphasis is on action, on making and doing things, on imagination. We will at times alternately watch and perform for one another. We will be generous and kind to ourselves and one another. I ask that everyone keep a notebook for reflecting on each class/performance.
Isabel Lewis
