The Interview Process and What To Expect Once Accepted
©2008 Antero Alli
Motivation; why do you want to do this work ?
Many are the motivations for doing this work. Out of every ten people who express curiosity about participating in a ParaTheatrical ReSearch lab, maybe four will actually step forth and interview. Of these four, perhaps two will be accepted. This work can be intoxicating in the spiritual sense and many people initially do it for the honest hedonic reason of getting high. This hedonic motive, however, often disperses after four or five sessions when deeper resistances surface within the body/psyche demanding a deeper commitment than "geting high".
Post-hedonic motivations vary. Some use paratheatre as a vehicle for work on self; to expose and uproot unwanted behavior and then, to develop new patterns of response. Others do the work to deepen access to the internal landscape for the artistic purposes of breaking through "creative blocks". Some turn paratheatre into a spiritual practice, or yoga, as devotionals to Divinity. Others do it to learn new physical and ritual techniques for their performance work as singers, dancers and actors. Some find value in the asocial quality of paratheatrical group interaction, a unique rapport that bypasses social considerations in lieu of a kind of miraculous interaction of self-governing bodies.
Though paratheatre can have therapeutic and cathartic impact, it would be a mistake to confuse it for group psychotherapy or psychodrama or the director, a therapist. To distinguish paratheatre from group therapy and to minimize its corruption, specific working principles act as guidelines for all participants.
Reasons why not to do paratheatre include:
romantic liaisons, looking for friends, seeking approval from the director, fulfilling the need for family or community.
On the selection criteria for acceptance in a ParaTheatrical ReSearch lab
Before the interview process, these prerequisites must be met:
1) 24 years or older (some exceptions may apply)
2) physically fit and good overall health (no physical or internal organ injuries)
3) survival needs met (means of income, shelter, friends outside of Lab)
The qualities I look for in the interview process are an openness to new experience and a certain comfort around permitting uncertainty. I have seen how critical an open and receptive mind can be in this work. When we become too "dead certain" about anything, the mind naturally closes down; we assume there is nothing else to know. I also look for where you already honor a sense of immediacy and direct firsthand experience over theoretical or secondhand knowledge.
I look for existing levels of commitment, talent and skill. Self-commitment, a steady commitment to your own direct experience, is a core value in this work as it relates to the development of integrity and autonomy. Talent amounts to depth of access and fluid expression of creative states. Skill is the degree of dexterity, precision and form demonstrated for communicating creativity. Individuals tend to be more emphasized in either talent or skill; the mutual and parallel development of both talent and skill remain an ongoing pursuit in this work.
Though skill and talent are important, they are not all-important; you don't have to be a professional dancer or singer or actor to benefit from this work. I sometimes prefer working with non-professionals due to the extra time it can take to "undo" all the coveted ambitions and performance habits that can crystallize with professional training and/or a successful career. Each person interviewed is met on their own merits and experience. I am more impressed with your Presence, than with your Resume.
Those who have done this work before are aware of why it is not, and cannot be, for everybody. By virtue of the substantial self-commitment required to do this work, it cannot be called a populist medium. To be excited by the 'idea' of doing this work, as intriguing or exciting as it may feel, does not assure the integrity of follow-through to endure the work itself. To call this approach 'elitist' may be closer to the truth, though this term can be a bit misleading. We do not see outselves as better than anyone else; doing this work often leaves us genuinely humbled. We know how difficult our aims are and how almost impossible they are to achieve, let alone maintain. It takes a certain humility to endure this process yet those who persist are rewarded; the investment of self-commitment returns to you.
There are three ritual labs each year that start in early Spring, the Summer (Vets only) and Autumn equinox. Up until Spring of 2008 each lab explored a specific theme with its own unique talent and skill demands. Since the Spring of 2008 our focus and context has shifted entirely to towards the choreography of dreaming rituals. For more details about this context shift, please read "The Mountain Teaches the Dreaming." Development in this time-intensive medium depends on consistent attendance. Labs typically meet twice a week for eight to twelve weeks; if you know that you'll miss more than two sessions, do not bother applying.
Also read Lab Participation Prerequisites
Once accepted into a Lab, what can be expected.
You can expect to work. The overall aim of our work is increasing flexibility of the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies towards greater access and expression of the internal landscape. This is a physically rigorous medium where the central need of feeling the body deeply is met throughout each and every lab session. Those with active physical injuries should not apply. If possible, set apart 60-90 minutes before each lab session to be alone, rest and feed yourself.
This work can be very emotionally demanding and why our central emotional and social needs -- for security, approval, friendship and love -- ought to be met outside the lab setting. This approach depends on an asocial climate, one where each person pledges total responsibility for their own safety and their own needs. In this way, we can work towards something to offer others and not -- consciously and/or unconsciously -- depend on others for the energy or support necessary to do this work.
The mental challenge of this work involves a certain kind of self-observation free of self-denial or self-critique. When the intellect learns to witness, rather than critique or immediately assign meaning to experience it does not understand, true self-observation can begin. Spiritually you can expect to be challenged by various rituals and prayer forms that expose the underlying sources and premises of what you believe to be true, what you are living for, along with your current relationship, or lack thereof, with God, Source, Divinity, etc.
This work does not involve confrontations with others; it involves Self-confrontation. You can expect to confront internal resistances and rigidities, obsolete behavioral patterns and habits that drain your energy or inhibit your capacity for direct experience and spontaneity. At the level of group interaction, this paratheatre approach is non-confrontational and gentle; everyone is encouraged to move at their own pace and choose when, and when not, to interact with others. Interaction in this work is never forced. When the pressure to perform, or trying to impress or please others, can be relaxed then space can be created for more inner-directed motives to drive our actions.
This paratheatre work is transformative by nature. This work is deeply process-oriented by amplifying our awareness of the existing condtions and forces governing our lives, whether our conscious mind is aware of this or not. This self-confrontational approach tends to expose those ego-protective and defensive habits that inhibit direct experience and perception. As these habits begin to buckle and collapse, we gain more access to the internal landscape of our humanity and experience more truth about ourselves. As this Self-access increases, we learn to develop our talents and skills for sharing and communicating these internal processes with others and the world. This development begins the realization of the overall purpose of this paratheatre medium: to restore the capacity for a more direct experience.
paratheatre links
Interviews with Antero on this work
from 1999 to present
Paratheatre (and related) articles
written by Antero Alli and others
"State of Emergence"
a paratheatre manifesto by Antero Alli
"Paratheatre: F.A.Q."
Infrequently Asked Questions