Ιmprovisations

Ιmprovisations

Bob Theatre Festival 2014

Ιmprov Comedy

Back to 2012

8-Kick

 8-Kick / Improvisation

"Improvisation is the practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one's immediate environment and inner feelings. This can result in the invention of new thought patterns, new practices, new structures or symbols, and/or new ways to act.

This invention cycle occurs most effectively when the practitioner has a thorough intuitive and technical understanding of the necessary skills and concerns within the improvised domain. Improvisation can be thought of as an "on the spot" or "off the cuff" spontaneous activity.

The skills of improvisation can apply to many different abilities or forms of communication and expression across all artistic, scientific, physical, cognitive, academic, and non-academic disciplines.

For example, improvisation can make a significant contribution in music, dance, cooking, presenting a speech, sales, personal or romantic relationships, sports, flower arranging, martial arts, psychotherapy, and much more.

Techniques of improvisation are widely trained in the entertainment arts; for example, music, theatre and dance. To "extemporize" or "ad lib" is basically the same as improvising. Colloquial terms such as "let's play it by the ear", "take it as it comes", and "make it up as we go along" are all used to describe "improvisation".

The simple act of speaking requires a good deal of improvisation because the mind is addressing its own thought and creating its unrehearsed delivery in words, sounds and gestures, forming unpredictable statements that feed back into the thought process (the performer as listener), creating an enriched process that is not unlike instantaneous composition [with a given set or repertoire of elements].

 

Where the improvisation is intended to solve a problem on a temporary basis, the "proper" solution being unavailable at the time, it may be known as a stop-gap. This particularly applies to engineering improvisations."

[ source ]



These photos are from 8-kick's show at Bios.Athens, during the Bob-Theater Festival (May 2012)

A short description about 8-kick (in Greek)

Μήπως νιώθετε, καμιά φορά, στο θέατρο, ότι οι ηθοποιοί δεν σας δίνουν σημασία; Μήπως νιώθετε ότι θέλετε να επέμβετε στο κείμενο και στους διαλόγους;

Μήπως θα έπρεπε, επιτέλους, να ανέβει ένα έργο βασισμένο σε ιδέα σας; Ε, λοιπόν, ήρθε η ώρα, όλα αυτά να συμβούν... Στις παραστάσεις κωμωδίας και αυτοσχεδιασμού της ομάδας 8-kick!

Επιτέλους ο θεατής έχει τη δύναμη! Ακριβώς! Εσύ, ο ανώνυμος θεατής, θαδώσεις σε εμάς, τους επώνυμους κωμικούς την ιδέα σου και εμείς θα τη μετατρέψουμε σε ξεκαρδιστικές αυτοσχέδιες σκηνές.

Τα μέλη των AbOvo, των Cheek-Bones και του «Κάψε το Σενάριο»: Γιώργος Αγγελόπουλος, Εύη Δόβελου, Βάσω Καβαλιεράτου, Γιώργος Κρήτος, Μαρία Μπαλούτσου, Ζήσης Ρούμπος, Γιάννης Σαρακατσάνης, Λάμπρος Φισφής, σας προσκαλούν σε ξεκαρδιστικές βραδιές αυτοσχέδιας κωμωδίας.

8-kick's Facebook Page is here. 

(p.s.  Thank you very much Fondeus for the ticket! ;) )

Sonke:Dark Days

I.

Sonke:Dark Days

photos from Sonke's exhibition (at BIOS) with the title: Dark Days

II.

III.

 

Street art

King Elephant

 

King Elephant _at_ Bios

King Elephant recently released his homonymous solo album. These photos and video are from the presentation of the album at Bios.Athens

 

Who is King Elephant?

Drumming, mixing, producing and a big philosophical nothing. No money no honey, etc … member of Baby Guru.

 

He started music lessons on the accordion at age 5. At 8 he switched to the saxophone; piano and guitar followed, until he found his place behind the drums at 16.

In 2004 he started working on “homemade” recordings and productions until he decided to study sound engineering.

 

At the end of 2009 with two childhood friends they formed Baby Guru and in March 2011 they released their debut album.

 

A few words about his Album

Inner Ear invites you to an exotic musical journey through the exciting jungle of King Elephant. One of the three members of Baby Guru, who introduced himself to us in their recent gigs as the quiet force behind the drums, now comes with his first solo album, to confirm that creation and in his case, music is the best form of self-psychoanalysis.

 

At a time of his life when everything went wrong, King Elephant found refuge in his basement studio and like a true nocturnal devoted all his late night energy into a game with sounds and instruments (piano, saxophone, percussion), recording himself and creating infinite samples. Obi Serotone (Baby Guru) assisted on vocals and then began the adventure of editing.

 

 

Cutting and sewing countless samples, King Elephant began to build tracks, always with percussion as the dominant element.

 

The result is a colorful journey to sound, like a kaleidoscope of changing forms, which stimulates the senses and excites the imagination. Primal sounds and African drums, jazzy moods, meditation samples, melancholic melodies and psychedelic vocals co-exist in the kingdom of “King Elephant”.

 

 

The album “King Elephant” is released from Inner Ear in limited edition vinyl including cd.

[ more about the LP ]

 

More links about King Elephant: [ MySpaceLink ] [ SoundCloudLink ]