CALL OF THE BUTTERFLY: The Tao of GenuineGenerosity

This chapter represents performance artist Robert Farid Karimi’s playful way to imagine performance training in the future. Extending from performance theorists Jill Dolan’s and José Muñoz’s visions of utopia, Karimi takes a question from Peter Zazzali’s essay on utopic performance training and imagines what would happen if we created a training rooted in Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do: “Using no way as a way; having no limitation as limitations,” and Harjo’s notions on indigenous futurity. What if monologues and scenes were instruments for community engagement so that technique would be a vehicle for community-based practice? Karimi extrapolates from their own stories, dream-visions, and conversations with professional practitioners to envision a future where the theater of generosity and genuine relationships could create a culture of kindness and criticality, and where participants feel safe and open to be heard; are ready to risk, feel uncomfortable, explore their emotions critically; and play to search for their truths in a world of creating make-believe, no matter the medium. Karimi asks: How do we create a culture of genuine generosity, joy, and compassion in performance making and spark the next generation to seek kinship as well as excellence in themselves?.