DREAMING LAB
OCT. 15 through DEC. 20, 2000; Berkeley CA
SUNDAY NIGHTS, 8-11pm: DREAMING RITES (the working)
WEDNESDAY NIGHTS, 8-10pm: DREAM COUNCIL (the languaging)
LAB REPORT by Antero Alli

participants
Antero Alli, Sylvi Alli, Julian Simeon, Nick Walker,
Lea Bender, Brian Jenkins, John Doyle, Cyder Cisk,
Oliver Crow, Susan Park

THE DREAMING RITES (dance studio) Sunday Nights. This dreaming lab is the most vertically-oriented and the least group interactive of any paratheatrical lab I’ve participated in. The approach to dreams here is decidedly non-interpretive and kinetic. Rather than pursue any search for meaning, these rituals are designed and presented to "prime" the physical/emotional bodies for greater receptivity to the innate essences, forces and purposes inside the dream/dreambody/dreamtime itself. The goal: to amplify the overlay between dreamtime and daytime as a portal for initiatic ritual. Initiation to the dream. Neither workshop, class, performance nor video-mediated product, this paratheatrical experiment remains devoted to accessing dreamtime sources for the purpose of animating movement and evoking spiritual presence.

THE DREAM COUNCIL (director’s home) Wednesday Nights. The non-interpretive spirit embodied in the dreaming rites continues here with the sharing of stories, struggles, skills and insights unearthed in the rituals, our dream recall and the dreams themselves. We all realize the unique and somewhat strange nature of what we are attempting to accomplish and find solace in the dream council, which provides a forum for languaging our emerging perceptions. Here we can try new ways of thinking and talking about dreams. This can be especially useful when it minimizes the psychological projection of meaning that tends to trivialize the innate power and autonomy of the dreams themselves. What is the true purpose of dreaming ? Perhaps, only the dream itself can show us this. If our dreams are attempting to communicate with us, a certain humility may be required to listen and to respond truthfully.

 

PARATHEATRICAL DREAMING RITUAL
Principles and the Techniques

DREAMING RITUAL JOURNAL
Notes & Impressions by Antero Alli