slightlymoving

real or perceived

Improvising All the Way

Special guest Martin Hughes leaps into the mix with the regular Little Con artists (Dianne, Shaun, Paul, Joey, Ann-maree) to play a little one hour improv game. Who knows what, where, when and who will attempt to make dance out of chaos and chaos out of dance, as the impulse to jump in and jump out is obeyed and ignored, imposed and composed, vetted and fated? Yes it could all go horribly wrong. Now you wouldn’t want to miss that would you??

See you there. We’ll risk it if you will!

so the little con is a monthly dance improv event held in melbourne. it started around the same time that conundrum ended (after 10 years of monthly improvised performances) and has had a few different incarnations.

i was interested to see this description in their latest email bulletin mention risk.

while i understand risk as being somehow involved in live performance (liveness, eh simon), i’m less convinced by the idea that it’s more present in improvised work. at least, i’ve never experienced it in that way. putting your work on stage can be risky in any form, but the risks tend to be thought of more as being about ‘getting it right’, or pleasing/offending/stunning the audience. i mean, the risk is that the work doesn’t communicate, right? or that it has no impact on the people who have come to watch/listen/experience it? and that risk is present in all forms (well… most forms, idol doesn’t count).

anyway, there also seems to be a generalised idea that in improvised performance the performers are taking more of a risk because they don’t know what material/content/structure will come out during the performance. and i’m not sure why, but can’t recall ever having even thought about this in my own practice. with a rigourous and ongoing practice that level of risk is insignificant - or maybe it’s significant but the perception of it decreases dramatically.

which reminds me of rock climbing. in rock climbing, the real risk varies according to the skill and physical attributes of the climber, the difficulty of the route, the prevailing conditions and the quality of the gear. the perceived risk varies according to the climbers physical and mental state, and in turn it affects the real risk (positively or negatively). a low perceived risk can lead to mistakes being made but can also allow a higher level of functioning. i think in performance it comes back to that idea of being in a state of confident expectation (being a poor equivalent for perceived risk) to allow the performer full access to their skills and creativity.

phew

in other news, i passed my mid year barrier exam, which was a fucker of an exam. started muscoloskeletal and neuro block, which is already fascinating and overwhelming.

inadequate

a quick gripe.

we’ve started back at university. straight into neuro and musculoskeletal block.

what’s missing though, is our results from our barrier exam at the end of last semester. this means that there may be people who have failed or require a supplementary examination but just don’t know it yet. in the meantime they have to study what is renowned as being one of the toughest blocks.

what is worse is that there has been absolutely no word about when we will get the results.

it’s really not good enough.

as you may imagine this is consuming a considerable amount of conversation time around the med school, which is a little bit tedious already (after only 2 days of it).

a week

i thought i’d have time to blog everyday while on my placement.

hasn’t really worked out that way. just got too much on to leave much time or energy for it. but at least it’s a good balance of medicine/education and socialising.

i’ve spent time at a GP clinic and at the local Indigenous Health Centre (NACCHO), i’ve also been to the hospital briefly and will spend a bit more time there next week. i travelled out to a small town to hear some older men talk about a men’s shed they’ve got going - as part of a health and well-being initiative - and have done some simple skills development (mostly clinical). i’ve also had plenty of social events and time with other medicos and locals (i even went to a body pump class!).

the best thing has been spending lots of time with my mentor and discussing the patients we’ve seen together and nutting over diagnosis and approaches and the like.

another semester done

well… who am i kidding.

i’ve got an all day exam tomorrow that can cover any material we’ve covered in the first 18 months of this course. any material. of course i’m banking on the fact that it will be heavily weighted towards the last two blocks we’ve done - Gastrointestinal and Haematology/Oncology (oh, and they slipped in a bit of Infectious Diseases at the end as well).

still… it feels like the end of semester already. just got to sit and write from 9.30 to 3.30 tomorrow and i’m done.

lovely.