My creative practice incorporates theatrical and kinesthetic studies developed with a small ensemble as we investigate the empty nature of things through songs, vignettes and dances. Guided by an interest in the absurdity of being, the ensemble collaborates with their dancing bodies, strong breath and resonant, articulate voices, bringing all of themselves into play. Through the effort of imagination we work together, designing theatrical scenes of prayer reflecting on our common humanity. The empty nature of things refers to the ultimate reality of not being a separate self or as architect and philosopher Douglas Harding puts it, “As something, we are merely that thing. As no-thing, we are all things.”   

Through improvisatory practices we shake, sing, articulate, gesticulate, move towards ourselves and, by doing so, have the freedom to become “others.” We engage with our bodies, voices, and imaginations as doorways to creature studies. As we tap into the ever-changing nature of experience and desire we give ourselves permission. Permission to be. Permission to be seen. Permission to change.

Language as a mediator breaks down and is played with in a way where new meanings arise. Through the lens of emptiness, we acknowledge our “scales of appearance” or the ever-expanding and ever-contracting sense of self. What things are, who we are, depends on the range of the observer. From the cellular to human perspectives, from a city to the planet, this truth illustrates our interdependence of others and all things. These implications of our empty, ultimate reality have the potential to seep into our relative, everyday lives, garnering freedom.