Discipline of Freedom Workshop: Creativity and Expression led by Paul Oertel, Tamnies France
17/10/07 07:04 Filed in: Creativity
| Growth And
Learning
This workshop has been a
pivotal key experience of development and growth for
me as an artist. Truly an amazing experience 3 years
in a row!
This is a journey that began for me three years ago
when a friend, an actress (and at the time my
sister-in-law) Gemma Wilcox was kind enough to
include me in a small circle of artists who would
travel to a beautiful area of Southwestern France.
Being that this was my third (troisèime) time
participating in this workshop, I headed into this
wondering where I could challenge myself. What I
settled on was to try to write a new song every day.
This was a shift from the first year where the
challenge was to head into the mystery of the
experience remaining open to what might appear. The
second year my approach was a very focused intention
of developing a show a new presentation for my songs
that resulted in my current performance called "Brave
Open Love".
The magic of this workshop is a combination of the participants and the facilitator. Paul Oertel has lived his life in service of art and humanity. The participants are truth seekers, and artists looking to grow and stretch.
The practical aspects are handled beautifully, rustic and beautiful accommodations, amazing food (which we all helped to shop and cook) and transportation. This sets the stage for the work to begin. The group gathers to state their background and focus. They discuss their intentions for the week. Paul tracks all of this and then the process begins. Paul has an amazing ability to feel into what each individual and the group most need to move forward. For me it feels like a creative or artistic version of a spiritual quest. I have to be fearless and face my fears and face myself. Paul facilitates finding that next spot that I need to stretch past. The next skin that I need to shed.
I'll provide some amazing experiences that have spanned the past three years in this workshop. In one exercise I presented a few songs to the group. Paul asked me to dance to some music that he put on. Now, I have no training in dance — so I just moved to the music and had a good time. Then Paul asked me right after the dance was finished to pick up my guitar and play the last song I had played again. The difference was enormous. My body tension had been broken up, my energy and breathing were enhanced. It was a big lesson for me.
On another occasion I explained that I had some fears related to singing material that was "too" emotional, maybe "too" tender or raw. I didn't want to be in front of a group of people and end up crying. Crying gets in the way of breathing after all. People don't want to see someone get up in front of them and weep. Paul has had a long history with performances of many kinds. I won't go into his background or history here. If you are interested you can find out more at http://www.performanceinventions.org. Paul heard my concern and addressed it head on. He just suggested that I tell a story or present an introduction that had the very qualities I was afraid of presenting! Then follow that with a song. As terrifying as that sounds, I loved the challenge and went right to it. I told the story of my Mother's recent health problems which were an extremely emotional topic. This did bring tears to my eyes, and to do so in front of the group was a vulnerable place to be. I realized that I wanted to follow this with a meaningful song — so I told the group that my Mom's favorite song that she sang to us a lot was 'You Are My Sunshine'. Through my tears I sang as much as I know of that song. The entire group was connected to my message. I was completely connected to my own feelings and sharing them directly. It was a riveting experience.
This has fed many performances where I have learned with each performance to reconnect to the emotion of what I am singing and hook that into the people in front of me so that I am fully sharing myself. The more I can do that the more fulfilling the performance can be. I have had many many experiences like this one I've just mentioned at this workshop. If you would like to find out more please contact me.
The magic of this workshop is a combination of the participants and the facilitator. Paul Oertel has lived his life in service of art and humanity. The participants are truth seekers, and artists looking to grow and stretch.
The practical aspects are handled beautifully, rustic and beautiful accommodations, amazing food (which we all helped to shop and cook) and transportation. This sets the stage for the work to begin. The group gathers to state their background and focus. They discuss their intentions for the week. Paul tracks all of this and then the process begins. Paul has an amazing ability to feel into what each individual and the group most need to move forward. For me it feels like a creative or artistic version of a spiritual quest. I have to be fearless and face my fears and face myself. Paul facilitates finding that next spot that I need to stretch past. The next skin that I need to shed.
I'll provide some amazing experiences that have spanned the past three years in this workshop. In one exercise I presented a few songs to the group. Paul asked me to dance to some music that he put on. Now, I have no training in dance — so I just moved to the music and had a good time. Then Paul asked me right after the dance was finished to pick up my guitar and play the last song I had played again. The difference was enormous. My body tension had been broken up, my energy and breathing were enhanced. It was a big lesson for me.
On another occasion I explained that I had some fears related to singing material that was "too" emotional, maybe "too" tender or raw. I didn't want to be in front of a group of people and end up crying. Crying gets in the way of breathing after all. People don't want to see someone get up in front of them and weep. Paul has had a long history with performances of many kinds. I won't go into his background or history here. If you are interested you can find out more at http://www.performanceinventions.org. Paul heard my concern and addressed it head on. He just suggested that I tell a story or present an introduction that had the very qualities I was afraid of presenting! Then follow that with a song. As terrifying as that sounds, I loved the challenge and went right to it. I told the story of my Mother's recent health problems which were an extremely emotional topic. This did bring tears to my eyes, and to do so in front of the group was a vulnerable place to be. I realized that I wanted to follow this with a meaningful song — so I told the group that my Mom's favorite song that she sang to us a lot was 'You Are My Sunshine'. Through my tears I sang as much as I know of that song. The entire group was connected to my message. I was completely connected to my own feelings and sharing them directly. It was a riveting experience.
This has fed many performances where I have learned with each performance to reconnect to the emotion of what I am singing and hook that into the people in front of me so that I am fully sharing myself. The more I can do that the more fulfilling the performance can be. I have had many many experiences like this one I've just mentioned at this workshop. If you would like to find out more please contact me.
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