There is an awful lot of fun and laughter going on in Ryan 21 7th period on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fifteen US students are participating in MS. Brentano’s Improv class where they are learning how not to censor their creative expression. As students, we often spend our days trying to fit into a structure, following the rules of our educational institution, controlling our impulses, while absorbing and processing the information we are learning. This class sets the goal of achieving spontaneity, developing narrative skills, and accessing the unconscious without censor. Through a variety of games, techniques, scenarios, and courage, the students are collaborating and acquiring the basics of improvisational performance. They practice basic rules like letting go of the obligation to always be funny, focusing on the details of who-what-why-where-how, and saying “yes” to what the other actor offers in order to keep building a scene. As an instructor, it is exciting for me to see many US students I’ve never had the opportunity to teach excel in this class. It’s also a great chance for students to work with students from other grades.
