Being inspired is magic, it’s what gets you through when things are difficult, it’s what sends a million thoughts colliding in your brain that will keep your creativity going for months to come, it’s an injection of energy and motivation right where you need it. This week has been a festival of inspiration for me from a myriad of sources so I thought I’d share some of them with you, it seemed selfish to keep them to myself.
The first was on Sunday, I went to watch my son Tom play cricket. I don’t often get the chance due to workload but on Sunday I did. One of the reasons I don’t make it a priority is often I find the world of sport difficult to palate. By that I mean the values and outlook of some of the central figures are in opposition to mine and when I see them being imposed on children I worry. However that outlook was shifted considerably as I watched Simon coach his team of under 9’s. A hugely tall figure, whenever he talked to his cricketers he came right down to their level, spoke to them in a firm reassuring voice and reminded them of the holistic link between mind and body. It was wonderful to watch this consistent reassuring presence and the impact of this on the young men that made up his talented and connected team.
Inspiration number two. On Monday evening I was invited to watch two musicians play at their most significant gig to date. Despite feeling vaguely out of place when I first arrived, as soon as they began to play I was so pleased to be there. The sight and sound of them playing their own music, singing their own words with artistry and conviction was a privilege to behold. In addition the awareness I had of the support emanating from their friends and family who were there to be part of this experience added an extra element of brilliance to the evening.
Then onto inspiration number three. Wednesday saw me making one of my rare but cherished trips to London. There I got to meet up with a friend who I have worked alongside too infrequently. He had generously invited me to his studio and I got the chance to watch him work with a group of professional actors from across Europe. By the time I left my head was buzzing with ideas, questions, thoughts, conclusions, things fell into place and got tipped upside down simultaneously. What’s great for me is that this intellectual and philosophical internal debate hasn’t finished yet and so the legacy of inspiration works its magic.
Inspiration four occurred on the same day. Whilst in London I got to see Arcadia by Tom Stoppard. The inspiration in this experience came from a range of sources…great performances, exquisite direction, perfect designs and intelligent writing full of immense ideas and thoughts. Again my now full brain was treated to another wealth of stimulus to store, play with and invest in my work.
Finally inspiration number five. Strolling through the rich, frustrating, addictive world of the internet I noticed a musician I admire greatly and am lucky enough to call my friend had posted a work in progress version of a song she had written and recorded. It’s breathtaking…as I listened to it I was both utterly absorbed in it and aware of potential projects firing off in my head, I wanted to realise it in physical theatre, write a play, a poem…in the end I just listened and enjoyed…the other things can wait…but the inspiration in listening, will enrich what I write, what I say and what I do from this point.
These events weren’t the only inspiration I had, I could tell you about my amazing 11 year old daughter’s dignified dealings with someone trying to bully her on the internet or my admiration of my husband as he supports and encourages our children or the workshop I had the pleasure of facilitating on Thursday, the list goes on and on. So this blog is essentially an acknowledgement of how lucky I am but also a promise that all of the inspiration I have witnessed and absorbed will be interweaved into my future and enrich both my work and the people I work with…
Saturday, 29 August 2009
Wednesday, 19 August 2009
Resistance
This week I was doing part of an assessment day with a number of professionals. When I say professionals I need you to interpret this in such a way that you picture people at the top of their profession, who have studied and trained and grafted to be experts in a difficult and complex field. These people utterly inspire me with the sheer weight of what they know that I don’t. I can’t be any more specific than that because I have integrity and some of the people we work with don’t need it broadcast that we work with them.
To get back on topic, my part in the assessment day is to role play a challenging situation with these professionals to assess how well they cope with it. They’re given a scenario and essentially after some preparation they play it out with me acting opposite them. This is one of a number of tasks they have to do to see how well they’re suited to the organisation.
The first few hours had progressed smoothly until the final participant of the morning walked through the door. Within the first couple of minutes it was very clear that his intention was to catch me out by asking awkward questions as oppose to assuming the role dictated by the scenario. Despite the inner shock of his almost threatening behaviour I maintained role and he had no alternative but to go along with me, after a while I sensed him relax and contempt was replaced by mild interest and a hint of humour.
I’ve been reflecting on this since the assessment day and one of the main things it highlights is the way people can make their mind up about a task, a challenge or an educational opportunity without taking the time to discover what it offers them. The risk we take when we write such opportunity off can have a serious impact on our development and our prospects. Perhaps what students (using the term in its widest sense) should learn before they learn anything else is to be open to the opportunities afforded to them in any circumstance. To assume that there is always something to be gained from a learning experience – formal or informal. Apart from anything else it’s the only way that education/learning/professional development can be in the least bit enjoyable.
Far too frequently when teaching or facilitating, my first challenge is to counter resistance from groups or individuals before I have any hope of actually delivering the material I’ve been commissioned to deliver. This equates to so much energy taken up in convincing people that there might be something of value in what they’re about to take part in. For some of my participants this attitude is understandable, failed by mainstream education, damaged by life’s experience, struggling with difficult circumstances. However I naively hadn’t expected to meet it with someone so successful, someone who had engaged in so much learning. Unfortunately for them, in the same way as it does for the less fortunate learners of this world, this resistance had a negative impact on the way they were perceived, on their own sense of fulfilment and consequently on their future opportunities.
This makes my next challenge as a facilitator very obvious, to make dealing with resistance a priority. I need to encourage openness so that the most locked up individual can access the riches to be found in embracing learning opportunities. These are all things that I subconsciously aim to do but from now on they become a primary concern, regardless of the individual or group I’m working with.
To get back on topic, my part in the assessment day is to role play a challenging situation with these professionals to assess how well they cope with it. They’re given a scenario and essentially after some preparation they play it out with me acting opposite them. This is one of a number of tasks they have to do to see how well they’re suited to the organisation.
The first few hours had progressed smoothly until the final participant of the morning walked through the door. Within the first couple of minutes it was very clear that his intention was to catch me out by asking awkward questions as oppose to assuming the role dictated by the scenario. Despite the inner shock of his almost threatening behaviour I maintained role and he had no alternative but to go along with me, after a while I sensed him relax and contempt was replaced by mild interest and a hint of humour.
I’ve been reflecting on this since the assessment day and one of the main things it highlights is the way people can make their mind up about a task, a challenge or an educational opportunity without taking the time to discover what it offers them. The risk we take when we write such opportunity off can have a serious impact on our development and our prospects. Perhaps what students (using the term in its widest sense) should learn before they learn anything else is to be open to the opportunities afforded to them in any circumstance. To assume that there is always something to be gained from a learning experience – formal or informal. Apart from anything else it’s the only way that education/learning/professional development can be in the least bit enjoyable.
Far too frequently when teaching or facilitating, my first challenge is to counter resistance from groups or individuals before I have any hope of actually delivering the material I’ve been commissioned to deliver. This equates to so much energy taken up in convincing people that there might be something of value in what they’re about to take part in. For some of my participants this attitude is understandable, failed by mainstream education, damaged by life’s experience, struggling with difficult circumstances. However I naively hadn’t expected to meet it with someone so successful, someone who had engaged in so much learning. Unfortunately for them, in the same way as it does for the less fortunate learners of this world, this resistance had a negative impact on the way they were perceived, on their own sense of fulfilment and consequently on their future opportunities.
This makes my next challenge as a facilitator very obvious, to make dealing with resistance a priority. I need to encourage openness so that the most locked up individual can access the riches to be found in embracing learning opportunities. These are all things that I subconsciously aim to do but from now on they become a primary concern, regardless of the individual or group I’m working with.
Saturday, 25 July 2009
A privileged position
Yesterday I was using some of the members of my youth theatre as a focus group. I’m training a group in a couple of weeks in “Directing Youth Theatre,” and wanted the youth theatre member’s opinions on what they would want me to teach adults who could potentially lead groups such as theirs.
As is so often the way their answers were entirely unexpected. I anticipated a list of games, techniques, exercises etc that they found useful as actors and instead their comments focused on the relationship, interactions and conversations they have with directors or teachers. What came across strongly was that they want to be treated with respect, with a sense of equality and as real people. I take it for granted that these qualities are at the heart of every relationship and therefore a prerequisite of a relationship between actor and director or student and teacher. This assumption was very much negated with young people stating that the way they are treated in my workshops is unique and being told to do things, receiving mixed messages and being made to feel reduced in some way is depressingly common.
I started to think about the reasons why this happened and decided perhaps it is down to a sense of being threatened by the inspirational young people that put themselves forward to be the next generation of artists and practitioners. Are teachers and directors of young people allowing their egos to be bruised through the fear of their actors and students becoming better than they themselves are? If this is the case, and I fear in too many cases it might be, then I find it incredibly sad.
I’ve just spent the last few weeks creating and rehearsing theatre with a group of 16 to 23 year olds. The process has been incredibly positive and valuable for everyone concerned and it has been so I believe due to the overarching sense of respect, responsibility and relish within the project. We’ve been blissfully happy making our discoveries, shaping the story, evolving the characters and the piece was very much enhanced and enlightened by each of the contributors. This is only possible by directing the process in a way that encourages input and proactively welcomes any and every ideas. Somebody needs to have an overview and weave the disparate strands of ideas together fuelling the process to meet the final vision. Somebody needs to be an outside eye and edit, discard and develop the raw material into a final performance but the last thing a creative process needs is a dictator.
My point is that the privileged position that practitioners working with young people have is too often abused. Whether this is a result of a fear of inadequacy or overdeveloped ego I’m not entirely sure but of this I am certain…whenever there is distortion of our role everyone loses out…
As is so often the way their answers were entirely unexpected. I anticipated a list of games, techniques, exercises etc that they found useful as actors and instead their comments focused on the relationship, interactions and conversations they have with directors or teachers. What came across strongly was that they want to be treated with respect, with a sense of equality and as real people. I take it for granted that these qualities are at the heart of every relationship and therefore a prerequisite of a relationship between actor and director or student and teacher. This assumption was very much negated with young people stating that the way they are treated in my workshops is unique and being told to do things, receiving mixed messages and being made to feel reduced in some way is depressingly common.
I started to think about the reasons why this happened and decided perhaps it is down to a sense of being threatened by the inspirational young people that put themselves forward to be the next generation of artists and practitioners. Are teachers and directors of young people allowing their egos to be bruised through the fear of their actors and students becoming better than they themselves are? If this is the case, and I fear in too many cases it might be, then I find it incredibly sad.
I’ve just spent the last few weeks creating and rehearsing theatre with a group of 16 to 23 year olds. The process has been incredibly positive and valuable for everyone concerned and it has been so I believe due to the overarching sense of respect, responsibility and relish within the project. We’ve been blissfully happy making our discoveries, shaping the story, evolving the characters and the piece was very much enhanced and enlightened by each of the contributors. This is only possible by directing the process in a way that encourages input and proactively welcomes any and every ideas. Somebody needs to have an overview and weave the disparate strands of ideas together fuelling the process to meet the final vision. Somebody needs to be an outside eye and edit, discard and develop the raw material into a final performance but the last thing a creative process needs is a dictator.
My point is that the privileged position that practitioners working with young people have is too often abused. Whether this is a result of a fear of inadequacy or overdeveloped ego I’m not entirely sure but of this I am certain…whenever there is distortion of our role everyone loses out…
Sunday, 10 May 2009
I’ve spent a significant amount of time in the primary schools of Wakefield this week and will spend the next three weeks in a similar vein. It’s an interesting and revealing insight into the formative education of the young people of our city and its surrounding area (for those of you unfamiliar with the geography of this area of West Yorkshire, the district of Wakefield covers a significant distance encompassing the “5 Towns” of Normanton, Pontefract, Featherstone, Castleford and Knottingley and a number of other towns deemed not worthy of being counted for some unknown reason.)
What becomes overwhelmingly clear, as I and my colleagues visit the schools with our range of drama workshops and educational experiences, is the absence of any kind of consistency. From the minute you enter the buildings you are hit with the personality of the school…from classroom to staffroom from the way you are greeted in reception to the displays on the walls. The overriding inconsistency glaring at me this week however was the attitude of the teachers to what we were doing. I delivered the same workshop four times this week; teachers responses varied greatly…from utter disinterest in my work and more importantly the work of their pupils, to delight at the teaching skills a head of year 6 professed to having learnt through observation of my workshop.
Although I am an ardent advocate of variation, idiosyncrasy, freedom and expression there are some things I feel should be universal in education and this week some of the schools I visited were found wanting…if the professionals in charge of our children’s education aren’t inspired and motivated, for whatever reason, to revel in continual self development how can we expect our children to make the most out of school and its opportunities. Equally if teachers are not committed in their quest to understand their pupils and thereby create the optimum learning experience for them, a vital aspect of the educative experience is lost. Reassuringly however there are great schools and great teachers that do embrace all that is good in learning …an attitude reflected directly in the disposition of their pupils. The next bit of the puzzle is to find an effective way of disseminating these vital attributes as widely as possible…
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