InterPlay Warm Up - Phil Porter

InterPlay Warm Up with Phil Porter:

Gretchen Wagner on InterPlay Forms

Find more information about InterPlay.

One Hand Dance: In this video, Gretchen Wegner facilitates Dorothy Finnigin in doing a hand dance, one of the basic forms of InterPlay. 



Hand to Hand Dance: In this video Dorothy Finnigan and Gretchen Wagner demonstrate how to do a hand to hand dance Interplay-style.


Babbling: Gretchen describes the InterPlay form of babbling.


Find more information about InterPlay.

Pilobolus on Creativity - LIVE Friday at noon EDT

Pilobolus' Itamar Kubovy on Connecting the Creative Process in the Studio and the Organization ... on Creativity in Play, 8 October 2010, 12:00 p.m. Eastern ... listen LIVE online at http://www.creativityinplay.com/ or via telephone at +1 347 826 7082. Pilobolus is an arts organization that operates with a principle of "radical democracy" - where everyone's creativity matters. Their challenge to themselves is to reflect that process in not only how they create and perform dance, but in how they run the organization itself as an organic, creative entity. We'll explore what lessons other organizations can learn from the Pilobolus experience, as well as the importance of movement in creativity. Itamar will participate in the
Creativity World Forum in Oklahoma City, November 15-17, 2010. Discover more about Pilobolus at: http://www.pilobolus.com/

ABOUT CREATIVITY IN PLAY: Exploring the importance of creativity, play and imagination across society. Hosted by Steven Dahlberg (International Centre for Creativity and Imagination) and Mary Alice Long, Ph.D. (Play=Peace). Produced by the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, in partnership with the National Creativity Network. ... 'The creation of something new is not accomplished by the intellect but by the play instinct acting from inner necessity. The creative mind plays with the objects it loves.' – Carl Jung

Pilobolus on Creativity and Everyday Movement ... at June Creativity Networking in Connecticut

The next monthly Creativity Networking session will feature Pilobolus and their take on creativity and everyday movement. The workshop will be Sunday, June 20, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. at The Silo at Hunt Hill Farm, 44 Upland Road, in New Milford, Conn. Creativity Networking is open to all and admission is $10. For more information or to RSVP, go to http://appliedimagination.org/networking or call 860-355-0300.

Renee Jaworski, rehearsal director and artistic associate for Pilobolus Dance Theatre, will lead the session on "Discovering Creativity Through Everyday Movement," along with Steven Dahlberg, curator of the Creativity Networking series.

Jaworski has performed and taught for MOMIX, Group Motion, and Carolyn Dorfman. She has been dancing, teaching and choreographing with Pilobolus since 2000. Dahlberg is director of the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination, which is dedicated to applying creativity to improve the well-being of individuals, organizations and communities. He also teaches the "Creativity + Social Change" course at the University of Connecticut.

"Some people need to move their bodies to think, while other people think their bodies are incapable of moving," says Dahlberg, host of Creativity Networking. "Yet, we are made to move. It's a fundamental aspect of who we are and what we do everyday. Sometimes, however, we lose touch with this capacity."

The public is invited to explore creativity and movement -- in two parts. First, see Pilobolus perform free at Hartford's Riverfront Recapture stage (riverfront.org/events/performances) at 7 p.m. on June 19. Then, attend the Creativity Networking workshop the following afternoon at 2 p.m. on June 20, in which participants will explore how movement and play can help them tap into more of their creativity and reconnect with their physical selves. The workshop -- led by a master of movement from Pilobolus -- seeks to inspire, provoke and encourage people to enhance their creativity and communication through everyday movement. The session will be part Pilobolus story, part creative process and part experiential ... and is open to everyone, no special skills required.

The Creativity Networking Series is presented each month by the International Centre for Creativity and Imagination and The Silo at Hunt Hill Farm, both based in New Milford, Conn. The series provides a forum for exploring the many facets of creativity and for discovering and networking with other people interested in creativity. Find more at http://appliedimagination.org and http://hunthillfarmtrust.org.

Pilobolus began in 1971 as an outsider dance company, and quickly became renowned the world over for its imaginative and athletic exploration of creative collaboration. Nearly 40 years later, it has evolved into a pioneering American cultural institution of the 21st century. The Pilobolus Dance Theatre is the umbrella for a series of radically innovative and globally acclaimed concert dance companies. Find more at http://pilobolus.org.

==========================
SUMMARY - CREATIVITY NETWORKING:
Creativity and Everyday Movement ... with Pilobolus

SUNDAY, JUNE 20, 2010, 2:00-3:30 P.M.
The Silo at Hunt Hill Farm, New Milford, Connecticut 06776
$10 to Creativity Networking; open to all.
RSVP to: 860.355.0300 or news [at] appliedimagination [dot] org
More at: http://appliedimagination.org/networking
Print and post: http://appliedimagination.org/june2010.pdf
==========================

[Photo above by (c)John Kane.]

Commentary: On Creativity and Food; and Movement and Play

By Suhely Sanchez
Creativity + Social Change, University of Connecticut
Media Reviewed:

Food Fight
Stefan Nadelman, based in Portland, has made this beautiful classic: Food Fight is an abridged history of American-centric war, from World War II to present day, told through the foods of the countries in conflict. Watch as traditional comestibles slug it out for world domination in this chronologically re-enacted smorgasbord of aggression.

Sia: Clap Your Hands
Kris Moyes and Sia reunite to try out a touch of puppetry in this promo for Clap Your Hands.

Commentary:
I focus here on a couple of the subjects that we have spoken about throughout this semester: food and creativity, and the topic of movement and play. Throughout this course, we have gotten the chance to learn more about food than just its nutritional value. We have considered its value and its creativity, along with its link to issues within the U.S. such as obesity (fast food vs. health food, or mass production vs. independent farmers, etc). I found two extraordinary videos that each individually address each subject in ways that are beyond any norms.

The first video, “Food Fight,” created by independent film director Stefan Nadelman, is beyond the word creative. The film is based in Portland and the director used food to act out a shortened version of the history of American war, from World War II until the present day. The story is told through the foods of the countries in conflict. The ironically gruesome battles are displayed between countries through “Food Fight” as they all strike each other for world domination.

I found the director's creativity and visual effects of this film to be beyond fascinating. Not only did the video use food to represent each nation, but it also told a story of history in not only odd, but also imaginative, ways. I find it paradoxical that in many ways we all like to think that food brings nations together, but in this film it clearly segregated every nation through its representation. I choose this film due to it’s out of the box methods of expressing a long life of war between different nations. This film took the topic of food to an entirely different level, while giving an entirely new meaning to the statement, “Food Fight.”

During this semester, we have learned that movement and play within children can help their development, all the way through adulthood. The second video I choose is a music video directed by Kris Moyes for the Australian soulful, jazz-styled pop singer and songwriter Sia. I decided to use this video to display the importance of imagination and creativity even throughout adulthood. The use of puppets and faces mended together with bright colors and music definitely took the music video scene to an entire different level. Kris’ endless amount of out of the box ideas makes his style instantly recognizable -- there are the intensely colorful animations, while a preoccupation with geometry.

Throughout this course I have learned that creativity may seem random, and completely awkward, but overall creativity is what sets us all apart from ordinary. As the famous Marilyn Monroe once said: "Imperfection is beauty, Madness is Genius, and it is better to be absolutely ridiculous, than absolutely boring." Creativity helps us express ourselves, find solutions, and open gateways for new ideas, while pushing through the walls of boundaries and barriers that at times hold us back from being able to prosper, or to even find the simplest and most obvious forms of solutions.