Colloquium - Presenters

BACKGROUND
This colloquium presentation will begin by outlining the interplay of trauma, body memory, vulnerability, and shame in the context of performing arts, by outlining Polyvagal Theory and its relevance to safety and creativity. Polyvagal Theory describes the evolution of how our nervous system adapts to challenges by providing an organizing principle of identifying neural circuits and defensive strategies; identifying these principles and their hierarchy can explain and ultimately predict performance anxiety. In competitive or other vulnerable situations, isolation from peers can cause shame, and while familiarity with the fight/flight/freeze nervous system reactivity continues to grow, less has been acknowledged toward the social connections through free play that can bring inclusion and creative growth. 
 

AIMS
The goal of the workshop/recital is to foster new ideas to anxiety solutions while on stage, while also renewing the creative spirit in Play(ing). The presentation will discuss how we, as performers, presenters, and human beings, can find our way beyond extreme anxiety to a place of acceptance, so that we can begin to work with our nervous system, rather than against it as has often been the traditional model of therapeutic approach to performance anxiety. This approach is a bottom-up method, meaning the body memory dictates the 'story' to the brain. By understanding the central nervous system, we can interrupt the anxiety ladder using free play.  Simple and accessible exercises will be explained in detail and demonstrated. A social engagement demonstration using free play/free improvisation with myself on cello and Casey Sokol at the piano will end the lecture portion.
The integration of Polyvagal Theory and free improvisation is a key part of the creative re-engagement process while addressing anxiety, and can help foster resilience, safety, and the rediscovery of creative expansiveness. By blending trauma recovery with the innate human need for connection, we underscore the importance of connectedness, co-regulation, and social engagement in nurturing mental and physical well-being.

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KEYWORDS 

performance anxiety, polyvagal theory, neuroception, co-regulation, improvisation

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BIO

Toronto cellist Cheryl O is a dedicated multi-media collaborator blending her improvisations with live theatre, dance, film, circus arts, text, poetry, painting and electronica. She co-creates with CCMC, for Contact Dance, CoExistDance, Hercinia Arts, abstract painters and film, exploring the deep relationships between sound, movement, time, and energy. With the onset of the pandemic, Cheryl turned her focus toward academic research into her coaching practice in performance anxieties and body memory trauma, combining aspects of Free Improvisation through a Polyvagal Theory lens to create new social and neural connections. She reveres in collaborating with others in story-telling in all forms.