Sten Rudstrom

Improvisation Workshops & Performances -

Improvisation Workshops & Performances

Unrehearsed Brillance

What is it that makes a good improviser? More than anything it is the ability to take risks, to be willing and able to follow the improvisation into the unknown.
That “ability,” that able-ness is where the work is. I might be completely willing to improvise but not have the ability to do so. I acquire that ability by practicing letting go of things, ideas, agendas, plans, etc. It’s a challenge because basically human beings do not like change; we seek stability and safety. Our behavior is dominated by an ego-self. But to improvise I have to seek instability, insecurity and a lack of safety. I have to let go of what I think is right and surrender to what I sense, what the improvisation calls for. To truly improvise I must follow what arises inside of the improvisation, not lead it to what I desire. This is where the brilliance comes in. The saying “yes” to each moment as it arises regardless of my mental disengagement, accepting the first step regardless of the outcome, surrendering to the hidden joy smoldering underneath. I do not wish to be “good” when I improvise, I wish to be open. I do not wish to entertain the audience, I wish to play host to the spirits that enter me. I do not wish to create a good show, I wish to follow the show that arrives and trust that this acceptance will do the crafting. I practice and practice and practice yet I never rehearse. If there is one thing I am “rehearsing,” then it is the action of letting go, of repeatedly falling into the abyss of nothing-ness, getting comfortable with the uncomfortable, sensing the presence of what is and accepting its embrace regardless of the heat or ice, regardless of the approved or disapproved, regardless of the “me” that wants something different.

looking forward to working again in vienna!
27-29 Sept at Schule des Theaters! see link in comments

Be Here Now! 14& 15 Sept !
Looking forward to leading another workshop in Zürich this weekend, building an Action Theater practice group
,introducing more people to the body-based improvisation form, that treats movement, voice and language equally, great for dancers, great for actors, for anybody who wants to improve their performance skills. contact: [email protected]

Improvisation Workshops & Performances -

Improvisation Workshops & Performances Be Here Now! is for all those who wish live more in the present, make clearer momentary decisions and instantaneously compose stunning expression. Starting with physical and mental exercises of the Action Theater™ method, you expand your perception of the present. You integrate the experience of s...

Looking forward to teaching again in Wien at the end of September! I hope to see you there!

🌰Die Herbstakademie ist da!
👉Dialog, Rolle, Bewegung
3 Workshops von 20. – 29. September 2024
Wir begrüßen den Herbst mit 10 Intensivtagen voller frischer Impulse
🌰 Dialogtraining – Stimm- und Sprechen 20. – 22. Sep. 2024
🌰 Rollen erforschen mit Method Acting 23. – 26. Sep. 2024
🌰 Be Here Now – Physical Theatre Workshop 27. – 29. Sep. 2024
👉Alle Infos und Anmeldung in den Kommentaren.

Only Live Once! -

Only Live Once!

Next Step Is - 1st Encounter - had a fantastic show with Harald Kimmig last night at E-Werk, Freiburg, looking forward to another blast of unrehearsed brillance tonight, 19:30! https://ewerk-freiburg.de/event/next-step-is-1st-encounter-2/

Language is a dance.

For about 30 years, I have been teaching improvisation to help dancers how to use language and actors how to sense their bodies. Too many times I have experienced dance performances wherein the dancers start to speak and the text comes out flat, unsupported by their actions. They believe they are “experimenting” with text but they are not. They are simply introducing text. To experiment with text means to investigate its nuances, to dig into the details of the form — space, time, shape, effort — all the qualities one associates with dance/movement, not simply to speaking words without sensing them. Language is a dance. You have to remember that. It’s not only what you say, it’s how you say it, how you sense the vocals and consonants as you speak them. To help train dancers in text use, I’ve come up with a set of helpful guidelines. It’s a list of some common mistakes in improvisation and how to correct them. Here’s the first 5:

DO’s & DON’T’S of IMPROVISING LANGUAGE
For Dancers Starting to Use Words

1) DO NOT speak from a mental state or think up words/content.
DO sense the body experience, allow it to generate feeling states, allow those feeling states to trigger your imagination.

2) DO NOT speak from a neutral standing position.
DO shape the body and allow that shape/shaping, tension and timing of the body to generate body experience, feeling states and imagination —in that order.

3) DO NOT talk about what the audience can see. This reduces/flattens the mystery of the performance makes the content about you instead of keeping it universal.
DO make yourself available to the associations that arrive with the impulses to speak and voice from those associations.

4) DO NOT use your normal everyday voice. It reduces your awareness to content only.
DO remember that language is a dance, and just like a physical action, each word has a movement structure of its own — how each word enters the space, how it leads to the next word is not about syntax and grammar but rather momentum, vibration, dynamics, effort quality and musicality.

5) DO NOT waste your language, or your time with language, or run away from what said, or abandon it.
DO take your time with words, allow what you have said to resonate in your body and in the space. Each word you speak is a vibrational object in the room. Remember it is still in the room after you have spoken it.

My August intensive training is coming up, 19 -31 August. See link in Comments.

Improvisation Workshops & Performances -

Be Here Now! Action Theater™ improvisation weekend, 2-4 August, Arena Dances, Minneapolis, info: [email protected]

Improvisation Workshops & Performances -

Improvisation Workshops & Performances NEXT STEP IS- 1st Encounter is the first meeting of performance artists Sten Rudstrøm (USA/BERLIN) and Harald Kimmig (D/FREIBURG). Entering the stage with no plan, they craft a world of spontaneous performance. Listening and responding to each other's actions,  through physical expression and the ...

I'm getting excited about the August Training Intensive coming in about a month! Still some places available, contact me asap if you want to join. link in the comments

Dear Improvisers, real friends, electronic friends and thin-connections-due-mutual-electronic-friends-and-a-single-click:

Some students for my August Action Theater™ training, 19-31 August this year in Berlin, at EDEN studios in Pankow, are seeking housing for the 2 weeks of the workshop. Could you please contact me if you have a room available in Berlin at that time?

Thanks,
Sten Rudstrom