an improvised ritual of movement, voice, and live music
November 28–29@ The Finnish HallLive music by Ian Erickson!
A journey of collective creative action. A performance with no audience (everyone is in). An abstract prayer. An opportunity to be odd. A time to be radically present with ourselves and each other.
The Overscore is a collective improvisation event — movement, voice, and live music weave into a shared narrative arc ritual. We begin by lying on the floor. From there we move through a series of scores (games, creative structures, spatial orientations) all strung together into one shared map. The container is held and carried throughout by live improvised music. For this iteration we have the very talented Ian Erickson creating the soundscape.
Saturday 2:30–5:30pm
World building and mapping the landscape.
A facilitated flow through different scores. Saturday is an opportunity to break the ice, drop in with each other, and become familiar with the scores and structures.
Facilitation by Marcus van Duren
Sunday 12–2:30pm
The Overscore
No talk-through. We arrive, dive in and make magic together.
There’s nothing new under the sun, and the Overscore is no exception. It is a fruiting body of many lineages and teachers.
Nancy Stark Smith & Contact Improvisation
First and foremost the name is of course a nod to Nancy Stark Smith’s work of The Underscore. Contact Improvisation is undoubtedly the primary cultural and practical ground from which this event grows.
Chris Aiken and Angie Hauser
Years ago I [Marcus] took their workshop on improvisational dance performance at Earthdance, which culminated in a two-hour improvised performance through a series of scores. That long-form structure, and specifically the game sweeps, came to me through them.
Vocal improvisation
Bobby McFerrin, Rhiannon, the Música do Círculo Institute in Brazil, and The Downbeat community here in the East Bay. At The Downbeat we have been exploring what we call a “Portal”, an extended open space where improvised voice, song, movement, text, and theater weave into one ritual arc.
How does it work?
The Overscore is a series of scores strung together to create a shared map. What’s a score? A game, creative limitation or spatial orientation that offers a structure to improvise within. Each score opens a world that can develop, deepen, and sometimes even transform. How do we get from one score to another? The journey is marked with spatial rendezvous such as people accumulating at a wall, in a circle, or in the corners of the room. In between these spatial checkpoints we travel through different scores, always feeling our way to the next transition as a group. The music helps to carry and unify the group throughout.
Is it more voice or movement?
This iteration is definitely more movement than voice. There is one score that invites some toning over a drone. The container is being held by the live musician the whole time.
Is it beginner friendly?
Yes. All are welcome. If you have experience with contact improvisation or another body based improvisation practice, your skills and sensibilities will amplify the co-created magic.
