Taking time to look around when you've climbed the mountain.

The Power of Play and Time for Tea.

I have been running a race. 

A race with myself and creativity.

There has been so much magic since September 2011. 

With the conception of StampCollective and the mammoth creation of work from it's birth, that I feel I have been climbing a huge mountain,racing up it, with my eyes fixed on an undeterminable peak, pushing mind, body

 and spirit.

 Running myself ragged. 

I have now pulled myself up onto a ledge (which I had been hanging onto with only the splits of my fingernails) 

There is some flat ground here. 

I have to stop, sit down.

Before my legs fall from under me. 

Dont get me wrong. The climb is not nearly over. 

This is not a permanent pitstop, but from here my eyes can look back down and around, take in the view and have a cup of tea.

I ask questions. Lots of them. This is my nature.

I am always assessing and reassessing my emotional response and my actions. 

Why do I feel this way? 

What am I going to do about how I feel? 

And trying to understand others.

How do they feel?

 Do their actions match how I understand them to feel?

My big questions now, as I sit on my ledge are: 

Am I doing what I aimed to do? (What was that again?) Has it changed anything? And is it worth all this climbing?

StampCollective formed just after the riots in London. 

A phenomena that sits in a conflicting space in my mind. 

I still dont know how I feel about them concretely, but they sparked something in me. The need to do something - to bring people together in a positive space.

I wanted to use performance to give people a space for their voice. 

To celebrate stories and the people that wanted to tell them. 

To celebrate everyones ability to work things out, our inquisitiveness and playfulness. To celebrate people - we are after all wonderful, confused, loving creatures. 

We are also very silly. 

Silliness is important. 

So is laughter. 

I wanted to create a dialogue between audience, performer and space that was meaningful. Exploring our (audience and performers) - relationship to language, memory and ourselves - enabling people to think about their actions. Whilst asking some big questions about society - what are the rules? are we happy with the way things are? and what are the alternatives?

{ real life imaginary playgrounds } are spaces for dreaming, imagining and bravery. Spaces that are real and unreal, not distanced by screens and computer graphics, but controlled by people and their choices. 

A playground is place for games and adventure. 

Play means the rules can change. 

A playground is not a theatre, but it has drama and narrative. 

I believe StampCollective have succeeded in creating worlds that tell story, but are flexible enough to change with each audience that tell it. 

StampCollective provide the context and we all provide the content. 

In our last show Moralgorithm HiC, the piece was different every night because it reacted and grew with the very different audience that came to be part of it. We - audience and performers - were open to change.

I believe in the power of play. That play is a place where were people can be free, united and at the same time alone. 

Inside and outside of themselves. Performing and spectating.

We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. - George Bernard Shaw

Play is not something only for the young. That's like saying laughter is only for the young, joy is only for the young, dreams and hope are only for the young.

Your body grows old, but make sure your spirit stays young. 

Exercise your imagination and silliness often.

So has it changed anything making all these things I dont know for sure, but it has changed me. I believe in play, performance and people - and I'm not afraid to say it. 

Was it worth all the climbing? Well, as I sit here on the ledge, 

I am happy to say I am not alone. 

I am sharing this resting space with those who have been climbing with me, providing the ropes and counterweights. StampCollective, its core and everyone (including the audience) that are part of it. HalfCut, Coney, StokeNewington International Airport, LabCollective and Theatre Delicatessen are supporting me with space and time, support and advice, and it wouldn't be possible without them.

So now I rest, but knowing me. Not for long.

See you in the Playground.

A small step for bravery.

Ellie Stamp: Fun Finder, Adventure Maker, Performance Architect, { real life imaginary playground } creator, decides to be brave.

I can, and do, stand and talk in front of many, improvise in performance, laugh out loud when I find things funny (no matter where I am) and talk to strangers in the street. I have been known to rub people up the wrong way when voicing my opinion about, well pretty much anything but,

I am afraid of blogging. 

Afraid.

 Nervous.

 Apprehensive.

Afraid.

My thoughts explode in my mind. Multitudes of them at the same time, sparking off in all directions and moving faster than I can sometimes keep a track of. Making immersive and responsive performance compliments my brains way of thinking. Making 360 degree worlds is aided by my ability to think about many elements at the same time, but it is not so helpful when typing. 

I fear I communicate less clearly in the written form.
I am dyslexic. 
So, I fear that my bad grammar and spelling makes my writing in some way wrong or less valid.

This is my admission.

Through the performance I make with StampCollective, and as a solo performance artist, I am constantly inspired by the bravery and imagination of audience collaborators that I share my work with. 

I need to be brave. 

So...this is my blog.
I will use it to interrogate my performance practice, to share my thoughts about art and performance and be brave, honest and adventurous in the written form.