11 October, 2012

Sarojini Nagar Market
at various locations throughout fashion street and main market; 6:00pm
Performers: Amu, Rudy, Mallika, Kriti, Niranjani, Bopana, Shena
Observers: Aditi
Documenter (Photos & Video): Yash
Audience No.: 20 - about 80 at a time, maybe more...
FREEZES and 'SLOW MO' RACES!

We met in a park near the venue to decide on what to do, and to practice. We decided on a sequence of Freezes - in which the theme was 'coming together' and then 'breaking apart'. We worked in couples, trying to make sure to 'freeze' with each person in the group, in rotation. The person left out in each case would then say "typewriter" as cue to find new partners. (er.. yes... typewriter) We thought that a high energy 'coming together' contrasted with a slow (and possibly painful!) 'breaking apart' would work well - and that's the idea that we entered fashion street with. We had also practiced a 'slow mo' race in which Niranjani was to be the Winner - and the rest of us were to scramble, claw and push each other out of the way to try to win. All in slow motion.

practice in the park

So, from the serene surrounds of the practice park, the posse with the Idea ambled confidently into the bustle and noise of the Street.

Which had many cops.

Posse stopped. And reconsidered.

"Maybe we should... keep moving.. you know.. not create a crowd or anything..."

practice in the park in b&w!

So we decided that in the high energy happy 'coming together' we'd move along the street, so as not to create a static crowd, and then proceed with the freezes at intervals of about four or five shops' distance. The idea was to do about seven rotations.

But from the very first moment, all the high energy and scattered energy and moving energy - created a high energy MOVING crowd, that appeared to want to move with us! Noise levels reached a mild roar every time we moved - so that even though we quickly adapted our 'act' to be a little less...er.. enthusiastic... the crowd that we tried to avoid creating nevertheless created itself anyway, and we decided to wrap this sequence up after about 3 or 4 rotations. It's not that there was aggression anywhere, or that the crowd was ugly in any way at all - it was just that the energy was moving into possibly uncontrollable realms and we were not sure where it might lead.

Next, we tried the Slo Mo Race a few times - to interested responses. Yash and his camera meant that comments of "shooting ho rahi hai?" were inevitable. As was, it seems, "paagal ho gaye hai"!

Rudy and Bopana frozen in a Break Up moment

We ended with another attempt at the Freezes - this time done slowly and with contained energy. This worked very well, and a very absorbed audience gathered around - with some members of the audience telling others to give us room to perform and to applaud at the end! Mallika made it a point to speak with people after the performance - and was told to 'carry on' with such work and that our group would 'move ahead' with fame and fortune! A lot of this was said directly to Yash's camera (hmm...)
(video to be added here soon)

learnings:
1. Very Imp : MUST MUST have an Observer/Guide for every intervention. Only a person outside the group of performers can gauge the energy/mood of the audience and would be able to take a call on how long a performance can be stretched - or not.
2. MUST MUST stay in the general area after a performance, in order to talk to people - else it's more like a hit-and-run accident than a complete sharing exchange.

3 October, 2012

Defence Colony Market
at middle crossing, and near the vege shop 6:30pm
Performers: Shibani, Bopana, Shena
Observers: Shena + Shibani
Audience No.: Passersby, fluctuating 3 to 15 at a time
MIRROR EXERCISES

Two sets of mirror exercises - one in the centre lane between the two parks (performers: Bopana & Shibani), and one opposite the vege shop, near the Chemist & Baskin Robins (performers: Shena & Bopana).

The first one got a lot of passersby interest - with people doing double takes, drivers of cars (and rickshaws) craning their necks around to see what was going on, and walkers slowing down their pace to get a good look. There was also a small crowd of fixed viewers - a few drivers, the Bhel Puri and the cigarette (and sheesha!) vendors, and a couple of parking attendants. These people were warm and encouraging in their feedback. MCD Parking Attendant, Amit Mishra, was particularly encouraging, and when his colleague began to ask us to move in order to get cars parked in that area, Mishraji managed to organise things so that we didn't have to move - and told us to "continue playing"! He later told us that he figured that we were "practicing" - but what we were practicing, he couldn't tell! In fact, that is what he told other people who asked him what we were doing ("practice kar rahein hai jee"). One of the drivers thought perhaps we were doing 'asanas' - i.e. yoga.


What was special about this small group of people was the instant warmth and non-judgemental stance that they took to the whole affair. At one point afterwards, when observer Shena was commenting that Shibani and Bopana were so focused that neither of them noticed when a huge rat scuttled under their feet while they were performing (kid you not) - the Bhel Puri vendor came running over from his stand to us and exclaimed "ya! the rat wanted to join in too!" A camaraderie built up, as a result of the shared experience.

Amit Mishra; protector of performance!

The second exercise went a little differently. Shena and Bopana were on a pavement, under bright light, almost like a stage - albeit with a display of medicines and potions as the scenic background! There was a larger, more fixed crowd of onlookers. But, as in Khan Market, most people preferred to watch from a distance, and were not keen to come over and chat with us later. We did ask one security guard and the young staff person at Baskin Robins what they thought of the whole thing - both were too shy to give an answer, though the word 'ajeeb' did come up!
(pics to follow)


nb: The CAMERA - even if just a phone camera - is very intrusive. Shibani suggests something with a zoom lens, with the recordist far away (but then how can we interact and record comments... hmmm... then we will need an Observer AND a Photographer/Videographer... solutions, anyone?)

26 September, 2012

Khan Market
At inner crossing; 5:30pm
Performers: Shibani, Pali, Shena
Observers: Aditi
Audience No.: Passersby, fluctuating 3 to 10 at a time
GROUP MIRROR followed by IMPROVISED FREEZES

This time we went with the intention of offering an experience that would allow people to join in -- only to discover that no one was interested in joining in!! Except for one person from Jammu, who was getting his shoes shined right next to where we were performing. (Throughout his interaction with us, the cobbler kept vacillating between watching what was going on with interest, and calling out to his 'errant' customer to return his slippers and take his shoes!) We also went with the intention of definitely bowing to our audience when we were done - only to realise that there wasn't really a fixed audience to bow to, AND we went armed with our little slips of paper with this blog address on it to give to people - heh heh to realise that no one really seemed to want them!! Well, except for our one friend from Jammu!

We were clear in our intent - offering something fun and interesting to people where they least expect it, and to allow them to partake in the experiment, if they liked. We started with a group mirror exercise. While the three of us were performing, we noticed a gentleman attempting to imitate us in the background, so invited him to be part of the circle, which he did gamely and with full enjoyment. The mirror exercise elicited some response from passersby, and a scattered circle of people who stopped to watch was created, including some shopkeepers, the cobbler and a policeman or two. Some people were genuinely amazed - one lady did a double take in shock as she came out of the 'galli' and noticed us - while others stopped to point and discuss what they thought was going on. Most of this was at a little distance, and no one decided to interact with us or to stay long enough to ask questions.

Next we did an improv exercise in which two people strike a freeze with narratives in their head, and the third person taps one of them on the shoulder to replace that person in the freeze, with a changed narrative. It was improvised in that we let the moment speak for itself, and moved in freely when and where we felt like.

This section was perhaps less 'dramatic' than the obvious concentration of a mirror exercise. Although this is where we thought people may actually join in - either they were shy, didn't understand that they could, were busy, etc... and that didn't happen. Shibani felt that we definitely should have stayed longer with it - we were done in less than half an hour. Certainly, it would be ideal to have enough time in hand to keep with an exercise/performance in order to truly watch how the action changes the space. One comment while we were doing the freezes: "Arrey dekh dekh... hang ho gaya"! It is also possible that some people passing by thought that we were simply posing for photographs (so the dog DIDN'T know??.... why not?... prefixed ideas, broken concentration, obvious awareness of what we were doing...). Again, people preferred to look on from a bit of a distance - we're not sure if this was due to the nature of the space, or the nature of the exercise/our energy.


At one point Aditi, as photographer, came into the freeze - taking photos from within the freeze, which was interesting, as it broke the subject-object divide. Here's the pic she took when in the freeze:

(p.s. we took ages figuring out where exactly we wanted to perform - as one of us was full of trepidation this time... )

19 September, 2012

On a Metro
Travelling, Hauz Khas - Qutab Minar - Hauz Khas; 7:30pm
Performers: Pali, Rudy, Arushi, Shena
Observers: Shibani
Audience No.: As per travellers - fluctuating 3 to 20
SYNCHRONIZED ACTIONS - SIMPLE NARRATIVE

We used props of Newspapers and Books (Manto; Hindi). The sequence consisted of a series of timed actions (rehearsed, with counts) first with the Newspapers (take out from under arm, open systematically, sad sigh, read, get shocked, lift paper high, only eyes visible over paper - 'scared' eyes darting from side to side... fold paper and put it away), followed by a series of slow movement sequences with the Books (open, read interestedly, lift overhead but continue transfixed to page, look at cover, look at blurb, open and read with more energy and excitement - synchronized - and then flip pages in tandem with each other, look at book fondly, smell it, clasp it to heart).

Our story was simple - we didn't like what we read in the Newspaper, but certainly did like the Book!

This time, the audience did not have to make a decision to stop and watch - as they were already seated or standing around us with nowhere to go - except to get off at their designated stop! People seemed to be interested. One comment was wondering whether they were witnessing a 'Parody'.

At one point, between cycles of the narrative, the performers decided to slowly extend the books forward to the passengers seated opposite. Each of the 'audience passengers' readily accepted the books, and held them while the performers carried on with their sequence with the Newspapers. When it came time to use the Books again, performers simply had to extend their hands to regain their properties, and a very lovely physical and energy exchange was completed, without words, without explanations or analysis! 

Photos did not come clear, as the 'venue' was moving (!), so Shibani shot some videos instead.

One idea from Rudy - to carry slips of paper with this blog address to give to people.
Also, we're wondering whether to bow or not, after a performance. We feel we should. As acknowledgement both of our actions, and of the audience's participation in the actions. What thoughts? What does 'bowing' really mean?

10 September, 2012

PVR Saket Market, 
at a pillar near the Chocolat shop, 7:30pm
Performers: Pali, Rudy, Shena
Observers: none (mistake - should have)
Audience No.: 30 - 40
FREEZE SCENES NARRATIVE, CYCLIC

We chose to do a series of six 'freeze scenes' - with a narrative in our heads - which we decided upon once we saw the location. We planned each scene roughly, and thought we would simply keep repeating the scenes, in sequence, while holding each freeze for at least 15 to 20 seconds
The scenes were: 1. Trying to push the pillar over, 2. Trying to lift the pillar, 3. Exhausted and resting, 4. Pleading with the pillar, 5. Pali gets stuck to the pillar, and R & S trying to pull him away, 6. Collapse and fall on the floor ... begin again.... and then again... etc.
(The narrative in our head was simply that we had lost a coin under the pillar and were trying to move the pillar to get it)

Audience:
Took a while to 'catch'. Heard someone say "Pillar hai, bhai, pillar hai!' when we were in the freeze trying to push it! Since there was no observer from our team, couldn't hear what people were saying during the action - but later we had some amazing interactions with people who had seen it, mentioned below under 'Our Comments' ... (it's becoming increasingly difficult to slot the observations into 'audience' and 'us'). At one point someone threw a coin near us, and then three or four coins.

We don't know what spirit the coins were thrown in. Perhaps it was a sarcastic comment. Perhaps it was a genuine payment for entertainment, 'Nautanki'-style. Maybe, as Pali later said, the performers' intent of finding a coin was simply realised! Hey, if audiences are free to interpret Art according to their inner stories, then performers, too, are free to interpret audiences' reactions! 'Explaining' either does away with all the possibilities.

When we bowed to each other - there was a handful of applause.

As we walked away, first a group of young men approached us asking us what we were doing... we asked them what they thought. They weren't quite sure what to make of it. In terms of the story one thought that we were doing 'puja' to the pillar - but then he wasn't sure because later he saw us trying to push the pillar, and that didn't fit in with his idea of what he thought the story was. We realised that he may have joined in at Scene 4 - so for him the cyclic story would perhaps be coloured by what he witnessed 'first'. (aha!)
Another young man, a model, also stopped us. He, too, was genuinely puzzled and had no real interpretation to give of what he had seen, nor did he seem interested in giving one. He figured it was some kind of theatre exercise, and asked us whether we were in an acting school ("Barry John?"). He also mentioned that it seemed we were doing something that might happen in France or Germany, and that it was rather 'abstract'...

Our comments:
Rudy: Oh my god. I feel I owe more to the people who are stopping to watch us. We are choosing to perform in a public space and we WANT people to stop and watch us - so we owe them something as performers. I don't want to leave them with a feeling of bewilderment, and of not quite 'getting it'. That would just alienate them and make them uncomfortable. Are we just being indulgent?
Pali: No, we're sharing our experiences of theatre. Theatre has meant so much to me, as a person, in my life - for me this is a sharing of something I love.
Shena: Owe more? Matlab? We had a narrative, we performed it quite well I thought (ahem..)
Rudy: But we only planned it ten seconds before show time...
ShenaPali: But we DO have at least 10 years each of theatre experience behind us - so it's ten seconds (and anyway it was more like 3 minutes okay!) backed by some solid experience. We crafted the scenes well, and aesthetically. We worked with some discipline. We weren't just doing random stuff...
Rudy: Ya, but.... OK - i don't care if people follow a clear narrative. That isn't what I'm getting at. But what we do ought to engage and hopefully move people in some way even if they (or we) are unable to articulate WHY.. - its like, sometimes I watch some contemporary stuff (okay, I'll say it... contemporary dance stuff) - and I'm like 'what the f?' 'What WAS that all about anyway?' The performance didn't affect me in any way and its just left me feeling stupid that I didn't 'get it' or that I just wasted my time.  Are we just subjecting people to ... what ARE we subjecting people to????

... good questions all.

What defines a 'good' performance? or Art? How much of the onus of the shared experience of a performance - shared by performers and audience - lies on the performers, and how much on the audience? Shena felt that any Art/Performance is capable of speaking - it just depends on who is ready, at which stage in their life, to listen. Rudy was vehemently opposed to this idea - ('WHAT? DO YOU MEAN AN ARTIST HAS NO RESPONSIBILITY WHATSOEVER? If the audience does not receive anything from a performance the only person accountable for that is the artist her/himself. We as performers CANNOT place that onus on the audience and say - "Delhi is not ready for this..." OR "They didn't get it because they are not used to watching this kind of stuff !"  )

We very sorely felt the lack of an 'observer' - (which is also why there are no performance pics of this event, also a sad fallout. In future - have an observer/documentation person fersure) - as the only two conversations we had with people certainly did seem to indicate that not only had people not been moved by what they saw, but that they were left feeling in a vague sense 'cheated' or incomplete.

So, feeling a little bewildered and incomplete ourselves, Pali said: "I'm hungry".
And we went to Lebanese Point for Falafel.

Here, we were fortunate to meet Bhagvan Das, owner of Lebanese Point and his staff person at the counter, Divender Singh. Both had seen the performance - and were excited and happy to talk to us about it. Mr. Das had thought that we were making a comment on Asim Trivedi (cartoonist recently charged with sedition) with the freeze in which Pali gets stuck to the pillar. Divender Singh had constructed his own narrative of the public putting someone on a pedestal and worshipping him, and then the System collapsing due to political corruption.

(... er... Rudy... what was that again?... who owes what to whom? who was it who first spoke about internal narratives? heh heh... TRUST!! TRUST in the process and in people and in performance! :) )

Bhagvan Das refused to let us pay for our Falafal roll and Pepsi - so we were Rs. 121/- and, very gratefully, a whole load of experience richer by the end of the evening.

L-R: Rudy, our Model friend, Bhagvan Das, Divendar Singh, Pali at LEBANESE POINT, Saket

1 Sept, 2012

India Gate
Performers: Pali & Shena + Shaan
Observers: Aditi
Audience No: 30-40
MIRROR EXERCISE

Audience:
At first, four Rajasthani bracelet sellers stood right next to us, in a row. Their gaze definitely motivated others to come and watch. Eventually a fairly large circle of people. There was general amazement, wonder, curiosity. Comments: 'kuch jaadoo kar rahein hain', 'hynosis hai', 'KYA kar rahe hain?' ... at the end, when Pali and Shena bowed to eachother in acknowledgement, there were a few people who clapped. As we walked away, one young man and his buddies stopped us and asked us what we were doing, what the trick was. We told him no trick, just focus and concentration, and asked him if he'd like to try. He was happy to. His name is Shaan, and he later shared his email address and facebook page with us.

Shaan with Pali

He and Pali did another short mirror exercise. He was very good, and picked it up almost immediately, and with great focus. It was quite beautiful to watch. One of the Rajasthani sellers caught up with us much later, with the excuse of selling us her bracelets, but quickly asked whether we had done some 'jaadoo' back there - Again, we explained no jaadoo, just connection. Showed her how to for about a second, before she giggled and stopped! The atmosphere was relaxed and easy, as compared to the malls.


Our comments:
shena: for me highlight was watching Shaan experiencing the exercise deeply.

27 August, 2012

DLF Mall, Saket
near central cafe
7:30pm
Performers: Rudy & Shena
Observers: Pali
Audience No: slow growth to 100
MINIMAL MOVEMENT MIRROR EXERCISE

Audience:
amazement, wonder, curiosity, confusion. Mall security stopped it, asking repeatedly "Aap KAR kya rahe ho? Acting? Monoacting? dance? yeh sab... videsh mein hota hai, India meh nahin... this is not your bedroom that you can come and do any weird thing." One guy said to Mall security: "But they're not doing anything threatening. It's legal" Bihari family: "shooting ho raha hai" One politician-seeming person stood for a long time, watching, arrested; one mall staff person was also very connected.



Our comments:
should not even try to be colour coordinated in costume... should be totally casual - so that it's more natural. we really did try to keep it very minimal. No large hand gestures, not much movement at all. the crying that happened due to not blinking enough was a bit overboard!  Pali felt that the mall security guy wanted to hit Rudy…  Must try in other places, different kinds of locales. E.g. India gate. ......"Rudy - Yes I do agree the tears were a bit over the top but nonetheless for the observers/audience there would have been sooo much meaning that they read into it even though it wasn’t deliberate on our part. And this, as performers is perhaps another aspect of this that I find really interesting - The development of Narrative - what we do and what people perceive and however innocuous our actions might seem to us, to observers they might indeed be profound and speak volumes.. or not! But its interesting to see how we can be aware of that and start to manipulate and utilise thatpower of very very simple story telling.