Ensemble!
Using the Power of Improv and Play to Forge Connections in a Lonely World
Published on 1. June 2021
256 pages
978-1-62317-630-3 (ISBN)
Description
Drawing on a combined expertise in psychiatry and improvisational theatre, the authors show readers how improv can be the perfect antidote to loneliness and isolation.
In Life Unscripted, psychiatrist Jeff Katzman and actor Dan O'Connor taught us how improv skills can boost confidence, foster growth, and transform one's life. In their new book, Ensemble!, the authors take the next step in exploring the benefits of improv. We are living more disconnected and isolated lives than ever before, with loneliness reaching epidemic proportions. Ensemble! is about becoming unlonely. It's about becoming present to our relationships, deepening them, and creating new ones. Drawing on a combination of narrative improvisational theatre and reflective functioning, mindfulness, mentalizing, and emotional regulation, the authors have created a system they call Ensembling, which uses improv skills as a tool for forging new connections with others. The skills explored in this book can help readers build a vital life ensemble and come to experience a new connection to our larger community. Ensembling shows us a way to develop self-awareness, empathy, compassion, and attention to the dynamics present in all human interaction. Core concepts such as work, creativity, taking an active stance, embracing adventure and risk, and developing active focus can show us the way to connect with others more actively and more meaningfully. The perfect antidote to loneliness, this book is a roadmap to living an authentic, fulfilled, and interconnected life.
In Life Unscripted, psychiatrist Jeff Katzman and actor Dan O'Connor taught us how improv skills can boost confidence, foster growth, and transform one's life. In their new book, Ensemble!, the authors take the next step in exploring the benefits of improv. We are living more disconnected and isolated lives than ever before, with loneliness reaching epidemic proportions. Ensemble! is about becoming unlonely. It's about becoming present to our relationships, deepening them, and creating new ones. Drawing on a combination of narrative improvisational theatre and reflective functioning, mindfulness, mentalizing, and emotional regulation, the authors have created a system they call Ensembling, which uses improv skills as a tool for forging new connections with others. The skills explored in this book can help readers build a vital life ensemble and come to experience a new connection to our larger community. Ensembling shows us a way to develop self-awareness, empathy, compassion, and attention to the dynamics present in all human interaction. Core concepts such as work, creativity, taking an active stance, embracing adventure and risk, and developing active focus can show us the way to connect with others more actively and more meaningfully. The perfect antidote to loneliness, this book is a roadmap to living an authentic, fulfilled, and interconnected life.
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Jeff Katzman | Dan O'Connor
Ensemble!
Using the Power of Improv and Play to Forge Connections in a Lonely World
Book
06/2021
North Atlantic Books,U.S.
€20.00
Shipment within 3-4 weeks
Persons
JEFF KATZMAN is a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico, serves as Vice Chair and director of an international program on psychological resilience training, and maintains a private practice. He previously directed Behavioral Health Care services at the New Mexico VA Health Care System and programs for veterans with PTSD in Los Angeles. He holds multiple leadership roles in the American Academy of Dynamic Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis and is a board member of the Mentalizing Initiative in Los Angeles. Katzman has applied improvisational theatre with interdisciplinary hospital teams, psychiatric trainees, psychotherapists, and patients.
DAN O'CONNOR is a multifaceted actor, improviser, writer, and director working in television and stage around the world. He graduated from the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has trained with the American Conservatory Theater and Keith Johnstone since 1986. O'Connor is the founder and producing artistic director of Impro Theatre, and co-founded BATS Improv in San Francisco and LA Theatresports. For 30 years, he has trained writers, actors, and directors in narrative storytelling, and has taught corporate clients to use improvisation as a tool for adaptation and change.
DAN O'CONNOR is a multifaceted actor, improviser, writer, and director working in television and stage around the world. He graduated from the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has trained with the American Conservatory Theater and Keith Johnstone since 1986. O'Connor is the founder and producing artistic director of Impro Theatre, and co-founded BATS Improv in San Francisco and LA Theatresports. For 30 years, he has trained writers, actors, and directors in narrative storytelling, and has taught corporate clients to use improvisation as a tool for adaptation and change.
