Seeing people in all of their creativity, vulnerability, and their stories brings with it the responsibility to learn to respond in the moment.
values
At impro studio, our vision is based on our interpretation of the ecology of life, where our actions and those of our clients/participants are connected to other fields of relationships.
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This is the moral compass which impro studio uses to navigate all of its activities. We ask of everyone who works for impro studio that they model this course of action.
impro studio strives to make its activities accessible for as many different people as possible.
accessibility
Whoever you are, wherever you are from, whatever your ethnicity, gender, physical ability, sexual orientation or age… we welcome you into our space.
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Financial
We don’t want money to be a barrier to improvising, and we offer free or donation based access to many of our activities. As we grow, we will keep improving our financial accessibility.
Have a look at our Registration & Payments Q&A for more info.
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Physical & Mental
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If you have a physical disability or mental health concerns, we can chat with you to find a way for you to play and be part of our activities. Most of our activities can be adapted to suit individual participant needs. In fact, all of our offerings are also adapted to meet our trainers' variety of needs.
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Most events and activities will include ways to participate through a variety of channels of perception and sensing. Our content is delivered in ways that are understandable and robust, meaning that it can be interpreted in multiple manners and there is not one right way of engaging with it.
However, some of our events/courses/activities do require certain abilities to fully participate (perceive, understand, navigate, interact, contribute, i.e. perform all actions required for interaction with the event). These might be
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auditory
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cognitive
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emotional
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neurological
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physical
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verbal
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visual
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We do our best to include these requirements in our workshop descriptions to accurately reflect what participants can expect to be part of before booking on.
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At this point, it is important to note that impro studio does not provide therapy, emergency or on-call services. impro studio does not guarantee, promise, or take responsibility for a cure, fix/solving of problems, healing, or attainment of a specific result through participating in its activities.
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Unless specifically stated in an individual's biography, impro studio and its associates are not licensed therapists, psychologists or psychiatrists.
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Engaging with impro studio can never take the place of regulated psychological and/or medical care and the people working at impro studio will never give you medical advice.
By participating in impro studio's activities, you agree to take responsibility for your own actions.
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Language & Culture
We have a large number of international participants and people with English as a second language taking part in our activities.
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Language Learning through improvisation is one of our special interests so please inquire with us if you have any concerns about the level of English spoken in the online events.
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We look forward to the future when we can offer events in other languages besides English. Most likely, German and Dutch will be next.
impro studio's name works in many different European languages and we want to honour this by building a multilingual / multicultural ensemble.
It is important to us that there are many different people who all bring their own perspectives to the work we do. This goes far beyond labels and representation of the communities we belong to, with the invitation for each individual to show up in their full complexity.
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Everyone who works with impro studio brings with them a set of ethics derived from being members within other communities. We are also guided by the traditions in which we grew up, the laws of our societies, and the group conscience of our generations.
Improvisation Experience
We know that all of our participants bring improvisation skills with them (even if they are unaware of them) and know best who they are and what they need.
Therefore, everyone can choose which event/course/activity they want to be part of, as we don't have a linear class structure, levels, stages, assessments or grades.
We also don't spoon feed suddenly-discovered-ready-made-one-size-fits-all-salvational-problem-solving-linear-solutions. We do offer support as you make things up as you go along.
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Children and Youth
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kids & youth: impro studio offers 1-2-1 sessions and on-location work with groups of children aged 8-18. This is usually done in close collaboration with parents, legal guardians, or education institutions.
impro studio's events are currently offered with people aged 18 and older in mind. If people below the age of 18 wish to participate, they need to be accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
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Website
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For more information about improstudio.org's web-accessibility, please refer to our website Disclaimer.
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Contact & Feedback
We accept and encourage feedback from our participants so that we can continuously adjust to our participants' needs. Here is our (anonymous) feedback form.
Should you be unsure about your participation, please get in touch and we can have a conversation to see how we can adapt to your needs and make this a fun experience for you.
Also, should you, at any point during or after the event wish to speak to someone about how impro studio might improve its offers to be more accessible and enjoyable for you in the future, please contact us and we can schedule a conversation.
We love what we do and have experienced the benefit of what we are sharing in our own lives and hope that it will be helpful to others.
Improvisation is at its best when our skills and experiences converge to meet the needs of the current moment.
training
impro studio works with many different practitioners from a wide variety of practices. This means, that we have all followed the trainings and teachings of people and institutions relevant to what we do.
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The first requirement for working with or at impro studio is to be highly experienced in what we offer.
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The second requirement is to follow continuous training and development in our dedicated practices as well as broadening our horizons by trying out new practices.
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The third training requirement is follow impro studio's introduction courses and events, as well as to read through impro studio's Disclaimer, Ethical Practice, Privacy Policy, and Terms & Conditions.
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We ask all of our associates and volunteers to write a personal introduction on their website profiles where we also list our respective trainings and affiliations.
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Furthermore, our associates and volunteers may be asked to accept supervision or coaching, depending on how they are involved with impro studio.
At impro studio, we reflect on our professional behaviour as part of taking responsibility for our actions, inaction, and the consequnces thereof in the world.
accountability
At impro studio, we consider ourselves to be accountable for our actions before / during / after sessions which we offer, at our meetings, when we are physically together in a space or virtually present online.
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Everyone who works with impro studio brings with them a set of ethics derived from being members within other communities. We are also guided by the traditions in which we grew up, the laws of our societies, and the group conscience of our generations.
Here are excerpts of other organisations whose ethical practices inspire impro studio's. Should you wish to speak to someone in confidentiality about impro studio's conduct, please contact the relevant members of the respective organisations listed here.
The Applied Improvisation Network (AIN)
impro studio "strives to cultivate a shared spaces of diverse practitioners who play, practice, learn and grow together. Together, we seek to cultivate belonging, interconnectedness, trust, compassion, vulnerability, and courage. We believe our shared efforts can help transform the larger global community for equity and justice."
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"We embrace the ideal of a diverse ensemble of applied improvisation scholars, teachers, trainers, and practitioners because it will enhance our organization and its members."
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"We seek to work/play collaboratively—to build relationships where all members are valued, heard, and empowered."
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"We are open to diverse points of view, to seeing multiple perspectives, and working to understand others from their perspectives. Our listening, attention, and presence with one another are keys to better ways of relating and communicating with one another."
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"We endeavor to embody a “yes, and” principle, which guides us to explore and heighten our respective contributions. Ideally, our work and play together builds on each other’s ideas, perspectives, experiences, strengths, knowledge, and abilities to maximize our collective potential."
AIN's full Diversity and Inclusion document can be found here. Should you want to talk to someone from the AIN in confidentiality about our AIN related events, please contact a member of the AIN Board via the AIN website.
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People Need People (PNP)
impro studio acknowledges that "people need people for the tough times ahead. Hope lies in the possibility that people can and will rise to the occasion of helping one another. The People Need People Project addresses the nature of community in a new form, creating conversations that reach beyond the polarisation, fracture, and silos."
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"People know what they need. They only require the time and space for to uncover it for themselves — together."
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If you have any questions or concerns about our People Need People sessions, please contact the PNP team through their website.
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Contacting impro studio
We strive to align our intentions, words, and actions. However, in the words of Alfred Korzybski: "the map is not the territory." We may stumble, make mistakes, disagree, or hit an impasse. We are open and willing to have difficult conversations if needed.
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If you have a concern, question or complaint, or are worried about the behaviour of a fellow improviser, participant, or impro studio ensemble member, please talk to your host/trainer or complete this (anonymous) feedback form, informing us that you wish to speak confidentially.
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As we learn more about our impact in the world, our practices may change in unanticipated ways. If you are concerned about our policies, you should check back at our website periodically.
This Ethical Practice document was last modified on 31 May 2023.
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