In this blog, we let you look inside our kitchen, and we have an important question for our clients and our audience. Exciting...
Massages in the audience or not?
Those of you who have already seen us at work may have experienced in the check-in of our performance the massage we invariably do at the beginning of a performance. Or "did," because that's what this blog is about: will our massage signature last or not?
Until a few years ago, we had no specific agreements on exactly how we end the check-in. A check-in consists of:
- introducing ourselves,
- introduction to the audience by asking questions about who they are and how they relate to the theme or event,
- practicing giving suggestions for the later improv scenes,
- and finally, a more physical activity that involves getting people moving.
Organically it grew so that for the latter we alternated between a massage in the audience and a clapping exercise. In order to come out a little less monotonous, at one point we worked on a long list of alternatives. But eventually we came to the realization in practice that the massage was our ultimate favorite and we kept going back to it anyway. The list sat untouched in dropbox.
A plea for more physical contact
The purpose of that last piece is to get the energy hanging in the room flowing. Or to raise it if it is too latent. To land people not only mentally, but also physically. So that they are present with their full attention and completely ready and receptive for what is to come (our scenes, lectures, a debate, ...). Also to create mutual connection. That benefits active participation anyway. Now you can ask the question whether connection necessarily has to be physical connection. We had several reasons for explicitly choosing this. As a plea for some more physical contact, also outside intimate or very personal relationships. Perhaps the following things played a role:
- We are often active in the healthcare sector. The lack of and unaccustomedness regarding physical contact in healthcare is something that strikes us very regularly during trainings and workshops.
- Some of us feel that there is too little physicality in our culture and that the seriousness of skin hungerunderestimated, for example.
- We may be able to draw some touch sparks from our theater sector, where generally there is more physical contact between us than elsewhere.
- Some of us even seemed to advocate for this in the youth work where they were active together in the past. The Big Hug Game was a recurring number at camp. And the framing of that game already told the story of advancing digitality at the expense of human warmth through physical contact. As many as seven types of hugs were part of that game!
- Since we regularly work in bilingual contexts in organizations, a certain Flemish physical reserve stands out alongside the spontaneous kissing greetings of our French-speaking compatriots.
- Last but not least, time and again we were strengthened in our conviction by the cheerfulness of the audience during such a massage.
Thus, the massage became a real Inspina signature, rather than something we feared the repetition would bore. That lasted several years and the massage actually took on a life of its own.
#metoo
And then there was #metoo. In the fall of 2017, it occurred several times initially that we decided on the spot to do something else because suddenly it didn't feel appropriate. Or that if we did it anyway, displeasure could be heard about it afterwards at the reception. During a conversation, a spectator friend suggested that people in the audience also ask and give permission to each other before massaging each other.
#Metoo made tongues wag online and offline everywhere. That open-for-bodily-theater sector came out very lousy, by the way! Conversations were had at our place as well. And dissenting voices surfaced. "I've actually never liked that myself, but yes, you think that's part of it and so you have to put up with it," or "In the scenes themselves, as an actor, I want to put my body at the service of the story, but outside of it, physical interactions at events don't have to be for me."
At a meeting at the end of the year, it was discussed at length. We made trade-offs. What is about it, what is not? Is there no way to invite people to make corporeal contact anymore? What about our plea? (And how would the Great Hug Game have fared in these #metoo times?)
We decided to still do the massage but add the idea of consent effectively, and that turned out to be a hit. Furthermore, we would stick to the shoulder massage and basically leave out the more creative excesses that were sometimes added along the way. After all, back muscles were usually taken care of as well, and there was even the occasional playful pinching of buttocks, now almost unthinkable.
In the meantime, we would also try some other things and pick up the thread of the conversation later.
Deep Democracy decision-making
We could conveniently consign the entire massage to the trash, and we have since considered doing so more than once. Especially after an email in which someone accused us of explicitly inciting transgressive behavior after attending a study day where we had played. However, we feel that there is a rich conversation waiting under the topic of massage that we very much want to have. We feel that in doing so, other issues may surface besides the question of whether or not massage should continue in public.
We are going to have that conversation with our team and with clients and audience members on June 17 under the guidance of Fanny Matheussen of Deep Democracy Belgium. Deep Democracy is the conversation methodology underlying our last developed concept On the Graat (working title). It has in common with improvisational theater that it lowers the waterline, bringing what is still invisible or unspoken to the surface. The same mail talked about earlier led to an engaging conversation with understanding on both sides, but equally firm opposition and also new aspects to the discussion. We want to open that up.
Invitation: let's hear from you!
Have you been in the audience and experienced massage first hand? Would you like to share your experience? Or have you heard about it from others? Or does it itch just by reading about it here? Tell us what you think. Email us or comment on this blog. Are you free on June 17 and want to come join the conversation? Let us know. Seating is limited but we want to have enough patrons and spectators around the table. Welcome.
"It is neither the place nor the time to teach audiences anything. Such activities belong in a workshop, not in a plenary event."
"Are we going to bend with the chilling we feel in society?"
"In terms of boundary crossing, what is the difference between a massage, a hug, holding hands. Can there be nothing at all?"
"I must have been married 43 years for that, for my husband to massage me once. Thank you!"
"I know one organization that didn't book you guys just because of the massage at your intro."
"What about all those people who do find it very enjoyable and liberating?"
"That consent addition doesn't help. People don't dare say no under peer pressure anyway, you underestimate that."
"Your massage makes us realize that we are all equal, and all have something to give and something to get."
"The very fact that I find it SO strange to get a shoulder massage from a colleague makes me think about all sorts of things."