Pretend Play As Improvisation

Pretend Play As Improvisation PDF Author: R. Keith Sawyer
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 1134799055
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
Everyday conversations including gossip, boasting, flirting, teasing, and informative discussions are highly creative, improvised interactions. Children's play is also an important, often improvisational activity. One of the most improvisational games among 3- to 5-year-old children is social pretend play--also called fantasy play, sociodramatic play, or role play. Children's imaginations have free reign during pretend play. Conversations in these play episodes are far more improvisational than the average adult conversation. Because pretend play occurs in a dramatized, fantasy world, it is less constrained by social and physical reality. This book adds to our understanding of preschoolers' pretend play by examining it in the context of a theory of improvisational performance genres. This theory, derived from in-depth analyses of the implicit and explicit rules of theatrical improvisation, proves to generalize to pretend play as well. The two genres share several characteristics: * There is no script; they are created in the moment. * There are loose outlines of structure which guide the performance. * They are collective; no one person decides what will happen. Because group improvisational genres are collective and unscripted, improvisational creativity is a collective social process. The pretend play literature states that this improvisational behavior is most prevalent during the same years that many other social and cognitive skills are developing. Children between the ages of 3 and 5 begin to develop representations of their own and others' mental states as well as learn to represent and construct narratives. Freudian psychologists and other personality theorists have identified these years as critical in the development of the personality. The author believes that if we can demonstrate that children's improvisational abilities develop during these years--and that their fantasy improvisations become more complex and creative--it might suggest that these social skills are linked to the child's developing ability to improvise with other creative performers.

Pretend Play As Improvisation

Pretend Play As Improvisation PDF Author: R. Keith Sawyer
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 1134799055
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 231

Get Book

Book Description
Everyday conversations including gossip, boasting, flirting, teasing, and informative discussions are highly creative, improvised interactions. Children's play is also an important, often improvisational activity. One of the most improvisational games among 3- to 5-year-old children is social pretend play--also called fantasy play, sociodramatic play, or role play. Children's imaginations have free reign during pretend play. Conversations in these play episodes are far more improvisational than the average adult conversation. Because pretend play occurs in a dramatized, fantasy world, it is less constrained by social and physical reality. This book adds to our understanding of preschoolers' pretend play by examining it in the context of a theory of improvisational performance genres. This theory, derived from in-depth analyses of the implicit and explicit rules of theatrical improvisation, proves to generalize to pretend play as well. The two genres share several characteristics: * There is no script; they are created in the moment. * There are loose outlines of structure which guide the performance. * They are collective; no one person decides what will happen. Because group improvisational genres are collective and unscripted, improvisational creativity is a collective social process. The pretend play literature states that this improvisational behavior is most prevalent during the same years that many other social and cognitive skills are developing. Children between the ages of 3 and 5 begin to develop representations of their own and others' mental states as well as learn to represent and construct narratives. Freudian psychologists and other personality theorists have identified these years as critical in the development of the personality. The author believes that if we can demonstrate that children's improvisational abilities develop during these years--and that their fantasy improvisations become more complex and creative--it might suggest that these social skills are linked to the child's developing ability to improvise with other creative performers.

Play Your Way Sane

Play Your Way Sane PDF Author: Clay Drinko
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1982169230
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 224

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Book Description
Stop negative thoughts, assuage anxiety, and live in the moment with these fun, easy games from improv expert Clay Drinko. If you’ve been feeling lost lately, you’re not alone! Even before the Covid-19 pandemic, Americans were experiencing record levels of loneliness and anxiety. And in our current political turmoil, it’s safe to say that people are looking for new tools to help them feel more present, positive, and in sync with the world. So what better way to get there than play? In Play Your Way Sane, Dr. Clay Drinko offers 120 low-key, accessible activities that draw on the popular principles of improv comedy to help you tackle your everyday stress and reconnect with the people around you. Divided into twelve fun sections, including “Killing Debbie Downer” and “Thou Shalt Not Be Judgy,” the games emphasize openness, reciprocation, and active listening as the keys to a mindful and satisfying life. Whether you’re looking to improve your personal relationships, find new meaning at work, or just survive our trying times, Play Your Way Sane offers serious self-help with a side of Second City sass.

The Improv Comedy Musician

The Improv Comedy Musician PDF Author: Laura Hall
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780692753408
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
Learn musical improv from Laura Hall of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" Are you a musician who performs with an improv comedy group? If so, this book is for you! You'll also greatly benefit if you are a music director, improv team leader, improv teacher or coach, improv actor or singer, or just a hardcore Whose Line fan. From the Foreword by Colin Mochrie: "On Whose Line, Laura supplies note-perfect music styles for Wayne Brady, Brad Sherwood, Chip Esten, Jeff Davis, et al, to shine on. But Laura's true genius is that she can make caterwaulers like me sound good and, more important, makes caterwaulers like me feel safe enough to try. "Laura Hall is a damn fine musician, period. There is no musical style she isn't well versed in. With Laura you get experience, knowledge, and a teacher you can trust. What more could you ask for? So get reading, start playing, and have more fun than you're ready for." "I'm a Laura Hall-ic!" -Chip Esten, Nashville, Whose Line Is It Anyway? "I know and highly respect both Laura and Bob. I can't think of a better pair to teach you the fundamentals of musical improv." -Bill Chott, actor and founder of the Improv Trick Laura Hall is an accomplished musician best known as the pianist on Whose Line Is It Anyway? She also stays busy recording film scores, writing musicals, leading improv workshops with her husband Rick, and performing with her Americana music trio, The Sweet Potatoes. Bob Baker is a prolific author, musician, artist and actor, as well as an improv teacher and performer. Through his books and workshops Bob teaches creative people of all kinds how to get exposure, connect with fans, and increase their incomes.

The Playbook

The Playbook PDF Author: William Hall
Publisher: Fratelli Bologna
ISBN: 9780996014205
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Book Description
"Improvisation Games, formats and instruction. This book is perfect for improv groups who want to expand their collection of performance games and for students who want to play new games. Teachers will love the variety of drama games for their classes. The games are categorized and indexed by type of game. Quotes, performance tips, recommended reading and a few long form formats are also included." --

Creativity: Education and Rehabilitation

Creativity: Education and Rehabilitation PDF Author: Massimiliano Palmiero
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2889630358
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 107

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Book Description
Creativity has the potential to improve quality of life. It can also be conceived as a tool in educational and rehabilitation settings. Therefore, it is the aim of this Research Topic to further show how creativity can be used and encourage the application of creativity in pedagogical and clinical contexts.

Improvisation and Music Education

Improvisation and Music Education PDF Author: Ajay Heble
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317569938
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 294

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Book Description
This book offers compelling new perspectives on the revolutionary potential of improvisation pedagogy. Bringing together contributions from leading musicians, scholars, and teachers from around the world, the volume articulates how improvisation can breathe new life into old curricula; how it can help teachers and students to communicate more effectively; how it can break down damaging ideological boundaries between classrooms and communities; and how it can help students become more thoughtful, engaged, and activist global citizens. In the last two decades, a growing number of music educators, music education researchers, musicologists, cultural theorists, creative practitioners, and ethnomusicologists have suggested that a greater emphasis on improvisation in music performance, history, and theory classes offers enormous potential for pedagogical enrichment. This book will help educators realize that potential by exploring improvisation along a variety of trajectories. Essays offer readers both theoretical explorations of improvisation and music education from a wide array of vantage points, and practical explanations of how the theory can be implemented in real situations in communities and classrooms. It will therefore be of interest to teachers and students in numerous modes of pedagogy and fields of study, as well as students and faculty in the academic fields of music education, jazz studies, ethnomusicology, musicology, cultural studies, and popular culture studies.

The Art of Becoming

The Art of Becoming PDF Author: Raymond A. R. MacDonald
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0190840919
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 217

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Book Description
"With a focus on music, this book outlines what improvisation is and why it is an important creative and social activity. Drawing on the emerging psychological literature in this area, as well as evidence from authors' research with musicians, this text outlines innovative ideas on what defines improvisation and the psychological, creative and social processes involved. It explores the role of specialist skills, the importance of musical identities and the nature of understanding in improvised interaction and between improvisers. It discusses how we develop as improvisers and the role of improvisation within therapeutic applications of music. Each chapter proceeds from discussion of an illustrative instance of musical improvisation. Providing fresh and provocative insights for anyone interested in playing, studying, teaching or listening to improvised music, the authors offer suggestions for approaching this practice in new ways at any level, and identify potential developments in cross-disciplinary improvising. Asserting that everyone can and should improvise, the book provides a resource for courses teaching improvisation in contemporary practice, and has strong relevance for those applying musical improvisation in community and therapeutic contexts. The book deals with such questions as: What constitutes improvisation? Do all forms of improvisation represent the same thing? Faced with myriad possibilities, how do improvisers decide what to play? How does an improviser in a group know what the others will do? How might improvisation influence our wellbeing? In response to such questions, a definition of improvisation based on its unique behavioural features is set out as an exciting context for psychological investigation"--

Creative Psychotherapy

Creative Psychotherapy PDF Author: Eileen Prendiville
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 131739738X
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 214

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Book Description
Creative Psychotherapy brings together the expertise of leading authors and clinicians from around the world to synthesise what we understand about how the brain develops, the neurological impact of trauma and the development of play. The authors explain how to use this information to plan developmentally appropriate interventions and guide creative counselling across the lifespan. The book includes a theoretical rationale for various creative media associated with particular stages of neural development, and examines how creative approaches can be used with all client groups suffering from trauma. Using case studies and exemplar intervention plans, the book presents ways in which creative activities can be used sequentially to support healing and development in young children, adolescents and adults. Creative Psychotherapy will be of interest to mental health professionals working with children, adolescents and adults, including play and arts therapists, counsellors, family therapists, psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists and teachers. It will also be a valuable resource for clinically oriented postgraduate students, and therapists who work with victims of interpersonal trauma.

Improvise for Real

Improvise for Real PDF Author: David Reed
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780984686360
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
Improvise for Real is a step-by-step method that teaches you to improvise your own music through progressive exercises that anyone can do. You'll learn to understand the sounds in the music all around you. And you'll learn to express your own musical ideas exactly as you hear them in your mind. The method starts with very simple creative exercises that you can begin right away. As you progress, the method leads you on a guided tour through the entire world of modern harmony. You will be improvising your own original melodies from the very first day, and your knowledge will expand with each practice session as you explore and discover our musical system for yourself. Improvise for Real brings together creativity, ear training, music theory and physical technique into a single creative daily practice that will show you the entire path to improvisation mastery. You will learn to understand the sounds in the music all around you and to improvise with confidence over jazz standards, blues songs, pop music or any other style you would like to play. And you'll be jamming, enjoying yourself and creating your own music every step of the way. The method is open to all instruments and ability levels. The exercises are easy to understand and fun to practice. There is no sight reading required, and you don't need to know anything about music theory to begin. Already being used by both students and teachers in more than 20 countries, Improvise for Real is now considered by many people to be the definitive system for learning to improvise. If you have always dreamed of truly understanding music and being able to improvise with complete freedom on your instrument, this is the book for you

Structure and Improvisation in Creative Teaching

Structure and Improvisation in Creative Teaching PDF Author: R. Keith Sawyer
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139500341
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 319

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Book Description
With an increasing emphasis on creativity and innovation in the twenty-first century, teachers need to be creative professionals just as students must learn to be creative. And yet, schools are institutions with many important structures and guidelines that teachers must follow. Effective creative teaching strikes a delicate balance between structure and improvisation. The authors draw on studies of jazz, theater improvisation and dance improvisation to demonstrate that the most creative performers work within similar structures and guidelines. By looking to these creative genres, the book provides practical advice for teachers who wish to become more creative professionals.