I had so much fun teaching my first InterPlay Performance Technique class — totally solo!!
For the last two and a half years I’ve been Elizabeth Mendana‘s teaching sidekick. But then she decided to move away.
So, I took a deep breath… and a gulp…. and decided, “Yeeeeehaaaaaa! I can do this!!!” (And promptly bought fancy red dance pants for the occasion).
Last night I was totally prepared to teach a small, intimate class to a few Tuesday night regulars. But at 6pm on the dot, two gals bounded in to the room. InterPlay newbies! “Oh, no!” I thought. “What will I teach?! Can I gracefully cater to the entire range of experience in this room?”
As more folks streamed in (what a surprise, this close to the New Year!), I took another gulp…and made a crucial decision: I will not hold back just because there are new folks in the room.
Phil and Cynthia are always telling us to “trust the forms.” I’m gonna trust that InterPlay Performance Technique will hold us all in its warm, playful, artful embrace.
Lo and behold — it did! The new folks blended right in (in fact, an outsider wouldn’t have been able to tell who was whom), and the experienced InterPlayers seemed satisfied, too.
We got our silly groove on with following and leading; practiced side-by-side solo dances; and finally created gorgeous ensemble movement with 3-sentence stories. We sure were making F-ing great art!).
I’m so grateful to this improvisational art form that allows a broad range of experience to play alongside each other (and allows me to improvise as a teacher, too).
P.S. A disclaimer: my new red dance pants are not nearly as cool as the ones pictured here. But I needed a picture for this blog post. And these are pretty hot, aren’t they!? Maybe they’ll be my next pair.
So glad the class is off to an f-ing great start for 2010! It must have something to do with your new fun red pants. 😉 I am so excited to witness you moving forward in your leadership role and taking all of these new challenges with ease and grace.
Congratulations Gretchen! Sounds like you all had a fantasmo time together creating in the moment. I love how you describe trusting your Self and the InterPlay forms that allow everyone to play with such grace.
Too bad I’m still teaching piano at 6pm on Tuesdays!
ROCK ON! That is soooo cooolll!! Way to go Gretchen. You are an awesome teacher — keep it up!
@Connie We’d enjoy having you, but I know 6-7:30pm is prime time for teaching the kiddos!!
Thanks, @Elizabeth. Glad I’m emitting ease and grace… Thanks for that feedback!! 🙂
Thanks, TraceyJoy!! I look forward to playing again with you as soon… I miss you.