Improvisation

[David Ferry]

Alain Knapp is (was) a long time Swiss improvisational theatre great--if you are looking for a model not based on the north american comedy focused improv methodologies. Very rigorous work--i was exposed to his work in the 70's when he worked at the National Theatre School of Canada.

Daf
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

-----Original Message-----
From: Nicholas Hanson <nicholas.hanson at ULETH.CA>
Date:         Tue, 3 Nov 2009 14:26:10 
To: <CANDRAMA at LISTSERV.UNB.CA>
Subject: Re: Improvisation

Howdy, 

If you are looking for information related to improvisation in the context
of improvisational comedy (though much of this material overlaps to other
theatrical contexts), there are some webpages with histories of 10+ years on
the internet. The pages range in terms of quality; many of them are linked
together, so you can keep finding similar threads.

Some examples include:
http://www.yesand.com/ (this has been the longtime centre of improv on the
web, but it appears to be down now - maybe permanently?)
http://fuzzyco.com/improv/
http://improvencyclopedia.org/
http://www.improvcomedy.org/
http://www.learnimprov.com/

Prominent US groups (with some resources):
http://www.uprightcitizens.org/  (NYC - Tina Fey, etc)
http://ioimprov.com/ (Chicago creators of longform, with a base in LA as
well)
http://www.annoyanceproductions.com/ (Chicago - the 'rebels' of the longform
scene. Mick Napier's Improvise: Scene from the Inside Out is a wonderful
text)
http://www.improv.org/Home.aspx (San Fran)

Prominent Cdn groups (a sampling):
Impatient, Bad Dog, Instant Theatre, Crumbs, Catch 23, PROJECT Project,
Ghost Jail, National Theatre of the World, Second City.

There's also Improv Everywhere, but they fit into a different category
(flash mobs, public performance, etc).
http://improveverywhere.com/

If you are looking for something or someone in particular, let me know and I
can probably track it down.

Best wishes, 
Nicholas Hanson
Associate Professor
University of Lethbridge,
Department of Theatre & Dramatic Arts
http://people.uleth.ca/~nicholas.hanson

-------

"Narrator: It would be delightful to report that they reached the nursery in
time...but then, there would be no story.”
    -J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
 





On 03/11/09 2:00 PM, "Ric Knowles" <rknowles at UOGUELPH.CA> wrote:

> Hi all,
> 
> Does anyone know any good websites dealing with improvisation in the theatre
> or in performance?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Ric
> 
> Professor of Theatre Studies
> University of Guelph
> Guelph, Ontario, Canada
> N1G 2W1
> 
> ph: 519-824-4120, x52931 (w)
> FAX: 519-824-0560
> email: rknowles at uoguelph.ca