in response to my article in leadership journal mike weaver sent me an e-mail where we liased on faithful improvisation. he has studied improv and uses it with churches. this is a paragraph from the e-mail he sent that he said i could post which has the lovely idea of walking forward backwards…
One of my improv teachers, Keith Johnstone, once talked about improv as "walking forward backwards". What he means is this…improv in theater keeps the scene moving forward into the future, but the improvisers use recall as a way of adding to the scenes in the moment…pulling thoughts and ideas, recycling them if you will, into the present scene to move the entire show forward. It's quite magical. I reframe Johnstone's comment this way that improvisers move forward with eyes in the back of our heads. I think that's how we approach tradition. We remember what is significant in our past and pull certain things into the present as it adds and helps us move forward in mission into the future.
Hey Jonny, Did you notice Mike Weaver refers to Keith Johnstone. That is the imppro book I lent you while ago!! The Master of impro (besides Jesus)
I have an improv background as well – what I’ve learned that can be applied here is 1) the need to be on the breath (meaning you are in the moment now and responding to what’s happening not what you wish would happen) 2) The joy of rules (rather than be free to do as you please, you’re given a set of restrictions – e.g., can only move in a particular space, limit to words can say, change body at particular times) and the creativity that can come from this 3) the need to seek the joy of your experience (even when going to dark places).
What’s fascinating is that my improv teacher is one of the most spiritual people I’ve ever met and yet he’s an atheist – that’s a product of a fundamentalist childhood in Texas that I think would make most of us hate anything to do with religion.
thanks becky. yes dave i was proud to be able to say i had read the book! thanks 🙂
In Maori language, they have a saying “i nga ra o mau”, which means to walk forward, looking back. It’s their cultural approach to life, in which future decisions are made aware of their ancestors.
(I mention this and explore it more in my Out of bounds church? book, when writing about new forms of church and their relationship to established and to Christian forbears).
steve taylor
http://www.emergentkiwi.org.nz