Lab Prerequisites
Entry to all ParaTheatrical ReSearch labs is by invitation and/or interview.
E-mail all inquiries to [email protected] or call (510) 464-4640
NOTE: Scroll down for the 5-PHASE PHYSICAL WARM-UP CYCLE
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)
attendance, safety, creativity, and asocial intent
Paratheatre labs occur in an asocial, non-performance climate 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 as each participant takes a silent vow to become accountible for their own safety and creativity. Consistency of attendence is also expected. This vow is taken to support and challenge the autonomy and integrity of each individual.
1) ATTENDANCE.
This work requires consistent attendance.
If you forsee missing more than one session of any weekly Lab or two sessions of any twice a week Lab, please do not apply. Punctuality is expected; please arrive early and/or on time. The doors open 10 minutes early and are locked 10 minutes after each lab session starts.
2) 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 tend to their
own
fears,
needs, and limitations
as they come up and to find
their own ways to
restore a
sense
of
safety, well being and equillibrium whenever necessary (even
if
this
means discontinuing
the
work).
This
trial-by-error
process of being responsible for restoring your own sense of your own safety
usually produces
immediate
results.
3) CREATIVITY and SELF-COMMITMENT .
Participants vow to be responsible for raising their own energy levels.
Nobody can
tell you or
show
you how
to create. Real creativity involves
moment-to-moment self-discovery
and this process can differ for each person.
Creative
process
is not always
easy, inspiring,
or fun;
sometimes
it's
fraught
with
difficulties.
Accountability for your creative process includes facing
frustration and
boredom
as it comes up and summoning
the
necessary commitment to work through
them.
4) ASOCIAL INTENT.
This
work is not a social process nor does it meet social needs.
Though
our social
needs
are
important,
in this
work they
tend to inhibit creativity
by imposing
any unmet needs for approval, belonging, status, courtship, and friendship. Even though this work occurs in groups, much of the initial training process is solitary in nature with very minimal interaction with others. Group interplay eventually occurs as the basic paratheatre techniques are learned, integrated, and played out.
"Asocial" does not mean anti-social. Ours is not a socially hostile environment but a kind of rare area sanctioned for creative ritual experimentation. Our longterm aim is to explore a group unity born from an awakening of individual sovereignty that unfolds into a kind of miraculous interaction of self-governing bodies. This asocial intent is neither dogma nor philosophy but a ritual technique to support heightened creativity in this medium.
Each LAB session runs about three hours and starts with a 5-phase PHYSICAL WARM UP CYCLE defined by five separate yet related objectives: 1) STILLNESS, 2) FLEXING THE SPINE, 3) CORE, 4) STRETCHING and 5) HEAT. Each phase lasts approx 6 minutes for a 30 minute warm-up (a gong sounds every 6 minutes). Each of these five objectives must be met in your own way; there are no "how-to" instuctions provided.
THE PHYSICAL WARM UP CYCLE is approached in solitude; nobody relates with anyone else and everyone remains in their own personal warm-up area.
The overall objective of the Physical Warm-Up:
accumulating personal presence while meeting
the central physical need of feeling the body deeply.
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) CORE
working the abdominal region through whatever means (yoga, Pilates, sit-ups, etc) brings heat and energy to the core of our being/body
4) 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
5) 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
For more details on what can be expected once accepted
into a ParaTheatrical ReSearch Lab, click this.
To find out more about what actually happens in these labs
(short of participating in them) please refer to the links below.
questions,
comments ? e-mail me.
-- Antero Alli,
director
ParaTheatrical ReSearch