Improv is everywhere

As a result of this class, I've been noticing improvisation everywhere. It's wild. We are constantly improvising, in conversation, in writing, sports, etc. Writing is an area that would not seem to lend itself to improvisation, it's an exersize in thinking and composition. But read William Burroughs. He developed what might be called an improvisational writing technique. He would write for awhile and when he was finished, cut up the peice into chunks of a sentence or two. Then he glued them back together randomely. The result is interesting, and suprisingly coherent. He suggested that the reader might start on any page--not necessarily at the begining of his book--and be just as well off.

Here's another place I've noticed improvisation: basketball. I would compare my high-school basketball experience to blues or rock-based improv. We had set plays (chord progressions) that we all knew, but everyone was encouraged to break off when the time was right and go to the hoop (solo). I remember our coach stressing creativity and the ability to improvise. When you are driving to the basket, flying through the air, you are not doing a planned activity, you are reacting instinctively, and it wouldnt surprise me if you used the same part of your brain doing a layup in traffic as improvising a musical solo. I play on an intramural team here at UMF, and our style is a looser, more improvised one than what i experienced in high school. We dont practice set plays, so we are restriced only by the rules of basketball (no traveling, no going out of bounds, etc). As a result we our offense can be hectic at times, and stagnant at others. Idealy, and occasionaly, though, everyone on the court is in sync, setting screens, moving without the basketball, making good passes, and when everyone is on the same page like this, the game is fun to play, exciting to watch, and similar in many ways to an improvised musical performance.

Ali Farka Toure link

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=97549280

This link should go to a myspace page about Ali Farka Toure, a west-african blues guitarist. He's good.