in2improv - improvise.play.live
  • Home
  • About
    • in2improv
    • Founders
  • Programs
    • knee-jerk
    • SPARK!
    • The Cattleya Project
  • Testimonials
  • blog

Introducing: knee-jerk

3/18/2015

0 Comments

 
We are thrilled to present in2improv's interdisciplinary ensemble! This first version of knee-jerk is composed of 3 musicians and 4 dancers who have come together weekly since January 2015 to explore interdisciplinary improvisation together. We are very excited to be working with a group of giving and talented individuals, please come out and support us/them in our first public performance! Co-founders Sandra Paola Lopez (dance) and Chris Reyman (music/accordion) will be joined by Mindy Chanson (dance), Rainy Demerson (dance), Eric Howell (music/bass), Gabriel Infante (music/voice) and Christy Mitchell (dance).
$10 suggested donation will be accepted at the door.
Picture
0 Comments

Thank you for 2014!

12/31/2014

0 Comments

 
As this year comes to an end we wanted to share with you a few of the highlights that 2014 brought to us. Thank you for believing in us and congratulations, as our success belongs to you too!

Highlights of 2014:

March: We spent a week in Juarez, Mexico giving workshops to college students, community members, organizers and educators. Watch a short video of our experience!
July: Our second international performance took place in a restaurant/gallery space in downtown Bogota. We performed along side colleagues and friends Rebecca Bryant and Don Nichols. Watch a video of the performance here!
September: Presented our co-authored paper “Improvising New Realities: Movement, Sound and Social Therapeutics” at the Guelph Jazz Festival and Colloquium in Canada.
October: Taught and performed at the annual Texas Dance Improvisation Festival (TDIF) in Huntsville, TX.
October: Taught two workshops at the international conference Performing the World (PTW) in New York City.

Looking forward to 2015!

- We formed an interdisciplinary ensemble that will perform for the first time in mid-April.
- New weekly-program in collaboration with the Juarez based non-profit CCOMPAZ will be starting the second week in January.
0 Comments

Performing the World 2014

10/13/2014

0 Comments

 
This past weekend (Oct 10-12th) we had, once again, the great privilege to take part of the conference Performing the World in New York City. This 8th international conference brought together performance activists from 34 countries sharing new and old initiatives from all around the world that are using performance to change the world. Throughout the conference we explored the question "How Shall we Become?" through performances, workshops and presentations that showcased theatre, improvisation, dance, music and magic! In our workshop "in2listening: What Can Ensemble Improvisation Teach us About the Art of Listening?" we created groupness with simple ensemble building ideas and had a great turn out! We are very excited to have strengthened old friendships and built new ones. It was an amazing weekend filled with hope, laughter and performance.
0 Comments

Texas Dance Improvisation Festival

10/5/2014

0 Comments

 
This weekend we were teaching, dancing and performing at the 6th annual Texas Dance Improvisation Festival which took place in Sam Houston University. It was a fantastic experience and a great beginning to our work in a new state. Our class, titled "Creating Groupness" brought together concepts of group building and listening from social therapeutics, deep listening and interdisciplinary improvisation to create with our students new ways to see and experience groupness in ensemble improvisation. We premiered a new piece titled becoming which invited the audience to play with their visual/aural perception and invited their participation for an epic ending! We come back to El Paso energized and very excited to have met so many kindred spirits through out the state. We will be looking forward to next year's festival!
0 Comments

Performing in academia

9/8/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Our paper Improvising New Realities: Movement, Sound and Social Therapeutics was selected to be presented at this year's Guelph Jazz Festival Colloquium. Organized by the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation, the Macdonald Stewart Art Centre and the University of Guelph, the festival brought together improvisers and academics from music and other fields. Instead of presenting our paper, we decided to perform it and invited our audience to join in the collective activity of creating our paper together. It was a great experience and was received very well! Throughout the week we got to hear great music and learn about other ways that artists are using improvisation to push the social boundaries of our world. We left feeling inspired and energized to continue our work!
0 Comments

los viajes son el destino

6/26/2014

0 Comments

 
On June 24th, 2014 we performed a long side our good friends from PMPD in Bogota, Colombia. The performance explored the relationships we each (and as a collective) had with the journey that brought us together in that particular space and at that particular time. Thinking of the journey as the destiny itself encourages the awareness and presence that as improvisers we always seek to foster. The performance took place in the restaurant/gallery A Seis Manos.

To watch an excerpt of the video click here.
0 Comments

Improv on the Border (Juarez, Mexico)

3/16/2014

1 Comment

 
This past week (March 10th-15th) we had the honor of working with students and community members in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. The multiple events throughout the week involved the Pedagogical National University in Juarez, four NGOs (Techo Comunitario, Coaliciones Comunitarias, CCOMPAZ and Organización Popular Independiente), and friends and members of the Fred Newman Center. Among all the things we did, Sandra Paola taught a Latin dance class, Chris a jazz improvisation class to young underprivileged musicians, and we gave versions of our workshops Creating with what we have, Arts in Education and Social Transformation and Listening, Touch and Kinesthetics for community members, educators and university students. We are very inspired and excited to look for opportunities to continue this work in a much needed area that continues to recover from drug violence.

Watch a short video of our experience and listen to some testimonials.
1 Comment

Young IDEA 2013

7/14/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
Young IDEA 2013 was an international multidisciplinary arts-education laboratory that brought together 39 artist/educators from all over the world to collaborate, perform and question our work. We were selected along side Colombian dancer and choreographer Jenny Angelica Angulo Soledad as a team of three to represent Colombia and the US. For 2-weeks we performed for each other, taught each other and discussed the importance of arts education in our respective cultures.The last week of the program we were part of the 8th Congress of the International Drama/Theatre Education Association (IDEA) where we taught workshops for kids, helped with organizing events and the opening and closing ceremonies, organized an improvisation night for congress participants and provided assistance with the assessment of the congress.

in2improv represented Young IDEA 2013 in the General Council Meetings during the week of the congress and presented a report of the program at the UNESCO headquarters after the congress.

To see excerpts of our performance click here.

0 Comments

A Big Project

12/20/2012

1 Comment

 
in2improv had a video broadcasted on December 20th, 2012 as part of the international artistic event A Big Project. This project began in January of 2012 with a group of organizers who sought to gain clarity on where people agreed the world could be better – and to share that message in ways that could open people’s minds and hearts, through art and music. Since then, supporters from more than 97 countries have joined the effort.  A Big Project and Arts for Peace (in partnership with dozens of other organizations) called on artists, musicians, and creative types of all kinds to set-off a global renaissance to bring a new sense of hope, possibility and direction for global progress.  People from all walks of life participated,  including celebrities like Dolly Parton, corporate giants like the Intel Corporation, the United Nations, local politicians, and thousands of citizens from around the globe. This is the video in2improv created to share our vision of a better world:
1 Comment

Performing the World 2012

10/8/2012

1 Comment

 
Picture

From October 4-7 we attended the 7th Performing the World Conference in NYC.  The conference brought together 450+ artists, activists, health providers and revolutionary therapists from over 37 different countries that use performance for human development and community building. We were surrounded by so much positive energy, joy and great ideas. It was so inspiring to see all the ways that people are using performance, play and improvisation to develop and do small and big things to change and save the world. We attended many workshops led by people from around the world on writing, humor, play and saw programs using performance in therapy in New York City, Nigeria and Juarez, Mexico. We gave a workshop titled: "in2 Community Building! - An Interdisciplinary Improvisation Workshop” we got great feedback and it was a great first experience in sharing our work with an international audience.


Picture
1 Comment
<<Previous
Forward>>

    Categories

    All
    About
    Community Outreach
    Conferences
    Performances
    Projects
    The Cattleya Project

    Archives

    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    June 2014
    March 2014
    July 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    May 2012

    RSS Feed

Please note that starting in 2018 this site will no longer be regularly updated, but will continue to exist in an archival capacity. For current activities, please visit the Institute for Improvisation and Social Action at www.improvisa.org
  • Home
  • About
    • in2improv
    • Founders
  • Programs
    • knee-jerk
    • SPARK!
    • The Cattleya Project
  • Testimonials
  • blog