And what if you have to decide that within an instant?
That could mean that you have just entered the realm of improvisation.

To be honest, up until now I have never felt really comfortable within that realm.

I didn’t set myself just very few rules on this journey. One of them says: I will go anywhere that I’m pointed to.
Well, Maria Gillen pointed me towards the improv workshop with Órla Mc Govern in Galway next Saturday. Hm, works perfect with my travel ideas. “It’s very popular. It’s probably full.”, is Maria’s encouragement.

Ha! Right before my email gets there somebody else has cancelled.

Very subtle signs …

It is with very mixed feelings that I arrive at the Blue Teapot Theatre on Saturday morning. On Saturday evening I’m leaving this same theatre in a great mood loaded with energy. I can’t remember the last time I have laughed so hard and so much!

The next day I can awe at Órla the storyteller

She has a job in medieval Athenry together with her partner Niceol Blue (who loves telling stories through music). Between bands, stilt walkers and facepaiting for kids they are there to enchant kids and their families with stories. To me, that is a perfect example of how helpful improvisation is.

On that weekend I learned very fast ...

... how much I have underestimated the benefits of improvisation. If you train it like a muscle, it helps you deal with pretty much everything that life throughs at you in a better and more relaxed way. You become more flexible.

Órla, of course, is a storyteller - amongst many other occupations … In film and theatre she works in directing, acting, voice overs and many other fields.

The little flame in her burning for improvisation has become a roaring fire while she was living in the States

As well as folk tales and improvisation, Órla was delighted and inspired by 'The Moth' movement of personal storytelling that she came across in The US.

When she returned to Ireland, she founded a collective/festival that brings together stories that are: personal ('moth style'), improvisational (butterfly / transformation ), and traditional (the body holding it together at the centre) - ‚Moth & Butterfly‘.