Chaos/Juggling curve ball..question

Phelim McDermott phelim at mac.com
Tue Mar 28 14:23:33 PST 2006


Yes i totally agree Harrison..

and forgive me for trying to make connections with performance which  
may not be there.

For herein lies my question which seems to affect me on a very subtle  
level.

I have spent years having a reaction to juggling as a skill...  
because it so often seems to be a skill practiced in eternity (or the  
bedroom) to go out into the world and demonstrate that someone has  
mastered the ability to control chaos... its a story of domination  
over the forces of nature. As a performer/audience dynamic it is also  
one of domination...“ Look what i can do You can’t!”

So as a performer there is a route to impressive armour rather than  
vulnerabilty.

This mastery or domination of the game often deliberately includes  
the dropping of balls to give the illusion of vulnerability whilst  
then  being "really impressive" to show victory over the force of  
darkness that chaos surely is..

And as I watch my reaction always is:

“You want to get out more!”

On the other hand great performances make you think:  “I could do  
that too!”  and you want to jump onstage yourself.

  I have spent years trying to teach or communicate the idea that  
it’s important to not get better at stuff as you gain skills. If you  
think that Improvisation is about learning how to do something well,  
so the story is over then you’re missing the point.. you can NEVER do  
it and that’s what makes it and you interesting. The inclusion of  
your relationship to unpredictable forces is how you model a new way  
of being in the world and it’s what keeps the audience and us  
interested.

So potentially the more hands shiva has whilst juggling (with a  
finite number of balls) the less interesting she actually becomes....  
to me. What I’m interested in is how she behaves when she really  
drops the ball or she trips whilst juggling and has to deal with it.  
Does she curse the arbitrary forces of nature for spoiling her plan  
or does she demonstrate humility and  love  by  including  them in  
her journey?

  This is what has always interested me in performance and why i feel  
i knew what open space was before i heard it named as such.... aaaaah.

However I notice that this performer seems to be in a space where he  
has pushed his skill level into a new zone..

perhaps..

It relates to the fact that he seems to bring in an emotional story  
into his  juggling journey..

Or that he challenges the gods by playing such cheesy music and  
daring to sport such a ridiculous haircut.. surely a temptation to  
the forces of chaos!

Whatever... there is something in there that makes me like him and  
either he is a master of deception and its a safe journey for  
him.....  or he is standing on the edge of chaos and I’m responding  
to that?

I don’t quite know. But i do keep coming back to him.... and wonder  
if he might open and close space quite well.

Or maybe he would just look good at doing it?

it’s a big question for me.. but understand it might be a small one  
for others..

So sorry if I’m clogging the string with a lot of talk about balls.

Love and chaos.

phelim xx


On 28 Mar 2006, at 13:40, Harrison Owen wrote:

> I think it is a great image -- but I do have a problem. As a  
> facilitator my
> experience is that 250 people (recently in Seville) are juggling  
> 1000's of
> balls, only a few of which they (individually) threw into the air,  
> but most
> have come into the space from other places, including the other  
> people,
> random events in the environment, and possibly from beyond time and  
> space
> (wherever that is). And for sure, few, if any, of the balls came  
> from my
> hands! Heck in most cases, I didn't even know the balls were in the  
> air, and
> certainly could not name them. If I am supposed to be "The Juggler"  
> I would
> need infinitely more hands and arms than Shiva ever dreamed of. :-)
>
> If you carry this one on out -- the OS facilitator places him/her  
> self in
> the position of enabling a finite number of people (5-2000) to  
> juggle an
> infinite number of balls coming from every conceivable direction and
> dimension of space/time -- which might just be the standard 3  
> dimensions, or
> 6 in Phase Space, or 13 if String Theory is correct. Gosh -- Just an
> ordinary day's work in Open Space. Lots of luck , Folks!
>
> Harrison
>
>
>
>
>
> Harrison Owen
> 7808 River Falls Drive
> Potomac, Maryland   20854
> Phone 301-365-2093
> Skype hhowen
> Open Space Training www.openspaceworld.com
> Open Space Institute www.openspaceworld.org
> Personal website www.ho-image.com
> OSLIST: To subscribe, unsubscribe, change your options, view the
> archives Visit: www.listserv.boisestate.edu/archives/oslist.html
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: OSLIST [mailto:OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU] On Behalf Of  
> Phelim
> McDermott
> Sent: Tuesday, March 28, 2006 6:13 AM
> To: OSLIST at LISTSERV.BOISESTATE.EDU
> Subject: Chaos/Juggling curve ball..question
>
> Ok folks being from a performance background and not usually liking
> juggling.. i can't stop watching this clip..
>
> http://s158645047.onlinehome.us/video_5290_10558.html?sid=5290
>
> and want to ask the question where does this connect to open space/
> chaos/control what are the links? are there any..
>
> one thought i had was.. what would it look like if we couldnt see him
> and just the balls?
>
> any thoughts?
>
> phelim
>
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