An Artist’s Impulse – The Gates
Christo’s The Gates. True answers are within. Provocations come from interaction. The process & the product are interdependent.
Tapping into Your Childlike Instincts
[fblike] “I began to think of children not as immature adults, but of adults as atrophied children.” K. Johnstone “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.” Pablo Picasso How do we tap back into our naturally creative selves? We were born with the survival instincts to explore. We …
Habits – Stop Falling Back on Them… please
Creating vibrant work requires honesty. Honesty doesn’t reside in habits. Read more…
Actively Waiting
‘Good things come from waiting in the wings for your space, for your timing to present itself.’ A playground lesson learned decades a go waiting to jump in to double dutch… Read more…
Artist Statement
I am a revolutionary who believes in one’s potential not one’s past. I am digging deep, following arts’ roots to the source of humanity… Read more…
Auditions are Two-Way Streets
Actors must come into auditions on a healthier foot than “please give me this job/college spot, I beg of you.”… Read more…
Master Class video – 2011 Actor Devised Theatre
[fblike] Last summer Episcopal School brought Creatively Independent in for a Master Class week of Physical Theatre. It turned into a joyous adventure of actor devised work exploring the themes inside childhood games. This Master Class series is open to all Jacksonville students and will occur again June 25-29, 2012. 9-noon. *Open enrollment, limited space, …
Teaching as an Art Form and a LAB
The classroom, rehearsal hall or lab is where one must try anything and everything for the sake of the exercise or tool to be explored… Read more…
Summer Explorations in Dance & Theatre – MFA explorations
An educational romp through Berkshires’ art in the summer… … Read more…
What am I watching: the performance or the performer?
A critical essay on a strong individual’s exploration inside the dance world. Read more…
Bearing Witness – MFA work
To observe without judgment, to help by not helping at all
Staying, listening, recording… Read more…
Sharing MFA Grad work
[fblike] Hi everyone, This is Jess Pillmore, Co-Artistic Director of CI. I’m currently working on my MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts at Goddard College and would love to share some of my work with you on this blog. My goal for this degree is to explore how to active an individual inside an ensemble and conversely …
Latest News: Hamlet opening July 21 in North Adams, MA
C.I. has been slacking a bit with the blog entries (hopefully, this will change… today). Busy bees that we are, we have tons of news: Jess & Chris have conceived and directed a post-modern feminist look at HAMLET, that’s one rollercoaster ride of rock ‘n’ roll and physical theatre! We decided to do gender specific …
Independent – Ownership
So… I volunteered to partner with a student for his small sword test. And unfortunately, that is where my ownership of the experience started and stopped. I thought I was being helpful “just being his partner”, letting him lead the rehearsal process and giving him whatever he asked for. Because of this, I was holding back many things: a personal interest in my work, major skills I could utilize (teaching and coaching) and a point of view….
Master Class montage from latest residency
[fblike] Great week in Jacksonville working on physical theatre (contact improv, “As One” collective consciousness, intention and actor/creator skills). We had a blast with a terrific group of risk takers! Watch the video here…
Independent – Switching Roles
[fblike] Here’s the quandary… how does someone know what someone else NEEDS to learn? They can’t, they can only guess based on statistics and past experience. But we’re not living in the past and education is meant to prepare us for the future. So… what to do? I suggest switching roles. Let the student be …
Creativity – Commitment
[fblike] When directing a play or teaching character work, I have many exercises dedicated to giving the actor the opportunity to live inside the world of the play. We start these exercises at the beginning but I’ve noticed it’s difficult for some actors to fully commit early on. They tend to hold back in …
Creativity – Neutrality
Clean slates are important in our work, starting from neutral in order to build a character, a play, a song, etc. Yet most of us tend to cover up our neutral in one of two ways… doing too much or suppressing doing anything… both fight what truly “is”. Sometimes we observe our students doing more …
Creativity – Inspiration
[fblike] So, I’m in the process of writing a play. About 3 months into this idea, I find myself trying to trace my steps backwards in order to keep on track with the original inspiration. I can pin-point the exact moment when the decision was made to commit to the idea but the real need …