Siargao Island Institute of Technology

Dapa, Siargao Island, Province of Surigao del Norte

http//:www.siit.edu.ph

Learning Materials for

GE4-ART APPRECIATION
Inclusive Dates: September 16 - May 19, 2024

Prepared by:

RICA BOHOL ADLAO, LPT

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GE4_ART APPRECIATION
 Chapter 12
Improvisation in Different Artforms

- Overview of improvisation
- Improvisation
- Improvisation Techniques
- Types of Improvisation Theater
- Contact Body Improvisation
- Sound Improvisation
- Theater Improvisation
- Solving Improvisational Challenges
- Brief History of Theater

 Teaching Strategy for Multicultural

 Teaching Different Styles of Reading Materials
 Technology- Assisted Teaching
 Reading Strategies in Teaching Child

At the end of these weeks, you are expected to explore thus Chapter by accomplishing the following:
1. define improvisation;
2. utilize the body as the basic tool in expression and communication;
3. strengthen one’s initiative and artistic sensibilities;
4. develop multifarious skills in presenting play creativity and scientifically and
5. conduct research of any environmental problems and issues as core ideas and bases of
theatrical presentation.

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Lesson Overview

In the previous Chapters, you have learned the different artforms: visual arts, music, kinesics or
dances. Have you imagined combining these various artforms as one synchronized presentation?
What other form of art emerges? This last Chapter focuses primarily on the various perspectives of
improvised art forms specifically drama and theater arts in narrower sense. This provides
interdisciplinary techniques of stage play that reflect societal issues in the contemporary world. Its
trends and thrusts move from drawing-room comedy to absurdism, from political point of view to
the theater of science and from psychological repercussions to socio-cultural and ecological
interplay. You will be engaged creatively in various forms and techniques in stage play improvisation
'as a vehicle to raise awareness and promote social intervention. This involves crafting improvised
script and dialog, recording vocal aesthetics and performing informative kinesics on web- based
presentation. Such presentations in general, whether individual, dual, or groups, pay particular
attention to the importance of preserving the balance of environment. This is the synergy between
art and science in shaping modern life. Therefore, this is an art presentation that is based on
scientific researches. In the long run, students tend to improve skills, awareness and confidence as a
researcher and performer and speaker making them value their craftmanship and innovativeness for
environmental amelioration.

Improvisation
Have you ever tried answering a question at hand without any preparation at all? How does it feel?
How did you come up with your thoughts under pressure? Some may stumble that their nerves
wrack them off. Some also are able to orchestrate their ideas, if not coherent, but in creative
manner. On a parallel fashion, an actor/actress who is given a script and overview of the story is
asked to act out the scene without much preparation. In most cases, he/she can make ad-lib and free
to perform it to convey the message clearly. This is what we call improvisation. You improvise when
you act creatively and perform spontaneously without much preparation (Merriam-Webster's
Dictionary). Improvisation (also known as improv, impro or impromptu) has been a component of
performance since the beginnings of Ancient Greek theatre with the improvisations by the leaders of
the dithyrambs (Brockett, 13 in Scott, 2014). Possibly, improvisation found its way into earlier ritual
dramas as in the case of Ancient Egypt, where sacred texts were incorporated into such
performances while still relying on myths that "were quite flexible and could easily be related to
many different situations" (Nielsen, 2014).
Improvisation Techniques
Akin to those of stage play and any theatrical presentations, improvisation is categorized into music,
dance, theater and problem solving. But this Chapter does not require you to perform such
categories separately. Rather you are tasked to perform all of these in synchrony like different art
forms in wrought-fusion theater.

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1.Improvised Music
Music in theater can be voice, music or sound effects. In most cases, sound in theater
operates as an auxiliary that heightens the effect or emphasizes this message of the story as John A.
Leonard points out in his book Theatre Sound (Leonard, 2001).
2. Improvised Dance
It is the process of spontaneously creating a movement. Development of movement material
is facilitated through a variety of creative explorations including body mapping through levels, shape
and dynamics schema.
3. Improvised Design
It has something to do with the visual arts used as background of the entire milieu of the
presentation: lighting, backdrop, props and costumes. It may be mock-ups, or realia’s depending on
how the story wants to convey its tangibility and concreteness.
4. Improvised Theater/Drama
It involves the spot of role-playing and exchanging dialog in which most or all of what is
performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers. In its purest form,
the dialogue, action, story and characters are created collaboratively by the players as the
improvisation unfolds in present time, without use of an already prepared, written script (Hainseline
et al., 2018).
5.Improvised Problem Solving
This challenges a performer to provide on-the-spot dialog and conversation as the situation and
interaction gap arise leaving it a silent lull. This might be the failure of one performer to do the task
on stage and you find a way to cover it up before the audience. This provides an interactive, fun-filled
environment than can spark creativity, smoothness and spontaneity (Gerardi 2001)
Types of Improvisational Theater
Most of the things happening in our real lives are not scripted; they are impromptu or Pric
improvised. It holds true in by Bill Prickett in his poem. Shakespeare also creates strong analogy of
life that is like a stage with entrance and exit assuming different roles story. Therefore, whatever
types of experience we have in our lives are also tantamount to the types of theater. There are five
genres presented such as comedy, non-comedy, experimental, dramatic and narrative-based.
Table 1. Juxtaposition of Theater Genres Types/Genres
Comedy Properties --A kind of catharsis through 1 laughter and amusement -- helps remind us of our
frailties and helps keep us sane. a way of looking at the world in which basic values are asserted but
natural laws suspended to underscore human follies and foolishness sometimes awry, rueful,
hilarious. Non-Comedy --sad at the onset but suggests a happy ending, serious with some elements
of humor emerging throughout the whole play.

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Experimental --altered traditional conventions of space (black box theater), theme, movement,
mood, tension, language, symbolism, conventional rules and other elements.
Examples. "Home, I'm Darling" by Laura Wade in 2018 2. "Fat Pig" by Neil Labute in 2014 3. "Lobby
Hero" by Kenneth Lonergan in 2001 1. "Enron" by Lucy Prebble in 2009 2. "Love and Money by
Dennis Kelly 3. "Wasted" by Kate Tempest in 2012 1. "The White Whore and the Bit Player by Brad
Mays 2. "Faustus: Incident 375" by Dominik Pagacz in 2013 3. "The Coming Storm" by Tim Etchells in
2012
Dramatic --Simplified characters, drawn without psychological depth, and larger than life.
1. Wholf by adwarof Virginia Albee --A largely standard set of characters fitting stock roles villains,
good guys, damsels in distress, sidekicks and a handful of others.
2. "Dear Evan Hansen" by Adam Feldman --Implausible plots and coups de théâtre (sudden,
obviously contrived turns of events). --Tension and relief (Gordon, 2017)
3. "Hamilton" by David Cote
Narrative-Based-catchy music in a popular style. -------solo songs, duets, choruses and ensembles.
orchestra or band accompaniment. ----spoken dialogue. -----dance sequences, stage spectacles and
magnificent costumes.
1. "Ang Huling El Bimbo" by Ely Buendia
2. "American Utopia" by David Byrne
3. "Slave Play" by Jeremy Harris

Contact Body Improvisation

Can you tell the story behind the picture? Why is there a story conveyed in the picture? Apparently,
the body movement created by the dancers--hand angles, extended toes, proximate distance and
contact of the body from one another- give the audience a message, a particular message. This is
how important contact body movement improvisation is in presenting a theatrical play in any form.
Contact body improvisation involves the exploration of one's body in relationship others by using the
fundamentals of sharing weight, touch and movement Bareness (Banes, 1987). Contact body
improvisation follows a pattern of rhythm. The 5 rhythms are lowing, staccato, chaos, lyrical and
stillness. Daniel Struyf, a s rhythmic enthusiast explains that each of the five rhythms is interpreted
by individuals in uniquely opening up a new sense of freedom and possibilities. Struyf plainly gives
the definitions of the five rhythms in the context of improvisation such as flowing, staccato, chaos,
lyrical and stillness. body movement.
1. Flowing. We physically practice the art of being fluid in our bodies. It Flow impulse to follow the
flow of one's energy, to be is oneself, listen and attend pen needs, be receptive to one's inner and
outer world. When we open up to the flow of our physical beings, all other possibilities open.
2. Staccato. We physically and practice the power of masculine energy. It percussive and strong and
promotes connection with the rest of the is old. Staccato is the gated to but he heart, fit shows us

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how to step out into the world connected to our feet and feelings. It is the part of us that stands up
for what we care about and who/what we love.
3. Chaos. We physically practice releasing our bodies. We let of the head, spine, hips, feet and move
faster than we can think. Chaos breaks us free from our illusions. It takes us on a journey from 'I
can't' to '1 will. The simple practices of chaos immediately bring us back to our bodies, to the
moment. This rhythm liberates us from all ideas about who we are and gives us a real experience of
being total, free, intuitive and creative.
4. Lyrical. We practice how to break out of destructive patterns and surrender to the depths of the
fluid, creative repetitions of our soulful selves. Lyrical is expansive and connects us to our humanity,
timeless rhythms, repetitions, patterns and cycles. Lyrical is more of a state of being than a rhythm.
5. Stillness. Being still and doing nothing are different. Stillness moves, both within and all around us.
The dance is our vehicle, our destination is the rhythm of stillness; our challenge is to be a vessel that
keeps moving and changing. Each time we dance into stillness, we practice the art of making humble
and mindful endings. This carries through to all of our endings in life the end of this dance, this day,
this relationship, or this life cycle. Good endings mean taking responsibility for the whole journey,
distilling wisdom from our experience so that we may begin the next wave or cycle clean of carrying
the past with us.
The 5 rhythms are very important to remind us that dancing and any forms of body
movement should indulge into the genuine feelings and emotions. It is not simply dancing and
moving on stage but dancing and moving with a desired purpose and feeling: to move mindfully,
unpredictably and creatively with like-minded souls. Below is the rhythm map of Gabrielle Roth
which he coins as Medicine Mandala.
Sound Improvisation
The two photos below show two different functions of music: music sang and music played.
In theatrical presentation music is the melody of the story. It is the sound that communicates ideas in
different ways, forms and functions. The first photo shows a person artistically delivers a song and
the second one uses instruments. Therefore, both convey ideas in a form of sound. Sound in theatre
can be voice, music or sound effects. In most cases, sound in theatre operates as an auxiliary that
heightens the effect or emphasizes this nucleus of the text, body or the spectacle. In this sense it
plays a subordinate and supporting role to the central event in theatre (Sahai, 2009). This part
introduces you to how sound is made extempore as to presenting an improvised sound in any play or
theatrical presentation. Musical/Sound improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the
creative activity of immediate ("in the moment") musical composition, which combines performance
with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to
other musicians (The Free Dictionary.Com). Michael Gallant (2012) suggested 11 tips on sound/
music improvisation can help you make music in the moment: (1) Believe that you can improvise and
you have the ability to make music in your own creative way, (2) Play along with records, (3) Mess
with the melody to come up with your own, (4) Mess with the rhythm to emphasize uniqueness and
distinction, (5) Learn Music Theory, (6)Try reacting and responding what's around you, (7) Embrace
the accidental moment when it happens, (8)Don't judge yourself in the moment, (9) Review after the
fact and make self-evaluation, (10) Say something which you think contributing and (11) Keep
learning.

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 Five Distinctive Approaches to Improvisation By: Karen Erickson
1. Basic Performance Improvisation This type of improvisation is used to introduce improvisation to
students, or to create comedy sketches which will be performed for a formal or informal audience.
Actors might take suggestions from the audience to build humorous or (vary rarely) serious scenes
on the spot. In this form, actors learn rules for interacting with an ensemble and a process for
creating short sketches that requires timing, listening, and quick thinking. A television show called,
"Who's Line Is It Anyway?" also was able to showcase this type of improvisation.
2. Devised Theater This type of improvisation is used to create longer works of original theater. This
work can be used for classroom sharing or can grow into works for performance in front of an
audience. Actors are guided step-by-step through the process of creating more fully developed and
usually more thorough dramatic pieces or full- length plays, sometimes even utilizing sets, lights,
costumes, etc. The Albany Park Theatre Project in Chicago has found great success in this form.
3. Applied Theater This type of improvisation is not focused on entertainment, but rather facilitates
the exploration of an idea, theme, conflict, or question by a group of people. The purpose is
communication among the participants. People who are trained or untrained in the arts can
participate in applied theater and it happens in a variety of community settings. Augusta Boal's work
(Forum Theater, Legislative Theater, etc.) is exemplary of this form. Other examples include
psychodrama and sociodrama.
4. Drama in the Classroom (Creative Drama) Whenever students are acting a story without a script,
or making up their own stories based on history, science, or a favorite book, they are improvising.
Teachers who engage students in drama in the classroom without having students memorize a set
script are already teaching improvisation.
5. Improvisation as Scripted Theater Rehearsal This type of improvisation is used by stage directors to
illuminate a character's backstory or the hidden subtext in a script. This improvisational technique
can help students dig deeper into their character traits and motivations, understand the impact of
setting and environment, uncover the meaning of plot points, or build relationships among
characters in a play. It is also a method of building skills in actors that might be needed to strengthen
the production, including listening, spontaneity and timing. Viola Spolin's work was intended for this
purpose.

Solving Improvisational Challenges

Improvisation is a skill that requires good thinking, creativity, wit and eloquence in response
to the given situation in an instant. Human as we are, it is inevitable that we commit mistakes in the
middle of the presentation in some ways. Apart from it, our co-presenters may also commit
mistakes. The point here is not only trying to deal with your own mistakes but also dealing with the
mistakes of other presenters to build a smooth and spontaneous presentation on stage which is

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clean and invisible to the eyes of the spectators. What are the common problems we might
encounter on stage? How to deal with these problems in an improvised way?
A. Identifying the Pivotal Word
Formulating your own language unprepared is nerve wracking. It is not only about what to
say but more on how to say it to be understood. This is the common problem on stage. If an
actor is saying a sentence or phrase and there's no commitment in how he or she is saying it,
then chances are they're not sure what that text means or why it is being said. The technique
is to identify the pivotal or operative word that energizes that line or phrase. Most often it's a
verb, noun, adjective or adverb. But it could be any word in a sentence or phrase (Griffiths,
2003). How to fill in the gap with your missing thought or language? Use necessary
conjunctions, adverbs, intervening phrases or even fillers to give a short break and you can
think of the next line as you make transition. e.g.By the way, well well well..., as a matter of
fact, wait wait wait....hmmmmm, anyway, I think..., I am sorry. Ratheril mean...

B. Recovering Language Sensibility

Language is the most concrete idea communicated in play over dance and music. The use of
language requires one to be sensitive enough when speaking particularly in large diverse
audiences. Some language may give offenses to cultural minorities, gender, religion, physical
challenges. Therefore, one actor or presenter in play commits mistakes that offends the
audience, it causes a lot of trouble. This challenge can be twisted and recovered by shifting
the topic or modifying it that the flow of the story does not change. Besides, you can be also
of help if the other presenter whom you talk to on stage commits such mistake. If he/she
cannot recover from such mistake, you can do the recovery for him/her (Newby, 1984). How
to fill in the gap with these intentionally or unintentionally thrown troublesome languages?
1. Change the topic and shift to another one provided that the flow of the story continues its main
point.
2. Use euphemism. This refers to mild expressions that replace the harsh ones: e.g., love making
instead of sex, pregnancy termination instead of abortion, less-fortunate instead of poor, etc.
3. Apologize right away but in creative way than in formal one.
4. Make the offensive statements to positive one. For example: You mention about same-sex
marriage that is disgusting. You may tum it to another statement by saying: "Disgusting...disgusting if
there is no real love between the two of them but same-sex marriage with love is wonderful.
The challenges in using language through dialog applies also to singing and playing musical
instruments. In this part, what differs is that you continue singing which looks as though mistaken.
C. Controlling the Trouble Step
It has something to do with body contact or in dance movement in group synchrony
(dance in unison), group randomly (dance in unison but of different steps), partner (dance in
pair), or individual (dance alone). Trouble step says more on dancing on the floor with others,
and you find yourself hemmed in. When executing the trouble step if you are leading, you
lean forward and then back, staying in the same spot while guiding your partner forward and
back. This challenge buys time and allows the logjam of bodies that have trapped you to clear

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 a bit (Albright, 2011). How to fill in the gap with this challenge? 1. Do not laugh because of
mistakes. However, if you can't dare to laugh, make certain that you laugh for a purpose in
creative fashion that relates to the story by animating your facial expressions. 2. Find stronger
movement that brings your partner to follow you in synchronized movements. 3. Regain
composure and graces with your moves.

D. Going to the Extreme

Is a scene totally frenetic, being played low key, very intensely angry, broad slapstick,
or being played in some other type of definable and describable manner? If that's the case,
find a moment in the scene where you feel it is becoming false, stale, or ineffective and have
the actors go to the opposite end of the spectrum utilizing a new emotion, intensity, tempo,
rhythm, pace, etc. Although you may not end up playing that section in the new manner, it
may offer you and the actor's insights on how to find more variety, nuance, and energy.
Lastly, the art of improvisation on stage in theatrical fashion does not require to be perfect in
the eyes of the audience. Since it is improvised. everyone knows it is not prepared but it is
expected that such challenges every presenter encounter should turn to a creatively
improvised corrected ones (Mullis, 2015).

GE4_ART APPRECIATION
Learning Activity 1: Comprehension Scaffolding
1. Create sematic web to define the word improvisation by associated it with related words and
phrases. Make the sematic web creatively. (30 points)

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