An interesting, crazy, zany, intense theater workshop

 Yes, I'm back in my beloved Andalusia and many sunny days have elapsed

since last time I posted on this blog. Do you know what happened in the mean time?

ahem....Instagram...I told you, I got completely hooked to the point of nearly forgetting

about my blog. So far, Instagram is great to post pics of what inspires me, a door or

a graffiti in my village, a book or a movie....but...when I really want to write a longer

post with several pics then where else can I go than my darling little blog?

After this reasonably long hiatus I meant to post about an eating place I really enjoyed in Nice

but here I am freshly back from an intense theater workshop last weekend.

And it was so comical and interesting at the same time, that I wanted to share it with you.

My French girlfriend Pascale took part to a theater workshop in Granada last month,

led by drama teacher and director Dora Albardiaz. She told me how much she loved it

and that Dora would organize a theater workshop during a 3 day weekend. Please, join us, 

she said and I thought why not and got reunited with 7 other persons in a very nice and 

secluded place in the countryside. 

Dora is a very dynamic and interesting woman whom I liked immediately. 

The workshop started on Friday afternoon. That day I found the exercises quite amusing.

We did so many, I couldn't remember all but mainly, as we worked in pairs,

being my partner's shadow, and mirror and vice-versa. One exercise made me

laugh but left me dubious, chasing the others, wanting to grasp their ass but

refraining myself....mmmm...From the start, I thought...oh la la...there's a lot of

body contact in those exercises....lots of hugging after each exercise and then at 

the end of the day...the shower : we make a circle, somebody stands in the center

with his/her eyes closed and the others caress him/her....Yes, I can hear you say,

mamma mia...what is this??? Naturally, it was quite pleasant but I reckon, this is

definitely not for everybody. Actually, I forgot what was the purpose of this.

The improvisation exercises were my favorite. We used the patio, shown in the

first picture as the stage. It made a lovely space and a green theater.

 We also used the beautiful countryside around us. On the first day, there was

a good camaraderie vibe. We all brought food to share and sat down at 

the table for dinner under the green grapes. Later on, during the night a storm broke

out which made us feel all giddy and happy. Some of us slept in the living room

and luckily I had a tiny room all by myself. Then in the morning, we all sat at the table

again for breakfast before starting the exercises in the wet grass. Relaxation, hugging,

breathing, singing, dancing, working in pairs again. One exercise in particular was

a bit embarrassing...being your partner's doll and vice versa. I was teaming up with

that handsome guy and found it quite difficult not to feel naughty!

 In a way all those exercises made me feel conscious of my approach to other

people's body. I reckon it was very interesting even if I thought we did may be

too many body contact exercises. Another exercise was smelling and tasting

the others. I went really fast on that one....But, besides all that, the most interesting

thing for me was to observe how we interacted between each other. It would be too 

long to describe and explain but slowly the initial good vibe turned sour because

some hostility got declared between some persons. And the owner of the place

who also took part to the workshop suddenly became a total control freak.

And me who usually laughs a lot, had quite a serious face on sunday morning.

 What was supposed to be a relaxed theater workshop got transformed into

a heavy affair. And in my last improvisation with my partner, in which he was

protagonist and I, the antagonist, we fight over a ladder, he wanting to steal

all the grapes he could, saying that he couldn't care less and insulting explicitly

the owner of the place. No need to say, it didn't help to ease the ambiance.

Dora was still zen and serene but put an end to the workshop earlier than

what has been scheduled. So, on sunday after the last improvisation exercises,

we gave each other a hug but it was quite a feeble one. And instead of having

lunch together as planned, we all left home. The truth is I was so impatient

to be with Monchéri again and tell him about this very interesting, crazy, zany

and intense theater workshop.

 I didn't find it appropriate to post pics of the whole group but here we are

Pascale and I, wearing as you can see romantic frocks...a bit of froufrou

in the dull ambiance....

pics : my castle in spain