Lab Participation Prerequisites
as
developed by Antero
Alli, director
1) 24 years or older (some exceptions may apply; inquire with director)
2) physically fit and good overall health (no physical or internal injuries)
3) survival needs met (means of income, shelter, friends outside of Lab)
a non-performance climate of meditative action
Paratheatre labs start out in a non-performance climate of
meditative action where the pressure to perform is released and replaced
by the freedom and the responsibility for creating your own pressures.
This
process of self-created pressure begins with each participant taking a silent vow
to become fully accountible for their own safety and creativity. This vow is
taken to support the development of
autonomy and integrity within each
individual as a prerequisite to doing this work.
safety, creativity and asocial intent
SAFETY.
Participants
vow to be responsible
for their
personal
safety.
Due to
the
physically, emotionally
and psychologically
challenging
nature
of this
work,
participants are asked to commit to the tending of their
own
fears,
needs and limitations
as they come up and to find
ways to
a
sense
of
safety, well being and equillibrium as necessary (even
if
this
means discontinuing
the
work).
When honestly
applied,
this
trial-by-error
process
usually produces
immediate
results.
CREATIVITY.
Participants vow to be responsible for exciting
their
own
creative
states.
Nobody in these labs will or can
tell you, or
show
you, how
to create. True creativty involves
discovery
and its pathways are defined
by you if they are to be truly creative.
The creative
process
is not always
easy, inspiring
or fun;
sometimes
it's
fraught
with
difficulties.
We encourage the self-discipline to meet
your
own frustrations and
boredoms
as they
come up and to summon
the
necessary self-commitment to work with them and through
them.
ASOCIAL INTENT.
This
work is not a social process nor does it produce social
rituals.
Though
social
needs
are
important,
we have discovered (in the context
of this
work)
that
socializing
can
inhibit creativity
and act as a distraction
from serving
other
sources
besides
the
social habits of ego and personaly.
Certain
asocial rituals -- such as
solitude,
No-Form
(intimacy with void)
and prayer
-- can also
serve as
powerful
internal
sources for self-expression, movement,
action and
interaction with others.
Asocial does not mean anti-social. This is not a hostile environment but
a rare area sanctioned for creative ritual experimentation. Our aim is to
uncover and explore a group unity born from individual sovereignty that,
with increasing self commitment, can blossom into a kind of miraculous
interaction of self-governing bodies. This asocial intent is neither dogma
nor philosophy but a technique to support effective work in this medium.
THE PHYSICAL WARM UP CYCLE
Each LAB session starts with the PHYSICAL WARM UP CYCLE. The four objectives of the Physical Warm-Up cycle are: STILLNESS, FLEXING THE SPINE, STRETCHING and HEAT. Each each phase lasts 5-8 minutes for a 20-40 minute warm-up. Each individual approaches the warm-up in solitude (in their own personal own area and not running around the room), to realize each warm-up objective in their own way. Staying within your area throughout the warm-up helps contain the vital heat and presence you are attempting to accumulate for the following rituals.
1) STILLNESS any posture allowing physical inaction and meditation; to empty and engage internal receptivity; to still the mind and connect with vertical source; silent prayer. to be physically still...
2) FLEXING THE SPINE rendering the spine more flexible; to stimulate and awaken the nervous systems for more direct neurological engagement with ritually invoked energies
3) STRETCHING THE MUSCLES to feel the body deeply by breathing into the muscles while stretching; to locate and stretch into “numb” areas; to keep satisfying the body’s need to be felt deeply
4) GENERATING HEAT any movements, within one’s personal area, that generate enough body heat to break a sweat; to move in ways to contain the heat and to mark your boundaries with these movements
questions, comments ? e-mail me.
-- Antero Alli