Te Whiti Riser and the Wainuiomata Bridge Lookout NCY

Looking towards Wainuiomata

YESSSSSSSS! The rain stopped and the wind dropped and we jumped in the vans for our first road trip adventure with the Naturally Creative You crew.

This was about an invitation to go slow, take your time, enjoy the scenery and becoming present in yourself for the week ahead, embrace all of the gifts this beautiful space has to offer in visual delights, sensory experiences and being one with nature and taking a conscious time out.

Enjoying a leisurely walk up to the bridge.

Seeing if we could spot Thumbs Up and what some of the sounds were that were grabbing your attention. Lots of car crushing in the industrial area.

Embracing the sensory walk across the bridge, how weird it sounds to hear the cars coming from both directions at the same time.

Jumping for joy on the bridge and testing it out.

Enjoying the offers of nature and nurture

It’s colder on this side of the bridge so time, to turn and head back, listening for the cars and feeling the wind on our faces, looking through the gaps to see what we can see.

Taking in the greater landscape from the lower viewing platform.

Smashbooking Journals Part One NCY

First invitation was to take our words from the Red Thread session and use those as an inspiration point to activate their journals. I shared a lot of pages from inside the journals last year in our newsletter. This is our first time doing the covers.

It’s been fun to activate creativity through collage. We put our special playlist on, I made during self-isolation and started with source materials to see what fit for each person. Collecting to the side, ready for the design stage.

Sometimes we just snacked and made decisions together, just being together enough. Conscious creation by being together.

And danced, bringing the good vibes to the table so there was lot’s of smiles and joy.

Check out our covers below, we have washi tape layer yet and some people may want to add paint, then I will cover the books and we will move on to gilding pages.

I love how each of them reflects so beautifully the creator. I can’t wait to see where people want to add on bits.

Making magic happen at Poneke House

For a few months now I have been providing video sessions to Poneke House. Everyone’s health and well being has been top of my priority with COVID-19, there has been plenty to think about from my end of the computer.

I wanted to remain the same on video as I would be in person, mistakes and all. Polished is easy to achieve, but real is accepting what unfolds before you even if it has the occasional chord slip. I prefer real time videos.

Here is one little ditty that popped up week one of being in self-isolation.

Then we had the go-ahead last week to start again this week. Wooo!

Taking my concepts forward from the videos. I wanted to block sections within our session where we work on sensory offerings like connection, rhythm and purpose offering songs, story and movement to take the participants on a journey to meet each of these experiences.

I was absolutely delighted by the transformations of the residents from the beginning to the end if the session.

In the zone.

I was deeply touched my rich moments of connection and witnessing of each other and reminded of the power of human connection in real time. I am grateful for the bountiful lessons from the digital space and then shifting into live connected musical space again.

Back Teaching Live Sessions Woo Woo!

Kicking off mid-June post-COVID-19 self-isolation with some nurture.

Creating a framework for our Naturally Creative You Nature/Nurture Sessions held on Mondays. Building connections and possibilities for the next three months. Everyone's piece of red thread will be incorporated into a collective art piece and added to individual art journals. These sessions will enhance connections within the members of our community and build opportunities for self-care, exploring deeper themes of empowerment and well being.

It was so lovely to be together and a slight health and safety problem having such long sections of wool for people to trip on. Good thing B thought up Mission Impossible theme anytime someone had to cross the circle and N thought it would be great if there was an alarm system if someone touched the red thread. A game within the exercise. Such a blessing to be in person together and to feel a person’s expressions. This is the biggest difference to experiencing time on Zoom from being in self-isolation.

Activating Self Care through the Creative Process

First day back together!!

How overjoyed were we as a group to come together and reconnect in real-time after being in the digital space for so long? So much joy and contentment to be in the same space and to just be present, it was a great opportunity to slow down and reflect not he experiences people had during the self-isolation time.

This gave me an opportunity to expand on our Naturally Creative You project and activate our 2020 program. Below is our Red Thread Ceremony as we connected with where we have been and where we would like to go over the next few months.

Activating our self vision with A Red Thread Ceremony.

Keep an eye out for a future post where you will see us activate the red thread in our journals as bookmarks and as part of our larger art project.

It was wonderful to witness the transformation of people and their personalities shine brilliantly.

Zooming like a Pro, from beginner to experienced Zoom Room Master

So not having actually run Zoom classes beyond play and the casual meeting pre-COVID-19, this gave me the opportunity to go full immersive deep dive digitally to develop a unique voice and connection space for the community of Thumbs Up.

I feel extremely privileged to work with such an amazing community so willing to meet us online. This is going to be a nurturing, connecting fulfilling space.

Its really important to note that Zoom is set up as a meeting structure which allows you to do many wonderful things but ultimately meet with people. To talk and be together.

Our first few weeks were about just being together, holding space for where people were at, the experiences they were going through and to provide community outreach by turning out visually for each other. I say visually, because when you speak someones name and then everyone is saying hello and waving, they are transformed by being seen and we are transformed by being witnessed.

See; Zoom has power; a unique power often activated by amazing personalities and people that you think, gosh I would love to meet them in real life beyond a computer.

I have also learnt that it is so much more powerful to connect with people when you feel familiar or as if you know each other, you can connect at a deeper level and find bravery that maybe you didn’t know you had.

Magic can be created in a digital space, but it is often strengthened by the existing relationship.

Online Zoom Session: Drama for All

Next we moved into more cultured drama session really testing out the possibilities for online connection and play.

One of my favourite’s was musical chairs, I would break it down, but it is much more fun to play.

This is an action photo from one finale round of Musical Chairs

I just love the different stages of action people are at, brings back a happy memory from the session.

It is well known that most people have experienced Zoom fatigue and the quickest way to manage that is to increase your movement or to activate your sessions every 20 mins. So dance parties and musical chairs are fun go to exercises.

Friday Morning Music

Next I developed a music program with John Paul for Friday Morning Music (You can find out more about John Paul on my Who We Are page), literally hours of behind the scenes sound tests and live streams to find a good way to communicate in our session and a bunch of tech support later we came up with a wonderful Friday program that was a stable for the community.

Oh and two lots of sound equipment, later. Thank you essential workers, you rock!

Zoom Sessions: Friday Morning Music

At our peak we had an average of thirty people attending with two song leaders and two tech people. This may not seem like that big of a deal but that basically doubled our live sessions and we had another community join us to widen the connection.

Now my flatmate can sing word for word our songs which is rather hilarious. “Can’t get it out of me head” he says ”Most excellent, I have done my job then” I said.

I am pretty sure the neighbors think i’m the crazy lady that sings to loud and dances weird, ha ha. Oh the joys of discovery in the new home office, as they pull their curtains closed, I wave and smile knowing the good work we do together.

I was somewhat sad to see our Zoom sessions come to a natural end recently, there was much to play and expand with to test the boundaries of possibility and creativity.

Charades over Zoom doesn’t work, heads up.

It was a truly beautiful experience to be together again and it has been a pleasure to slow down a bit and take our time and enjoy each others company.

We are all deeply affected by major shifts in the world at the moment and blessed to be able to be together to support and connect our creativity to our heart space and heal the distresses one breath at a time.

Adapting to Change

Welcome to the age of Zoom

I am no stranger to Zoom, but I can tell you this, I took a crash course in all things Zoom for making magic the work I do and making it translatable in the digital space.

Hands down,. I want to acknowledge all of the amazing work by super on to it individuals and groups that have pulled some incredible content together to help make this an easier time. Song Leaders Network Aotearoa, Specifically Carol Shortis and the SLNA Board and Other song leaders. Playback Around the World, Playback North America, Australasian Playback Community, specifically Gerry Orkin and Johanna De Ruyter. These areas covered everything from connection to performance, to sound quality and creating intimacy in the online space. Lordy, one person does not know so much, I feel well versed in concept work now. Special mention to Liana Stupples for teaching me how to make notes like a Doodle Master, check out Liana here, http://liana.kiwi.nz/.

My world like many others totally changed when we shifted from level 3 into level 4 lockdown. What an icky word even, I’ve been calling it self-isolation but over time I have come to appreciate my American colleagues “Shelter in Place” terminology. Why does it even matter you might think? It matters because of the connotations, the experiences and emotions that have come with being in that experience.

Nothing like trying to adapt while vibing on collective grief, this is an unprecedented time! That is absolutely right.

It was a challenge for me to process, release and let go of programs sudden endings. This be the way of things. So, we adapt. That is the point and my major takeaway of this whole time. it has been adaption after adaption and lots of learning along the way and now I am better equipped to present and create in the future. Not to mention the kick ass equipment I have up leveled to have awesome sound and video presentation online. Thank goodness for the couriers, what a godsend essential workers are, without them I would have been struggling to do my essential work during self isolation.

Now I have returned to live sessions I am magicking up reasons to connect with people from all over the world, I kinda of miss the convenience of Zoom sessions, haha.

Alpha Omega Playback Theatre Company Retires

Thanks for being a part of our journey.

With deep gratitude for all of the laughter, creative expression and storytelling. We say goodbye, for now, to Alpha Omega Playback Theatre Company. A big aloha to our beautiful company members.

It was with sadness we saw our seven year project come to a close when we shifted from level 3 to level 4 status in the COVID-19 pandemic as it hit New Zealand in March in 2020.

We were delighted to complete our partnership with Poneke House and close out the first quarter with some intimate performances and hearty conversations.

Thank you for all of your support, we have appreciated all of your stories, the exchange of energy and moments of play that have created powerful change in the world.

I want to thank the International Playback Theatre Community for turning up with dynamic and present energy to create change and awareness during the pandemic and build pathways for our audience to have a deeper connection to self in challenging times and have safe spaces to tell difficult and challenging stories.

A deliberate creative adventure with Maranga Collective

In 2019, I started a journey of play and discovery with Maranga Collective. I was really interested in empowering their stories using Playback theatre as a tool to unfold our creative spark.

With all things creative it’s a process. Woah Pony! Did you just say the magic word process? Yep, the more I do what I do, I have discovered that is more enjoyable when it is not rushed or have an agenda to have a finale as a focus of a result. Instead flipping the dial to consider that everything we do is a result of one more thing unfolding as group trust builds and we find our bravery.

Creativity takes courage, didn’t you know. Course you did. Look at this fine example of expression below, what springs to mind for you in your curiosity?

I love the use of boxes our actor uses. Are we hiding or relaxing in the privacy of our own space or something else altogether?

We as the audience get to decide the story when the actor presents it to us. That is the gift, you don’t have to control the results, you just honour the story and do your best in the moment.

I love how compelling the story is and the connection of the audience in their friendship.

We also have the ability to express how we truly feel and put that in our body, using our voice, gesture and our expression to communicate.

Playback is my favourite type of theatre to work with because of its accessibility. There are no limitations to what is possible when you lean into your creativity.