Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Portland, OR, June 2010
Local notes
http://www.processwork.org/files/Finalprojects/Ashperger_C_June_2010.pdf
Introduction
In February 2009 I spent five weeks studying Process Oriented Psychology also known as ProcessWork (PW) at 2009 Winter Intensive at the Process Work Institute in Portland, Oregon. I decided to commit to studying PW after I flirted with it in a theatrical setting where Phelim McDermott introduced to us the work of Arnold (Arny) Mindellii at Michael Chekhov International Workshop 2006 in Windsor, Canada. There I had my first glimpse into the close
relationship between my specialization which is the psycho-physical acting training mainly based in the technique of Michael Chekhov (Chekhov technique) and PW which is a cross disciplinary approach initially applied in psychotherapy but now an awareness discipline used in a wide variety of applications such as “dreambody work, relationship issues, large group work, conflict resolution, work with altered states of consciousness, issues of creativity, movement, aspects of quantum physics” (to name a few) (A. Mindell, Introduction to Process Work). As a part of the acting workshop, McDermott gave a brief lecture on Arnold Mindell’s opposing concepts of “consensus reality” and “non-duality,” which bear a striking resemblance to Buddhist ideas: the “consensus reality” being the agreed-upon reality and the “non-duality” being the common essence underneath them. Between these two lie Mindell’s concepts of “primary processes” as the agreed-upon facts, and “secondary processes” such as body symptoms, accidents, conflicts, dreams, synchronicities. According to Mindell, the latter are “foreign and distant” to most people but can “be used as a basis for dealing with a wide spectrum of events now separately considered by the various forms and schools of medicine, physics and psychology” (A. Mindell, River's Way: The Process Science of the Dreambody: Information and Channels in Dream and Bodywork, Psychology and Physics, Taoism and Alchemy 12). Mindell’s
holistic approach to human body work has brought together Buddhism, chakra systems, Taoism, dance, various mythologies, shamanism, Jungian psychology, and quantum physics. Subsequently, I have embraced PW in my theatrical life both as a performer and a teacher. And vice-versa my PW experiences both as a performer and a facilitator have benefited from my theatrical training. In this essay I will follow this idea of the two being compatible, transposable and on occasion identical while analysing and facilitating a process of hybridization of a PW practitioner and a psycho-physical actor to whom I will refer as Process Actor. Process Actor can be defined as an actor who values the wisdom of the body as well as that of the mind and is interested in exploring the constant interplay between physicality and psychology. Process Actor’s training may include a combination of techniques such as Chekhov technique, Viewpoints method, Grotowski’s approach, Meyerhold’s approach, Laban’s method, Lecoc school, Butoh dance, Alexander technique (to name but a few). A unifying element to these varied modes of training is in their common interest in body-mind aspects of the art of acting and theatre.The Process Actor’s artistic credo usually includes an interest in a possibility of working in a style other than naturalism (this doesn’t mean that it excludes naturalism). By naturalism I mean style of performance which values a life-like expression and in which believability is in
fact interchangeable with the word realistic or “natural”. Believability is often achieved by use of personal memory in naturalism in this style. An opposite style to naturalistic creates its own reality and believability through an inner logic which can use a variety of elements such as masks, ritual, puppets, song, heightened gesture, movement , speech, costume, make-up. Such performance often breaks the imaginary wall between the performance and the audience known as “the fourth wall” and plays with the notions of space and time. A heightened style is meta-theatrical in nature in that it inner logic and outer expression acknowledge that a performance is taking place while it is taking place.
Please note: Because I will be quoting both Arnold and Amy Mindell I will call them by their first and last names. In my quoted dialogue with Mr. Mindell I will use Arny as that is how he is known to one and all.
Introduction
In February 2009 I spent five weeks studying Process Oriented Psychology also known as ProcessWork (PW) at 2009 Winter Intensive at the Process Work Institute in Portland, Oregon. I decided to commit to studying PW after I flirted with it in a theatrical setting where Phelim McDermott introduced to us the work of Arnold (Arny) Mindellii at Michael Chekhov International Workshop 2006 in Windsor, Canada. There I had my first glimpse into the close
relationship between my specialization which is the psycho-physical acting training mainly based in the technique of Michael Chekhov (Chekhov technique) and PW which is a cross disciplinary approach initially applied in psychotherapy but now an awareness discipline used in a wide variety of applications such as “dreambody work, relationship issues, large group work, conflict resolution, work with altered states of consciousness, issues of creativity, movement, aspects of quantum physics” (to name a few) (A. Mindell, Introduction to Process Work). As a part of the acting workshop, McDermott gave a brief lecture on Arnold Mindell’s opposing concepts of “consensus reality” and “non-duality,” which bear a striking resemblance to Buddhist ideas: the “consensus reality” being the agreed-upon reality and the “non-duality” being the common essence underneath them. Between these two lie Mindell’s concepts of “primary processes” as the agreed-upon facts, and “secondary processes” such as body symptoms, accidents, conflicts, dreams, synchronicities. According to Mindell, the latter are “foreign and distant” to most people but can “be used as a basis for dealing with a wide spectrum of events now separately considered by the various forms and schools of medicine, physics and psychology” (A. Mindell, River's Way: The Process Science of the Dreambody: Information and Channels in Dream and Bodywork, Psychology and Physics, Taoism and Alchemy 12). Mindell’s
holistic approach to human body work has brought together Buddhism, chakra systems, Taoism, dance, various mythologies, shamanism, Jungian psychology, and quantum physics. Subsequently, I have embraced PW in my theatrical life both as a performer and a teacher. And vice-versa my PW experiences both as a performer and a facilitator have benefited from my theatrical training. In this essay I will follow this idea of the two being compatible, transposable and on occasion identical while analysing and facilitating a process of hybridization of a PW practitioner and a psycho-physical actor to whom I will refer as Process Actor. Process Actor can be defined as an actor who values the wisdom of the body as well as that of the mind and is interested in exploring the constant interplay between physicality and psychology. Process Actor’s training may include a combination of techniques such as Chekhov technique, Viewpoints method, Grotowski’s approach, Meyerhold’s approach, Laban’s method, Lecoc school, Butoh dance, Alexander technique (to name but a few). A unifying element to these varied modes of training is in their common interest in body-mind aspects of the art of acting and theatre.The Process Actor’s artistic credo usually includes an interest in a possibility of working in a style other than naturalism (this doesn’t mean that it excludes naturalism). By naturalism I mean style of performance which values a life-like expression and in which believability is in
fact interchangeable with the word realistic or “natural”. Believability is often achieved by use of personal memory in naturalism in this style. An opposite style to naturalistic creates its own reality and believability through an inner logic which can use a variety of elements such as masks, ritual, puppets, song, heightened gesture, movement , speech, costume, make-up. Such performance often breaks the imaginary wall between the performance and the audience known as “the fourth wall” and plays with the notions of space and time. A heightened style is meta-theatrical in nature in that it inner logic and outer expression acknowledge that a performance is taking place while it is taking place.
Please note: Because I will be quoting both Arnold and Amy Mindell I will call them by their first and last names. In my quoted dialogue with Mr. Mindell I will use Arny as that is how he is known to one and all.