Cha-cha-cha'ing
2020 started with a wonderful surprise date night, a dance class. I love to dance, I love to learn and I love to do things with Chris – a perfect date!
What does this have to do with improvisation?
To grow in our awareness of the improvisation art form we need to be students of humanity. By that I mean become an observer. Improvisation techniques have been developed by observation of human patters and behaviours. You’ll see this clearly in the works of Johnstone, Spolin and Close as they question and explore their observations and create exercises and techniques based on their discoveries.
Any new environment is a great opportunity to become an observer. To witness what is happening in the room between teacher and student and to observe ones own self and how we feel, think, respond and behave. We are only human after all.
A dance class was a perfect place for all of the above!
On this night the focus of the class was the Cha-cha. Chris and myself were the ‘new’ people and although everyone was welcoming you could feel your pulse quicken when it was time to begin. No matter how long I work in improvisation that old fear of failure in front of strangers creeps in so quickly.
The teacher started the class with all of us facing the mirror, with him in front to lead and demonstrate. As he said ‘We will begin tonight facing the mirror.’ people raced to be in the line furthest from the mirror. Everyone desperate to not have anyone behind them watching their mistakes, to not have the teacher’s gaze on them or to witness their own mistakes with the huge mirror reflecting all.
Chris and myself ended up in the front two lines. Too slow to pick up the cue to run to safety and both being performers in a slightly different head space. I’ll admit I did scan the backline to see if there was room and then reminded myself of what I do for a living and how many times I have failed. In the front I can see the teacher more clearly, I can see myself to note and compare to the teachers moves and I am best placed to receive feedback to help me learn.
Giving in to our social fears robs us of opportunities to grow. Why put energy towards survival and hiding when I could put that energy towards exploring and learning? Because I am human and I don’t want people to see me screw up!
After much Cha-cha-cha’ing sideways, forward, back and double time we began to work in pairs. With arms facing forward and slightly rounded at the elbows (for those who know ballet between first and second position) facing the partner our teacher demonstrated simply and clearly ‘my space’ (in between the arms) ‘your space’ (between partner’s arms) ‘our space’ the space between the two dancers. A simple and clear understanding of respecting space by defining it.
We began with our hands in front connecting with our partners, 1-2-3-4 and off we went cha-cha-cha’ing. Each round we changed partners and each partner was a new experience, a new set of offers. One partner had trouble looking me in the eyes; another was struggling with pattern, a third with remembering the sequence. For me, I was struggling starting on the ‘two’ count and when I got it right I would think ‘yeah’ and immediately screw up the next step. When I started to get frustrated I was always starting on the 1 or 3. How many times have I encouraged students “don’t think, just be present and allow, thinking just gets in your way.”? Well, it was a good reminder that I am teaching a truth and it isn’t as easy as it sounds.
When it was my turn to dance with the teacher I immediately got nervous. Here comes the person who knows how to do this and I am a new person screwing it up. I reminded myself of what I tell nervous inexperienced improvisors who are about to work with more experienced players “All we want is you to look us in the eye, jump in, and be there with us. We can deal with anything as long as you are there and commit.” So when my teacher offered his hands I looked him in the eyes, smiled and thought ‘time to practice what you preach Stiles.’
We danced. I made a lot of mistakes. I looked him the eye. I committed. We laughed. When we finished instead of moving on as he did with others he said, “Let’s do it again.”
oh-no, was I that bad?
Notice how quickly I went to negative thought.
He put forward his hands. “Give me your weight.” He instructed, “Lean into our hand connection, give me your weight and I’ll share mine.”
This leaning in created a completely different connection and an immediate sense of trust and responsibility.
“Good. Do you feel that?” he said
I replied, “Yes, it is completely different.”
He nodded “Yes, now I can really feel you are with me and where you are going and I know you have me.….5-6-7-8-1-2-“ and cha-cha-cha.
As we danced he would gently remind me “Give me your weight. Don’t pull away.”
At the conclusion of the dance I quickly exclaimed “Wow!”
“What” he inquired.
“I realised each time you reminded me to connect I had just started thinking or worrying and each time I did I spontaneously pulled my hands away from you for safety, to control and in doing so I am disconnecting from you and loosing all sense of you ”
He laughed “Yes, exactly, people do that all the time and it very hard to dance with someone who isn’t dancing with you. If we are together I can tell if you are about to step on my foot and I’ll move it. If you pull away I am just chasing connection and we aren’t dancing together.”
The intersection of improvisation and other fields is always a wonderful discovery and it seems the Cha-cha is no different.
When I tell nervous performers “All we want is you to look us in the eye, jump in, and be there with us. We can deal with anything as long as you are there and commit.” It is because I can deal with mistakes or confusion. I can help anchor you or guide the story / scene. I can endow you with character or heighten your character choice. Give me something and I can play. If you pull back and go into fear and survival then our connection is lost. I am now chasing you instead of playing with you.
But there is an assumption here. Trust. When I am working with an experienced improvisor they have enough experiences in which they have learned how to trust themselves, survive (if need be) and to quickly assess if they can trust the other performer. When I am working with an inexperienced improvisor they have not developed those skills yet. I am expecting them to just trust me. Improvisation needs trust to flourish but it is not something I see being nurtured or developed. In fact internationally I see trust being taken for granted and advantage of. I see more improvisors moving into survival play then open fearless play because of the wounds they have experienced.
Trust is a leap of faith, a give and take and needs to be earned, respected and valued. Create trust by trusting and earn trust by being trustworthy.
Without;
leaning in
trusting our partner and provide a safe space for them to trust us
creating and respecting shared space
being present
The dance does not happen.
This lead me down a rabbit hole of watching dance videos both competitive and instructional. Wow! Watching dancers in the moment and flow is magical. Yes, there is a leader and follower but they work together in harmony. If one of the two tries to control, show off or opt out the dance is not the same. No matter how many fancy manoeuvres you have, how you sell it with energy, bling and exciting music if you do not have the above the pure magic of dance isn’t there. The difference is immense. Try watching for yourself see what you think.
It is the same in improvisation. We have drivers and passengers both adding to the flow of the story or dance. If one tries to bulldoze, shine, hog, fuel their ego or opt out the work is not the same. Some shows are a state of magical play where as an audience you just feel the moment and some you are a witnessing a blend of fear and ego struggling to reproduce what they’ve been instructed or a skirmish between improvisors for space and audience approval.
So lean in to your partner and develop your trust by creating an opportunity to give and take.
Learn to be present and sense the move of your partner in the moment, not predicting but experiencing.
Even if you are performing a pattern or routine be present and available. Awareness is more valuable than precision.
Respect the shared space and the individually space.
Don’t pull away when you make a mistake, stay present and don’t abandon your partner.
Learn to admit, laugh and learn from mistakes – they are valuable.
Enjoy the dance of creation. Cha-cha-cha!