How do you cross train improvisation (for effortless dance)?

How do you cross train improvisation?

Imagine there is a tiny pipe in your head out of which all ideas flow. When it is running well, you are on top of your game, in the Zone, enmeshed in the moment. Then comes that niggling doubt, that whisper of “I can’t do that!” Crash! You are thrown out of the moment. Suddenly, there you are, all alone, and feeling all eyes upon you. Sounds like dance, doesn’t it?

Surprise—it’s freewriting. Freewriting has only a few rules—and they are so much like dance improv.

1- write fast without stopping

2- don’t erase

3- write whatever comes into your head

Write fast without stopping

Pick a time period—10 minutes works well. Start writing. Keep going as fast as you can until the timer sounds. Simple, right? You’ll find it is a magic path to clarity, understanding, and—better dance.

Don’t erase

Erasing is judgement, and judging is death to improvisation. It’s saying, I made a mistake. There are no possible mistakes in freewriting. It is an ongoing experiment. The purpose of an experiment is to see what happens. The purpose of freewriting is to discover what you think—deep down. If we stop and judge this flow, it will be lost. If your train of thought changes tracks, just skip to the next line and keep right on going.

Write whatever comes into your head

Some weird things may show up—things that don’t make sense, or feel uncomfortable. Dive right in! Let them out on the page. Take the risk. You can always burn it later. That pipe is narrow, and it is way too easy for it to get clogged up. Any holding back will clog that pipe right up—and it may take hours to get unstuck.

Writing is going to help us dance better!? Yes! Not that your hip circles will suddenly get circlier (though I wouldn’t rule that out). But practice being in the moment and allowing ideas to rise and responding without judging or interfering is a skill of which we need more in belly dance.

It seems crazy that writing can help us dance better, but think about this.  In the same way that we improv by following impulses with conviction in the moment, freewriting does the same thing with words. We have to have the courage and flair to throw down a page of words, not caring how they come out. It is just the same with our practice, as we show up each day and dance our allotted time. When we let ourselves sink into the moment, amazing things come out.

Try it! Open up that pipe by freewriting for 10 minutes sometime. Write whatever comes into your head for a 10 minute span. Then  you can read it and see what you said. It probably won’t be brilliant, but it will be yours. And it will help your next improv session, too.

Here’s a segment of Natalie Goldberg’s seminal work on freewriting, Writing Down the Bones. http://ebookbrowsee.net/gdoc.php?id=226708999&url=a1c426f256e414c24af92e979c4b29e3

And here’s some music…https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YkO6pIr9ueU&feature=youtu.be&list=PLJalN2OCQJVYcih0S_xVlZV32WmrhEWyM

And here’s Gil Scott Heron from a long time ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGaoXAwl9kw