The session last night had 3 sections:
Discussion on the way forward for Konnektiv over the next 3 months.
Game - Foodchain!
Ritual - rebirth
The Way Forward has been discussed quite a lot so I won't go on about it here, except to say that despite the fact that we are not doing any rehearsed performances for a while, so we can focus on process/workshop based experimental stuff, we are going to be doing some improvisational street performance for Stafford Arts Fest on the 15th Sept.
We will be having the theme of pirates. This is a very interesting theme, and I've been looking up things on the internet. Already found 2 good pages:
http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2007/06/10_random_and_t.html
http://www.piratesinfo.com/cpi_Ahoy_Matey!_That_Pirate_Has_Breasts!_523.asp
Inspiring stuff. We should get some good stuff for the blog.
Foodchain
Game. I made up this game earlier in the day and it made me laugh, but it needs a lot of development. It made me think a bit of traditional drama games, which could be funny and energetic, but also a bit of the Boal theatre of the oppressed stuff, and I thought at the end it was interesting to see how people respond to percieved threat or invasion of territory. Basically, everyone thought of an animal, and then I told them the name of the game. This is because I wanted to use the animals that people would naturally come up with, rather than them coming up with something influenced by the name. This caused 2 problems, one is that none of the animals actually would eat each other in real life - we had a gorrilla, an elephant, a dog, a caterpillar, a snake and a stingray. This leads us to the other problem - that they often had very different habitats, and so would have reduced likelihood of meeting and engaging in dramatic interactions.
I didn't want it to just end up with a chaotic running around and screaming session, so I told everyone to close their eyes, so they had to feel, hear and smell their way around the room and discover who their adversary was in ways other than seeing. This was a theme for the day, and which will be repeated over time, as being deprived of our primary sense, makes us more reliant on our other senses, and thus overall, more aware of our whole body experience.
Basically, the rules last night, which need to be adapted, were as follows: 1. each group member selected their animal, 2)we allocated areas of the room for 'habitats', with a few props made out of chairs or clothing, and each animal chose a habitat. 3) The animals were all informed that they were very hungry and on the look out for food. 4) On my command of "Forage!", the group would close their eyes and look for food. 5) if they came across any object or other animal, they would carefully examine it without opening their eyes, and decide how to interact with it. 5) When something dramatically interesting started to happen between two animals, I would then shout "Foodchain!" and the group would all open their eyes ... then I would inform them whereabouts in the room something interesting was happening, and the animals concerned would perform their interaction to the rest of the group.
Now I am reflecting on this, I think that in fact, the set up of the game may not have been problematic, but it may have been that when the group opened their eyes, and the interacting animals began to perform, it broke the spell. Someone suggested that instead of shouting "Foodchain", I should walk round tapping the non interacting animals on the shoulder, to inform them that an interesting interaction was taking place. In this way, it would not break the spell of the interactions as they occur, and let them come to a natural conclusion.
Ritual - rebirth of Konnektiv
We left this until the end, so that everyone could join in. Basically I let a guided meditation for the group which started with everyone in the foetal position with their eyes closed. There was a gradual awakening, in which people gained consciousness of themselves, their senses, the room, and the other members of the group. The idea was to let go of old "knowledge" and expectations and see each other, the group, the space, differently, to allow for different, fresh and new ideas to flow.
At the end of the session, everyone had enjoyed the rebirth ritual, and some said they felt relaxed and energised, which is a great result for a guided meditation. comments included that it helped people to let go of the many thoughts in their heads, and focus. As the guide, I really enjoyed watching the process of people experiencing an "awakening" in their own private world, and then acknowledging others in the group, and beginning to share their experence of this new world with each other. It was a great way to re-introduce group members to each other after the long summer break.
I'll post the ritual onto the blog, but remember if you read it, that I changed it in the reading so it isn't exactly as it is written.
Membership forms!
Another great leap for Konnektivkind! We have some membership forms, and some people have filled them in. It's like we are a proper group!! :)
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