Hello to all of United Atlanta Improv: The 2014 AIN World Conference in Austin early this month lingers in the global atmosphere, as the enthusiasm spreads across our planet. It was a very important event. First, and foremost, grateful thanks go to those who came to play, and to the open space creators who brought such a broad range and richness to our experiences. I missed spending time with so many of you whom I love and cherish. Too many beauties, too little time. Welcome to the newcomers both from within and from without AIN. Your presence and your additions were grand. Welcome to our amazing tribe. Without the wonders of Asaf Ronon and Andy Crouch (including his wife and lovely new member of our Spaceship Earth crew); without the joy-full conference team who provided first class accommodation, food, entertainment, and helpfulness - even while missing much of the conference for themselves – without them we would have been lost in the wilderness. As with each conference, expectations were exceeded, and there was a lot of fun, and magnificent Improvisational Theatre, and the bar was raised yet again. Thanks also to the Austin Improvisation Community, and to the City of Austin for extraordinary honor and hospitality. Thanks forward to the Montreal ensemble for the 2015 commitment. Even if you were not there, even if you are not part of an Improvisation Community or audience, even if you have not been aware of the Improvisation Revolution going on all over the world, you will benefit from the work and play accomplished in Austin; you will hear the global fanfare, and feel the reverberation; you will be touched by the new levels of commitment to the principles of purposeful playfulness; to the development and the encouragement of human communication, creativity, and collaboration in the myriad forms of Applied Improvisation. Special thanks to Paul Z. Jackson and the AIN Board of Directors, and to the presenters, and spontaneous volunteers, and to the street people who accepted our offer of excess largess; thank you all for guiding us all to this high point in the development of Applied Improvisation - a force in the world to be reckoned with. Even now, thanks for being here in this insatiable present moment; thanks for listening to me so carefully and courageously; thanks for watching my back; thanks for making me look good; thanks for adding to what I offer, and thanks for playing with me. You help me keep my commitment to do the same for you. You make me want to be a better Improviser. You make me want to be a better human. Improvisational Thinking is coming of age;! Yes, and! it brings with it a probable antidote for the ills of a world, grown too big and too fast, a world like an adolescent child, in need of the gentle hand, and ear, and heart of our sweet art and science. Let the methods of the past be past. Come. Let’s play some more. Thank you. LLLJ Robert
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 20:37:21 +0000