Immersive Instruction: XD Meets BFA Performance
Out of our entire cast—nearly two dozen undergraduate and graduate performers—one individual has attended an immersive experience during their lifetime.
Introducing our BFA Performance undergraduates—who are pursuing training in classical acting styles—to immersive performance techniques, then, has been an interesting undertaking.
Many of our students have not participated in devising processes in the past, and several began rehearsals by proclaiming that they “hate” improvising. One said: “I like performing classical texts. They’ve been tested over centuries and are proven to carry meaning that I can embody.”
Beginning with Viewpoints and Rasa Boxes, then, we introduced them to kinesthetic response, character-based improvisation, and high fidelity emotional interactions. I taught them concepts of immersive performance, and worked one-on-one with many of the students to identify their characters’ cores to drive more dramaturgically driven and unified improvisational interactions.
Slowly, their perceptions began to shift. At our most recent rehearsal, a student proclaimed: “I think I love this; it’s half performance, half game. I’m so hyped to get an audience in here to play with!”
Our show, Virtue of Reality, was outlined and designed by CU Boulder’s first-ever Experiential Design (XD) MFA cohort as their senior project. Performers include undergraduate students from four departments on campus, three graduate students, and myself. We’re still working, tickets are free, and we open in two weeks!
