14E. Witnessed Shift/Transform/Develop

• Let's change partners to get a different perspective on things.

• One of you will improvise within the process of shift, transform or develop, and the other will watch. If, at any time, the watcher is unclear as to whal the actor is doing—shifting, transforming or developing—the watcher ma>stop the actor and ask. The actor clarifies, not by talking about it, but b> adjusting her actions, and then continues on ...

• Switch roles.

Imagine a percussionist sitting among an assortment of drums, cymbals, clackers, shakers, bells, whistles, triangles, and rain makers. She begins to improvise, gently rubbing her hands together. Suddenly, she slaps one of the drums, over and over, and on and on, and on and on. Abruptly, she stops. There's a pause. A silence. She reaches for one of the small bells and begins a rhythm with her left hand. After a few moments, she adds a melodious beat on one of the drums. Both voices, the bell and the drum talk to each other first small, gently. Gradually, the sound builds and new patterns are introduced to the rhythm. She continues the motif and moves both hands to a conga drum. The pattern is very complex.

Knowing When

How does the percussionist know when to stop hitting the drum? How does she know to pause, to be silent? How does she know to pick-up again with a bell?

How does the improvisor know when to shift, transform or develop?

She doesn't, in a thinking sense. She doesn't evaluate, speculate, desire or fear.

The percussionist and the improvisor pay attention. They listen, or stand by. They watch the event from the inside. They follow their actions: they allow the sounds to come to their consciousness, sensations to be noticed, feelings to manifest, images to occur, the memories to become realized, and thoughts to erupt. Of course, the freer the percussionist and the improviser are, the more able they are to stand by without interference. The more skilled they are, the more they can live through their instrument, whether it's the drums and clackers or the body itself. Freedom doesn't often show itself on the fourteenth day of the training. Students may have to say to themselves, "Shift," "Transform," or "Develop." They may have to fight their self-consciousness into this process. They may not quite trust their impulses, trust that they, in fact, do know what to do next.

Each student has to come to terms with each condition on some level, before he can shift out of it. A student must have experienced the condition before they can free themselves from it. Each condition has to be lived; it becomes something else and, then, something else again through the process.

Inside of self-consciousness, students can notice the next step. Rather than fight against struggle, they may stay with struggle and develop it. Or, they may transform the condition's experience, and work through the inside of it. Or they may shift out of it.

If the student really shifts, transforms, or develops, with no holding back, she will be liberated from what held her back.

It's been a hard day's work. Every one of today's exercises challenged the students. Each demanded absolute focus. Each was a baby step point­ing toward vast terrains of awareness. It's time to release the tension.