Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what, next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little, The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark. —Agnes De Mille 33Working-Off, Continued REALLY TALK / REALLY LISTEN im ve Fepetition exercise, in all of this work, we must continu- ly be leaving the exercise behind, giving up the “exerciseness” of it. I know this sounds strange when you are working so hard to “get” the exercise. You must keep moving yourself from repe- sition as some kind of trick you can do, ‘vith another human being. (1 toward your fully being (Believe me, this work is not about becoming a great repeater!) Our aim, right now, is in you becoming fully available to your partner, authentically respon- Session Five sive in each moment. This starts right now with—really talk, sten, really talk, really listen... really talk to each other, Here's something I want you to hear again—don't try so hard. You do not need to find the things to work-off, your partner will give chem co you, always. You simply have to BE THERE. ‘Also, you work-off everything. It can be behavior (“You are very sad”) it can be a physical observation (“funky red tie!”) it is whatever you get in the moment. Do not pass over anything, ic’ all grist for the mill, If you think something is not worth working-off, youre in your head. The rule here is: Don’t do anything unless something makes you do it. And right now the something's over there. I'll say that again, Don’t do anything unless something makes you do it and right now the something is over there. As you continue, stay relaxed. (I mean, what's the worst that could happen? The Repetition Patrol is not going to come and get you!) Don't push and take what you ger do another ten m Each partner wi ces of repetition right now and thae’s all for today. 43KNOWING WHAT IS HAPPENING Wen you cannot see whas is happening ina group, do not stare harder. Relax and laok gently with your inner eye When you do not understand what a person is saying, do not grasp for every word. Give up your efforts. Become silent inside and listen with your deepest self When you are puzzled by what you see or hear, do not strive t0 figure things out. Stand back for a moment and become calm. When a person is calm, complex events appear simple. To know what is happening, push less, open out and be aware. See without staring. Listen quietly rather than listening hard. Use intuition and reflection rather than trying to figure things out. The more you can let go of trying, and the more open and receptive you become, the more easily you will know what is hap- pening. Alo, stay in the present. The present is more available than either memories of the pastor fantasies of the future. So attend to what is happening now. —From The Tao Of Leadership, Leadership Strategies For A New Age by John Heider PINCH AND OUCH MOVING FORWARD We must move forward in the repetition. The “What's happen- ing” will now include noc only what's happening over there with my partner, but also, what does whats happening over there, do 19 mé So the what's happening is now over shere and over here. This is what Sandy called the “Pinch and Ouch’ As we are working with our partner, things add up. You know, saying the same thing seven times, if you are really talking with each other, will get monotonous or tedious or infuriating or 4sThe Sanford Meisner Approach SOMETHING! (Just imagine your mother telling you five times, “Why don’t you get a real job!”) In the exercise, you must respond ro this when it happens. “This is boring, keep on saying that,” “Youre on automatic” and so forth, Your parmer says to you, “You look jerky” five times Ifyou are real this must have an impact on you. I don't know what it would be for you, but if you didn’ like ie, you'd have every right to say to your partner “Don't say that again!” So there’s a Pinch: “You look jerky!” And an Ouch: “Don't say thar again!” You see, “Don't say that again!” wasn't something you wanted (0 say or thought you should say, it was something you had to say because of what you got from your partner and what that did to you. There is a voice in you that wants to speak, low it! Say ie I must be careful here. I want to be sure that you do nor limit this concept of “Pinch and Ouch” co any one connotation Look at these examples: The pinch might be a beautiful smile on your partner’ glowing face and the ouch might be your response, “WOW, what s great smile!” The pinch might be an encouraging, “You are so bright,” from your partner and the ouch is your response, “You make me feel ‘great! The pinch from your partner, “You really hurt my feelings” and the ouch is your response, “I'm so sorry. Hey, doesnt this all sound more like real people—real people really talking with each other? Yes it does and you will! You will surprise yoursclf in many wonderful ways as you more closely 46 Session Six er, the more you live moment-to-moment, eee a om <0 the fll expression of who als Iya. WHO YOU TRULY ARE! Not who others want Se you yon be because of what your partner just did and what that did you. Then you will ind that you are moving away from “syetiion land” and towards “human being land! ul now! Carefull Do not interpret this to mean that the Cation wil amen anf a conan veeoual.” Remember, you are playing the scales and che seals have their rules. Remember: “Don't do anything eee thing makes you do it.” I have simply said ee thing’ & not only ener thee is also over hee. Ihave simply added co the repetition that, when you are avare of i you must work not only from what you get from your part also from what that does to you! Did you hear that? WHEN YOU ARE AWARE OF poe temptation will be to TRY TO DO what ie iced about. You mustnt! You must not try to do it. Ii allowing it to occur. ALLOWING.We have now developed a wonderful basis for a specific kind of improvisation, haven't wet As opposed to most acting class improvisations where everyone is in their head thinking of the next clever thing to say, in this improvisation you not only ‘must not be thinking, you are contin en what to say by Jour partner, so there is nothing to think about. GREAT! HOMEWORK Ger together as often as possible and do repetition, Please don't think about doing it. Do it!