14th OCTOBER - CP!

Freeze Frames 
NEAR THE FLAG, INNER CIRCLE CP

Participants - Rea, Shruti, Pranav, Vik, Mallika, Shena
Observer - Niranjani

Decided to work with: Celebration, Suspicion, Division, Devastation, Resurrection... and back to Celebration. The idea was to explore stages of 'otherness', as that's a topic that has been on a lot of our minds lately, and then hopefully to engage in conversation with audience members. 'Resurrection' was added as a way to get back to Celebration in order to make the action cyclic. However, Rain Gods decided otherwise... and just as we were getting into it, the effort was rained out - and Doggie Doers and audience alike were seen rushing towards the dryer sanctum of the CP corridors! 
Most of us felt that we were just about finding the exercise when we had to stop, and that it would be worth exploring the idea again, although perhaps with a re-look at the 'resurrection' frame as it was difficult for some of us to move from devastation to celebration with only one stage in between. Other notes: more use of body, less of facial expression would be a good idea.


Play Ball!
OUTSIDE THE NIKE SHOP, CORRIDOR F-BLOCK CP

Participants - Rea, Shruti, Pranav, Vik, Mallika, Shena
Observer - Niranjani

Since it was raining, and folks were drenched and disgruntled, we decided to lighten things up with one of our favourites - the imaginary ball game! As always, super great fun. Lots of people who got into the action, and some lovely moments : the guy inside the Nike store who waved through the glass that he wanted to join in (and Pranav promptly opening the door and throwing him the 'ball'!), the few sporty types who did tricks with the 'ball', heading it, bouncing it off their bodies, spinning it, and fancy footwork with it, and of course the shy ones who were dying to join in, and were happy to do so after a few attempts... 


The good-natured bonding fun served as a momentary antidote to 'otherness', at least for a while.

The ending was a collective moment - the 'ball' grew bigger and floated upwards, then popped and ended up as a little piece of balloon - to universal laughter and a few scattered bits of applause.

1st APRIL - ALL EYES ON 'NOTHING'!

Playing with an Imaginary Ball - II 
GALLERIA MARKET, GURGAON

Participants - Amu, Keshav, Hope, Manju, Tara, Shena, Rea (unplanned, but most welcome!)
Observer - by rotation

What

total 

joy!

The entire fountain area became a playing ground – with all eyes on one thing only – the imaginary ball!! People at different levels of the complex joined in, as did all kinds of people, from age 4 to age 84!

Keshav had the great idea of ‘targeting’ people talking on their phones – which forced them to choose between their conversation and the ball – most of them chose the ball, one lady even telling her friend to ‘hang on’ while she caught the ‘ball’ and threw it back to us with a smile on her face.

It was the smiles on peoples’ faces that the gentleman who owned a local café was most happy about, and he has promised us free drinks the next time we come to play.

There were so many lovely moments, it’s difficult to list them all here. Suffice it to say that this is one heck of a good idea, easy to implement, with no equipment and little preparation needed – just the will and imagination to play, and the ability to show up! (even by default is good Rea!)

I GOT IT !


I

GOT

IT !

Below: He pretended that the ball hit him, and then very graciously accepted our elaborate apology for the nothing that had happened!!

"Yehlo bhaiya, tum ball lehlo"(actual dialogue!)

13 March - IMAGINE ...

Playing with an Imaginary Ball

GREEN PARK MARKET

Participants: Anant, Arushi, Sameer, Amu, Smita, Shena

Observer: Mallika

Simple idea. Simple agenda. Stupendous results!

The idea – play with an imaginary ball.

The ‘agenda’ – give some people some fun and invite them to play – to exercise their imagination and sense of joyfulness

Mission – accomplished!!

Precisely because the idea was so simple – it worked like a charm. People immediately get the idea of the ‘ball’. Most people who joined in, once they moved past the idea of the strangeness of it, got into the (theatre?) game with full belief, allowing themselves to have fun and to be a part of a happy coincidence in their day.

Besides those who stayed at the periphery, recording the proceedings on their phones, was a succession of people who took part good-naturedly.

There was the Café Coffee Day delivery guy who didn’t miss a beat on his way somewhere with what looked like a jam bottle in one hand – catching the ‘ball’ with his other hand and throwing it back to someone before grinning and going on his way. The gentleman who decided to turn the ‘throw and catch’ game into a cricket match and who subsequently hit a six – lopping the ‘ball’ over the cars onto the other side of the street. Luckily, Sameer had another ‘ball’ in his pocket (heh heh heh… actually, he had a bunchaballs in there) – and so the game continued.

Collective imagination was in play as one girl tried to balance the ‘ball’ on her head … and the rest of us gathered around her, ready to catch it in case it fell. One lovely lady who was busy taking a video of what was going on was in a fix when someone handed her the ‘ball’, suddenly making her a participant rather than an outside viewer. Not to be deterred, she found ways in which to continue selfying herself as now inside the game while simultaneously throwing the ball to someone else! Good job whoever you were! (We know you took this blog address, so maybe you’re reading this right now!)

There was the shop owner who thoroughly enjoyed the surreptitious passing-the-ball-behind-your-back section of the game and joined in with full cloak-and-dagger feel (we were trying to avoid the dog there who not only KNEW, but was – um - upset at the strange goings on in her ilaka. Sorry doggie, next time we’ll move away from your space). And many others, including our first player – a little girl of about six years old - - good sports all – Thank you!

It seems safe to say that some people had a sudden, unexpected, unique and fun experience and left the space a little happier, with a story to tell and a bounce in their step. Small dent in a long day and longer lives – but even the longest stories are made up of smaller moments, so why not one moment of watching an imaginary ball soar up into the sky … ?

Feb 28, 2015 - DOING A DO AFTER AGES ... IN GOA!

Slo Mo 'run' to the Chef

Performers: Manoj, Marianna, Bhakti, Shriram, Shivam I, Shivam II, Arushi, Sameer, Vik and Pranav
Documenter and observer: Shena

Many thanks to Padma Damodaran who remembered the Doggie Dos we did and invited one to The Goa Project. It's been a while, but doing a Do is always fun,  and this time was no different.

As the venue was somewhat cut off from public spaces, we decided to use lunch time as our 'venue'. Light hearted under a sunny Goan sky, sound of waves mingling with voices, laughter and cutlery clinks, the slo mo event quickly garnered attention from eaters and onlookers alike. One jolly fellow got into the act by standing in front of the posse as though he was the one they were running towards! 

The grande finale, reaching the bemused but affable chef and giving him a hug was met with some applause.

Of course, this was a safe and easy environment, but that doesn't mean that it wasn't worth the while. Doers commented on the 'zoning in' effect of performing in a public space, and it's safe to say that it was a gentle and fun reminder of the joy of Doing a Do! 

Thanks all. Here's to starting up again!