Poetry of an Improvisation: 2
Appear, disappear
Appear, disappear.
Take the focus, then lose it.
Nothing is consistent. Nothing is forever.
Embrace it.
At least then you keep moving.
At least then you're not just stuck in the middle.
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Further Reflections:
In order to appear, one must also be able and willing to disappear.
And in order to take the focus one must be able and willing to lose it.
These are two topics we recently focused on in our improvisation explorations. When we began exploring them, I think most of us were worrying, doubting and questioning : How do we appear and disappear when we are always on stage? And what does our professor actually mean with 'take the focus'? Isn't it too obvious if we just run in front of someone else and scream at the top of our lungs? Of course we would then get the focus....
But, as often happens when exploring a new topic, the answer was simpler and more obvious than we realized. The challenge was not in finding the answer but accepting it as true, and then passing the acceptance and understanding from our brain into our body. Translating it from the psychological to the physical.
As I reflected on this topics, I once again was reminded of how relevant improvisation is to real life.
I think many of us have a strong fear of being either visible or invisible, of having the focus and/or losing it. To which degree and of which side of the spectrum one is afraid depends on the person, but the fear is always present. And often we like to deny or forget that one cannot exist without the other.
And in fact, what we learned during our improvisations is that by trying to always be in the focus we never end up actually having the focus. Instead of drawing clear lines which create a beautiful picture people are touched by, we create a blurry image that leaves things unclear for those who are looking. By letting go of the fear of losing focus, we then weave in and out of it naturally.
The scary part here is that we may never know when we have the focus and when we don't. When we will appear and we will disappear. But, if we are confident in what we are doing then it doesn't matter whether it's visible or not. Instead, we can just enjoy what we are doing and share it with others when the opportunity arises. And although this "lack of control" may be scary at first, with time can become quite fun and brings life into our lives.
