The Power of Spontaneity

Source: Wikimedia_By Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein Gotha_Stiftung Schloss Friedenstein Gotha, CC BY-SA 3.0

Improvisation, or Improv for short, refers to when actors do their scene without any script or predetermined activity. Simply put, they come up with their dialogues, actions, expressions, and the story all on their own. Many times, it is used for comedic purposes, but it can be very effective for other types of performances as well.

From historical theater styles like the commedia dell’arte to contemporary improv styles, it has come a long way. It is a very useful technique for fostering creativity and self-expression amongst artists and can shape performances in ways which scripted theater cannot.

Historical Roots

A theater tradition by the name of commedia dell’arte was flourishing in 16^th and 17^th century Italy and was extremely improvisational. Although, later on, the number of repeated performances increased, the stage for improvisation had been set and soon it got converted into standard form in European theater.

Artists who participated in this type of theater used only plot outlines and looked at their audience to adjust to the atmosphere and use dialogues accordingly. This gave room for flexibility and quick thinking which improved their art.

On the other hand, it was already a standardized thing in Asian dance and theater to improvise on the speech and movements. So, both Europe and Asia had now witnessed the magic of improvisation.

Modern day Improv

Some centuries later, Viola Spolin wrote a book in 1963 titled Improvisation for the Theatre solely for people who wanted to perfect the art of Improvisation. This book is still one of the best books to read for learning how to improv and her name has become synonymous to the rise of the world of Improv.

Spolin hadn’t done so to bring a revolution in the world of perfumatory arts, but had written the book with the intention to help her students connect with one another. Many of her pupils had immigrant backgrounds and were from diverse cultures, hence, giving rise to the need for something that could make it easier for them to communicate. Soon many other pioneers followed including Keith Johnstone, who all wanted to share the experience of improvisation.

Slowly, it became what improvisational theater has become today and evolved into a genre which includes spontaneous scenes acted out in response to the audience’s reactions.

Several artists create their own set of improv rules and use them on the regular for producing fun, popularized forms of improv.

Examples

If you ever want to understand how fun improve is in real situations, you can look for actual scenes from theaters and live shows, which will offer a nice glimpse into it.

One popular example is that of Shania Twain changing her songs lyrics to give rise to an awesome pop culture moment. In her performance at an award show, Twain changed the lyrics of her song “That Don’t Impress Me Much” from “Ok, so you’re Brad Pitt” to “Ok, so you’re Ryan Reynolds.” This was a pop phenomenon and the moment soon went viral across social media platforms.

Another example is that of one of our favorite animated characters- the Genie from Aladdin. We all know that Genie was voiced by the beloved actor, Robin Williams. But what isn’t known as popularly is the fact that Williams had improvised most of the dialogues in the movie. He had been put in a room full of different objects and had to interact with them to get the perfect dialogues out.

There are many more examples that you need to read about. And the bottom line is that Improv is and will always be a powerful in theater and film both, as long as it is used properly.

Resources

Historical Roots