Playing Mantis

December 15, 2019

Riding the change train from platform 9 and three-quarters

I am letting go of Playing Mantis

From 2009, Playing Mantis was the frame within which I was doing my work in the world. The work is not changing, but the frame must. This muse-letter explains to you how the work will continue and where you can continue to get everything that Playing Mantis and I have offered.

Where am I going?

I have been offered the position of Head of Department at Drama for Life, Wits University. This is a full-time engagement, and I cannot do it justice of I have a fling with Playing Mantis on the side. Drama for Life is based at the Wits University School of Arts, and we work with the applied arts and arts therapies in a postgraduate academic programme, as well as research and community engagement projects for the purpose of social transformation and healing.

Why Platform 9 and Three-Quarters?

This is a reference to the platform from which the train to Hogwarts departs in the Harry Potter universe. To get to this platform, you must run into a brick pillar with conviction, trusting that it will open up for you and let you through. Rushing through the brick wall in this way, you come to a magical in-between place: the platform from which the train departs, which will take you to a school where you will learn to do magic, to access your individual genius and test your commitment to seeing the world in a way ordinary people (muggles) don’t. It is the train to a new world where nothing is the way it was before. To get there you must overcome your fear and have the conviction to run through a brick wall. That is what this change of roles feels like for me.

How will the work of Playing Mantis continue?

Organisation development through applied improvisation, performance and narrative strategy

If you have been an associate or client that has experienced our organisational work and loved it, you can now get the same kind of work from Les Nkosi and Lurinda Maree. Lurinda will be working with Les in his business (LNH – Les Nkosi Holdings) to offer you the same quality work with the same values, alongside all the other wonderful work they already do around organisational communication, culture change, diversity work and unconscious bias. Les is an applied performance practitioner like me and has worked with me in my business for the past three years. I have great respect for his work ethic and commitment to change for good. Lurinda is an industrial psychologist who has freelanced with me in the past and has extensive experience in change navigation work in various industries. She will be working with Les now as a supporting act to make the applied performance work happen.To get Les and Lurinda’s information and be on the mailing list for what they do, click here.
SNE (Strategic Narrative Embodiment) and applied improvisation training and coaching

Perhaps you have done the SNE training or wanted to do it after getting a taste of it at a conference or somewhere else. The course is still a WIP (work in progress) to ultimately become a certified Wits short course that can be attended / completed online. The work to perfect this training is still continuing under Tshego Khutsoane and Alison Gitelson. Both of them have been working with me for a long time and know the work intimately. They will shape the SNE training into the product that we know it can be and make it available to you all. Sometime in 2020 we will run a free trial with some of you, so keep your eyes open for the invitation.They will also continue with the practise sessions where you can ‘catch flying pigs’ i.e. experience and practise the processes.To stay on the SNE mailing list, click here.
My thinking and writing work around using story, embodiment and performance frames for moving us towards each other

I will continue to write a muse-letter every three months, where I will share stories, philosophies, frameworks and models related to using applied performance work in leadership, organisations and engagements with the purpose of bringing change for good. I may place an advert or invitation to SNE or LNH’s work from time to time, but the letter will focus mostly on my thinking and feeling around the redemptive work we have to do in the world and how story and performance can help that process. The muse-letters will be my letters home from my own “Hog Wits”.
To stay connected to these ideas and to my musings, click here.
Performance coaching (speaker coaching, leadership coaching and business coaching all wrapped into one)

I have a little bit of time available for individual performance coaching work. If you want this individual coaching, or just want to get more information, you can connect with me directly with the understanding that my capacity in this regard is limited.
My email: petro@petrojansevanvuuren.com

Thank you for the role each of you has played in my journey to this point. – I would love to continue the relationship with you in one of the ways mentioned above and look forward to seeing your familiar faces when we connect again.

If we don’t, I wish you well on your own platforms and running through your own brick walls.

Petro Janse van Vuuren

August 26, 2019

How to create an environment for collective leadership to thrive

Global trends in leadership development identify collective leadership as the most prominent trend in leadership development. The reasoning is that, instead of developing people, organisations should develop an environment where leadership can thrive. Leadership is no longer individual but rather spread through a network. It exists across levels and between units in a culture of knowledge sharing. Leaders can leave organisations, but their leadership stays behind.
What does this environment look like?
One could identify five aspects of collective leadership (see Cassandra O’Neill and Monica Brinkerhoff):

It sees organisations not as machines, but as interconnected systems;
It is not served by a hierarchical structure, but by a flatter, interconnected network of relationships;
The decision-making function in a collective leadership is not top-down but shared and/or rotated between people;
In a collective leadership people do not need to be told what to do because they are inherently capable and trustworthy to do what is right and needed;
Success is not the outcome of the talent and skill of one, but rather of the diverse perspectives and skills of many (for more aspects of collective leadership also see https://growingorganisations.com/collective-leadership-what-why-how/ and https://www.hrmonline.com.au/section/strategic-hr/collective-leadership-way-forward/).

To create such an environment is not the job of a hero but of a host. Leadership is enabled through the facilitation of atmosphere, environment and structure, not of the lone ranger or diva at the top telling others what to do. To me, this sounds a lot like the difference between show biz, which is based on the rising of a star, and the performances possible through improvisation and collaboration.
Improvisation principles, then, become intrinsically necessary for the cultivation of collective leadership, principles like how to listen and respond, how to give and take control, how to say yes to an idea and build on it with your own creativity, how to make each other look good, how to respond fresh to each new context and how to make in-action decisions based on a shared vision. In improvising, too, people learn to leverage diverse ideas and collaborate across difference.
Yet, improvisational interaction also requires the creation of an environment that is conducive to such interaction. One cannot just improvise without context, trust and a sense of safety that one can take calculated risks.
Therefore, improvisation and collective leadership also have in common the need to understand how to create an environment for collaboration and the taking of creative initiative. We therefore provide here the five kinds of safety needed, not only for improvisers to interact with each other in a way that builds story and creativity, but also by organisations that want to enable collective leadership. Collective leadership can, we argue, only thrive in an environment where people feel safe to take the initiative required for them to creatively solve problems, engage with each other and move an organisation forward towards fulfilling its purpose.

Physical safety: People need to feel safe in physical spaces that are cared for, where there are no broken lights, inadequate airflow, electrical faults or lack of access to resources. This may seem obvious, but lack of infrastructure and resources, or just a perceived lack, can greatly influence the willingness of people to share leadership.
Metaphorical safety: This is the kind of safety derived from a sense that a space is tolerant and free of prejudice. My ideas and contributions are valued and I will not be singled out for failure to meet some unspoken standard. Fairness and trust play a big role in this kind of safety.
Safety derived from the familiar. One feels safe in a space that is well-known. In a world that changes drastically and where organisations must in turn respond, there is a great need for people to create safety in the familiar. This could be familiar people, surroundings, values or processes. An organisation must therefore take care to introduce and make known as much of its new ideas as early as possible and let people take part in changes from early on so that they may feel safe with the organisation as it becomes familiar.
Safety to risk. When people feel safe, they feel able to take creative risks and venture into the unknown. Finding a way to balance the known and the unknown becomes an important aspect of creating an environment for collective leadership to thrive.
Safety in repetition. There is a safety in the knowledge that tomorrow I can come back and take another risk, try again to solve something that has not yet been successful. In this sense there is a way in which organisations must look at failure not as a problem, but as an offer of opportunity to learn and improve – an offer to try again.
Finally, there is the need for safety from consequences. In this sense the idea is that there should be plenty of opportunity for people to take small risks in controlled environments. This relates to on the job training and iterative projects where change may be constant but small and incremental.

The above principles are derived not from organisational development theory and practice, but from play theory and practice related to how to create what is called a ‘temenos’ – a play space or sacred space where people are ‘set apart together’ (set apart from the everyday, but together as a team) for the purpose of achieving a shared goal in the context of a game or ritual. This definition of a play space sounds a lot like an organisational space where people create an organisation for the accomplishment of a particular purpose, following certain values and policies in a building or place set apart for their collective endeavour.
We acknowledge that not all aspects of an organisation can always be managed according to the above principles. Yet, it might be possible in any organisation to create pockets of possibility where such opportunities for improvisational, collective and innovative interaction can be achieved. In such pockets of possibility, skills for collective leadership can be practised and honed for application in the larger organisational system.
Anyone interested to understand more about collective leadership and its relationship to improvisation can contact us at petro@playingmantis.net. You may also choose to join our Applied Improvisation Network Africa jam, details are below.

June 3, 2019May 27, 2019

Let’s play with our racism

Five people in a tableaux showing various responses to the workshop: Four with open arms, many open palms and one person on the floor her head threaded through someone's leg.

An open space session I facilitated at the G I I symposium on Friday morning 17 May.

How I introduced the session:

I am a racist. Not because I intentionally discriminate or harm people outside my own race, but because I was brought up in a racialised system. Because of this, I may behave and speak in a discriminatory and hurtful manner without noticing. Some call it “unconscious bias“. I think it is time we take responsibility and become conscious.

To experiment with new and unfamiliar behaviour, we need a safe space to fail. What better way to create such a space and to experiment with new behaviours then through improvisation?

So, five of us got together and played with our racism. This is the session design, but it does not contain people’s stories. These remain confidential.

Session design

This session was designed using one of the techniques from the Strategic Narrative Embodiment TM suite. We call it the ‘Pig catching signature move’ – it is designed around the archetype of the flying pig, but for this session, we used it to play with racism – an equily illusive concept. The structure is great for working with any number of abstract ideas. For a full description and facilitator guide for the technique, contact petro@playingmantis.net

Note: All sessions are designed according to the SNE STORI-model (What is STORI?)

SNE = Strategic Narrative Embodiment ^TM (What is SNE?)

S – Strategic intent

The strategic intent is set at the start and ‘parked’ outside the space to define it, but not drive it.

Facilitator note: Setting up the strategic frame is the most important part of holding the facilitation when working with applied performance. It is the contract that helps us know which possibilities to choose and work with. These possibilities arise each time an individual interacts with the story in the room. The disruption itself is welcome and part of the point and it is framed and made sense of through the lens of the strategic frame. This strategic frame along with the ‘rules’ of the various exercises hold the safety and structure of the work where there is hardly any particular content or ‘script’. Also, when working with something as complex and potentially triggering as racism, these structures and safety measures are important.

We were clear about our frame as we set up the open space session: To play with racism so we can better make sense of our own relationship to it.

We further refined these intentions by sharing stories of racism where we ourselves were either a perpetrator, witness or victi of racism. These stories clarified to us our individual stance for the session.

Four people in a tableaux: One person on the floor looking up hlding something on her lap, the others standing. Two with open arms, one with hand on his chest. — What we got from this session

T – Transition

Facilitator note: When we work with the arts in OD processes, it is really important that people transition from their minds only to include body and emotions, from past and future to the present and from individual mindset into collective mindset. Also, people need to practise following the ‘rules’ of the game. These ‘rules’ keep them safe when we let go of our scripts and experiment with new ways of thinking and doing.

Walking exercises are great for this.

Examples:

http://www.playingmantis.net/walking-exercise/

http://www.playingmantis.net/exercise-walking-with-enlarged-body-parts/

O – Open experimentation

Pig Catching Signature move:

The facilitator asks people to work in pairs. They should try to work with someone they are curious about.
Each person thinks about the character of racism in their own story. They will represent this form of racism as a character with body, movement and voice..
Flow is as follows:
1. Person A uses movement and sound to show their racism character to person B.
2. Person B mirrors the character back as accurately as they can.
3. Person A looks to see if it expresses what they want it to and offers an adjustment, or simply enlarges what is already there.
4. Person B mirrors this adjustment or enlargement.
5. Person A again adjusts and enlarges.
6. Person B again mirrors.

Note: Sometimes it is useful to allow participants to interrupt the mirroring for a short clarifying conversation, especially if B battles to express the essence of the racism character as A sees it. However, the showing and moving is always more important than the talking.

A and B swop roles working with person B’s racism character.

Facilitator asks participants what this is like for them and gets a few responses.

Note: Participants who do this for the first time may need to talk about its awkwardness, or how impactful/difficult/funny it is. Debriefing these feelings is important to help them engage with the next step which takes them deeper.

Facilitator now asks participants to show each other how they usually react to their racism character – or how they reacted that day when the story happened.
1. Person A: ‘When my racism character goes [show character as refined through previous round] then I go [show their own response through sound and movement].
2. Person B: ‘When your racism character goes [mirror character] then you go [mirror movement and sound].
3. A adjusts or enlarges only their own sound and movement, not racism character too.
4. B mirrors
5. This happens three times as before and then they swop. Again a short conversation in between may be useful, but keep it short.
Now each pair will work with one story at a time as follows: Person A play themselves while B play their racism character. The racism character begins with the sound and move assigned to him. Person A reacts as rehearsed but now they let the scene play out. The pig reacts again and Person A responds until it runs its course. Run the scene again but Person A chooses a different reaction – again the scene runs it’s course. Repeat three or four times until A is satisfied that the scene has been transformed.
Repeat with B’s story.

Note: The partner plays the character so that the person whose story it is can try out alternative ways they could behave.

R – Reflection

Have a conversation with each other about what this experience was like and what it means for you in relation to the intent you set for the session.

What gift did you receive from your partner in the interaction?

What shift can you see occurring in relation to your real life situation?

I – Integration

Talk about possible changes in attitude or action you can make as a result of the interaction between you and your racism character.

In our session, we used images to express 1. What this session gave us. And 2. What we want to say to others about racism, We also had three people join us at the end who witnessed the final conversation and also provided their embodied responses to what they heard.

Facilitation note: People can end up sharing very deeply with their partners and a round of appreciation is essential to allow people’s gratitude to be expressed. On another note: ot ALL the integration necessarily happens in the space of the workshop, or session. It is worthwhile drawing participants’ attention to this.

May 25, 2019May 27, 2019

Improvisational mindfulness in action

Session design – Global Improvisation Initiative Symposium on Wed 14 May.

This session was designed with the action learning cycle in mind: starting with an experience followed by a theoretical framing.

Note: All sessions are designed according to the SNE STORI-model (What is STORI?)

SNE = Strategic Narrative Embodiment ^TM (What is SNE?)

Join us this Friday 31 May for an online experience of the same process

S – Strategic intent

The strategic intent is set at the start and ‘parked’ outside the space to define it, but not drive it.

Group intention:

We are here to discover what improvisational mindfulness is like and to understand how it relates to contemporary forms of mindfulness

Individual intent:

Each person set an individual intention for the session – what they want out of it. This intention is written down or tucked into a corner of the mind where it can be retrieved.

T – Transition

Exercise’s help transition from the mind only to include the body and heart, from individual thoughts to collective energy, from the past and future into the present.

Walking and shaking

As we walk and spread ourselves randomly in the space, shake out the imaginary grains of sand from your joints starting from the toe joints and moving gradually up the body to the jaw joint. Participants can imagine the sand making room for warm comfortable lubrication of the joints.

Nudge hello

Participants are invited to become aware of each other and make contact using small nudges. Use any part of the body to exert a small amount of pressure as you gently nudge each other, leaning into the nudge for as long or short as you please and always making sure both partners are only going as far as is comfortable for both. (Contact improv style)

Pair breathing

Find a partner, stand back to back and become aware of your breath. Breathe into your back so that your partner can pick up the rhythm of your breathing. At the same time concentrate on picking up your partner’s rhythm. Gradually find a collective rhythm so you breathe together.

Group breathing

Two pairs now come together. Again, stand so that you can become aware of one another’s’ breathing. Find a collective rhythm. You may begin to move in pulse with the rhythm with movements as big or small as you want to. Find a collective movement and rhythm.

O – Open experimentation

In this section we use longer form structures to deepen the experience. Here we use a structure from the SNE suite of techniques called ‘Moving story structure’

Moving story structure – Shortened version (complete instructions plus reflective worksheet available from petro@playingmantis.net)

Step 1:

One by one participants find a position that symbolises what they want (based on the intention set at the start of the session) . Add to the image one body at a time until everyone is part of the image. Breathe three times as a collective to set the position. AS you breathe imagine that your body is filled with soft cement as you breathe in and imagine how it sets as you breathe out. When you are finished, step out of the ‘statue’ you have created and turn back to look at it in your imagination.

Notes:

Urge participants to stay in each moment breathing deeply three times. Make sure they allow themselves to fully experience the position. When they leave the position, they must look back on it in their imagination. This helps with objectification and distancing. It means they gain insight into their inside.
About the breathing: I like to facilitate each of the three breaths slightly differently:

Breath 1: Just breathe and imagine your body is filling with cement and it sets on the out breath.

Breathe 2: Imagine that the cement flows to the extremities of the body – toes, finger tips, crown…

Breathe 3: imagine that it flows to the centre of your heart, your bones your soul.

Step 2:

Find a position that symbolises the obstacles you face when you try to achieve your objective. Again, do it one body at a time. Breathe three times to set the position. Again imagine it as cement setting and once again step out of the ‘statue’ and look back on it.
Move through A and B a few times with complete awareness.

Note: Encourage participants to move with awareness and care. Let them move between the first two positions a few times aware of the other bodies and their influence on your story.

Step 3:

Find a third position – one that embodies how you usually react when you come face to face with your obstacles. When in position C, breathe three times as before.
While in this position notice what kinds of things you usually say to yourself here.
Think about what this reaction costs you and how it might benefit you.
Step out of the ‘statue’ and look back on it.

Note: Once they have decided on position C (Step 3), let them stay in the position and listen to what they may be saying to themselves about being here.

Step 4:

Take up position B. Feel the discomfort and notice where your body feels stretched or uncomfortable. Move from B through C to A. Repeat the sequence B – C – A. Repeat with awareness and experiment.
Note: This is the “Yes and…” moment: accepting our default responses as part of our story. You will now change the order of the positions. It no longer goes A – B – C, or even C – B – A. The “Yes and…” sequence is B – C – A. Let each participant find the impetus and the solution for the next step within the flow between B and C. Let them move and experiment a few times e.g. play with speed and weight, move like a clown, a child a length of silk – get suggestions from the participants.

Step 5:

Finally, take up position B one last time. This time move through B, C and A, but do not stop at A, Move through A, allowing the body find the next logical place for it to settle into a final position D. What would you find beyond the fulfillment of your original intention? Find the answer in your body, not your mind.

R – Reflect

Allow people to make sense of the experience verbally in writing or conversation. Also help them distil moments of significance.

Reflect in pairs/groups (depending on time)

Share your experience with a friend. What did you learn about how you might get what you want? What did your body teach you about the journey to the fulfillment of your intention?

Slides

Using the slides in the presentation make sense of the experience by comparing improvisational mindfulness to contemporary mindfulness.

Slides: Improvisational Mindfulness.ppt

I – Integration

Participants imagine how they might use what they have discovered in their outside lives.

Picture cards

Give each participant a picture card from the Playing Mantis Picture card set. Participants are asked to explain to each other in pairs and then to the group how this card describes exactly the action steps they need to take to experiment with improvisational mindfulness in their own practice.

Close.

Join us this Friday 31 May for an online experience of the same process

Free online course

To learn more about Strategic Narrative Embodiment ^TM, why not send me an email and I will sign you up for the free online component of the training course: Strategic Narrative Embodiment – Transformative facilitation for organisations. It is a university accredited short course.

Read all the details here.

May 13, 2019May 27, 2019

Pig catching on 31 May: Improvisational Mindfulness for Leaders

You are invited to catch flying pigs with us

In-person pig catching in Johannesburg

Topic: How do I stay connected to presence and people when I need to make decisions and take action from moment to moment?
Date: Friday 31 May
Time: 7:30 am – 10:00 am
Place: Floor 21, University Corner, above Wits Art Museum, Corner of Jan Smuts and Jorissen, Braamfontein (parking can be booked 8 days in advance)
Facilitators: Petro Janse van Vuuren,
Dress: Comfortable clothes you can stretch and move in
RSVP: by Wed 29 Mayto petro.jansevanvuuren@wits.ac.za (unless you want parking, then let me know as soon as possible- it needs to be booked the week before)

Donation: (Optional) R280 to paypal.me/PlayingMantis

Live online pig catching in a Zoom room

Topic: How do I stay connected to presence and people when I need to make decisions and take action from moment to moment?
Date: Friday 31 May
Time: 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Place: In Zoom room with ID: 2828282259
Facilitators: Petro Janse van Vuuren
Dress: Comfortable clothes you can stretch and move in
RSVP: by Wed 27 Feb to petro.jansevanvuuren@wits.ac.za

Donation: (Optional) R280 to paypal.me/PlayingMantis

Improvisational mindfulness – an action oriented mindfulness for leaders

How do I stay connected to presence and people when I need to make decisions and take action from moment to moment?

This week is the South African elections, I am getting ready to go to London for a week and we are in the third short work week because of holidays and work has stacked up. At the same time, I need to fill the emotional tanks of my nearest and dearest ahead of the trip.

How do I remain calm and connected when there is all this craziness going on?

I review my notes for my presentation on Improvisational mindfulness for leaders I will be presenting at the Global Improvisation Initiative Symposium next week:

I read: “At the very core of both the interactive quality of improvisational practise and the idea of mindful action is the ‘yes and principle’. This principle captures the essence of AI and of mindfulness++. The ‘yes’ refers to the complete acceptance of whatever is present in the moment and whatever another person might offer. It mirrors the detachment and non-judgement of mindfulness practise as well as the sense of compassion with self and others. The ‘yes is only possible when one has entered into a non-distracted space of stillness and intunement through the body and its senses as well as the other bodies and subjects in the room. “

I snigger, how can I find this ‘non-distracted moment’? From where I am now the journey to such a place seems a thousand miles long. Then I remember an exrcise I once did where the facilitator asked us to close our eyes and repeat the word ‘no’ three times, staying aware of our physical and feeling responses to the word. She then asks us to switch to the word ‘yes’ and again note our responses. I close my eyes and repeat the exercise and … there I am not distracted and aware of everything and everyone in my immediate presence. But the moment is tenuous and fleeting… if I blink or breathe I fear it might evaporate.

I read on “One can identify in this ‘yes’ state the altered state of consciousness that is characteristic of mindful leadership practice. In the ‘yes’ we have therefore encapsulated all the characteristics of contemporary mindfulness. It is then in the ‘and’ that the embodied action part characteristic of improvisational mindfulness practise is captured. The ‘and’ refers to the action one might take in response to what has been offered and what one has already ‘yessed’ to. These actions as a direct flow from, and in direct response to, the other actors (or colleagues, or loved ones etc) become mindful in its being invested by everything that is encapsulated in the ‘yes’.

With the ‘yes’ still permeating my consciousness, I surrender my fear of this week and get ready to act.

Craziness, here I come!

Below is my abstract for the presentation.

If you want to know more, join me for an improvisational mindfulness session live online or in the flesh in Johannesburg on 31 May. Click here for details.

Or learn how to facilitate Applied Improvisation processes and sign up for the free online modules of the SNE course: Transformative facilitation for Orgnisations.

Improvisational mindfulness for leaders abstract:

The improvisational mindfulness session incorporates a methodology from the fields of applied drama and applied improvisation, strategic narrative embodiment (SNE). It demonstrates its value by focussing on two characteristics of leadership that cannot be addressed by conventional mindfulness practise alone: the inter-relational character of leadership and its inherent strategic, action oriented nature. The study highlights the necessity of a mindfulness practise that draws attention to these aspects of mindful leadership while retaining the value of traditional contemplative practise and presents applied improvisation, specifically in the form of the SNE model, as potential ally for addressing these needs.

April 11, 2019May 6, 2019

Tired of coaching courses that cost an arm and a leg?

Photo of young man enjoying learning online

Re-frame how you coach and facilitate forever with Strategic Narrative Embodiment – Trans formative facilitation for organisations

Now available online and the first component is free!

Everything is changing so fast, but people struggle to adapt. This course will re-frame your reality and change how you help people shift. With models and tools from narrative strategy and applied improvisation, you can throw away old scripts and hone the skills that unlock your genius and the genius of your clients.

The steps are easy:

Try the free online modules first,
If it works for you, sign up for the live training sessions, online or in person.
Practise and hone the tools in class and in your work
Get certified

Then:

Change the world for good!

More details about the course here

The SNE course is a home grown, truly South African product – designed for our context Made with our people and for our future.
The course is accredited with the University of the Witwatersrand as a short course and you will receive your Wits certificate of competence

Sneak peek:

Send me an email right now to sign up.

February 18, 2019February 17, 2019

Pig catching on 1 March: How to connect across gender, race and generation gaps

You are invited to catch flying pigs with us

In-person pig catching in Johannesburg

Topic: How to connect across gender, race and generation gaps
Date: Friday 1 March
Time: 7:30 am – 10:00 am
Place: Floor 21, University Corner, above Wits Art Museum, Corner of Jan Smuts and Jorissen, Braamfontein (parking can be booked 8 days in advance)
Facilitators: Tshego Khutsoane, Petro Janse van Vuuren, Les Nkosi, Palesa Xulu
Cost: R280
Dress: Comfortable clothes you can stretch and move in
RSVP: by Wed 27 Feb to petro.jansevanvuuren@wits.ac.za (unless you want parking, then let me know as soon as possible)

Live online pig catching in a Zoom room

Topic: How to connect across gender, race and generation gaps
Date: Friday 1 March
Time: 2:30 pm – 4:00 pm
Place: In Zoom room with ID: 2828282259
Facilitators: Petro Janse van Vuuren
Dress: Comfortable clothes you can stretch and move in
RSVP: by Wed 27 Feb to petro.jansevanvuuren@wits.ac.za

‘Trash, Boer and Brat’ and ‘Through the Eye of a Doughnut’

Two Story shows at the Stellenbosch Woordfees 6-7 March.

Trash, Boer and Brat

The work invites you into stories we tell about how we were moved by fellow South Africans. It plays with dominant and habitual narratives, disrupts boundaries, challenges stereotypes and hopes to move you. It may upset your sense of political correctness and we apologise if it doesn’t.

Where: Pulp Cinema, Neelsie, Stellenbosch
When: Wed 6 March, 13h00-12h00 and Thu 7 March at 11h00-12h00
Tickets: R60
Tickets at computicket, the door, and the Woordfees office: +27 (0) 87 238 2078 or adminfees@sun.ac.za

Director-facilitator: Tshego Khutsoane
Performer-facilitators: Petro Janse van Vuuren, Les Nkosi and Palesa Xulu

Through the eye of a doughnut

Stories shatter stereotypes, open us up and move us towards one another. Let me tell you about the year I was the only white student in Goldfields residence, or the first time I took a local taxi in Johannesburg, or the day I was unmasked as a bigot by a worker from Idas Valley…oh…and about the doughnut.

Where: Pulp Cinema, Neelsie, Stellenbosch
When: Wed 6 March, 15h00-16h00 and Thu 7 March at 13h00-14h00
Tickets: R60
Tickets at computicket, the door, and the Woordfees office: +27 (0) 87 238 2078 or adminfees@sun.ac.za :

Director: Tshego Khutsoane
Story teller: Petro Janse van Vuuren

February 16, 2019February 17, 2019

Whose bed can you hide under?

I was travelling home from a dinner with some friends. Zola*, my taxi driver, strikes up a conversation. Like many drivers he goes for politics. He chooses the classic opening line: “Eish, the country is going down the drain…”
“Really?” I say. This driver looks unusually concerned.
“Yes, there is racism everywhere. And they say the foreigners are taking our jobs.”
“That is not how it works,” I counter. “It is not like there are only so many jobs and only a few people can have them. In a healthy country there are enough jobs for everyone. If the country grows, the amount of jobs will grow and there will be enough for us all.”
He thinks for a while and says: “I did not think I would meet someone like you tonight.”
“What do you mean?”
“Are you not afraid to be here with the black government and the politics?”
His question reminds me of another taxi driver on another day – one who looked and talked more like me. His name was Arno. Like other drivers, he also talked politics and it was me who asked him the question: “What do you say about some politicians wanting to drive us into the ocean?”
He answered with a defiant smile: “Hulle moet maar probeer [Let them try].”
This is not my response to Zola. Instead I answer truthfully: “Yes, I am, sometimes, but…” We have stopped in front of my house by now and I wish to end the conversation on a lighter note, “… don’t worry. My friend Bheki* said I can hide under his bed when they come for me.”
Zola does not yet unlock the car doors and I see the conversation is not over. I wait patiently to hear what is on his mind.
As he unlocks the door he says: “You can come hide under my bed too.”

*All names changed

Thus and other stories at the Stellenbosch Woordfees

Seriously, though,

· how are the tensions among races, genders and generations in your organisation?

· will your people hide each other under their beds in a pinch?

· want support to work through difficult conversations?

· need help understanding one another?

We are here to support you.

1. Book us to perform our interactive theatre piece “Trash, Boer and Brat” at your event.

2. Book a workshop and let us help you work through sticky matters so you can get on with your job.

3. Come train in the tools and techniques to do it yourself.

Playing Mantis

Posts

Riding the change train from platform 9 and three-quarters

I am letting go of Playing Mantis

Where am I going?

Why Platform 9 and Three-Quarters?

How will the work of Playing Mantis continue?

Organisation development through applied improvisation, performance and narrative strategy

SNE (Strategic Narrative Embodiment) and applied improvisation training and coaching

My thinking and writing work around using story, embodiment and performance frames for moving us towards each other

Performance coaching (speaker coaching, leadership coaching and business coaching all wrapped into one)

How to create an environment for collective leadership to thrive

Let’s play with our racism

An open space session I facilitated at the G I I symposium on Friday morning 17 May.

How I introduced the session:

Session design

Improvisational mindfulness in action

Session design – Global Improvisation Initiative Symposium on Wed 14 May.

S – Strategic intent

T – Transition

O – Open experimentation

R – Reflect

I – Integration

Free online course

Pig catching on 31 May: Improvisational Mindfulness for Leaders

You are invited to catch flying pigs with us

More about the topic

Improvisational mindfulness – an action oriented mindfulness for leaders

How do I stay connected to presence and people when I need to make decisions and take action from moment to moment?

Tired of coaching courses that cost an arm and a leg?

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Now available online and the first component is free!

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Pig catching on 1 March: How to connect across gender, race and generation gaps

You are invited to catch flying pigs with us

More about the topic

‘Trash, Boer and Brat’ and ‘Through the Eye of a Doughnut’

Two Story shows at the Stellenbosch Woordfees 6-7 March.

Whose bed can you hide under?