The Mop & Bucket Company Offers Back to Basics: Improv Fundamentals Class

Posted June 27, 2009

SCHENECTADY --- In every conversation, every decision, every communication, you are asked to think on your feet and “go with the flow”. However, we all share a fear of the unknown, which can make "winging it" a scary prospect! Improvising can help.

Classes are taught by MopCo Members and nationally known guest improv artists. For more information or questions about these programs, email us at classes@mopco.org or call Kat at (518) 847-9882.

TUITION: $90, $75 for volunteers and previously enrolled students.
Special tuition offers may be available, check www.mopco.org regularly!

DETAILS:
Back to Basics: Improv Fundamentals
July 8, 15, 22, 29
All classes 6:30-8:30 PM at 440 State St., Schenectady NY, unless otherwise noted.

BACK TO BASICS is a required pre-requisite for all other classes listed below. It is also highly recommended as a "brush up" for more advanced students. MopCo company members regularly audit the IMPROV BASICS class to stay on top of their game.

This class stresses the basic, critical elements of successful improvisation. Participants will learn exercises and play games that are performed nationwide in live improv shows, as well as on such TV shows as Who's Line Is It Anyway.

+Yes And
+Take risks
+Celebrate failure
+Spontaneity
+Accepting vs. blocking offers
+Let go, learn to play
+Conscious acceptance of the now

Offstage: This class can literally change your life! Applying basic improv ideas to day to day life just makes things change for the better.

A suggested reading list is supplied, but no materials are required for MopCo classes.

MOPCO Improvisation Theater School

MISSION
. To further the development of improvisational theater through teaching and collaboration
. To help individuals delight themselves and others using the craft of improvisation
. To develop professional improvisational performers . To grow the interest, participation, and support of improv theater in the Capital District of New York and beyond.

CORE VALUES
. Support
. Respect
. Collaboration
. Listening
. Taking risks
. Having fun
. Creative stimulation
. Genuine interaction with audiences
. Storytelling
. Teamwork

Why improv?

A good improviser is:

Spontaneous
A good listener
A supportive partner
Open to suggestions
Willing to look “foolish” (You read that right!)
Able to trust others
Able to have fun, and is fun to be with

Who should study improv?

The study of improvisation can be beneficial to everyone. Improv is not just for the stage! Our techniques will help you improve home and work relationships, hone your communication skills, and strengthen your ability to quickly adapt to new circumstances.

It doesn’t matter if you have never set foot on a stage in your life, or if you are an accomplished performer, honing the craft of improv is a gift that keeps on giving. In our classes we teach individuals of all ages, from all walks of life.

THE MOP & BUCKET IMPROV THEATRE CO.
Who are we?
The Mop & Bucket Co. (MopCo) is the Capital District's premiere improvisational theatre company. The company has been in existence in its present form since 2005. MopCo is a resident company at Proctors Theatre in Schenectady, NY. The company performs, teaches, and trains at venues around the region, as well as nationally and internationally.

MISSION STATEMENT
Live performance fills a central, universal need of humankind. This need cannot be met by passive reception of electronic or virtual paths, but must be experienced with all five senses. MopCo believes that the best theatre comes out of an active collaboration between performer and audience. We constantly expand, refine, and redefine our own concept of what improvisation in performance is. This is because the company acts on the assumption that that which is unchanging is probably dead, and will therefore begin to stink soon, if it doesn't already.

The company uses improvisation as a direct form of entertainment in performance; as a developmental tool that helps individuals in their own personal development, and as an interactive training tool for businesses and nonprofits.

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