13 March - IMAGINE ...

Playing with an Imaginary Ball

GREEN PARK MARKET

Participants: Anant, Arushi, Sameer, Amu, Smita, Shena

Observer: Mallika

Simple idea. Simple agenda. Stupendous results!

The idea – play with an imaginary ball.

The ‘agenda’ – give some people some fun and invite them to play – to exercise their imagination and sense of joyfulness

Mission – accomplished!!

Precisely because the idea was so simple – it worked like a charm. People immediately get the idea of the ‘ball’. Most people who joined in, once they moved past the idea of the strangeness of it, got into the (theatre?) game with full belief, allowing themselves to have fun and to be a part of a happy coincidence in their day.

Besides those who stayed at the periphery, recording the proceedings on their phones, was a succession of people who took part good-naturedly.

There was the Café Coffee Day delivery guy who didn’t miss a beat on his way somewhere with what looked like a jam bottle in one hand – catching the ‘ball’ with his other hand and throwing it back to someone before grinning and going on his way. The gentleman who decided to turn the ‘throw and catch’ game into a cricket match and who subsequently hit a six – lopping the ‘ball’ over the cars onto the other side of the street. Luckily, Sameer had another ‘ball’ in his pocket (heh heh heh… actually, he had a bunchaballs in there) – and so the game continued.

Collective imagination was in play as one girl tried to balance the ‘ball’ on her head … and the rest of us gathered around her, ready to catch it in case it fell. One lovely lady who was busy taking a video of what was going on was in a fix when someone handed her the ‘ball’, suddenly making her a participant rather than an outside viewer. Not to be deterred, she found ways in which to continue selfying herself as now inside the game while simultaneously throwing the ball to someone else! Good job whoever you were! (We know you took this blog address, so maybe you’re reading this right now!)

There was the shop owner who thoroughly enjoyed the surreptitious passing-the-ball-behind-your-back section of the game and joined in with full cloak-and-dagger feel (we were trying to avoid the dog there who not only KNEW, but was – um - upset at the strange goings on in her ilaka. Sorry doggie, next time we’ll move away from your space). And many others, including our first player – a little girl of about six years old - - good sports all – Thank you!

It seems safe to say that some people had a sudden, unexpected, unique and fun experience and left the space a little happier, with a story to tell and a bounce in their step. Small dent in a long day and longer lives – but even the longest stories are made up of smaller moments, so why not one moment of watching an imaginary ball soar up into the sky … ?

Feb 28, 2015 - DOING A DO AFTER AGES ... IN GOA!

Slo Mo 'run' to the Chef

Performers: Manoj, Marianna, Bhakti, Shriram, Shivam I, Shivam II, Arushi, Sameer, Vik and Pranav
Documenter and observer: Shena

Many thanks to Padma Damodaran who remembered the Doggie Dos we did and invited one to The Goa Project. It's been a while, but doing a Do is always fun,  and this time was no different.

As the venue was somewhat cut off from public spaces, we decided to use lunch time as our 'venue'. Light hearted under a sunny Goan sky, sound of waves mingling with voices, laughter and cutlery clinks, the slo mo event quickly garnered attention from eaters and onlookers alike. One jolly fellow got into the act by standing in front of the posse as though he was the one they were running towards! 

The grande finale, reaching the bemused but affable chef and giving him a hug was met with some applause.

Of course, this was a safe and easy environment, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't worth the while. Doers commented on the 'zoning in' effect of performing in a public space, and it's safe to say that it was a gentle and fun reminder of the joy of Doing a Do! 

Thanks all. Here's to starting up again! 

7 May: Second Group Meeting - WOMEN ONLY

SECOND GROUP MEETING - NOTES 

Present: Niranjani, Shibani, Mallika, Kriti, Reetu, Aanchal, Swati, Shena G

Thoughts and discussion, in no particular order: 

1. WHY SO FEW MEN ????? We’d like to see more men involved.
2. We need to structure our endings – [ M : rather than hang around ‘shadily’] – the performers must thank their audience verbally and invite them to interact – to let them know that we are staying around to talk to them
3. There are levels/methods of interaction with audience
• Not much – more performance oriented
• Incorporating interaction within the activity. K: Requires the performers to be keenly aware, to make eye contact with audience members, to be sensitive, to allow for change and put that back into the exercise
• Actively inviting audience participation – either during or after the activity; can be verbal or non-verbal
• Speaking with audience members after the activity
4. We decided to incorporate one particular topic or ‘theme’ strand into some of our Dos : Women and Public Spaces
5. We decided to include two ways in which we’d like to consciously grow
• SAME PLACE, DIFFERENT DO – Pick a place and do Dos there consistently, at regular intervals, at same time of day each time. The idea would be to allow the regularity to shape the expectations of what that place can offer – and to give (mostly) the same people a chance to experience a Do, rather than ‘hitting’ random people each time. We would be curious to see how the consistency and expectation changes people’s reactions, and how it affects the space. We would like TDWK to become part of the landscape of that place. (flag by N “be careful we don’t become stagnant” / flag by K “be careful we don’t become public disturbance”) – We thought Sarojini Nagar – esp near the vegetable market – might be a good choice of venue for this
• SAME DO, DIFFERENT PLACE – We take the same DO to different places – and document the differences (to a large extent this is what we have been doing, esp with the mirror exercise)
6. M IDEA! – Invite Jana Natya Manch to come do their Cricket Match – and teach us how to do it
7. We MUST find out what the laws are re. public performances or ‘play’ such as TDWK (SG to do) [nb: it’s not a performance, it’s ‘khel’]
8. However, important to consider – SW : if we’re just ‘playing’ in public, then why take either permission or give information to the police? – If our agenda is to say that we believe that people can and should play anywhere in their own city, then we must act accordingly
9. Also, interestingly – we can take a ‘play’ and do it repeatedly, until that play itself becomes reality (e.g. the Women Walk). We can explore this idea for our ‘Women and Public Spaces’ strand
10. We definitely feel the need for quarterly rehearsal meetings – in which we rehearse new material and hone old material. i.e. work on our ‘repertoire’. We need to have a fixed date for this – which we stick to.
11. Before doing any Do, we must ask WHAT and WHY - specific to the particular activity.
12. When answering WHAT and WHY, categories such as Rehearsed / Unrehearsed; Degree and method of audience inclusion; Theme based or not; the nature of the Space, use of props or not;  etc. should be articulated
13. PROPS – the use of props was discussed. While some felt that maybe we should introduce props a little later, others felt that they can be powerful performance elements that would add to the experience. It was decided to try a few Dos with Props, to see whether and how they affect the Do. Looking for volunteers to lead this activity.
14. RHYTHM – we definitely want to include the use of Rhythm (perhaps using local props) as the mainstay of some of the Dos – powerful method of inclusion. We look forward to volunteers to lead such a Do.
15. Very important – A: don’t lose the purity and innocence of TDWK / JOY and FUN are important points of entry for all that we do, and we must not lose sight of that at any point. / Can be as simple as PLAY and exchange of ENERGY.
16. Every Do MUST exist with the openness of the possibility of interaction, in any form, with audience. This is part of our Rule Book.

 

May 5: Walk This Way!

WALK WAY AT NIRMAN VIHAR METRO STATION
Slo Mo walk and movement along the walkway, in a cluster
Performers: Tripura, Poorvaja, Malvika, Nishta, Swaraj, Reetu, Kanika, Elizabeth, Riya, Shushmita
Documenter and observer: Shena
Audience No.: floating

Pure performative joy! The walkway is not a venue for an audience to gather - so there was not much sharing with the junta beyond informing the few curious about what we were doing. What was most amazing, though, was that so few were curious! It was almost as though we were invisible. The feeling was mutual -- in that for many of us, the people on the walkway, the traffic below, the heat, and the hustle and bustle... all of it faded away and we found ourselves experiencing a heightened sense of connection to our performance. One of the few times when both audience and performers were almost oblivious to each other - while being fully aware of each other! Thank you Delhi. Thank you Metro Walk Way!

 

27 April : Mirror Mirror in the Mall...

Mall - Near NIRMAN VIHAR METRO STATION
Basic partner mirror work - slow - changing partners
Performers: Manju, Ranjan, Riya, Swaraj, Nishta, Reetu
Documenter and observer: Shena
Audience No.: roughly 20+

who let the dogs out, who who?lets do the doggie do do do!

how will we do it if the floor is dirty

how will we do it if the floor is wet

were we dancing or 

simply meditating with our eyes wide open making a contact with my mirror

mirror mirror how many people were watching me

mirror mirror how many people were copying me

mirror mirror how many security guards were there

we want to do it again, but where where where?!

 

(Manju)

We managed roughly fifteen minutes before security asked us (politely) to stop, at which point we bowed to our scattered audience. There was the man who asked if it was meditation, and the shopkeeper who did a slow motion dance outside his shop once we were done, the young woman who came up and expressed how much she had enjoyed watching - and the phone-camera wielding few amongst the crowd of onlookers. 
Since this was a first-time Do for all the performers, what struck us was how connected we were - to each other and to ourselves - amidst the hustle and bustle of the crowded yet impersonal mall space. For some of us, the audience almost melted away - even though we were fully aware that there were people gathering around to watch. It seems that the very act of performing in a public space, unexpectedly (a few of us were a little nervous before beginning) - opens up spaces within us as performers that we don't get to experience in conventional settings. So, besides the lofty ideal of sharing with our brethren, there's also tucked away in all this a deliciously selfish likelihood- to stretch ourselves as artists, and to experience something new.

15 February: O Shopper, Stop!

Metropolitan Mall - outside corridor
One 'being stopped' exercise and one improv session
Performers: Padma, Smita, Swati, Ruchi, Shibani, Bopana, Shena
Documenter and observer: Niranjani
Audience No.: 5 to 10

We had planned to do the Do in Khirki village, but because of rain moved to the covered corridor outside Stoppers Shop in Metropolitan Mall, Saket, across the road from Khirki.

Bopana prays for the rain to stop

It was an all girl gang – which we realized was taken more ‘tolerantly’ than seriously. In the corridor we performed a slow motion walk which morphed into a Stopping exercise, similar to what we had done in Galleria, Gurgaon, but much slower to begin with – and, of course, between women only. While it raised a few questions, no one really stopped to watch for long (stopping, was presumably for shopping only!) – and comments such as ‘ladki log kuch kar rahe hain’ and the usual ‘shooting ho rahi hai kya?’ were the only reactions.  A couple of guards watched on with mild amusement.

We then moved to near where the security check was happening, with the idea of miming a parallel check and seeing what developed. It turned into an improv, which the performers enjoyed doing, but with not enough cohesion to hold either as a performance or as a public intervention. Lesson: be clear on motives and don’t fall into improv indulgence!

Similar to Khan Market, audience was distant and not forthcoming. Ah how to crack the South Delhi Sophisticate? What do do we do ?

 

WALKAROO KHAN MARKET

Place: Khan Market

Time: Initially 4pm but finally started at 5.30pm due to late arrival of two sleepy participants.

Participants: Kriti, Mallika, Niranjani, Priyanka.

Observers: Leena + all of us took turns to be the observer since we “walked” 5 times. 

A slow, measured walking in a queue, with a series of slow choreographed looks (look to the left, look into a shop window, look someone up and down).

People were curious, but very few came up to ask, except for two valiant women who had a lot to say: “This is walking na? We just want to walk… we want to live in a city where we can walk safely…. Why do shops shut early, why does public transport stop early, it’s ridiculous… No wonder we don’t feel we own this city… if more people were out and about, it would be better, etc…”

Other comments “are they on drugs?”, “fashion show?”

Mostly, people did not want to engage – barring one doorman who kept opening the door to the shop thinking we wanted to enter each time we stopped by his shop. We had to become very pro-active about involving audience, literally had to go up to people afterwards as they did not come forward. Or, we would decide to ‘look’ at a group of people who were obviously interested, but didn’t know quite how to engage. ‘Upmarket’ places like Khan Market are a real challenge.

Meaningful moment: turning to look left when stopped at public toilet. Hmm…

The fact that we had ‘solemn’ faces in itself elicited a comment such as “is it something religious?” We toyed with bringing softness or even a smile to our countenance, but decided against it as we wanted to maintain neutrality … however, we soon realized that ‘neutral’ is very elusive, perhaps nonexistent.

We were very struck by the feelings that the slowed down walk elicited in us – a heightened awareness of walking, and the place we were in. The importance of simply being able to walk – as women, as citizens.

 Definitely a Do worth exploring again.