b'T3 Journal - Student Writing in Drama, University of Exeter 2020-21 Lucy KeanFurthermore, as an ensemble breathing together (BrittonHold on Tightly, Let go Lightly: A Maxim 2013:11) my collaborators and I decided to use our breathfor Collaborationas an integral element for our MP2. In the first section, aBreath of Fire Spirit Rising Yoga Blog. Spirit Rising Yoga, Chicago, structured movement sequence, each move was motored by18 September 2019. WEBSITE: https://www.spiritrisingyoga.org/kundalini-info/breath-of-fire Reflecting on the module Working Together: Performance Training a breath. Considering this now I can see the strong link be- for Collective Creationtween this method and the way yogic practices lead move- Britton, John. Introduction Encountering Ensemble, edited by David Barnett. Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, London, 2013, pp. 3-43. ment from breath. While moving together as an ensemble,VLE BOOKS: https://www.vlebooks.com/Vleweb/Product/ Lucy Keanwe were still individually in tune with our bodies. Arguably,Index/312196?page=0our breath made us a more effective ensemble as during theThe Chantraine Dance of Expression. Chantraine Dance of section we could stay in synchronisation without lookingExpression, YouTube, posted by The Chantraine Dance of Expression, 29 at each other through listening to our breathing. In theJanuary 2019: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0foHG-4NRZAreflection session on the 30th of November, I noted how ourDisanto, Dody. Neutral MaskA Lifes Journey The RoutledgeThroughout my participation in the module Working2000: 76). These isolated movements then developed into audience considered our ensemble work and moving offCompanion to Jacques Lecoq edited by Mark Evans and Rick Kemp. Routledge,Together: Performance Training for Collective Creation,what Wangh coined as Plastique Rivers; whole body-each other in performance to be really strong. The wayLondon, 2016, pp.119-126. VLE BOOKS: http://www.vlebooks.com/ I developed a profound interest in the maxim hold onled improvisational forms that both evoke and contain Vleweb/Product/Index/882359?page=0we used our breath as an integral element in the final sec- tightly, let go lightly, referred to henceforth in italics, andemotional life (ibid: 81). At the beginning of the module, tion of our performance enabled us to play and create evenGoat Island. writing: Letter To A Young Practitioner Goat Islandintroduced early on in the process by module convenor,we moved through the Plastique Rivers, exploring this Performance. Goat Island Performance Group. WEBSITE: http://www.when sharing our work with an audience. This semi-impro- goatislandperformance.org/writing_L2YP.htm Bryan Brown. This maxim originates in the writing ofbody-led movement as individuals, whilst slowly introduc-vised section was inspired by the ocean, and we had to trustAnne Bogart, director and practitioner of the Viewpointsing images inspired by The Memory Police into our movement each other to be fully responsive during the performance.Marshall, Lorna. What Stops Us Working The Body Speaks. Methuen,method of creation, where she states that if the work isvocabulary. Wangh specifies that what makes something London, 2001, pp. 95-110. PRINT.Britton claims that in a live performance an ensemble musttoo controlled, it will feel constricted and lifeless (Bog- a plastique is that the movement is specific, that it is filled react spontaneously and appropriately to the ebb and flowMishler, Adriene. Find What Feels Good Kula. Yoga With Adriene LLC,art 2007: 46). She goes on to write that (i)f there is toowith life, and that it is related to an image (ibid: 84). of impulses between them (2013:27). I would argue thatAustin, 2020. WEBSITE: https://www.fwfgkula.com/ little control, it will be chaotic and hard to see and hear,Therefore, by integrating the text into our movement in my collaborators and I achieved this when we individuallyencouraging collaborators to celebrate the paradox ofthis way, we as performers began to saturate ourselves with synchronised with one another. I felt truly alive (Brittonfirm decisive action and letting go all at the same momentphysical impulses, hence inspiring feelings around the text, 2013:27) to my collaborators and in breathing as one, our(Bogart 2007: 46). Although this maxim was written bywhich we could then start turning into art. Working on the performance was received powerfully by our audience. InBogart in regard to collaborating, Brown discussed thisplastiques as individuals consequently fed into our practice feedback on the 30th of November our peers referred toas a more holistic way of creating theatre: The more youof the Viewpoints, where we explored a mixture of both this translation of energy / atmosphere to the audiencetake this philosophy into account, the richer your processAnne Bogart and Mary Overlies methods. Whereas the as something to take forward in our creative work. There- will be. This does not necessarily mean easier, but you willplastiques were centred in the body, Overlies Viewpoints fore, it is clear how our embodied rehearsal process led to ahave more agency in what you want to be doing (Brown,deconstruct performance as a whole into what she refers to successfully embodied performance that had an echo of theLogbook: 14/10/20). Within the module we experiencedas the Horizontal perspective that frees theatre from what fearlessness Goat Island also promoted for their ensemblethree strands of learning: training for collective creation,she describes as a solid-state structure (Overlie 2006: 206). (Letter to a Young Practitioner). adaptation of The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa as our pri- Within this perspective, she separates performance-making mary source material, and techniques for successful collab- into six Viewpoints: space, shape, time, emotion, move-As an ensemble, it was crucial for us to work throughoutoration. Therefore, in this essay I will be examining howment and story. In our group improvisations, we placed the process on breath techniques and methods of pres- Bogarts maxim was applicable throughout our process as athese two forms of training in conversation with each ence, especially as we were physically unable to connectwhole, and how the consideration of the idiom enriched myother which collectively encouraged us to hold on tightly to with each other this term. I found the work of Goat Islandgroups experience and ability to create collectively. I willour impulses whilst also constantly questioning and now illuminating for the ensemble work we did, as they alsobe analysing this through moments of our practical expe- whats next. We prioritised maintaining interest in our focused on ideas of presence in the creation of their work.rience, in conversation with writings on the three differentimpulses over finding a story within the improvisation. The approaches I took from Goat Island, Le Coq, and yogafacets of the module, applying the maxim chronologicallyThis was because for Overlie, the Viewpoint Story is on practitioners were also incredibly meaningful for my per- through the process.the same hierarchical level as Movement, however the no-sonal process. The personal journey I took as a performer,tion of logic is not: logic is the means through which art rediscovering my body and connection to other performers,Our first exposure to the hold on tightly philosophy of teach- delivers its messages and effects and becomes significant would ultimately have been impossible without spendinging was introduced via an overview of the plastiques andto us (Overlie 2006: 202). In our group, we discussed the time on breath and embodiment. This process has been aViewpoints. Stephen Wangh, an American practitioner, de- idea that an audience member will identify logic in improv-meaningful one for my life outside the studio; I have learntscribes the plastiques, exercises introduced to him by Jerzyisations if the performer maintains their interest in their how to be present using my breath and this will continue toGrotowski from the Polish Theatre Laboratory, as physicalimpulses. This is because an audience member will engage help me feel grounded, and creative, in the uncertain timesisolations that become an external key to an internal door,with what the performer finds interesting, as a performers we live in today. as they are imbued with emotional questioning (Wanghinterest will be deemed significant for the audience. This 56 57'