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Improvisational
Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of improvisation can apply to many different faculties across all artistic, scientific, physical, cognitive, academic, and non-academic disciplines; see Applied improvisation. Skills and techniques The skills of improvisation can apply to many different abilities or forms of communication and expression across all artistic, scientific, physical, cognitive, academic, and non-academic disciplines. For example, improvisation can make a significant contribution in music, dance, cooking, presenting a speech, sales, personal or romantic relationships, sports, flower arranging, martial arts, psychotherapy, and much more. Techniqu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viola Spolin
Viola Spolin (November 7, 1906 — November 22, 1994) was an American theatre academic, educator and acting coach. She is considered an important innovator in 20th century American theater for creating directorial techniques to help actors to be focused in the present moment and to find choices improvisationally, as if in real life. These acting exercises she later called Theater Games and formed the first body of work that enabled other directors and actors to create improvisational theater. Her book ''Improvisation for the Theater'', which published these techniques, includes her philosophy and her teaching and coaching methods, and is considered the "bible of improvisational theater". Spolin's contributions were seminal to the improvisational theater movement in the U.S. She is considered to be the mother of Improvisational theater. Her work has influenced American theater, television and film by providing new tools and techniques that are now used by actors, directors and wri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Committee (improv Group)
The Committee was a San Francisco-based improvisational comedy group founded by Alan Myerson and Jessica Myerson (born as Irene Ryan and performing as Irene Riordan, later known as Latifah Taormina). The Myersons were both alums of The Second City in Chicago. Founding ''The Committee'', named in reference to the House Un-American Activities Committee, opened on April 10, 1963, at 622 Broadway in a 300-seat Cabaret theater that used to be an indoor bocce ball court in San Francisco's North Beach. Garry Goodrow, Hamilton Camp, Larry Hankin, Kathryn Ish, Scott Beach and Ellsworth Milburn were the original cast. Jessica Myerson (billed as Irene Riordan) joined the company in May. Alan Myerson was the troupe's director, Jerry Mander handled the group's PR, and Richard Stahl (who in very short order joined the improv troupe) was its first company manager. 1964 New York Arthur Cantor took the company (now an octet with the addition of Stahl) to Broadway in New York in 196 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Second City
The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has become one of the most influential and renowned in the English-speaking world. In February 2021, ZMC, a private equity investment firm based in Manhattan, purchased the Second City. The Second City has produced television programs in both Canada and the United States, including '' SCTV'', ''Second City Presents'', and '' Next Comedy Legend''. It has been a starting point for many comedians, award-winning actors, directors, and others in show business, including Joan Rivers, Del Close, Alan Alda, Alan Arkin, Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, Gilda Radner, John Candy, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Dave Thomas, Chris Farley, Tim Meadows, Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, Mike Myers, Nia Vardalos, Steve Carell, J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theater Games
Theatre games are structured activities and exercises designed to train actors, that was developed in the 20th century by practitioners such as Viola Spolin and son Paul Sills, Joan Littlewood, Clive Barker, Keith Johnstone, Jerzy Grotowski and Augusto Boal. Theatre games are also commonly used as warm-up exercises for actors before a rehearsal or performance, in the development of improvisational theatre, and as a lateral means to rehearse dramatic material. They are also used in drama therapy to overcome anxiety by simulating scenarios that would be fear-inducing in real life. Improvisational theatre games have also been used in performance on stages and on television, most notably on Who's Line Is It Anyways. Examples Zip Zap Zop: A concentration and energy-passing game where players pass a clap and a word (Zip, Zap, or Zop) in order. Freeze: A game where players jump into scenes frozen in action, encouraging quick thinking and scene-building. See also * Group-dynamic ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dance Composition
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which motion or form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer creates choreographies through the art of choreography, a process known as choreographing. It most commonly refers to dance choreography. In dance, ''choreography'' may also refer to the design itself, sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. Dance choreography is sometimes called ''dance composition''. Aspects of dance choreography include the compositional use of organic unity, rhythmic or non-rhythmic articulation, theme and variation, and repetition. The choreographic process may employ improvisation to develop innovative movement ideas. Generally, choreography designs dances intended to be performed as concert dance. The art of choreography involves specifying human movement and form in terms of space, shape, time, and energy, typically within an emo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Choreography
Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A choreographer creates choreographies through the art of choreography, a process known as choreographing. It most commonly refers to dance choreography. In dance, ''choreography'' may also refer to the design itself, sometimes expressed by means of dance notation. Dance choreography is sometimes called ''dance composition''. Aspects of dance choreography include the compositional use of organic unity, rhythmic or non-rhythmic articulation, theme and variation, and repetition. The choreographic process may employ improvisation to develop innovative movement ideas. Generally, choreography designs dances intended to be performed as concert dance. The art of choreography involves specifying human movement and form in terms of space, shape, time, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dance Improvisation
Dance improvisation is the process of spontaneously creating movement. Development of movement material is facilitated through a variety of creative explorations including body mapping through levels, shape and dynamics schema. Improvisation is a free, seemingly unstructured, less technically strict and impulsive form that draws inspiration from everyday dance practices and influences. It is a movement technique that is capable of evoking dramatic and thought-provoking content just as well as more codified western dance techniques such as ballet and non-western movement forms. Dance improvisation is not only about creating ''new'' movement but is also defined as freeing the body from habitual movement patterns (see Postmodern dance and Judson Dance Theater). Dancer and singer Michael Jackson combined improvisation in both of those definitions, insisting that he had an interest in performing a dance to ''Billie Jean'' only if he could do it a new way each time. A lot of improvisat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Sills
Paul Sills (born Paul Silverberg; November 18, 1927 – June 2, 2008) was an American director and improvisation teacher, and the original director of Chicago's The Second City. Life and career Sills was born Paul Silverberg in Chicago, Illinois, to a family who believed in the teachings of modern-day Judaism. His mother was teacher and writer Viola Spolin, who authored the first book on improvisation techniques, ''Improvisation for the Theater''. Spolin in turn was the student of play therapy theorist Neva Boyd. In 1948, Sills enrolled in the University of Chicago, where he established himself as a director, co-founding Playwright's Theater Club. There, with fellow actors Ed Asner, Edward Asner, Byrne Piven and Zohra Lampert, they blended Spolin's improvisational techniques with established theater training. In 1955, Sills and David Shepherd (producer), David Shepherd founded the Compass Players, the first improvisational theater in the United States, where he directed Shelley ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Performing Arts
The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Performing arts include a range of disciplines which are performed in front of a live audience, including theatre, music, and dance. Theatre, music, gymnastics, object manipulation, and other kinds of performances are present in all human cultures. The history of music and dance date to pre-historic times whereas circus skills date to at least Ancient Egypt. Many performing arts are performed professionally. Performance can be in purpose-built buildings, such as theatres and opera houses; on open air stages at festivals; on stages in tents, as in circuses; or on the street. Live performances before an audience are a form of entertainment. The development of audio and video recording has allowed for private consumption of the performin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Improv Austin 2009
Improv may refer to: *Improvisation, an act of spontaneous invention **Improvisational theatre (includes improvisational comedy) **Musical improvisation *The Improv, a chain of U.S. comedy clubs * The Improv (India), a comedy show in Bangalore *Lotus Improv Lotus Improv is a discontinued spreadsheet program from Lotus Development released in 1991 for the NeXTSTEP platform and then for Windows 3.1 in 1993. Development was put on hiatus in 1994 after slow sales on the Windows platform, and officially ..., a spreadsheet program See also * Improvisations (other) {{Disambiguation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Off The Cuff
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Contact Improvisation
Contact Improvisation (CI) is a postmodern dance practice that explores movement through shared weight, touch, and physical awareness. Originating in the United States in 1972, contact improvisation was developed by dancer and choreographer Steve Paxton, drawing on influences from modern dance, aikido, and somatic practices. Contact Improvisation emphasizes the interplay of gravity, momentum, and improvisation, fostering an experimental approach to movement that invites both professional dancers and newcomers into its global community.Novack, Cynthia Jean., ''Sharing the dance'', Univ. Of Wisconsin Press, 1 January 1990 ( , read online), chapters 2, 3, and 4. The practice involves continuous physical touch between dancers, where gravity, momentum, inertia, and friction shape their interactions. The dance is further described by Paxton: "The exigencies of the form dictate a mode of movement which is relaxed, constantly aware and prepared, and onflowing". Known for its open ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
