'Impro Canarias', the laughter that is improvised

Romina Vives, Adri Torrijos and Alejandro Rod are the members of Impro Canarias. / C7

The innovative improvised theater company from Gran Canaria, which performs in Cueva Pintada, has been drawing smiles for more than a decade

The laughter that arises spontaneously is the one that is most remembered. Impro Canarias is, since 2012, one of the first improvised theater companies on the islands. Formed by
Romina Vives, Alejandro Rod and Adri Torrijoswho have more than a decade in the Canarian art scene with a long career as theater and film actors and trainers, has been formulating, around the pieces from the collection of the
Gáldar Painted Cave Museum and Archaeological Parkan innovative scenic proposal that provides a comical nuance and from a gender perspective, with which they rescue the fundamental role of the Amazige woman who lived in pre-Hispanic settlements.

The representation of his next production 'Impro (in female) for Cueva Pintada', free of charge, will take place on the
March 24 in two sessions, at 7:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., prior registration at the aforementioned museum starting this Monday.

Can laughter be improvised? «By proxy, jokes, gags and blows can be planned, but we advocate spontaneous humor that surprises the public and
surprise ourselves». Romina, Alejandro and Adri are clear, after more than a decade immersed in the complicated and unknown world of improvised theater, that surprise must always be the protagonist of their shows.

gender perspective

To this is added, when the month of women has arrived, the most difficult yet: to give a gender perspective to his successful show, developed for a few months in the Cueva Pintada Museum and Archaeological Park, again with humor as the flag. The task does not seem easy. "We have adapted our show to give visibility to the role of women, both in the family and professional spheres," the performers explain. «In ancient times, activities such as hunting or war were considered 'work', while livestock, home care or weaving were minor jobs.
We can only say that we will take care of demonstrating that it was not so», say the comedians.

«It is a challenge, although beautiful, improvising stories with the museum's collection, which is already alive, is a very enriching job. It helps us to inform ourselves, study and
get out of our comfort zone», they explain in relation to their artistic work in the surroundings of a museum center like Cueva Pintada.

After several sessions at the Museum, since last summer, the 'feed-back' collected could not be more positive. «All the sessions have been full, 'sold out!'. This speaks for itself”, they explain excitedly. "We think it's a very good combination.
Unite the museum collection with a theatrical show, plus direct participation in the event. It is a recipe that cannot fail," they say.

Along with the dynamics of the show and the collection, the public is the third inseparable element of the Impro Canarias deck of humor. "Their intervention is essential," the artists acknowledge. «They decide the stories that we, improvisers, have to stage.
They choose objects from the collection, they tell us personal experiences that we extrapolate to antiquity.. We cannot anticipate everything because, in reality, we never know very well what is going to happen, "they announce mysteriously.

The preparation

How do you prepare an improv show? "Actually, you train, unlike conventional theater", clarify the members of Impro Canarias. «We use understanding tools with the partner, reading with the public.
We have to be always awake to changes and actions that occur in space. To do this, we must be very focused, follow patterns of creating history and interpreting the impro”, they reveal, about their usual work patterns.

Precisely, this pattern of uncertainty about the development of this original scenic proposal leads one to fear whether the mind-blank syndrome exists for the improviser. "To be able to improvise you must have a blank mind," they surprisingly reply. «We start with a motor, a stimulus or an image and, from there, we let ourselves flow through what the story needs and what the partner gives us. Even so,
there is the possibility of going blank, either because you did not understand the proposal well or because of some blockage», they acknowledge. «The luck is that it is a team effort and you know that the 'impro' is very generous and your teammates can always save you».