My Thoughts On Improvisation Theatre And Surfing
Guest post by Nathalie Van Renterghem, improvisation expert and co-founder of Inspinazie in Belgium
Two years ago I took my first surf class and I immediately fell in love. From the first wave I knew that, even more than dancing, surfing would be my next improvisation teacher.
Last March I made the decision to travel to a small town in Peru to really learn to surf without compromising work time.
While on Unleash Surf a remote-work and surf experience in Peru I met Natalie Small from Groundswell. In the very male-dominated world of surfing, this organization aims to get more women and girls comfortable in the water. I had the opportunity to participate with other women, in a global event connecting surfing to mental health called Fluro Friday, and each of us shared what surfing and the oceans provides us.
“Being in the moment.”
“Emptying my head.”
“Feeling the stress disappear.”
“Shutting down the voices in my head.”
“Self-confidence and joy.”
I found the answers strikingly similar to what improvisation brings to people.
Although many outdoor activities impact people in these ways, Natalie believes that surfing has characteristics that heighten these experience. “In surfing you cannot control the environment. And even if you’re in the right spot at the right time and understand how ”big” the ocean is and what the rhythms of the wave sets are on a given day, every individual wave has its own unpredictable characteristics that you need to adjust to in order to be able to catch it.”
This is a beautiful example of what Mary Overlie calls “listening to the news of a difference” in her Six Viewpoints concept for dancers and actors. Studying subtle differences in things that look the same at first sight, makes us more sensitive and open to new possibilities and helps our creative and artistic mind grow.
The Improvisation Cycle And Surfing
Let Go
The moment you start to paddle for a wave you have to let everything go. You don’t have time to think about what you know. You can only feel in the now-moment and allow what has sunk deep into your body to lead your next moves.
Connect
Then comes the moment when you catch the wave (or the wave catches you). Through the board you create the closest contact possible between you and the wave. You feel it and, in a way, listen to it.
And you notice that this stillness needs to happen in the midst of the chaos and energy of hard paddling. As you simultaneously check your direction, determine where the wave is coming from, where it might break and what pace you need to paddle to be in exactly the right spot, you’re also checking to ensure you’re a safe distance from other surfers or hazardous rocks and perhaps, all the while, ignoring the snot that could be running out of your nose!
Go
And then, if you’ve calculated everything just right, you GO. You decide. Precisely and quick, but not in a hurry. And you pop up!
And then you enjoy the ride. You get to play. Respond to the wave. Or maybe tumble and fall.
Amy Schwartz from Unleash Surf explains this process: “I summon all my physical strength and mental courage to pop up in one quick motion. Both my body and mind have to give it their all. Once I’m up and riding I focus on reading and responding to ever-changing clues about what the wave is going to do next. The thrill of it all is inseparable from the unpredictability of each wave.”
As an improvisation theatre ensemble we are the waves on stage. We trust each other’s movements, even when the other’s offers are awkward or wild or slow. We leave enough space for each player, for who they are and how they play. And we pop up in each moment of the story we build together.
And this is how a good improvisation performance feels. We don’t force pieces together, but rather we try to ride the story that is already there.
Other Important Lessons
It’s worth noting that, while I thought more about my surfing and its relationship to my work in improvisation, I was also struggling to fall in love with the sea in this new place. Being on the water every day, you get up close and personal with the realities of ocean pollution. Some days I found it quite heartbreaking to see the plastic and evidence of run-off from bigger cities.
It reminded me how vulnerable our oceans are to human activity and re-affirmed the importance of people, programs and organizations that are working to address the state of our oceans, such as Save the Waves.
I’d also recommend you check Unleash Surf, the amazing organization I stayed with in Peru.
I believe that bringing people to the waves in any way is a very important stepping stone in raising respect for our marine environments. And clean sea water around the globe can give more people that amazing blue ocean mind, a healthy state of creativity and connectivity, which is so closely connected to our improvisation processes.
Want to learn more about our surf retreat for digital nomads? Visit our website https://unleashsurf.com or send us a message on WhatsApp: +19024523417.
