As a stage artist — performer, director, writer, musician, dancer etc one work along-with various layers of our reality like, Space, Time, Expression, Argument, Logic and many more in unity. The blending of these layers create the world of theatre, and that is how Theatre as a space is reflection of life, as it attempts to be as complex and as accessible as life itself is.

An artist standing in space inhabit all these layers, expressing who s/he is, connecting, communicating and experiencing the space and time between Artist and Audience. Various terms have been associated with such intense and pure experience by various practitioners; Channelizing, Divine, Being one with audience, Being true, Dilated state of mind, Honest performance, Being in moment, Action-reaction etc. So, the question of who is an Artist is an important one and needs to be revisited again and again.

At Still Space, this is where we have arrived currently and as these thoughts are jotted down, the articulation itself is changing the idea towards exploration of this question. We all have artistic sensibilities because these layers are layers of life and we access them all the time, use them, play with them but when one go on stage the dilemma of real and unreal floods the complexity of performance stripping it to simplified execution of an idea or thought.

One who has talent of a certain kind or trained in a specific form, achieve complexity in performance knowingly or unknowingly. And yet one cannot say all of us are Artists, because to be an artist is possibly not just about talent or having aesthetic sense, it is about developing a conscious relationship with these layers with an individual practice and accessing what is known and discovering what is unknown constantly throughout the artistic journey.

Focus on “Practice” at Still Space is aimed at bringing these layers to conscious awareness and physical accessibility, providing tools and techniques which could help integrate them for performance and disintegrate them for depth. Providing conditions which can help an artist work, investigate and grow.

Originally published at www.akhshaygandhi.com.

As I sit to write this letter, many thoughts from various directions are sparking; weaving sculptures like what we encountered today at Storm King Sculpture Park, pointing at various aspects for me, to notice & possibly to merge as one into nature. I think I shall start maybe chronologically and then let this letter unfold itself. A thought, which has inspired me few months before I decided to apply for Conservatory: Shiv Kumar Sharma, an Indian Classical musician mentioned (Para-phrasing), that as Human beings, there will always be a gap, a difference between what one says and what one do, the journey of an artist is the journey of reducing this gap. And as performer I could relate to the thought instantly because as performer one carves the space, progresses the time, colors it with expression and articulate the essence. At the same time, I am aware that, what I am saying right now itself is just understanding & play of words, and the beauty is not in arranging these words but in the very act of experiencing, an act of creating. Maybe, like we breathe, we Imagine and as each breath manifest into life-processes, each imagination manifests itself into creation, creation of a thought, an emotion, an action, a choice etc. The question of gap still bothered me because I didn’t know how to reduce it, how to take on the journey, only way I knew was to work more, which didnt satisfy me. I had no access to play with elements of performance.

SITI Conservatory for me is about accessing these layers and develop a relationship considering sensibility for growth in roots and in branches. I am hesitant in using the word “training” here because, what I have received is a Practice, which includes but is beyond tools, techniques, methods & aesthetic. Practice, is not exercising, it is not honing of skills, it is not learning techniques, it is not information or even knowledge, and yet it is all this and beyond. It is discovering one’s relationship with one’s Art in every moment (and perception of moment itself changes constantly) and let it change the artist and his/her Art. The exercises, skills, techniques, should be considered with high regard, as they are means to accesses something deeper, something which informs us, “What it is, to be human”?

I don’t think I am trained in Suzuki method and Viewpoints, I think I am a practitioner of SITI Company practice or pedagogy, its values, its infectious passion and beliefs about Arts role for humanity. I have received much more than I have given, maybe like the trees of Toga, Ellen Lauren mentioned, maybe I could only give back by creating better Art than what was possible before.

The intent of the letter is to share our understanding of training, which I think is about deepening and discovering further as practice continues and could never remain same. Definitely practicing Suzuki & Viewpoints every morning had more influence than shorter encounters with other methods during the course but they all had taught me a lot about core training itself.

Both the training in my understanding addresses one important question, why act of performing is an act of creation? We understand it very clearly in writing or painting. Now I think, Performance or Performing itself is an Art form, it is reflective of life (reflective in terms of how intricate each moment in life is, constituting infinite actions and possibilities) and as any other artist one need to work with constraints and material of the form. In the case of performance it is the human body and everything this body is going to interact with; objects or lights or technology. So maybe we can say performance is the Art of Body and Body is a complex system. Physically external & internal articulations, emotional and imagination landscapes, memory & conscious awareness, source of energy and its channelizing, sensation and response, intellect & belief and much more all bundled together as the body experiences everything moment by moment. My mind at this stage is able to see two primary aspect of this art form; Craft, ability to do something and Sensibility, the profundity in doing something, which could also map to two important body behaviour, to survive and to wander.

The conservatory for me began with Suzuki as a training for survival, what all one need to survive on stage and viewpoints as enriching our ability to wander, dream, experience. Gradually the two started merging, once the survival became stronger, the possibility of discovery & experience of time emerged and as the wandering in viewpoints seemed possible, the responsibility of articulating space emerged. The encounters with these emergences were difficult to handle, and then constant encounter became joyful, the competitiveness of encountering didn’t last long and soon it transformed into a sense of research or personal investigation. Which is currently, in a dual with idea of expression and imagination, which I hope to have some grasp in coming times. And all these transformations were never in my personal abilities but was lead by careful & thoughtful guidance of my teachers in studio.

In its intensive, immersive & deep structure, the conservatory year has made us experience these layers of performance and now its upto us, how we would like to strengthen these layers, enrich them, discover more of them and articulate them through our work.
Thank you so much !

A Promise:

The conservatory year has rooted me substantially to re-start my journey as Artist. Everything I will do moving forward will finds its way back into these months I have spent with most profound theatre artists, an international ensemble and city of New York.

All this couldn’t have been possible without support of my friends, family, acquaintances, teachers, guides, colleagues, stories & even strangers who very generously offered what all they could, so that I can have this experience.

I promise them, as they supported me, I will spend my life supporting others around me, supporting Arts through creating, researching and bringing it to our society and contribute in all my capacity.

Thanks!!