Festival Performances
My festival contributions & concepts.
All Floris act’s or performances border the real with play, content with a very lighthearted tone. He plays and excites larger audiences as well as individuals. Floris played for 15 years the Free Role at the Open Up Festival in the Netherlands. He has designed and co-hosted opening and closing rituals for three festivals, conferences, and events. Worked as the announcer, festival fool, tribal wizard and offered theatrical reflections on the undercurrents of the festival and build, with scarce materials riddles to puzzle the audience towards the themes at play.
NEW! Satsang Theatre.
This summer (2017) at the Open Up festival, Ilse Keizer, Coen Dalini, Ingeborg de Lange, Anouschka Pessy, Bahar Farshchi Jamshidabady, and me, invented Satsang Theatre and gave 3 performances with it! Members of the audience (the very brave and helpful ones who earned our eternal gratitude!) who dare to ask a question, will find our collective wisdom at stupidity seeking to answer it.. First, we show how not to do it and then find the switch within the trouble to get a different, much more desired outcome. Or try to. While being great fun, it also will bring up real issues and confront the audience in a very lighthearted way with it. All players are more than willing to find faults within and even within their approach to a role. The method easily can operate with performances between 20 minutes and 1,2 hours. With enough trust, those that asked questions may be invited on stage to be themselves.
There are influences of family constellations, forum theatre, theatre sports, Satsang (Guru teachings), and Commedia Dell’ Arte.
The festival/conference/corporate Fool.
You have traditional fools in suits, and there’s the festival fool, that switches roles and functions faster than a chameleon color. He jumps into gaps, mirrors the behavior of both staff and visitors, plays with opportunity’s and helps to create moments that seem needed for the overall balance. From funny parking assistance to smart interventions that can make a huge difference. Think huge banner ‘Welcome to the Miraculous Reality’ at the entrance and at the end of the festival above the exit. Think audience experience when an artist is late to the podium. Think audience request scene’s commenting proceedings by the forum.
Here is a whole article on the Festival Fool
Ritual and Audience involvement
Was involved in or led at 4 summer camps/festivals the opening and or closing in ‘17,’18 & ‘19.
For Floris rituals must involve participants, have them add their juice, ideas, fire, insights, and work from there to something that makes the core experiential. Whether it’s to connect people who just entered to send people home with an intention in their guts, he’ll add to the ideas. Most rituals are, by the way, a joint venture bringing all aspects of the festival or conference together. Yet to prevent stifling seriousness, boredom, and way too heavy meaning sending, Floris often adds a tone of lightness and fun.
Here is a whole article on Ritual Design
The Announcer
With or without mike (Floris can reach about 300 people without mike when there’s no wind) Floris knows how to speak to an audience, mixing flavor, content, and sharp jokes keeping everyone present. He might even add little exercises or actions to increase participation. From simple messages to essential viewpoints, he can be the voice of a festival. (works best at artistic, spiritual, community festivals or idea and vision focussed conferences)
Storyteller
The concept: an improvising storyteller, inventing stories on the spot as an answer to life questions; from children’s stories to mature tales. The stories often offer the ambiguity of life and fundamental principles at work. Because people have dreams and human psychology and the world other ideas. Can be done from individual magic to large group performances.
Can also do (slam) poetry on the spot, inventing new poetry based on calls for themes and aspects from the audience.
NB: Easy to implement, works in any circle from around fires into hot tubs. The only thing it needs is enough silence around the is easily heard. Although Floris is famous for his strong voice.
Has been offered on small stages, around camping campfires, and at several festivals.
Counter for Life’s Questions.
The Concept: Behind a counter sit children, most often age 8–12, to answer your life questions. The result impresses me every time. Children get a boost in confidence and feel they matter. (Some) Adults are stunned, children are not empty vessels you pour knowledge in to get adults. They have a mind of their own and see way more than most adults are aware.
This can only be run in the following conditions: Participating children are enthusiasts to join voluntarily and run the experience themselves. Beforehand they get a workshop on how to do it. The core of the workshop is to keep questioning clients until the child fully understands the question. Counters are set up in such a way that conversations are more or less private, there’s a counter between children and adults and what’s happening is visible for everyone else. This works best in enclosed environments like festivals, school events, conferences on the power of children. The organization may build, organize materials for counters for a reduction of the fee.
NB: Has been offered at festivals, events, and few schools. Here is a whole article on the Counter of Life’s Questions
Mind & Soul Restaurant
The Concept: Here we serve food for the mind and soul. Bring in your theme with a question and order a dish fitting to your needs. To make your choice you’ll be handed a menu. On it, you may find courses such as the ‘Youcando Dish’, served as a friendly neighbor’s pat on the shoulder. Or the ‘Nasruddin Fig’ served as the personal teaching story you need now. Or ‘Wizard’s Choice’ served as whatever twisted idea the chef comes up with to help you find your next step. We found the more serious the question, the more people invest in getting an answer that matters.
NB: Organization may build, organize materials, a few small tables, chairs, or pillows, for a reduction of the fee.
Has been offered at festivals, events, and as a small side event at the opening of a gallery.
Collective Boost Market.
The Concept: At your festival one round there are no workshops or speakers at all. Everyone offers their own best self bit, to help others take a step and or advance a project. So you either go around or sit and offer personal help. Help maybe 5 minutes or a whole hour, you decide. Market people may offer anything they’re good at, from logo design to massage, from marketing strategy to tarot cards. In short, all the collective participants of the festival have to offer. You can also come up with very creative stands, like the Questions Offering, Silent Disco for two, Mindmap illustrator, Personal song massage, Free Hugs, Poetry writing, Personal reading based upon your wallet, etc.
We can help with preparation, framing towards participants and to fit the main theme of the festival or conference, organization, getting participants in the mood, and keeping the mood up. The event can reduce costs for speakers, while at the same time, boost empowerment and use the collective power of all participants. :)
Counter for Heroic Challenges.
The Concept: You have a problem and want to overcome it. Thus at this counter, you’ll find support. After explaining your issue, you’ll receive an awkward mission from the counter workers. A mission that in executing it, will help you see, how to tackle your issue, and how you already have the solution. The designing of these missions is a very special skill. To direct (you’re shy, so speak to an audience) doesn’t work. To unrelated (you’re shy, so find a bird's egg) and it makes no sense. The results can be profound or even very touching. Like a small boy returning with his own brother, which he didn’t want to get into fights anymore. His brother told him, in his presence and that of their mother, he loved his brother. So perhaps the lesson was, fighting can happen, but love is more essential and present.
NB: The inviting organization may build, organize materials, a table, counter, or just an attractive corner, for a reduction of the fee.
Has been offered at festivals, events, and a small side event at the opening of a gallery.
The Nymdal or ‘Touchstone of Seekers’
The Concept: The small cult of the Water Brothers (and sisters) makes no sense at all. Visit the ‘Nymdal’ (or touchstone of the seekers within their crazy ‘cult’) and discover your own ‘here and nowness’. He doesn’t give you a koan to meditate upon, he is a koan, or riddle. This master of crazy wisdom is guaranteed to separate your festival between ‘those that have been there’ and ‘those who missed it’, thus adding to the magic of the whole.
Anyone who wishes can step into the cult and receive the ‘teachings’.
Techno Shaman
The Concept: WTF? Indeed. The Techno Shaman is an act bordering on the insane. Who understands a shaman anyway? He’ll impress you with rhythms, crazy rituals, smoke, and mirrors. Is there truth in here? Who knows. The strange thing we found after many years of similar acts: people project their own story of meaning into whatever happens. We’re just happy to oblige them with a story.
Still, some things do have content. If the visitor is serious, and or open, so can we be. Then we have a whole collection of small events like marriage to yourself, mini vision quest, crazy wisdom koan, hugging assignment, non-catholic confessional, wish-granting, and helping people to meet the right people.
NB: The Techno Shaman can both be a traveling wizard or the host of a small dark tent. The inviting organization may build, organize a small dark tent or just an attractive corner if they prefer this act stationary.
