Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art Review
Improvisation seems to be a black hole in the social dance world. It is one of those skills that oftentimes seems underdeveloped, overdone, misunderstood, or ignored altogether. I have seen salsa instructors teach entire routines based on their own improvisations, only to have them repeated by their students step-by-step on the social dance floor without a thought given to the dynamics of the music or relationship with one's partner. All social dances suffer from a lack of understanding and lack of confidence among its participants when it comes to improvisation. And it seems there isn't really a clear path for learning how to break away from the structure and attain that beautiful - and skillful - quality of spontaneous creativity.
Stephen Nachmanovitch's beautiful book offers enriching reflections for any dancer to meditate on. The author himself is a musician and a poet, but he approaches improvisation and creativity in a way that is accessible to devotees of all art forms and every discipline in life that prizes being in the moment. He offers a number of examples from the worlds of art and music, but my dancer's perspective did not have to make great leaps to apply these concepts to the skills required to improvise and express oneself on the dance floor.
What I found so refreshing about the book was how rich his thoughts are on the topic. After reading several books on mastery and creativity that seemed superficial, fluffy, and more like self-help literature than deep reflection and analysis, Nachmanovitch's book was a true pleasure to delve into. His writing manages to be at once intellectual and inspiring while covering concepts such as the power of limits and mistakes, the value of inspiration and judgment, and the tension and reward of creative collaboration. These topics touch not only on musicality and improvisation but on technique and partnering as well. Though he never directly refers to the concept, a number of his thoughts seem to coincide perfectly with the conditions and characteristics of flow, and I finished his book with a more well-rounded appreciation of flow in social dance. I found it interesting to read in the author's biography that he holds a PhD in the History of Consciousness.
Nachmanovitch's own introduction offers great insight into his vision for Free Play: "I began writing this book as an exploration of the inner dimensions of improvisation. I found it inescapably fascinating that the conception, composition, practice, and performance of a piece of music could blossom in a single moment, and come out whole and satisfying. When I first found myself improvising, I felt with great excitement that I was onto something, a kind of spiritual connectedness that went far beyond the scope of music making. At the same time, improvisation extended the scope and relevance of music making until the artificial boundary between art and life disintegrated. I had found a freedom that was both exhilarating and exacting. Looking into the moment of improvisation, I was uncovering patterns related to every kind of creativity; uncovering clues as well to living a life that is self-creating, self-organizing, and authentic. I came to see improvisation as a master key to creativity."
I always try to balance my reviews by offering constructive criticism and areas for improvement. However, this book did not really allow me room to do so. While some chapters were more interesting and applicable to the world of dance than others, I found so many gems throughout the book and have returned to it often since. While reading it will not directly improve one's improvisation on the dance floor, for many dancers I believe it can provide the mental shift required to open oneself up to inner creativity, outward expression, and meaningful improvisation.
Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art Feature
- ISBN13: 9780874776317
- Condition: New
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Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art Overview
This book is about the inner sources of spontaneous creation. It is about where art in the widest sense comes from. It is about why we create and what we learn when we do. It is about the flow of unhindered creative energy: the joy of making art in all its varied forms.
Free Play is directed toward people in any field who want to contact, honor, and strengthen their own creative powers. It integrates material from a wide variety of sources among the arts, sciences, and spiritual traditions of humanity. Filled with unusual quotes, amusing and illuminating anecdotes, and original metaphors, it reveals how inspiration arises within us, how that inspiration may be blocked, derailed or obscured by certain unavoidable facts of life, and how finally it can be liberated - how we can be liberated - to speak or sing, write or paint, dance or play, with our own authentic voice.
The whole enterprise of improvisation in life and art, of recovering free play and awakening creativity, is about being true to ourselves and our visions. It brings us into direct, active contact with boundless creative energies that we may not even know we had.
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Customer Reviews
Free Play - K. Heffner - Norwalk, CT United States
I have been an artist, a writer, and teacher of creativity for many years. For the last five years I have interviewed artists, writers, composer, filmmakers, musicians, (and anyone else creative I can get my hands on) about their creative process.
I was a passionate collector of books on all aspects of creativity from business to fine arts.
Then a few years ago I found this little book. It said concisely and eloquently everything (and more) I would have said if I had wanted to write a book on creativity. I have lost count of the number of copies I have bought, shared, given away. I just bought another because I realized I had given my last copy away (again).
This is a book about how to understand what we do when we create (when we get it right) and why. I not only resonated with what he has written, I gained clarity and new ways to think about creativity.
Magnificent.
Run, don't walk to get a copy - Jeffrey Agrell - Iowa City
The mother of all books on (nonjazz) improvisation. A must have for any musician, anyone who ever thought about making up their own music, and a definite must for all those musicians (read: classical musicians) who have never considered making up their own music. They just might, after reading this. It's not a method, but it will inspire you to start discovering your own voice in music.
The process of creating - Sina Khasani -
Extremely insightful book about improvisation and creativity, with words of wisdom on every page. Calling improvisation the "default state of mind", Nachmanovich describes the infrastructure of a creative life and analyzes the inner process of making art. The book makes you want to pick up your instrument and enter the infinite world of music. Must-read for the creative artist or any free spirit.
*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 18, 2010 03:15:07
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