Improv classes can for sure impact your life in several positive manners. Not only are they fun and interesting but great at building communication and social skills as well. No formal training is necessary prior to enrolling into an improv class. Improv, short for improvisation is simply a state of being and creating gestures that require no pre-planning. Here are 10 reasons why you need to try out improv:
1) Dynamic Physical Activity Improv doesn’t involve the use of props therefore, you will have to use a lot of movements instead, to effectively send out the message you intend the audience to see. In doing so, you need to pay close attention to your movements. If you this requires you to jump around a lot or frantically wave your arms in the air, don’t shy away from it as all this and much more is encouraged in an improv class. 2) Funny Accents As mentioned earlier, that there is no use of props in improv therefore, you need to focus on other ways to make your performance engaging and interesting, even if it concerns speaking in a funny accent. In order to loosen up and go with the flow, when 15 people standing in a circle are tossing back and forth weird sounds, it is very hard to remain self-conscious. Therefore, it’s time to let go and join in with the rest. 3) Get Rid of the Filter Improv is all about challenging your character’s limit, so if you feel like swearing like a sailor or want to tell someone to stuff it, don’t hold yourself back. Go for it! It’s more likely that there will be a situation where you can use socially unacceptable words and surprisingly enough, no one will judge you for it. 4) Declarations Regardless of what type of story you have at the back of your head, making a declaration will help you dislodge it, allowing your story to see the light of day. So whether tulips are scary, the deck is on fire, or Travis has a one track mind. Declarations will successfully send the message across to the audience. 5) Yes, and… A crucial part of improv is saying yes to everything, even if you don’t approve of it. The scene must go on and it can only do so as long as you keep agreeing with your scene partner. As the scene progresses, your story will get bigger and you will feel like you are an essential part of something that is making life of its own. That feeling is a great confidence booster. 6) Genuine Performance No matter what character you have opted for, it is your responsibility to stay with it throughout the performance, giving it emotional reality and sending across the message that you want the audience to understand. It’s amazing to watch this as you would least expect a person that is so self-constraint to let loose and be as funny as hell. 7) Happiness Improv is all about enjoying a good laugh and this takes place every five minutes on about everything. This not only makes you see the positive perspectives, but you can apply this very same happiness to your life and see the lighter side of it. 8) Errors Are Always Fine Improv gives you a chance to skip out on your daily routine and allows you to make mistakes. It’s alright to sound like an idiot in improv shows because everyone does it. It’s only from your mistakes that you learn how to correct them. 9) Creative Vibe Improv classes open up boundaries, the clear out your mind’s clog and give you a fresh perspective, allowing you to get things done that were once lagging behind. The skills learned from improv will provide a creative direction and make your actions feel more solid and worthy enough to commit to than ever before. 10)Engaging Community Last but not least, you get a chance to become a part of an engaging community that includes fun, interesting and creative individuals from all walks of life. Time to Improv DOJO!
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Are you a pro at saying no to many things in life? Nope, sorry I can’t make it to the birthday party. Nah, that play looks horrible. No, thank you, I am fine with my current job. I was the queen of no before I started taking improv. Now I know yes isn’t a 4 letter word.
While saying no is a crucial skill in establishing limitations, outlining what you want and preemptively avoiding troublesome situations, it leads to a predictable life – one that is confined around you. This means that you might even be rejecting the best of what life has to offer you. Not only is this a quality of life concern, but saying no can affect your creative performance too. This greatly impacts on how you look at your surroundings, with a skeptical perception, it is most likely that you will stop looking for better possibilities and instead look for why not? Rather than exploring the why? There are several reasons to why we all quite frequently say no to things. It can be due to fear of harm, which is why you might often make wise decisions by refusing to take spontaneous leaps, resulting in missing the whole point of life. Identity protection is also another reason why you end up saying no. You would rather prefer to live with an illusion of vulnerability rather than face a potential failure. This prevents you from exploring the true potential within yourselves. Love of comfort is based on the presumption that as you climb the ladder of success, you have more things to protect, which results in avoiding trying out new things. Last but not least, your ego. Saying yes means to hand over some degree of control, which to some of us is unthinkable. Saying no is our way of imposing control over the world, which gives us some measure of comfort and security. Learning to say yes has many perks. You can do this by enrolling into an improv show, which challenged your true potentials and takes you beyond your constrained limits. Improv shows challenge you to try out things that are completely foreign and truthfully scary. A key aspect of improv show is to say yes, as you might have unquestionably heard of the improv rule, ‘Yes, and…’ This basically means to accept what your scene partner has to say and building upon it. The essence of improv shows lies upon saying yes continuously because the minute you say no, the scene shuts down and it is no longer fun or engaging for both the people watching and those performing on the stage. Saying yes not only prevents second-guessing, but also eliminates pointless ‘mind chatter’ so that you can focus clearly upon the more important things. It also pulls out several fascinating possibilities that you were unaware of before, you will feel like a truly changed person from within, someone who is friendlier, opened to surprises and less scared of doing unpredictable things. You will be introduced to an enriched and fulfilling life, one that is fun, exhilarating and interesting. So what are you waiting for? Say, yes and sign-up for the Improv Dojo. |
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February 2016
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