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As a start, I wanted to work on the concept of space with the performers.I managed to play with this element in my second workshop.

A way to observe how much participants actually enjoyed the experience I always observed their enthusiasm, participation and how much they would consider me (and vice versa) their friend. (I could not ask them to fill in a questionnaire as I had planned since no one in the group can read or write. Furthermore I did not want to record an interview with them, since they are fragile people and I could have easily influenced/manipulated their answers).

By the gifts I received, together with some private little letters I understood that Ikaro participants appreciated my presence.

My initial wish was to be able to devise ideas with the participants, making them feel as the owners of the project/scene/show. I managed to work in a collaboration with the participants when I was given the chance to direct a scene for the final show. Together with the performers we created a scene in which they could explore space and body, thanks to a meter that one performer had chosen as his starting point.

Mostly, the rehearsals have always been in a positive atmosphere.

Some of the material I have worked on during the workshop can be used in the future by the group, for future performances. Some concepts I have started to explored can be devised in more depth with group, allowing the participants more time.

As far as unexpected outcomes, I was very surprised to notice how receptive the performers were when improvising! I realized how much they had worked on this element in the previous years.

Here are my initial observations and expectations for each participant of Ikaro theater group:

Alessandra: very able performer. Has a great awareness of her body, loves exploring new elements, but in her own time. Sometimes struggles in saying the right line (she speaks only what she really feels, which is so powerful to watch!) She has a great control over her voice too. I forsee important roles for Alessandra, as well as more challenging productions in which she can push her boundaries to the extent.

Erica: tries to work at her best, sometimes though gets distracted taking with over confidence to people. I do not want to write about my expectations for this performer as unfortunately she is now not attending the theater group for medical reasons.

Gabriella: very closed at start, did not want to participate to most of the activities unless she was begged. At the start Gabriella was always complaining about something, she was always hurting somewhere (this has to do with her family backgroud). I realized how precise she is whens she has to perform with hand gestures: her movements are precise, energetic, each finger of hers is fully controlled. I can forsee her perfoming important roles in Ikaro's future shows as she is an indomitable spirit but a great performer (whe she wants to!)

Gino: very ironic but sweet man. He tries new experiences, although sometimes he does not feel apt for the task and just steps out. I noticed how the man needs to be encouraged from time to time. I expect him to work with his body more in the future, since I saw him experimenting with push-ups and the Sun salute during one rehearsal. Furthermore, as Michele has already forseen, I can see Gino use his voice potential more in future performances.

Mirko: Very quiet but friendly, was my initial observation. I realized how Mirko really listens to directions, loves experimenting and will always be enthusiastic about different experiences. I discovered a musical vocation in him and can see him experiment with it in the future.

Nicola: strong sense of rhythm: as soon as music starts he start dancing, or clicking fingers and singing along. I tried exploring this ability in my workshops. During a rehearsal he was playing an air drum, staying in tune and with the right rhythm too. Very physical, is aware and conscious of his own body. He can explore and push his physical boundaries on different levels.

'Roger': is a performer who is not afraid of trying, really pushes his limits regardless of his hemiparesis. Has a sense of rhythm: as soon as music starts he will dance too when given the chance. I tried exploring his ability too in my workshops.

Rosa: always tries to perform at her best from her wheelchair, most of the solutions one works out with her are very interesting to watch (even watching the creation is interesting!). She always pushes her limits, coming on and off her wheelchair without complaining. She sometimes forgets lines and movements. In the future I can see how she will be able to give her best after having rehearsed well a performance/scene.

Stefano S. : As well as other performers,has asense of rhythm too that I tried exploring in my workshops. During a rehearsal he was playing an air drum together with Nicola, staying in tune and with the right rhythm too. I would like to try working with different senses with Stefano (smell and touch) to try and see if these new spheres open new artistic possibilities for him.

Stefano P: funny man, that always asks others how they are. I noticed how he has a more violent part inside of him, that sometimes comes out inappropriately. He needs to be guided into activities and reminded of what to do. In the future I can see him working with very structured exercises, in which he knows precisely when and where to move and what to say. He needs to be reassured.

Olga B. : she is very precise, a good listener, who processes information and really tries to analyze herself in order to improve. I can see her becoming a very conscious performer, with a good awareness of context and of the other performers.

Olga F. : very physically aware. She is always performing to the limit of her possibilities. In the future she probably needs to work on weighing how much energy to put in an activity in order to still be aware of the surrounding context. I can forsee Olga becoming a great performer.

Mirko, social worker, though, in a post rehearsals meeting asked the organizers' group if this last prompting method was appropriate when working with fragile adults. We honestly do not know where the line between fiction and reality stands for them. When does an intellectually disabled person realize that what is happening on stage is all part of a performance? For example, I had to improvise with Gabriella, a performer with down syndrome: she already knew the since since she had performed it with another performer, although with me she found herself in an unknown zone, where she did not know what I would do and how I would react to her. The scene was a fight between her, the Queen, and myself, a performer that could not use her legs, begging the Queen for help. In the actual scene Gabriella does not give up, but with me she was convinced and helped me sit back on my wheelchair. The scene was powerful, intense and tear-jerking! She grabbed my non-working legs, carefully pulled me to my chair and helped me sit. I doubted that she was improvising, I saw real concern in her eyes. Michele, instead, believes she really performed, while before she was just repeating actions and text out of memory!

In 1967, Robert Wilson decided to save a 13-year-old black boy that was going to get hit by a policeman. He accompanied the police officer and the boy to the police station, while listening to the sounds coming from the boy, recognizing he was deaf. The boy was released and Wilson accompanied him home, discovering that he lived in a three room flat with other 13 people. No one understood he could not hear, since they had never been around a deaf person in their lives. 

This boy was to be institutionalized, considered “ineducable” because he could not complete some tests written in words. The boy, though, knew no words! Robert Wilson observed the boy and after a short period of time,understood that the boy thought in terms of visual signs and signals. Robert Wilson opposed himself to the decision of institutionalizing the boy and managed to adopt him.

During an open house, while working in a loft in New York City a former teacher came and gave Wilson an audio-cassette. This is vaguely what the cassette said: “Because ‘A’, because she likes Bugs Bunny. Because ‘B’,because she likes Mickey Mouse. Because ‘A’, because she likes the Flintstones. Because ‘B’, Emily likes the TV, because she watches it.” (Wilson. No date). He found out that that tape was made by a thirteen-year old boy named Christopher Knowles, who was in an institution for brain-damaged children. Robert Wilson decided to meet the boy since he found that tape fascinating.

The director was working on a twelve-hour silent play that started at 7:00 in the evening and continued until 7:00 in the morning, named ‘The Life and Times of Joseph Stalin.’ The cast was of 128 people. The work was very carefully put together, meticulously studied, rehearsed for 8 months before it was to be performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in the Opera House.

Robert Wilson invited Christopher Knowles’ parents and their child to see his play. That night Wilson managed to convince Chris and his parents to let the child perform in his performance.

Just before the performance was to begin I took Chris by the hand and we stood together on the stage. I addressed the audience, “Ladies and Gentlemen because ‘A’” And Chris said, “Because she likes Mickey Mouse.” And I said, “Because ‘B’” And Chris responded,“Because she likes Bugs Bunny” Then I said, “Because ‘A’” Chris replied, “Because she likes the Flintstones” And again I said, “Because ‘B’” And Chris followed, “Emily likes the TV because she watches it.” After we left the stage there was an applause. I said to Chris, “Hey, that wasn’t bad. Why don’t we do something in the first act?” This work I have been rehearsing for 8 months, very carefully detailed. So we walked on stage and I said, “Chris, this time you speak first.” And he did. [...] Chris performed in all four shows.(Wilson. No date).

Robert Wilson, after seeing how school would just stop, block and correct Chris, convinced the child's parents to let Chris live and work with him. Thanks to Chris Wilson decided to deconstruct language. One day Chris had said “Dear Madam, most gracious of ladies, I will be in no way possessed of an honor of an introduction” He explained those were words of a letter for Queen Victoria and did not know how he had come across it (Wilson. No date). A piece was created ‘A letter for Queen Victoria’, in which his main questions seems to be: What is language? What can it communicate and what not?.The piece starts with the reading of an actual letter to Queen Victoria, which seems to be a perfect example of what I previously referred as ‘airing the mouth’:

Dear Madame, most gracious of ladies, august imperatrice: albeit in no way possessed of the honour of an introduction, and indeed infinitely removed from the deserving of it, yea, singularly unfit for exposure to the brillance of your sun, being in verity of a condition so abject in its destituition of grace...“Dear Madam, most gracious of ladies, I will be in no way possessed of an honour of an introduction (Wilson. 1974).

As you can see, looking back on my work, meeting Raymond Andrews and Christopher Knowles were the second and third most important influences on my work (Wilson. No date).

Bibliography

Holberg, Arthur. 1996. The Theatre of Robert Wilson. Cambridge University Press. pp. 3, 48. 

Wilson, Robert. 1974. A letter for Queen Victoria. La Rochelle. First performance: 1974. 

Unfortunately factors such as race, disability and gender equality are still present nowadays and there are still barriers to creativity, participation, learning and involvement. The fullest development of the arts and creative industries are blocked by this attitude.

The Arts Council is as committed as ever to removing those attitudinal, hierarchical and class barriers that still exist. The Creative Case does not deny the worth of previous work - the moral, legal, ethical and business cases - but argues that there is a clearer, simpler and more potent position to articulate: that diversity and equality are crucial to the arts because they sustain, refresh, replenish and release the true potential of England’s artistic talent, regardless of people’s background.

This publication aims to go further than the conviction that diversity and equality are good for the arts. The Creative Case builds on what we believe to be an instinctive understanding within the arts community that diversity and creativity are inherently linked. We wish to articulate an approach that encompasses the ways in which diversity has been and remains an intrinsic and dynamic part of the creative process. (Arts Council. 2009).

The development of the Arts Council’s diversity and equality policies (Arts Council. 2009)

'Cultural diversity' is an umbrella term developed by the Arts Council, in order to implement measures to increase equality in the arts.Since there were too little responses to inequalities and only a few diverse representations Arts Council was forced to put aside funds to encourage cultural diversity.

The thrust of this work was pulled together and integrated as a legal imperative for the first time in the wake of the Macpherson Report arising out of the Stephen Lawrence affair, and the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 that followed. The Arts Council’s first Race Equality Scheme 2004-07 played a major part in embedding race equality within the organization The Race Equality Scheme was complemented by a number of time-limited projects, the most prominent of which has been the decibel program and its legacy decibel Performing Arts Showcase. Subsequent legislation around disability and gender equality has begun to have a similar impact in these areas as well. In recent times, issues of equality inside the arts world have increasingly been influenced by wider debates in society at a national and global level (Arts Council. 2009).

The Equality Act 2010 legalizes the point of view for which no strand within the arts is seen as more important than others. As a consequence the Arts Council has been developing new approaches within the Creative Case framework. The Performing Arts Showcase was opened to disabled artists in 2009: It was a successful intervention that laid the foundation for the breaking down of existing disability and race ‘silos’ and a release of dialogue, collaboration and creativity (Arts Council. 2009).

In the 2011 showcase the remit was extended even further to embrace artists with ‘diverse practice’. This is defined as including, but not limited to, artists from Black and minority ethnic backgrounds, disabled people or any other artist who may have had limited opportunities to participate in the arts.

Bibliography

Arts Council. 2009. What is the creative case for diversity? [Online] Available at: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/media/uploads/pdf/What_is_the_Creative_Case_for_Diversity.pdf [Last accessed: 19th November 2012]