Final post from Poznan coming at you! It has been an incredible 10 days being here with many new friends gained, knowledge acquired and good food and drink consumed. I came to Poland with no expectations and am leaving with so much gratitude. Seriously, if you can pass through Poznan for a few days for a quiet retreat if you are in Europe for a significant time period, plan a visit.

This weeks workshop on improvisation led by Andrew Morrish was definitely one of the best intensives in creating, communicating and listening that I have participated. With giving you full playback of every single exercise and group activity, I will say that every single task was the easiest, most simple and at times silly activity we could have done as a group. Using these methods to develop material was made all the more supportive through Andrew’s method of giving ridiculously positive feedback to every single person. All the time. At first this was confusing or almost irritating, but the brilliance of this approach is actually profound: he never criticized anything or anyone at anytime. Ever. He absolutely never uttered a negative comment about anyone’s choice when they did anything. The only time that quite possibly would have happened is if someone decided not to try or simply gave up. Not a single participant did that this week.

What I gained most from this workshop was the confidence to use my voice with text in performance, creating and building material. I’ll be honest. I hated text and the idea of using words on stage. Not because I was afraid of speaking, but because I felt words are often wasted if not properly crafted. I did not want to do narrative, or so I thought until this week.

I was able to move myself out of the way and learn through watching, listening and moving with the other participants that our narratives exists in our bodies, pasts and shared experiences. And that is enough. Andrew said something very important: 

“The ability to recognize and communicate your existence as it happening is great as long as you make it interesting for yourself.”

What made this week and time in Poland special was the fact that everyday since being here, I have laughed with someone sincerely. I have talked about creating something collectively. I have shared or learned with someone without losing integrity. This is why I decided to become an artist. Because it is my earthly attempt to be a better person with others.

With that, I sincerely thank Marya Wethers for inviting me and Hadar Ahuvia through the Global Practice Sharing program in Movement Research in NYC. To Joanna Leśnierowska, director of Stary Browar Nowy Taniec and the ENTIRE staff and volunteers for making our stay and experience in Poznan unbelievably amazing. To Busch Hartshorn for allowing me to take his workshop. To Andrew Morrish for his incredible workshop. And to every single artist, performer, creator and citizen I met in Poznan. 

As an artist, we open ourselves to everything because to miss something not only is a loss for us, but for us to share that experience with others. For those who have read this blog-post series thank you and please keep supporting artists and community builders bridging the world through dialogue, creativity and pleasure.

#rpg #globalRenegade #theintercontinentalist #movementresearch #nowytaniec #gps #maltafestival #poznan