Improvisation & Spirituality
A personal and collaborative inquiry
Enrollment limited to approx. 14 participants
Saturday March 19th – Sunday March 20th, 2016, 10 am – 4pm
Olympia Community Center (Saturday) * Harbor House (Sunday)
222 Columbia Street NW, Olympia, WA
$249 course fee. To register: http://ptix.co/1RjxLJs
Apply improv principles to everyday experience and life blooms with greater vitality, resilience, and joy. We learn to pay careful attention, to embrace possibility, and to play well with others. These positive outcomes are strikingly similar to those found on many spiritual paths.
This active, engaging workshop will explore the numerous synergies between improvisational theater and the spiritual life. We will use improv games and scenework as tools for personal reflection. We will enter contemplative practice as a vehicle for deeper improv. Together, we’ll ask big questions—and find intriguing answers. We’ll make sure to include significant space for self-inquiry as well as ample opportunity for productive groupwork.
Prerequisites
Participants should be well-versed in improv principles and willing to practice them “on stage” in front of others. No religious or spiritual path is required, but those with inquiring hearts and minds will gain the most from the workshop.
Location and Lunches
On Saturday, we’ll be in the Olympia Community Center, a friendly and casual atmosphere centrally and beautifully located near Budd Inlet. On Sunday, we’ll be across the street at Harbor House, an even cozier meeting space. We’ll find lunch at one of several restaurants nearby. For more information about the two locations, please visit the Center’s web site: http://olympiawa.gov/city-services/parks/the-olympia-center.aspx.
About the Instructor
Ted DesMaisons has been synthesizing innovative approaches to teaching and learning for over 25 years. Since completing graduate work at Stanford Business and Harvard Divinity schools, Ted has studied and performed improvisation across North America, including with Patricia Ryan Madson at Stanford, BATS Improv in San Francisco and Loose Moose Theater in Calgary, Alberta. He is the founder and principal of ANIMA Learning, a trained Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) instructor, and the US Coordinator for the UK-based Mindfulness in Schools Project. He writes regularly about growth mindset, applied improv, contemplation, and positive reinforcement on his ANIMA blog (www.AnimaLearning.com/blog).
Investment
$249 per person. Payment refundable (minus $25 processing charge) if the workshop is full and you or we are able to find a replacement. $25 discount for any referrals. To register, please visit http://ptix.co/1RjxLJs.
Contact Us
If you’d like more information about the content or logistics of the workshop, feel free to contact either the presenter or the host, Daniel Knutson-Bradac. We’d be delighted to talk with you!
Ted DesMaisons: Ted@AnimaLearning.com
Daniel Knutson-Bradac: daniel@yesandconspiracy.com
