The world is but a canvas to the imagination. – Henry David Thoreau
Theatrical visionaries always share a few things in common:
1. They steal from the past and from other great artists and movements
2. They create in reaction to their boredom with the status quo
3. They create with what resources they have.
This post focuses on number one–stealing from other artists and movements. Continue reading
“My definition of a devil is a god who has not been recognized. That is to say, it is a power in you to which you have not given expression, and you push it back. And then, like all repressed energy, Continue reading
It has been my personal experience that it does not matter if I am acting, writing, producing, directing, gardening, raising my daughter, drawing, using a camera to photograph or film…whatever. It does not matter what kind of creation I am engaging in; I simply must be creative. In all aspects of my life. Then I am happy. Time has demonstrated Continue reading
How is Bruce Lee Relevant to Arts Training?
Who would doubt that Bruce Lee was a master of his craft?
What a specimen of humanity at its full potential.
Bruce Lee was a martial artist. Catch that second word. Artist. Martial means “military”. The military or combat arts.
The martial arts are very much an art form.
Watch this video of Bruce in great form and shape. It is a Nokia commercial, but watch both videos they present. The first is of Bruce Lee competing against what we presume are champion ping pong players, but he does so with nun chucks instead of a paddle. Continue reading
One can choose to “live mythically”. One can choose to live heroically. One can view their life as a story and choose to serve as the hero of that tale. Doing so will open a wealth of adventure in one’s life.
What’s a hero?
How do I live heroically?
What’s the gain?
These are the questions I will be addressing in this post. Continue reading
Explaining consciousness is like trying to explain god or love. These are phenomena that can be experienced, but rarely have words adequately described them. I’m going to try to give this a go.
Ever seen a dead body? I have. Quite a few. It is as though the light has gone out. Whenever I see a body, I think, “Hm. They are not there. That’s not them. They are gone.” Continue reading
Each of us plays many roles in a day. We might be parents, lovers, employees, business owners, volunteers, artists, have hobbies, etc. Throughout this day, we put on various personalities or personality forms. They are called archetypes.
These same characters that we shift in and out of, without effort or awareness, are the same characters found in the stories people tell, the stories they have always told. The archetypes that are the casts of characters of movies, novels, fables, fairy tales, short stories, etc. are the same ones that our within us. All of these characters are qualities of the human condition. Each person has each of these archetypes within them, the potential for each.
At some point, we have all been mentors. Continue reading
What an odd thing it is to be alive. The human body is so complex. Have you seen Gunther von Hagen’s Body Worlds? Here you see the internal machinery of the human body. What a complex design.
Joseph Campbell, the famed mythologist, says that what we do not experience as bliss, we will experience as anxiety.
Stress is anxiety’s great symptom.
Everything around us is in a constant state of change, including our bodies. Stress has a physical, emotional and psychological effect on the body. Like a car, when the body is pushed too far, things start to malfunction. Parts start to wear out.
Sometimes stress becomes so much, things become unmanageable, even unbearable. When this happens, one must adapt or burnout will start to come. It may be time to hit the life change button.
Simple tasks previously disposed of neatly and quickly before, are now impossibly heavy to deal with. “Escape! Run! Flee this place!”, your mind is telling you. If your nerves could pop out of your skin, they would. Continue reading
On this blog, I speak a lot about “vision having”, which is a process of focused imagining.
We need vision in this world. Vision leads us forward. Vision solves problems. Vision can inspire and vision can heal. It is good for people to have vision.
Having vision is the ability to have an active imagination and an ability to focus clearly and for sustained periods on your imaginings.
Here is a process I find useful: Continue reading
Thinking can be circular. We can have circles of concentration. The mind can be focused in such a way that we isolate other non-relevant thoughts and we can put our attention or “mind” on a particular matter, enabling us to think clearly and deeply about the subject.
Note that the human mind can only think about one thing at a time. The mind’s projections are like a spotlight. We may focus on that light, but not another at the same time. Continue reading
Physics believes that at the root of all matter is energy.
That means we are energy.
Like the bars of a cellphone, our energy goes up and it goes down.
We know when we have it and when we don’t.
We can manipulate our energy with chemicals. Ex. nicotine, coffee, alcohol, etc.
And we can manipulate it with our thoughts.
We can focus our energy to accomplish goals and can focus it to exert specific force.
Emotions are a form of energy. Continue reading
What is creativity? Creativity is to create, to make, to manifest, to bring about, to realize something that did not previously exist. Everyone is capable of creating, for creating is just making something.
Creations can be as small as a drawing with crayon or as grand as a cruise ship or a particle accelerator. Humans are capable of creating very much.
Just look around your room. Everything created by a human required vision on some person’s part Continue reading
I love to write. I didn’t used to. There was a time when I never really even thought to write. Now it is a regular practice in my life.
What is a writer? Someone who writes. How do you become a writer? You write. And keep writing.
You can share it with others or lock it away, if you choose. You can even use a pen name. Then you have total liberty, as no person knows who Dan Snoglebort is. Continue reading
For some, when looking at a blank canvas, they can feel very intimidated. When one can create anything, what does one create? There are virtually limitless possibilities.
Many create original theatre as a response to the status quo. The legendary theatre director Meyerhold was just one such example–responding to realism and the work of Stanislavski. Others do so as they prefer to create something original, uniquely theirs, as opposed to sometimes commonly produced plays. There are many reasons to create original theatre and an equal number of methods.
In terms of creating original works of theatre or writing, I have found these steps to be personally effective. Here are a few tools you can use to generate inspiration for creating original works: Continue reading
Theatre is a collaborative art form. One cannot get away from others. One cannot create on an island, but must interact with at least one collaborator– the audience. Very often, one is working with a team of others, each of which have creative insight, desires for the production and opinions.
But how do we effectively collaborate when so many people have so many ideas?
How do we synthesize ideas, while not discouraging others, but rather enabling them to feel encouraged and like contributing members to the collaboration?
What is collaboration? Continue reading
The messenger came suddenly and unexpectedly. He was telling me that it was time to leave what I know, to leave my comfort and relative safety and go away. The sensation
It is in the forest that the Big Bad Wolf lives.
felt both exhilarating at the thought and terrifying. “Go away”, I thought. “To what? What might happen? What if I don’t like the experience? What if I am not happy doing that? What if I fail”?
With these thoughts, I refused. “I won’t go. I am not ready. I am not equipped. I do not want to go”. However, over some measure of time, my thoughts again shifted towards the exhilaration. “What if I do not go? If I do not, I will never know what could have been. What if I am happy in going? What if I succeed? What if I win”? And with these thoughts, my mind became ever more resolved. “I will go. I will do this”. With these words, with this personal mental contract, with this psychic commitment, the universe shifted and doors began to open. Continue reading
When I first started building TITAN, I was asked a couple of questions by nearly every government official I encountered and every journalist. These were the questions:
What makes TITAN:
1. Different from other schools? &
2. Necessary?
This first question was easy to define. What makes you different is a question that helps you define how you are going to compete in the market. How are you different from what the other players are doing and offering (in our case, other schools).
We are different in many ways, but the most unique element of our curriculum is the development of artists as selvstendig kunstnere (or independent artists) and arts entrepreneurs.
Most schools focus only on arts technique. Graduates know how to perform, but not necessarily how to make a living from performing. This leads to the problem of the “starving artist stereotype”. TITAN fills this gap by teaching our artists: Continue reading
A fun piece created at TITAN Teaterskole, directed by Jim Hart.
“In the Beginning”, inspired by Wayang Kulit or Indonesian Shadow Puppetry with a contemporary take.
Uploaded in 2 parts–both about 5 minutes each. Adult humor. Funny.
Jim
I have had a huge honor I would like to share with you.
Theatre Communications Group (TCG) is probably America’s most important institution around theatre. They produce “American Theatre” magazine and are responsible for the formation of regional theatres in America and, consequently, education.
They have asked me to write a post in preparation for their 50 year celebration, focusing on what the next 50 years of theatre might look like. They tell me they have asked “Theatre leaders and thinkers”. I feel very honored and excited.
My article just posted today. Please take a look: http://bit.ly/k6wyor
I hope you are well!
Jim
Check out the latest video posting from RISE Austin, where I speak about Entrepreneurship in the Arts.
Special thanks to Johnny Kwon for editing.
This year, The International Theatre Academy Norway will enter its eighth year of operation. TITAN is
a unique school and has a unique distinction. TITAN is the first conservatory in Europe to offer a principle focus of Entrepreneurial Arts Training.
TITAN is a two-year program and the two years are divided accordingly:
In the first year, students spend time developing a great amount of artistic technique in the various areas you might expect—acting, movement, voice, speech, etc. But getting a bit away from the typical, we also offer courses designed to expand students´ imaginations and teach them how to “think like artists”. We get these students in touch with Continue reading
