Frances Worster's Blog (9)

Well, between the traveling and downed internet provider, I've been quite out of the internet loop! All kinds of crazy and wonderful things have happened. The not so great thing though was during the Easter weekend, while tooling around the Gold Coast with a very special Australian surfer, :) hopping from beach to beach, camping out in a van, etc., I got caught in a rip-tide and got smashed against a rock cliff until two guys pulled me out. By some miracle the rescue and first aid people… Continue

As part of this magical, amazing training program, I get to attend seminars led my top professionals in various industries that touch on the theatre company's philosophy. The other day, we were visited by Peter Stanton, a top physiotherapist in Australia. I thought I'd pass along my notes. Continue

So for this internship, I am required to read several books. The first is



KODO: Ancient Ways, Lessons in the Spiritual Life of the Warrior/Martial Artist, by Reverend Kensho Furuya. He is (was?) Resident Chief Instructor of the Aikido Centre of LA, and the LA Sword and Swordsmanship Society Kenshinkai. It is a compilation of a column he wrote about martial arts training over several years.



I highly recommend it for anyone involved in mental-physical training. While of… Continue

On Thursday, our Butoh teacher and Zen Zen Zo's co-artistic director Lynne Bradley shared a peice of wisdom from her teacher and Zen Zen Zo's "spiritual advisor" Zen Master KwanShi (Lawrence). When she was experiencing the heart-wrenching loss of a grandparent, he talked to her about feeling whatever emotions that come up completely, honestly, consciously, and fully, but not giving in to the "story": "I feel (sad/angry/grief/etc) because...". Instead, he advises people to be with their emotions… Continue

This week, the workshop is focussing on refining our Viewpoints practice, and on teaching us Butoh. Butoh is an avante-garde dance-form that originated in post-holocaust Japan, as a reaction to Japan's defeat, and ravaging by the bombings, drawing on Noh theatre and earlier forms of Japanese dance and theatre.



More on the history here:

http://www.mindspring.com/~rawvor/history.html



Butoh performers are… Continue

1 week down. 23 more to go....



How wonderful it is to be training in such a supportive, inspiring, intense environment with such amazing individuals!



What is "Physical Theatre"



There is an interesting debate as to what makes "Physical theatre". Sometimes it seems that it's a dance show, the performers are dancing. But other PT shows involve speaking and other qualities that we attribute to "Theatre". In Australia for a long time PT meant circus… Continue

Okay, I sat down and wrote a long blog the other day - then my internet shut down, and I lost it, so here's blog update 2.0:



It has been a long, long time since I've posted a blog on this site - I intend for that to change, especially as LemonYellow reminded me that non Amazon-Amazing Professional athletes should be representing themselves in this community, and John Stewart reminded me that we artists have a lot to contribute too!!



So much has happened over the last… Continue

I've just come out of two back-to-back horse shows over the last two weeks, and have been left with a lot to contemplate. The first show was very small and laid back, and I had planned to move up a height level and get some "miles" before the second, larger show. What's that saying? "When people make plans, God laughs". Oh ya.



My horse took offense to one of the jumps, and every time we entered the ring, he decided to rear and spin, rather than begin the course. When we'd approach… Continue

I spent last week out at the Thunderbird Show Park in Langley, BC, jumping my horse Grafton. Well it was one heck on a week, and my sore body is happy to be back, but I'd rather be out showing than sitting in the office! The show runs for a second week, but unfortunately, my wallet, nor my employer could handle the strain of another week (and I doubt my horse or my back could either!). I went into the show much less prepared than I would wish. A VERY badly burned hand and a ruptured ovarian… Continue