Friday 21 December 2012

20 December: YOU MUST STOP.

Galleria Market, Gurgaon
Two sets of 'being stopped' action exercises
Performers: Amu, Niranjani, Keshav, Pali, Shena
Documenter (Photos & Video): Tarun
Audience No.: 20 to 50 each time

 
We wanted to make a comment on the recent rape case in Delhi. We decided to do an exercise in which a person is repeatedly stopped from doing a simple action. Much talk had been flying around – in the media and even in our own homes - about how girls/women need to stop going out in the evenings, stop working late, stop wearing ‘western’ clothes, stop travelling by bus, stop
We thought it may just be a little abstract, but didn’t want to do an overt re-playing of the story or anything that resembled a sloganeering street-play. It didn’t prove to be abstract at all. Audiences immediately related what they witnessed to recent events. One gentleman said, “there’s nothing left to be said, you’ve said it all.”
 
We did the exercise twice. The first time we had two scenarios going on simultaneously. One in which Shena simply wanted to move from point A to point B, but was stopped by Keshav, the other in which Niranjani and Pali wanted to touch hands, but were stopped from doing so by Amu. For the actors, internally, as a theatre exercise the experience was powerful and real – somewhat surprising all of us. Aggression, power, avoidance, anger, cowering, hopelessness, fear, need, animalism, violence. 


For the audience, there is no doubt that the intensity and nature of the performance touched and resonated with people. We were repeatedly thanked for what we had done, and were able to speak with a number of people – almost each and every one of them ‘getting’ what we were trying to say and happy to engage in conversation. 


The second time we did the exercise we chose to have three ‘stoppers’ – Niranjani, Pali and Shena – and two ‘stopees’ – as it made sense to have a larger number of stoppers, as the dominant voice. Simple story of Amu and Keshav trying to connect, and being stopped from doing so. Anger and violence bred in those being stopped, while the stoppers found the power and ‘smugness’ of their higher status. At one point, one brave man sipping coffee in a CCD saw the performance through the cafĂ© window and charged out to stop the violence, thinking that it was real. Nice to know that there are people out there capable of heroism, and not afraid to put themselves out on a limb for a stranger in trouble. Before he smashed Keshav’s face in though, Pali and Niranjani were able to let him know it’s an ‘improv’ exercise – thereby saving Keshav’s life (according to Keshav!).
keshav almost gets his face bashed in...
 Again there was a crowd of people who wanted to talk about what they had seen afterwards. 

This is a Do that is replicable and that resonates with audiences well. However, we are not sure that we need to or want to visit such intense emotional spaces as actors each time. There may be a way of stylizing it, or of containing it in some way – while still keeping it real. However, there is definitely something here that we can build on. (Perhaps without the shaking-like-a-leaf afterwards effect?!)



Wednesday 5 December 2012

26th November: Oh the Sweet Smell of your Hair.

Delhi Haat
3 sets of a repeated freeze cycle
Performers: Amu, Rudy, Mallika, Kriti, Uday
Observers: neel D, Roohi
Documenter (Photos & Video): Yash
Audience No.: 10-20 at a time  X 3 times
FREEZES !


I've been so overwhelmed by my first Doggie Do that its taken me a week to get over it and get to writing this. That's my interpretation of the delay anyway- and you know what they say- No Interpretation is wrong.

Amu, Amu's parentals, Rudy, kriti, neel, momo, roohi and I (Uday) met at Rudy's place in Sarvapriya Vihar to decide what to do. Because it was the 26th of November, we toyed with ideas that would be referential to the 26/11 terror attacks. We brainstormed ideas about the dynamics of group formation and rupture. We played with the idea of forms moving through the performance space 'bouncing/bumping' off other people and objects until they made physical contact with one of the others in the group after which they would remain joined until the whole group came together in a conglomerate of bodies. We experimented with the idea of a domino effect. Eventually we decided that we were too few for these concepts to be impactful and to save these ideas for a doggie do with a bigger group. We decided instead to tell a story. We started with an exercise with Amu, Rudy, Kriti in a square, facing each other in a neutral stance. Any movement/sound made (in)advertantly by anyone was to be adopted and amplified by other members of the group as they became congnizant of it, naturally changing it and thus providing material for further chain reactions. I apparently 'cheated' because I  continued shreaking long after others had stopped. Enough of this. We need a story. There's something stuck in Kriti's hair. What? There's something stuck in Kriti's hair and we need to help her take it out.

We settled upon what we thought was a perfectly obvious little story with a series of seven freezes.
kriti was combing out her hair (1) when we saw something gross in it and did not make any attempt to conceal our reactions (2). kriti whipped her hair up and wondered what was up (2).  amu threw up while the rest of us felt simultaneously curious and disgusted, Rudy even tried to touch the damn thing (3). when she reached out to us to help her in a cry of desperation (4) we responded immediately with rudy grabbing the offending object in the hair and the rest of us grabbing onto him to get it out. Veins in our necks throbbing with the static effort of dislodging goo from Kriti's hair (5). You know what happens when you pull something to hard. You get it out.......and you fall in a tumble of arms and legs (6). Kriti bitchily sees us, and instead of prostrating herself to us in gratitude walks off like the Chammak Challo she was born to be. Shocked and Awed..we responded with a good, wholesome, Punjabi "Lae" (someone please put in the pronunciaation key for this.)  The cycle of freezes was to be repeated  5-6 times, each time with smaller gaps between freezes until the freezes simply blended into a smooth series of movements. We noticed a resemblance of the concept to a scene from Pina Bausch's Cafe Mueller (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEQGYs3d5Ys&feature=player_detailpage#t=649s See from about 10:50).

We reached Delhi Haat in no less than 3 cars at about 6.30 and decided to start from deep inside and slowly make our way out. Round one was performed by the four of us with Amu's parents, Mallika, Neel and Roohi as observers. Gathered a moving audience of about 10. Hadn't discussed how to 'end' and we ended up leaving the performance space without acknowleding or engaging with the audience. Observers gave feedback that the concept was esoteric and wasn't allowing the audients a 'way-in' or a hook because it was not at all clear what we were doing. also it was observed that the performance didnt build into enough of a frenzy and seemed to just dissipate. We decided to add a sound to each freeze to add another layer of communication and get more and more frustrated as we went through faster cycles to keep energy high and build a meta story across cycles. Mallika joined us as a performer for round two.

This time the performance space was more enclosed and energy seemed to fill it more fully. We gathered an audience of about 15. This time we engaged with audience members after. The enduring question - "Aap Batana kya chaah rahe the.....Iska Moral Kya tha" This search for a moral message intrigued me. I wonder if the setting of Delhi Haat attracts many performances with a message. Or perhaps public performance has become synonymous with street plays loaded with social message delivery in our city. Someone from the audience volunteered "Ye molestation ke baare mein thaa". The other pervasive interpretation of the performance was that it was an advertisement (the other apparently legitimate reason for public performance apart from 'in public interest broadcasting). The performance seemed to many to be an ad for shampoo, to show how strong Kriti's hair was. It wouldnt break even when four people tugged at it. Or an ad for anti-dandruff or anti-lice solutions.  After speaking with the crowd about their interpretation, the crowd was eager, almost insistent, for us to tell them what our purpose was. And what we were intending to depict. We didn't divulge these details but after the crowd left, some of us in the group felt that we ought to, at the end, tell them what we had thought of. It was felt that after soliciting audients' responses and interpretations, we should in the spirit of an open conversation say what our own thought process was, all the while making clear that this does not mean that this was the only or the right one. Others in the group strongly felt that we should not divulge our own interpretation. Whether we like it or not, people will then leave the space with our story as their lasting impression of the performance and will serve to de-legitimise their own experience and understanding of what they had seen. We decided not to communicate the story, and to revisit this discussion later.

In Round 3 we had a very similar experience. The same quest for moral message as well as the interpretation of shampoo advertisement. One man said, pointing to Amu "Ye Madam to PAKKA juein (lice) dhoond rahee thee". I got into a very engaged conversation with two of the audients who had been quite forthcoming with their interpretations and had asked once again what our intent was. My answer had been "Hamne kuch kiya, wo aapke aankhon mein pada aur kuch aur ban gaya, apne muh se bola ki apne kya dekha, jab wo baat kisi aur ke kaanon mein padee tho woh kuch aur ban gaee". But he insisted "Wo sab tho theek hai, par aapka MAKSAD kya tha. Jab koi Saabun bechta hai to us sabun ka maksad hota hai usse nahana". To which I said "Lekin agar main aapko toothbrush bechoon, aur aap us toothbrush se pajame ka naada nikalo, ya jute polish karo, tho kya mein aapko keh sakta hun kee aap galat hain?". His response was thought provoking for me "Usmein tho phir meri creativity dikhtee hai na. lekin aapka maksad tho toothbrush bechna tha".

For me the experience was significant because it raised important and fundamental questions for both audients and performers. Once a piece of art/performance has been created, does the creator lose ownership of it in terms of what meanings its viewers ascribe to it. More importantly, does she lose all responsibilities to communicate with the viewer on her own process of creation. If our story was about a girl with goop in her hair, and we refuse to engage with that seed that gives birth to this idea are we being disrespectful to our own process of creation by denying the viewer access to it? If the consumer of a toothbrush finds a cool ass way to use it other than to brush his teeth, can the toothbrush manufacturer say "I intended for you to be creative with this. Shaabaash" or is the appropriate response "I never thought this could be used like this. I only ever thought of it to clean teeth." It makes me think of Yves Klein, who painted models and got them to apply themselves to the canvas, losing all control of the form and content of the painting, focussing our attention to the process instead. Klein can, I believe, authentically challenge the search for fixed meaning in his art work and can authentically say "I did not have a purpose in painting this, and whatever you see in this is as valid as what I see in it". Can we authentically say this? and if we can't, should we?

Sunday 11 November 2012

Group Meeting - notes

November 6, 2012

Present: Amu, Yash, Aanchal, Bopana, Mallika, Shena, Rudy, Pali, Shibani
Also 'present': Kriti, Niranjani, Arushi
Future: Andy, Keshav
 
Some notes from our discussion and assessment meeting.

Our reasons for joining TDWK:
·         Earlier work had begun to feel uninspiring – this is something new that connects directly with people
·         Sharing
·         Generally to laugh and have fun
·         Fun
·         Interactive
·         Trusted, and knew would want to work with the people who were involved
·         Enjoyed the idea of no borders between audiences and performers
·         The sense of the unexpected
·         Had begun hating the city of Delhi – [it’s difficult being a girl in Delhi] – this is a claiming of the city, a way in which to affect spaces and relationship with the city / small interventions that could eventually change thought
·         Sharing of theatre – and what goes into the making of ‘theatre’
·         Also a way to give back to Theatre
·         Joy
·         To inject colour and fun into our – and others’ – often drab lives and surroundings
·         Desire to get back to theatre being fun and simple
·         To increase personal levels of focus and concentration
·         To grow as an artist – take risks, be in the moment, connect with one’s artistic discipline
·         Belief that arts and culture can influence the way society thinks
·         Because we love Public Art!
·         Because we love things that are FREE!!
·         Working with an unsuspecting crowd – connecting with an unexpecting audience
·         A way of opening theatre to all the people who want to do theatre
 The kinds of things that TDWK will do/not do:

We began by discussing whether Street Plays or Street Acrobatics performances could be tdwk. Also, whether pranks could be tdwk, and Visual Arts / Audio Visuals…

We realized that what makes a tdwk performance different from many other street shows is that it is not done for money.

We decided to limit ourselves to PERFORMATIVE elements only – i.e. only performances that involve actual human beings and the exchange of energy via engagement between people. This rules out Art Installations, AV shows, etc., for tdwk. After all, as Bopana pointed out, the dog has to KNOW!

We also ruled out Pranks – not only because people may get annoyed or upset, but also because most pranks are done with the idea that the person being pranked does not KNOW what’s going on… whereas a Doggie Do’s intent would be more about sharing and engaging with people.

We concluded by saying that the INTENT with which we approach our performances is the most important thing. This includes Respect for audience, with the idea of sharing as opposed to simply ‘presenting’.

On our Blog and Facebook page:

To Video or not to Video… and then to put a Video up or not to… hot debate raged around this! One faction believed it’s almost criminal not to SHARE the work via video; that, in fact, we MUST share videos as it would be selfish not to do so. The other (Rudy loudly) believed that videos would make people passive viewers, by the very nature of the medium; that some of the mystery would be lost…

We watched Yash’s video of Sarojini Nagar Do, and were blown away.

“How can you NOT put this up!!”

So… we decided to put this one up, and then one more from the India Gate Do, and that then we should all speak with various people to get their views on whether or not to put up more videos,  and if so then in what format and how often and so on.

It was noted that the video Yash has made does not really give much away as such, as it’s edited in a sort of ‘highlights of’ fashion, rather than in any linear way. In that respect it seems like the kind of offering that we might prefer to put up, rather than straight documentary-style video clips. Some felt that videos of audience reactions are better than videos that focus on the performers – at least for what we put up.

Whether or not we ultimately decide to put up lots of videos as we go along, we decided that we certainly must video document as much as possible for sure.

We discussed the possibility of putting up a video once every few months or so, rather than with every Do.

AND… we must translate at least all the main pages of the Blog into Hindi.

The PRESS

We unanimously decided that none of us would speak to the Press about tdwk, if asked for interviews or comments etc. We feel there is no need to make tdwk into a ‘news item’. Blog will carry schedule, so anyone can reach a Do and make up their own mind based on what they experience, if they’re really interested.

(This came up as we’ve had a couple of enquiries from Press)

Documentation

Most conversation here revolved around the presence of the cameraperson. Large sized cameras are conspicuous, but maybe not if the cameraperson is not obviously with the group. Is it possible for the cameraperson to remain incognito? Conspicuous cameras change performance energies, and also distract audiences. Sometimes we do want shots which require the cameraperson to be as close to the performers as possible. Telelenses are not always a good solution. Different performances and different spaces require different techniques… etc…

The grand solution to all these points was to simply leave it up to the cameraperson! Yash (or whoever comes in) would have to work out for himself the ways in which to engage with the process, and adapt his technique to each Do that he finds himself in. We’re all in the same boat of ‘feeling our way around’ this – and he’s no exception!

Who can join?

We did start by saying “anyone, of course.” Carrying it a little further though, Mallika raised the question of ‘groups with politics that don’t agree with ours/mine’, and we grappled with that for a while. One thing we realized was that ‘joining’ really just consisted of whether we put up something on the blog or not… which boils down to being able to decide on a case to case basis for any performance.

The Core Group was seen as a collective that would be able to decide whether we ‘like’ something well enough to put it up on the blog.

It was also noted that we would like to extend support and knowledge sharing to anyone who wished to attempt a Doggie Do on their own – ideally with someone from the Core Group attending, if possible. We want new people to join, it doesn’t matter if they’re trained in theatre or not – the idea is to share as far as possible.

Repertoire and Material

Can we have social issue motivated Dos? Can anyone suggest an idea for a Do? Can we use our personal stories/selves as fodder? After some talk, we decided yes, yes and yes! The reason we okayed socially motivated Dos is that if personal experiences are being brought in as material, then we must acknowledge that each person’s life includes their political and social selves – and not just their ‘innerlands’ (the word was used, yes).

It would be nice to develop a repertoire as we go along (as has been happening naturally) – though we should try not to repeat the same idea too often in succession. We already have – Freeze Stories, Slo Mo Race, Mirror work, Partner postures of coming together and breaking apart, imitating audience members, and (briefly done as a demo) Push & Pull energy work.

We’d like to meet for a day or so about once every three months as a group to rehearse, discuss and hone the repertoire.

Admin and Carrying On

We will rotate who Coordinates a Do. The coordinator will also be responsible for writing it up, or ensuring that someone does.  

That’s all folks!

Thursday 25 October 2012

25 October, 2012

INDIA GATE; 5:30pm
Performers: Pali, Amu, Rudy, Mallika, Kriti, Niranjani, Bopana, Shena
Observers: Laurent, Aditi
Documenter (Photos & Video): Niranjani
Audience No.: 40 - 100
FREEZES, 'COPY CAT', a 'SLOW MO' RACE - and a 'GIANT THEATRE WORKSHOP'!




We began in a park near India Gate, in an open space where there were not too many people. A crowd of over a hundred people gathered fairly quickly, as we did sets of freezes like those we had done in Sarojini Nagar (coming together freeze; breaking apart freeze, in couples - taking different partners each time). We kept it contained - only expanding and getting more dramatic towards the last few freezes, when the crowd was at its peak.
We started on an empty-ish, grassless patch, very close to the Gate itself. We started with no audience
 The audience was appreciative and mindful. They collected in such a manner as to allow us space and room to perform. A smattering of spontaneous applause was our indication to stop, and to bow! We dispersed, and then stayed in the space - moving into the crowd. People were not only curious about what we had done, but wanted to understand and to learn. There was a group of school girls from Kaithal in rural Haryana, on a school trip with their teacher, all in uniform and with ribbons in their hair. As we moved into their group, we found that we were able best to explain what we were doing by demonstrating with a small Mirror Exercise and then inviting them to try it for themselves. Which some of them did. The teacher kept repeating "See, THIS is true learning! See, THIS is what you must realise is an opportunity for true learning. See, THIS is what all can happen when you move out for a 'yatra.'"


Rudy & Bopana
The space developed into a spontaneous giant Workshop of sorts - with various people coming forward to try things, and with performers blending with the crowd as they demonstrated different exercises, explained what they were doing, and helping people experience through action. Besides simple mirror exercises, we also did a 'Push and Pull' through energy contact demonstration - which elicited questions of "hypnosis hai kya?"and  prompted one young man to attempt it as well, shy and tentative - but brave and inspired.

We then moved into the space directly around the monument. Our plan was to attempt a lateral, dynamic mirror 'walk'. Luckily, plans change. We quickly adapted our 'follow the unknown leader' idea into following what people around us were doing. It became a joyous 'Copy Cat' extravaganza. 'Joyous' because of the whole-hearted, good-natured willing participation of the various people we chose to interact with.

Some of our audience was very curious as to how Rudy and Bops were responding to each other... without any physical contact... how did they know when and how to move? So one of them decided to try it out.
Beginning with a sassy bracelet seller who, once she realised that we were copycatting her, beckoned us to follow her and made us realise that people would easily understand the intent with which we were playing and would not be intimidated or upset (which was a concern/assumption some of us had). This opened up the playing field as it were, and we moved from vendor to vendor and then to general members of the crowd - each time with the humbling and wondrous experience of watching the person we went up to assimilate and then give back to us with generosity and genuine playfulness. A gentleman eating bhelpuri exaggerated his movements in true comic style, a 'chai-coffee' vendor used his kettle as a prop to interact with us, a man selling novelties gave us a whole choreographed pattern to follow, a hair-brush seller took it all in his stride while the lady who was buying laughed out loud once she realised we were copying her giggling.

One vendor seemed to realise that this was an opportunity to make us do just about anything - and had us rolling on the ground, putting our legs up in the air and so on. It was tough to gauge whether he was laughing with us or at us - and there was a comment of 'chootiyapani karaa rahaa hai'. We are aware that a large number of our group are women - and that we are opening ourselves to misinterpretation and even abuse. However, in general till now the crowd has been supportive, there is no doubt about that.

We wound down with our Slow Mo Race - which people immediately identify with and appreciate. Again, there was a smattering of applause and we ended the evening by fading into the night...

Of course, so much rich material and such strong experiences have brought up many thoughts, concerns, questions and ideas on how to proceed. For instance, this time around some of us felt the need to extend the connection with people - at least by handing out this blog address. While earlier we thought an observer would be necessary to guage the mood of the audience, this time we decided to guage it from within the performers circle itself.

To address all these concerns, and to assess the work we are doing, the group meets on the 6th of November. We welcome any points that readers may want to raise for discussion - please do leave comments. tx.

(more pics and video to be added)