Your Life: DON’T TOSS IT. REPURPOSE IT.
Don’t wait for someone else to repurpose or reclaim you! You can to do that yourself.
Failing Gloriously – Manifesto Sneak Peek
Without the possibility of failure, nothing new can be discovered or accomplished.
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…
Bearing Witness – MFA work
To observe without judgment, to help by not helping at all
Staying, listening, recording… Read more…
Ensemble – Timing – The sooner, the better
[fblike] There are a lot of sayings that pop into my head with this one: “Timing is everything.” “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” All of these tried and true quotes and yet we still downplay the importance of timing. A prime example, in our work, is when companies and schools …
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…
Play Today! – An Energy Game
[fblike] On the blog, we’re starting to spotlight exercises we use in rehearsals and workshops. The key is never the game itself, it’s the use of it. One game can be used in so many different ways, accomplishing many different goals. Keep in mind: What does the group need? Why am I using this exercise …
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 …
Ensemble/Community – Stereotype
[fblike] They say we all have a little bit of stereotyping/prejudice in us and I am no exception. Recently, I was at a conference of multicultural schools in Germany. While there, I worked with teachers and students from many different countries and cultures. As our ensembles formed, I noticed a student who fit the Non-Team …
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 …