Unscripting the Body with Jessica Tanto

Why do you choose to step one foot in front of the other to walk forward? Why do you walk at a certain speed on the street? Why pause here? And what happens when the public gaze is introduced?

Using exploratory movement and open-ended prompts, participants will practice distinguishing between impulse-driven movements and expectation-driven movements. This session provides a group lab to experiment and learn, inspiring participants to continue their unscripted way of moving in the presence of the public.

Our actions are consciously and unconsciously influenced by the scripts that our body has unconsciously learnt through our lived experiences. Each decision that we make is the product of a negotiation between our honest intuit and the expectations that we hold on ourselves.

Why do you choose to step one foot in front of the other to walk forward? Why do you choose to walk at a certain speed on the street? And why pause, here?

In this workshop, we will unpack the expectations that we carry that influence how we move in public space.

2:00PM Meet at Platform Arts

Using exploratory and experimental movement and open-ended prompts, we will practice distinguishing between impulse-driven movements and expectation-driven movements. This section is designed to predispose the body to moving in an unscripted way.

This will be done by training the muscle to notice when we are influenced by the expectations we carry, and letting it go.

3:30PM Urban Walking Practice through Djilang

Once these artist-led exercises of unscripting the body occur, what happens when the public gaze is introduced? What methods can we embed to commit to moving in an unscripted way in public space?

This session provides a group lab to experiment and learn, inspiring participants to continue their unscripted way of moving in the presence of the public.

4:00PM—4:30PM Finish

Platform Arts (Djilang/Geelong) is supported by the City of Greater Geelong, Creative Australia, and the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria.

Image credit: Credit: Photo by Andrew Sikorski of workshop led by Debora Di Centa, part of How to Disagree (working title), an ongoing interdisciplinary project with Zora Pang, Tom Campbell, and Jessica Tanto.