In the moment, out of the box - ImproVox - Blog http://improvox.com/blog.html ImproVox: Blog Jannis' PHPRss class - http://www.jannis.to/ Sat, 05 Feb 2011 08:16:43 -0800 Recording http://improvox.com/blog.html/recording http://improvox.com/blog.html/recording Sat, 05 Feb 2011 08:16:43 -0800 In the moment, out of the box - ImproVox - Blog Kindergarten 101: Taking Turns! http://improvox.com/blog.html/kindergarten_101_taking_turns  


     We all love singing so much, we can all think of something to add to any improvisation. Someone starts a riff and we all jump on like kids on a trampoline! Harmonious cacophony can be a thrilling effect, but cacophony is cacophony, and not always the desired effect, and certainly not for any extended length of time.

     We've recently been exploring what happens when we strip away voices during an improv, making room for a soloist or duo to explore a theme on their own. We've discovered that this has many positive effects.  Often the soloist takes the improv to a very different and exciting place, moving the piece forward, or the duo launches into an exciting give and take (a form we call "See-Saw") creating a previously unheard combination of voices and vocal tones. By changing the combination of singers mid-improv, suddenly the piece has new "geography."  Quiet personal passages emerge.  New themes may be discovered and picked up by all.  A soloist might explore a bit, then find a logical place to re-introduce a previous theme giving the piece a fresh continuity.  Such variations often provide for new re-entry points for all, and create interesting turns in the melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic themes and textures of the song.


     Working as ensemble means anyone in the circle might claim solo or duo space, or, upon hearing something interesting across the circle, might quiet others so this theme may emerge unhindered. It makes us each composers in and of the piece, even when we are not the ones singing! This also allows us the opportunity to gently explore solo improv in a supported setting, which, hopefully will lead to increasingly confident and effective solo pieces in the future. Turn taking is allowing us to truly appreciate and hear each other in a group improv setting. Who knew 'shutting up' could be so effective?

 

 


 

]]> http://improvox.com/blog.html/kindergarten_101_taking_turns Wed, 20 Jan 2010 09:23:36 -0800 In the moment, out of the box - ImproVox - Blog Poetry from the Audience... http://improvox.com/blog.html/poetry_from_the_audience ImproVox LOVES to invite the audience to fill out writing prompts so we can sing their words back to them. Recently we invited an audience to finish the statement "Forgive me..."  Here's what they wrote:


 


FORGIVE ME…


 … for laughing


… for loving you


… Mea Culpa


… I didn’t know you were married


… for being unkind…


… for hoping too hard & too long


… for not hoping long enough


… I didn’t mean it, I was in a crabby mood.


… for laughing too loud in the back row


… for picking you up 3 hours late from your lesson


… for failing to pay attention


… for failing biology


… after all this time


… for saying this


… if I step on your toes


… when I say “Shut Up”


… for calling you names on the playground


… for shutting your tail in the window


… for calling you names in my mind


… for spilling the gravy


… I thought you were someone else


… I didn’t mean to make that noise!


… I didn’t know you were pregnant!


… I thought you were pregnant.


… I can’t remember your name!


…I should have made supper…

]]> http://improvox.com/blog.html/poetry_from_the_audience In the moment, out of the box - ImproVox - Blog