“One must be leery of words because they turn into cages.”—Viola Spolin
This website is a compilation of training techniques and principles which
address both the creation of physical imagery and the translation of imagery
into creative form.
If (instead of on a website) you were in a physical setting learning this work,
you would be be introduced to a rigorous physical regimen, organized under
the categories Plastiques, Corporals, and Breathers. These physical
disciplines provide a vocabulary used to identify and compose physical
impulses, which in turn inspire imagery, and ultimately lead to the passage
of source into form. The physical vocabulary ranges from the smallest
movements the body can make to the largest, from the most precise
compositions to the most random, from the most active to the most stilled.
Primarily, you learn these physical categories in order to expand your
physical range and gain the courage to explore and research your imagery.
In short, this work rests on a foundation of keen physical insight. This means
that you have grasped as thorough an understanding of your physical body
as you can muster, that you are willing to reveal, profoundly, what you
understand of yourself, and agree to apply compassion, empathy, and
courage when navigating what you don’t understand.
The practice of this work implies the development of one’s imagination, not
only for the purpose of lifting one’s individual life experiences and sources
into creative form, but also to lay bare one’s deepest confusions about what
it means to be a human on this, our troubled earth.
So. Go find yourself someone who knows this work and get yourself a
teacher for the physical elements of the training. If that can’t happen, study
a physical discipline that you enjoy but is not driven or inspired by your
personality. In short, engage in some physical training that will push you to
appreciate and expand your limits.
Which brings us to why would one want to to bother with all this?