Step 3: The Main Event

(To navigate to between steps, please use the "contents" menu above left.)

Hello! Glad you’re here!

This step is the “main” research event in this exposition. Watch out!

If you choose to participate in this research event, I will ask you:

1) to answer some questions about well-being and performative well-being;

2) to watch one person, named Ida, practicing (Inter)acting with the Inner Partner (IwIP). (Inter)acting with the Inner Partner (IwIP) is one research method in our research process,

3) to respond to some questions after your watching experience.

These are the conditions I propose for how this research event will take place:

If you’d like to watch Ida practicing (IwIP), please send me an email (you’ll find the link below). I will then send you link to some questions about

well-being and performative well-being. After you answer those, I'll send you a link to the video. After you watch the video, I'll send you a link to a survey with some questions.

I choose to send you a link to the video rather than posting the video on the RC or elsewhere publically, so Ida and I know who is participating in this research event with us.

After Ida and I read your responses, I will write you back. I may ask you some follow-up questions.

At some point in 2018, we’ll decide if and how to share what your written responses, our responses, and any other written communication that comes out of this research event. If we do, that’ll be Step 4 of this research event.

If you have any questions about the conditions of sharing I’ve proposed, or if you would like to give some feedback to me about them, please send me an email. (If the link doesn't work, it's alexander[at]culturecurrent.org).

If you’re ready to watch the video, please send me an email. (If the link doesn't work, it's alexander[at]culturecurrent.org).

You may want a little background information about (Inter)acting with the Inner Partner (IwIP), the discipline you’ll be watching Ida practice. On the other hand, you may not want to read anything more than it is a solo, open improvisational discipline. But if you would like to know more about IwIP, now or whenever, please scroll down to the bottom of this page. 

Thanks!

We’re looking forward to your participation in our project!

-Alexander Komlosi

(Inter)acting with the Inner Partner (IwIP) - A Brief Introduction

(Inter)acting with the Inner Partner (IwIP) - previously called Acting with the Inner Partner (AwIP) - is a movement/action-based open solo improvisational practice. It is a methodology of art research, art pedagogy, and arts practice. IwIP is concerned with, among other questions, the basic principles and dynamics of performance, creative communication, dramatic play, and authorship. The discipline was originally developed by Professor Ivan Vyskočil at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. It has been further developed by the IwIP teachers and researchers Vyskočil has trained.[1]

Through IwIP, practitioners learn about their interaction (doing, being, performing) through improvisation and its reflection (self-reflection and that of the class leader). Which questions practitioners pose is partially a function of the fundamental principles of the discipline and the interests of the class leader. Primarily, however, each practitioner is ultimately responsible for, and chooses, which aspects of her interacting are of interest to her. How she makes sense of these discoveries; whether or not they are useful; and what “use” they are for, lies in the practitioner’s realm of freedom and power.

Even though IwIP is “open,” in the sense that its significance (or lack thereof) is the practitioner’s prerogative, practicing it can, and tends to have, various effects (the founder calls them “side-effects”) on its practitioners. These effects include: studying and learning principles of dramatic play and performance; cultivating performance fitness and performative power; developing authorial personality; and self-discovery, self-understanding, self-acceptance, and self-actualization.[2]

How do you typically practice (Inter)acting with the Inner Partner?

One IwIP course lasts between 8-16 practice sessions with 1-2 sessions per week. Courses are separated into beginning groups, for people who have no experience with the discipline, and continuing (or advanced) groups, for those who have already gone through the introductory stage. Typically, a course consists of 1 session per week for about 12 weeks. Each practice session lasts between 90-120 minutes. A practice session is led by one or two trained class leaders (teachers). They do not practice IwIP during any session they lead. There can be between 2-12 participants (in addition to the leaders) per session. The class leader (leaders) sits at the audience left end of the row of students, who sit in chairs in a straight line facing the practice space (the stage). A practitioner goes in the practice space (on stage) in front of an audience alone to experience, practicem and investigate interactions (relationships) between his/her inner partners during short (1-5 minutes) rounds (“trials” or “attempts”). For the entirety of this improvisational practice, the practitioner is asked to maintain “public solitude” (Stanislavsky): By not contacting the audience directly a practitioner can pay attention to her actions and direct them towards her inner partner(s). She is also asked to remain on stage practicing until the class leader signals the end of her round with a “Thank you.” (There are a few other basic practice conditions that are gradually introduced to practitioners.) The class leader gives the practitioner immediate feedback on her practice (reflections on what happened, how it happened, and suggestions on how she might proceed during the subsequent rounds). No one else gives feedback. This process repeats until all participants have completed a round of practice. Typically, there are between 2-4 rounds per session, sometimes with a short break after the second round. Practitioners keep a written journal as a way of reflecting on their on-stage investigations. There are a number of possible modifications to the above “traditional” procedure.

Text by Alexander Komlosi