Stephen Nachmanovitch on Improvising in Life

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Stephen Nachmanovitch performs and teaches internationally as an improvisational violinist and at the intersection of music, dance, theatre, and multimedia arts. Stephen has presented masterclasses and workshops at Julliard and many conservatories and universities.

In this episode, Stephen and Eric discuss his new book, The Art of Is: Improvising as a Way of Life, which is an exploration of the creative process, especially the social dimensions of the creative process and a philosophical meditation on living, living fully, and living in the present.

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In This Interview, Stephen Nachmanovitch and I Discuss Improvising in Life and…

• His book, The Art of Is: Improvising as a Way of Life
• That creativity is absolutely worthless without an ethical foundation
• The ethics of creativity
• Buddhism and creativity
• Why improvisation is so important to him
• His interest in the creative process across all fields
• That the template for improvisation is conversation
• The role of listening and equality in improvisational music
• The relationship between impermanence, imperfection, and improvisation
• The relationship between chivalry and the phrase “yes, and…”
• That play isn’t what you do, it’s how you do it
• The relationship between discipline and freedom
• Art as the act of balancing
• How self correction is a lot easier without the added burden of guilt
• The metaphor of a child learning to walk and the approach of “positive feedback only”
• What it means to “stamp out nouns”
• That when you create something that’s “original” it means, simply, that you are the origin

Stephen Nachmanovitch Links:

freeplay.com

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If you enjoyed this conversation with Stephen Nachmanovitch on Improvising in Life, you might also enjoy these other episodes:

Finding Your Creativity with Julia Cameron

Power of Poetry with Ellen Bass

Ralph White

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