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Big Chill
Improvisational Skills
5/2/2012
A local AM radio meteorologist delivered a great line yesterday, when he said, This next week features classic spring weather!"  (pause)  "Cold rain!" 

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I
 was amused by his daring use of humor. 

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H
e wasn't afraid to surprise his audience. He took a risk and said something unexpected and real.

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T
hat meteorologist was improvising...taking a risk on the fly. A couple of months ago, Proctor students spontaneously initiated an improv activity that has taken off.  Every Tuesday and Thursday evening from 7:00-7:45, the most eclectic congregation of students imaginable convenes to delve into role play. 

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I
n this skit, Patriots fans respond to a vanishing lead in a Super Bowl game against the Giants....

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This activity is right on so many levels! It is wholly student-initiated, with no adults present or needed. It brings together students who otherwise have little in common. It is riotous fun.


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I
n a way, I suppose, our lives are improv. We respond to spontaneous circumstances and situations. The magic of the evening activity are hilarious, challenging predicaments that are assigned out of thin air. Role play as art. Perhaps the lesson we learn from improv activity is our own, personal responsibility in creating everyday experience.

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W
hose line is it, anyway?

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Raindrops on Proctor Pond.
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Considering our responsibility for life circumstances....
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Taking ownership.
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Painting outside the numbers...
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Improv leader Stefan: "I need two people..."
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An activity that stretches limits.
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.
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With lessons that apply to everyday circumstance.
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.
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.
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.