2. Modes of Leadership

Initial Thoughts
For this sessions we wanted to make a very clear distinction between call and response, that is to say between moving/saying and stopping/listening. By exploring each of these dynamics separately we could then examine the dynamic that arises as these boundaries shift throughout prayer. One goal was to keep in mind the question: what does it mean to be fully alive in this space? We knew we wanted to at least start with something very structured to highlight the unique aspects of call and response. We continued to discuss the idea of presenting what we've learned to community at some point, using these modes to present.

Call and Response
For this session we wanted to create a group experience involving listening and responding in order to explore the dynamic of call and response in prayer. Our center focus would be on the figure dictating action, as it is in traditional prayer. However, even as we looked at the different rolls of caller and
responder, we wanted to acknowledge the theological belief behind the concept of a minyan: we stand before Gd as a group. Another question we wanted to ask is what does it mean for a group to listen and a group to respond? Is listening/responding different as a group than as an individual?

Something New Will Happen
Through an embodied experiment Ebn displayed how listening and responding changes when one moves from being an individual to being part of a group. He set up an exercise where I faced him and mirrored his movement of swinging his hand out to the side. He then had Adam come and stand next to me and asked us both to mirror. Because Adam was next to me my hand could no longer mirror Ebn in the same way, it hit Adam before it could finish its full trajectory of movement. Ebn pointed out that when it moves beyond 1-1 mirroring there are different needs and different restrictions, therefore something new will happen. We planned to incorporate this learning in the upcoming session. In looking at call and response we wanted to delve into the question of what it's like for a body to play in space and how this play changes in a group with other bodies. Our discussion then turned to our experience in daily prayer. In davenning do create this dynamic as a group. How can we gain a deeper understanding of the differences between prayer we do in a community and prayer we do alone. Of course, we wanted to find the answer through the body. Can we understand this question by noticing the ways our body and movements are impacted by the group.

Outline
I. Introduce theme (3 min)
Tefilat yachid and tefilat tzibbur - modes of leading and following
a) In what ways do these modes appear in tefilah?
b) Why are they a part of tefilah? What purpose do they serve?
c) What does it express theologically?

II. Frame (3 min)
Exploring the role of caller and the responder:
- How do you feel when you're calling versus when you are responding?
- How do you open yourself to receive someone's call?
- How do you respond to someone?
- What does it take for you to present in the role of responder?
- What are you "responding" to when you're calling?
- What kind of dynamic does the call and response relationship create?

Introduce warm up - call and response to sound (see below)

III. Warm up (7 min)

David as "caller" with voice/looping as people respond with body (maybe experiment with rhythm, flow, pacing, stillness)

IV. Tefilah (5 min)
Have someone in group lead the Kedusha out loud, beginning with a minute of silence and ending with three minutes of silence for private Amidah or whatever people would like)

V. Physical practice (25 min)
1. Split into pairs where one person is "caller" and holds different positions as the partner acts as "responder." Adam and I demo to show various ways to play as "responder." Examples: partners can explore from a distance or with contact as each partnership is comfortable, can move above, under, behind, through, around, etc.
2. Facilitator indicates when the "caller" should change positions
3. Invite people to switch roles after they are comfortable in these roles (5-7 minutes for each partner)
4. Then have two partners switch roles over smaller intervals (2-3 minutes, then 1 minute), until there's improvisational flow (if that seems comfortable)

VI. Reflection (5 min)

Any reflections? Did anything in these exercise mirror for you a leading/following yachid/tzibbur dynamic from tefilah? How so and what did it feel like?

VII. Hand Closing (1 min)