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Home > Improvisation


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Improvisation is the act of making something up as you go along. This term is usually used in the context of music, theater or dance.

1 Music

Jazz and Bluegrass are well-known for using improvisation. It features in many kinds of traditional music, including flamenco, Pygmy and other African music, eastern classical music such as Carnatic music, and was once an important element in classical music (see cadenza and figured bass). Improvisation can be structured, with certain rules constraining the improvisation (for example, "make up a song about bicycles", "use these chord changes", and so on), or can have no such constraints ( free improvisationFree improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the taste of the musicians involved, and not in any particular style. Performers may choose to play in a certain style or key--though free music is far more often atonal--or at). A growing number of contemporary composers are requiring a greater degree of improvisation in their music, including Pauline OliverosPauline Oliveros (born 1932 in Houston, Texas) is an accordionist and composer who currently resides in Kingston, New York. Her instrument is tuned in just intonation and she often includes it in her meditative improvisational music. Her music is not medi, Terry RileyTerry Riley (born 1935), is an American minimalist composer. A pupil of the late Pandit Pran Nath, as were La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela, he has composed in just intonation and much of his music is based in improvisation. He has collaborated with Paul, and Christian WolffChristian Wolff (born March 8, 1934) is an American composer of experimental classical music. Wolff was born in Nice in France, moving to the United States in 1941 and become an American citizen in 1946. He studied classics at Harvard University and upon.

2 Theater

Most aspiring actors do a lot of improvisation. It is a staple of drama and theater classes at most colleges and high schools. According to the dominant acting theories of Konstantin StanislavskiKonstantin (Constantin) Stanislavski ( / ) ( January 5, 1863 August 7, 1938) was a Russian theatre and acting innovator. He was born Konstantin (Constantin) Sergeievich Alexeyev in Moscow to a wealthy family, if not the wealthiest in Russia. He had an ear, an actor improvising a scene must be trusting his own instincts. According to Stanislavski (see method actingMethod acting is the endeavour to apply natural rules and laws to the theatre and film acting which can aid an actor with the process of playing a role. This approach, characterized by lack of any specific or technical approach to acting, is usually the a), an actor must use his own instincts to define a character's response to internal and external stimuli. Through improvising, an actor can learn to trust his instincts instead of using muggingMugging may refer to: A type of robbery. A theatrical term for an actor trying to entertain the audience with facial expressions instead of playing the role accurately. The practice of memorising intensively without understanding what has been memorised, and indicating to broadcast his motives. Improv is also useful in its focus on concentration. Obviously, in an environment in which anything is allowed to happen, the actors must be capable of keeping their concentration throughout, even in difficult and stressful circumstances. Concentration is a staple of acting classes and workshops; it is vital that an actor be capable of concentrating on the scene or action at hand.



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