Thoughts on Presence:Engagement with the Less Desirable

As an improvisor I cultivate my ability to sense and surrender to the present moment: what do I see/hear/feel/touch/taste/think in this very moment and circumstance. I do allow my memory and imagination to activate based on what I perceive here and now, but my primary concern and focus is the details of now. This may seem obvious, but it is a difficult practice, one that requires vigilance. I realize that when we are lost or dissatisfied in the present situation, we often turn to a more clear or pleasant memory or projection into the future to cope the time and space at hand. As an improvisor, I must develop skills and courage to confront the challenges of the moment: to accept the confusion or immobility of the present in order to move to a new place. If I reject, deny or subvert the discomfort of the present, then my presence is gone and truth has vanished, progress and mobility is stalled. Engagement and embrace facilitate change, I remind myself.

Excerpt on Process from Email with a Collaborator

Excerpt from an email I wrote to a fellow collaborator(Jason Sanford of the band Neptune) regarding my approach to developing an improvisational performance work. "Usually I have a jumping off point and it goes from there. In this case, my interest would be demonstrating the possibilities of the instrument, utilizing the specific details of the space, exploring the particular physicality/movement that arises when interacting with the instrument and other artists. While I do this I usually end up with some kind of feeling, emotion, scenario... sort of spontaneously. Then I attempt to apply composition elements to all of that. I do all of this with a lot of improvisation and try to exert very little control... i like to let the elements involved control the situation with their natural properties.. rather than imposing more than a loose structure.... sometimes. Different situations require more control: ie. when there is a lot of tech involved or necessary cueing for lights, sound, etc."