Over the course of six weeks, Isabel Shaida will lead participants in a free workshop exploring the Six Viewpoints, a technique of improvisation and observation created by Mary Overlie. The practice deconstructs the primary materials of performance into six studies: Space, Shape, Time, Emotion, Movement and Story. Each week we will locate our focus on one material and experience being in relationship with ourselves, the work, and our fellow participants.

The language of the Viewpoints offers the artist a way to practice observing the present moment with increasing sensitivity, and to respond with greater range—developing flexibility, articulation, and strength in movement. Practicing with the materials empowers the individual in their own creativity and being while also empowering a group to function together spontaneously and intuitively.

Six Viewpoints theory and practice is welcome to all bodies and personal histories. Participants are encouraged to follow their own line of inquiry while being guided in observation of the raw materials allowing a myriad of access points.

Workshop participants are invited to join in a culminating performance at Tinworks Art the first two weekends of September.

This workshop is open to the public.

No prior Viewpoints or movement experience is necessary. Please wear comfortable clothes and footwear you can move in. Contact Isabel with any questions.

This project is funded in part by the Montana Arts Council, an agency of the State Government, and by the National Endowment for the Arts. Tinworks also gratefully acknowledges the Founding Director's Council and SAV Digital Environments in Bozeman for their generous support.

The Six Viewpoints technique was formulated by Mary Overlie and grew out of the landscape of her home, Montana. As Mary put it, “In this environment distance has a physical impact on the body. The combination of high prairie and mountains inundate you with a sense of space and perspective…The voice of this land counsels you to learn to use perspective as a tool and to cut deeply into what concerns you. This is the point of view of The Viewpoints.”

The Viewpoints break down the dominant components of performance into six materials – Space, Shape, Time, Emotion, Movement, Story. The Viewpoints offer the artist a way to practice observing the present moment with increasing sensitivity, and to respond with greater range – developing flexibility, articulation, and strength in movement for both the individual and the group.

ISABEL SHAIDA Isabel Shaida is a movement artist and climate organizer living in Bozeman, MT. She credits her theater work with teaching her how to experience and process the world in an embodied way. She was an artist in the 2018/19 SITI Conservatory program where she trained in The Suzuki Method of Actor Training and Mary Overlie’s Six Viewpoints. She has continued her study of Viewpoints under Barney O’Hanlon, Wendell Beavers, and Deborah Black. She experiences the materials of the Viewpoints as a living practice and a lattice work that underlies everything.

LILA LIVINGSTON Lila Livingston is a chaplain and artist originally from Bozeman, Montana. Lila is an M.Div. candidate at Union Theological Seminary in New York City, where she studies Buddhism and interreligious engagement. Additionally, she studies movement with Jane Alexandre, Deborah Black, and Sophia Treanor and is excited about the interaction between body, ecology, and spirit in all of her learning and work.